Yes, I already had the talk with him since this is his first year of high school.
Not about the birds and the bees, although we have had that talk too. A while ago actually. I’m referring to the talk about not forgetting where you came from and being proud of your roots. You know… “Never be ashamed of who you are or let anyone make you feel less than. And don’t ever try to hide where you come from.” There was a lot more. I kind of went on and on, but at least for y’all, I’ll spare you the lecture.
You see this year he is entering a new school that’s predominantly Caucasian. He is one of a very small minority of Latino kids going to this school, and well you know, uno se pone a pensar. The truth is most of the kids also come from much more affluent families than ours.
Up until now he’s been around the kids from our neighborhood, from working families like ours, and everything has kind of been familiar. I guess my fear is that he will forget where he came from or get too big for his britches, maybe even stop being humble because he’s going to be in such a different environment. I don’t know. Having never been in his position myself the unknown is what makes me wonder.
He was really kind of surprised by my reaction after enrolling him in this new high school. The truth is I was pretty surprised by it myself also. I couldn’t help but to think about that scene in the movie Selena where her dad is telling her about being Mexican and American.
It’s uncanny really, but I totally get that speech now, on a whole other level.
