By: David Conde
When Christopher Columbus arrived with his fleet on the shores of America he was acting on a theoretical construct that you can get west by sailing east. The human part of his experience dealt more with his effort to get permission, funding and navigating his way there.
Yet, his legacy was one of brutality, human catastrophe and historical conquest of two continents ready for the taking. The more important legacy very few talk about is the birth of a Mestizo population generally offspring of European fathers and indigenous mothers.
Planted was the seeds that created a people in the northern and Southern Hemispheres that can truly say they are Americans. There were times in this history where the land of birth was the only thing they could hold on to as outcasts of the very societies that Brought to life this new beings.
Recently, I attended a hometown celebration of sorts that included a dinner, music and oral histories of places people came from. It was particularly interesting to hear and imagine special sites like those around Trinidad, Walsenburg in Colorado and Alliance in Nebraska.
Do you notice that when people describe home they name the city and then describe the place in relations to it? Identity comes more into play however, when one names the neighborhood, that piece of land that makes you who you are.
The gentrification of Denver has had its moments of great reactions to the process of new people moving into old neighborhoods and changing the complexion of the area. There have been movements to save some of the prized symbols of old especially in North and West Denver.
The immigrant community is no different. I have family that comes from a “ranchito” around Torreon, Coahuila and Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. The two cities are within minutes of each other and yet it is the ranchito that is most important in the narrative about home.
Every spring our migrant farm worker families leave the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas to work the crops of the Midwest and southern part of the country. Making the return trip six months later is a happy event because they were coming home to their little place as poor as it is.
It is from those neighborhoods, ranchitos or pieces of land that the young people have come out to take up arms in defense of their country. Latino blood spilled in the battlefields of America’s wars has colored the landscape of sacrifice in proportions larger than any other community.
When they go into battle Latino warriors fight for their families and for that piece of land of their birth because that is what it means to fight for your country. That is what it means to fight for the land of your birth.
In a larger sense, love for America comes from a destiny that is gradually anointing the Latino world as the primary protectors of two continents. Also, despite the politics of the moment, the United States and its democratic ideals are coming into the care of this surging community.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of la Voz bilingüe. Comments and responses may be directed to news@lavozcolorado.com.
