19 minute read
Border Identities Marcelle Rico
Physical Barriers/National Identity | Participant/Author to Participant/Author
Luis Espinoza was born in Durango, Mexico. He is from a town called Santiago Papasquiaro. When he was 15 years old, he and his family moved to San Diego, California and has lived there ever since. He is in his 5th year of architecture at Woodbury University. This conversation took place at Woodbury University where both Luis and the interviewer go to school.
Marcelle Rico: How would you describe the culture that exists in the border region? universities in San Diego to teach at their schools, bringing students up to international level
of education. NAFTA is another mutual bilateral benefit not only for the country but for the Luis Espinoza: That is a very interesting question, I believe that each side of the border has its borderlands. San Diego and Tijuana both import goods without taxes thanks to this agreement. own culture. Tijuana is extremely different culture to the rest of Mexico, I see their culture as Furthermore, I believe that both cities benefit directly from each other’s tourism. People from an unusual mixture of Americanized Mexican traditions but at the same time it presents itself San Diego visit Tijuana for weekends and Tijuanenses visit San Diego to shop, therefore there as a true part of Mexico. I have been in many cities neighboring with the U.S. and their vibe is is a mutual benefit for both cities as well. completely different to the one Tijuana has. Nogales, San Luis, Agua Prieta, Cd Juarez etc. all
those cities are different to Tijuana even though they also share a border with United States. M: Do you think your life improved when you moved to the U.S.?
On the other hand, San Diego’s culture is not similar to Tijuana but also neither to the rest of Southern California. There are a lot of people from Tijuana that have moved to San Diego and L: Well, it is hard to compare both because the cultures are very different. I will say my life is that is something that will decrease the level of asymmetry among both cities. I would not necessarily better now in the U.S. but certainly I have more freedom here. It may seem like describe the culture of this border region as “unique” cities dependent from each other in a juxtaposition to argue that people are more free in one place than other been both democratic several aspects, For example maquiladoras give employment to people on the Mexico side, on republics but actually I feel more freedom in the U.S. than I did back in my home town, let me the other hand there are many shoppers that cross the border to buy in San Diego. From what explain more. Back in 2008 when I moved to the U.S. my home town became very dangerous. It I’ve seen I believe that Mexican tourists are the ones that spend the most money in stores became a very violent city, there where shootings every day and several members of my family about the border. were kidnapped. One thing triggered the other and suddenly my family and I found ourselves bunkered in our own homes. One day we found our people following our cars and taking
M: Is there anything about Tijuana that stands out to you? pictures of our house so we finally decided to leave the city and move to a safer one and so we
ended up in San Diego. I will say freedom wise and in the sense of security, my life is better L: Yes, in fact there are many things that stand out in Tijuana. Firstly, the unique architectural here being in the U.S. and engineering techniques adopted among population to build their houses. They have
learned to use recycled materials such as tires used as footings and cardboard and wood as M: What are some things that you would change about the place you grew up in?
walls. Such style is uniquely distinctive that the conceptual artists Marco Ramirez ERRE created “Century 21” a piece on the courtyard of the CECUT museum in order to criticize city L: Going back to the last question the only thing I will change if I could, is to make the city policies. The artworks consisted in a full scale house using recycled materials just as the ones safer. I don’t know if I will ever move back to my hometown because I consider myself a San on Tijuana’s outskirts. Another thing that stands out from Tijuana is its night life. It is not Diegan now but I will really like to see my hometown as a safer city. unusual to see young people at bars and having fun. I will say Tijuana invites to have fun and
enjoy the city. Also on the same category of bars and restaurants there is Tijuana’s great food, M: What do you think the U.S. can learn from a country like Mexico? 29 The Baja-med style is something that is very distinctive from this city. M: What about San Diego? What were your first impressions of this country when you moved to San Diego? L: Definitely the first impressions about this country and San Diego specifically was the perceivable order of the city. By this I mean the city grid, the highways, everything is organized and well planned. At the beginning I found it boring but after a while I began to like it and easily got used to it. Infrastructure in San Diego is also something that keeps fascinating me, for example, freeway bridges and landscape around the road are very pretty. I would say scenic in comparison to cities like Los Angeles or Phoenix. M: What are some cultural differences between people from San Diego and people from Tijuana? L: I will answer this question based on people that I know. What stands out the most is the pride that Tijuanenses feel for their city, everyone from Tijuana feels extreme pride to be from this city. I also believe that people