Chapter 5 Questions

Reflecting on the movie Mi Familia, identify the micro- and macroaggressions experienced by the make protagonists. In what way, if at all, do these differ from those experienced by women?

Microaggressions:

• When Memo brings his fiancée and future in-laws to his parents house with everyone home, the Sanchez family tries to connect to the in-laws by telling them about Jose’s history, his migration, and his uncle, the in-laws laugh and are even afraid at the mention of Jose’s uncle being buried in the backyard, so Memo interrupts and says that it is just a joke.

• In the same scene, the in-laws are visibly upset at the mention of Jimmy being an ex-con, even though he is clearly a very nice person that is happy to meet them.

Macroaggressions:

• One of the biggest shows of a macroaggression in the movie is when Chucho is the victim of a police hunt and subsequent police brutality which ends in his murder by a police officer in front of Jimmy.

• Another is when Jimmy goes back to prison after his wife, Isabel, dies in childbirth and the officer in the prison tells Jimmy that he knew, “it wouldn’t last long.” As in he knew that Jimmy would eventually go back to prison.

Differences:

Women tend to have more microaggressions against them. And they are usually about her ability to work after having children. Like when Isabel’s employer is speaking to a friend about how great it is that Isabel is married and pregnant, the friend tells the employer that “they” always stick around long enough to get established in the country, learn “the” language, and then get pregnant and leave their jobs. The employer does combat this and make a point to say that she is upset by this language and that she loves Isabel like a family member and she’s happy for her, but you can see that this doesn’t change the friend’s mind about this. Another microaggression is when all of the men at Irene’s wedding find out that Toni—the prettiest and most fun girl in the barrio—is going to become a nun and they all are defeated and act like caring about her was a waste of time.

Reflect on any of the migration stories you have had in your family as you answer the following questions:

What are the major challenges mixed-status families encounter in accessing education or health care?

• Without proper documentation, getting a better education for your child is nearly impossible, especially since financial aid needs to have both the parents’ and the child’s documentation to be approved. Living in poverty due to low paying jobs and being undervalued by employers meant that families could not afford to send their children to early learning programs like preschool. At the same time, fear of deportation prevents undocumented families from obtaining healthcare.

In your family, what are the major intersectionalities affecting young people?

• In my family, the major intersectionalities facing the young people are things like queerness, split families, interracial families (white, mestizo, and black), Christianity, interethnic families, and different socioeconomic positions (with some of my family being very rich and others being incredibly poor).

What are additional stressors/challenges queer immigrants may face?

Not being accepted by family due to devout religious family members or even a cultural background that does not widely accept queerness, as well as the fear of being found out as queer by people in the new community and being outed which can lead to violence and, if they know this person is an immigrant, possible deportation as retaliation for just being queer. Another factor is racism within the queer community, which is rampant and causes issues a lot for many queer POC.