"We did not choose to come to America, America came to us!"
One of the largest pet peeves I have in life is when people ask me, "Well where are you from?" This pet peeve is because many people assume I am Mexican and quite frankly that is not the truth. While it may seem like a minor nuance in ethnicity or nationality status, the presumptions that lead people to ask that question reflects a very large issue about how we view Hispanics in the United States; particularly how we view Hispanics whose bloodlines originate from the Western United States.
Historical Precedent
The opening quote for this article is something that I've heard from everyone in my family as long as I can remember. It is a quote grounded in the reality of the story of American Expansionism during the 19th century, particularly the rapid western expansion that drove the Mexican-American War. A war whose consequences we are still only beginning to fully understand and appreciate today.
The Mexican-American War gave the United States control of territory that stretched from California to Texas, a territory that was already inhabited by thousands of people. Those people were my ancestors and the ancestors of millions of other Hispanic Americans.
How Historical Precedent Became Present Day Reality
Use my family as an example of numerous Hispanic-Americans whose family has been in the United States for centuries, and does not have any tangible ties to other Hispanic countries. One part of my family proudly originates from Central Texas around the cities of Austin and San Antonio, while the other part of my family originates from Northern New Mexico in a series of mining towns. Dating back at least 150 years we have records tracing my family to these regions of the country.
My family is hardly one of a kind when it comes to having historical ties to the Western United States. There are thousands of families in the United States with a history similar to mine, a proud and powerful legacy that plays an integral part in who we are as individuals.
The legacy that I have inherited make me as American as the land that I was born on. I did not choose where I was born, like many other millennials who are Hispanic American, but I am proud of where I was born and I would not trade it for the world. My present day reality is that I am an American and my family has been Americans for longer than many other families in the United States. So next time someone asks me where I am from, I will proudly answer, "America."
