are neither hispana india negra española
ni gabacha, eres mestiza, mulata, half-breed
caught in the crossfire between camps
while carrying all five races on your back
not knowing which side to turn to, run from;
To live in the Borderlands means knowing
that the india in you, betrayed for 500 years,
is no longer speaking to you,
that mexicanas call you rajetas,
that denying the Anglo inside you
is as bad as having denied the Indian or Black;
Cuando vives in la frontera
people walk through you, the wind steals your voice,
you’re a burra, buey, scapegoat,
forerunner of a new race,
half and half—both woman and man, neither—
a new gender;
To live in the Borderlands means to
put chile in the borscht,
eat whole wheat tortillas,
speak Tex-Mex with a Brooklyn accent;
be stopped by la migra at the border checkpoints;
Living in the Borderlands means you fight hard to
resist the gold elixir beckoning from the bottle,
the pull of the gun barrel,
the rope crushing the hollow of your throat;
In the Borderlands
you are the battleground
where enemies are kin to each other;
you are at home, a stranger,
the border disputes have been settled
the volley of shots have shattered the truce
you are wounded, lost in action
dead, fighting back;
To live in the Borderlands means
the mill with the razor white teeth wants to shred off
your olive-red skin, crush out the kernel, your heart
pound you pinch you roll you out
smelling like white bread but dead;
To survive the Borderlands
you must live sin fronteras
be a crossroads.
gabacha: a Chicano term for a white woman
rajetas: literally, “split,” that is, having betrayed your word
burra: donkey
buey: oxen
sin fronteras: without borders
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Was this poem published in Borderlands/La Frontera? I looked Anzaldua up on Wikipedia (I know, I know...bad source) and found this:
ReplyDelete"One of her major contributions was her introduction to United States academic audiences of the term mestizaje, meaning a state of being beyond binary ('either-or') conception, into academic writing and discussion. In her theoretical works, Anzaldúa calls for a 'new mestiza,' which she describes as an individual aware of her conflicting and meshing identities and uses these 'new angles of vision' to challenge binary thinking in the Western world. The 'new mestiza' way of thinking is illustrated in postcolonial feminism."
This quote is interesting in light of the borderlands article, as this idea seems to be important in transforming current (and continuing through future) academic thought. I see the idea of "mestizaje," this "beyond the binary" state of being, quite often in the work I do in relation to queer theory and Filipino-American fiction, though not always called by that name. It is interesting to me how far-reaching this is in touching aspects of every day life, such as identity politics. Furthermore and simultaneously, the idea breaks down so many assumptions of the very experience of race and culture by stepping outside of what we think we know (based mostly on our own experiences). And the question to consider, I suppose, would be just that: What does this tell us about constructions/understandings of race...our own and others'?
Yes, this poem is from Borderlands/La Frontera. It really encapsulates a lot that is in that essay we read for class (also from the same book). The book is really life-transforming; I highly recommend it!
ReplyDeletegmg
This poem is a great work depicting the differences that can take place at the borderlands. It reminded me of the short piece that we read at the beginning of the year, from Gomez-Pena, where he discussed the melting pot that is the borderlands. A striking line that I really enjoyed near the middle of the work was "speak tex-mex with a brooklyn accent." I feel that that line tells the story in short of what this poem is about, because in conclusion the author ends with to survive there you must not have borders. So I feel that all the different people and places one has ties to must all be embraced and none hidden, or cast aside.
ReplyDeleteBen Rains