Ethnicity in Las Cruces
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5/1/2008
TCU Joe,
I've read your rant and for someone who's entering the PHD program in Chemistry, you haven't got the spelling IQ of a 5th grader. I am an Anglo who grew up down the street here in the Sun City (El Paso) and I find LC quite nice. The racial divide does exist and it has nothing to do with money. It has EVERYTHING to do with perception. And what's sad is that when an Anglo speaks his mind about diversity and offends a minority, he's a racist. Vice-versa? Justifiable in the minds of the ignorant.
My "hood" was 95% Mexican and I ALWAYS notice when I'm in an area where:
1. Mariachi music isn't blaring from someone's car
2. Mexican food isn't a delicacy
3. English is the preferred language of McDonald's servers
4. Good education is a standard, not a luxury
Okay, let 'er rip. Call me names, call me pinche' guero, whatever makes you feel better. I've been a minority in my hometown all my life and it stinks. I was bored in the sub-par public schools here and excelled in higher-learning institutions that I found elsewhere.
Why did I come back to the Southwest? My mother won't leave. What do you do? I came home to take care of her. Las Curces, is a step up from El Paso in that it is NOT right on the border. The pace is slower and more tolerable. The arts are okay. The university is a good one. There is a decent mix of cultures and the gang problems are minimal, but rising. Chain restaurants are aplenty as are small businesses and pecan orchards.
Wish I could say the same for El Paso. It's a nice place to be FROM, but I look forward to returning to New Hampshire, where white snow is as abundant as white folks.
Jim | El Paso, TX