from Tijuana are very easy going and like challenges, I attribute this to the fact that many of them were raised in a way that crossing the border daily was a normal phenomenon, the huge interaction that they were exposed to through their entire life makes them be friendly and doesn’t give room for shyness. Many of my friends born in Tijuana share those characteristics which makes me believe that that is part of their culture, their level of exposure since childhood is different from any other city in the world and that is what makes Tijuana’s culture special. People from San Diego are also easy going but they do not have such a strong pride for their city as Tijuanenses do. L: I believe that the U.S. could learn from Mexico to modify their policies in order to attract foreign investments. There has been a boom in foreign investment in Mexico in the last years which is causing better opportunities for young people especially in the technological sector. This economic boom is triggering investments in infrastructure, not that the United States needs it but it is just my opinion. M: How do you feel about manufacturing jobs moving from the U.S. to Mexico? L: I have mixed feeling about this question. For the most part it affects people who works at these manufacturing companies by leaving them without jobs but it seems that this phenomenon pushes people to find better more stable jobs that at the end becomes a better job opportunity. On the other hand, many of those manufacturing companies that move to Mexico bring jobs which is good, the downside of it is that the majority of these companies pay minimum wage and abuse workers in order to increase profits. This is a very sensitive and controversial topic. In my own personal opinion, I believe that there needs to be enforcement against manufacturing companies that move to Mexico, there needs to be regulation to pay fair salaries and better work opportunities for Mexican workers, otherwise they should stay in the U.S. and obey their laws. M: What do you think about Trump’s campaign to isolate the U.S. from Mexico ? L: From what I’ve seen, Donald Trump does not know anything about economics or politics. His campaign is full of inconsistencies. If he was to isolate Mexico from the U.S. many economic problems will arise. The gas price will increase since the U.S. buys a very high M: How do you think these two cities benefit from being next to each other? percentage of oil from Mexico among many other goods that are necessary for successful
economic progress of both nations. I believe his campaign is inspired on fear for immigrants L: There are many benefits because of the closeness of the two cities. Tijuana benefits from rather than on research and reason therefore it will be a disaster if he actually was to enforce San Diego in education and technology. Many schools in Tijuana hire people from his campaign promises. ●
NOTES
visit: www.collectivemagpie.org/book for another interview conducted by Marcelle Rico and to download the full collection of 82 interviews
The wall has become an extremely politicized symbol of the region, of SD/TJ. Twenty minutes away from our home in San Diego 50,000 northbound vehicles and 25,000 northbound pedestrians cross the US/MX border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry daily. You can stand at the closest beach to that port at the International Friendship Park and be a part of the surreal i image of three different layers of border divisions. La Mojonera, or Western Land Boundary Monument No. 258 is a 9-foot high obelisk which sits completely out of place at the beach like a tomb marker from a historic cemetery. It marks the start of the 1,952 mile line separating Mexico and the United States. In 1851, representatives of the Boundary Commissions from each nation placed the marker together in a collaborative effort that seems difficult to imagine today. A foot away from the territory marker is a sight impossible to fully ii understand. There is a 10 foot steel fence that divides the concrete, then the sand along the beach and continues on into the ocean for several hundred feet as if to attempt to divide that as well. This is a security border wall to prevent the passing of people from Mexico into the United States as a result of the 1994 Operation Gatekeeper. The wall is made of steel military iii landing mat and has small gaps between slats. Separated families have used those spaces to see each other, talk and hold hands between the bars for years. The latest wall is a double v iv reinforcement, first built after 9/11 when more federal legislation allowed for increased security at the border. This secondary wall built in parallel, several feet away from the first, also vi put an end to the possibility of physical contact through the fence. It created a further strange division of a policed no entry zone between the two fences that is occasionally opened for cultural events and often increases the pain of this division. If you go there today, you will see the barren US beach of Border Feld State Park under watch of a border patrol officer. On the MX side, you can see the lively festivities of the Playas beach front, food vendors, live musicians, seafood restaurants and children playing. What we see here is a landscape that separates families, creates tension between nations and instills fear of each other. The wall is a constant reminder of war, failed humanity and the incessant power play for the 1%. President Trump’s scheduled 21 billion dollar border wall will only reinforce and reassure us of all of many years of tension.
The interviews transcribed in this publication share a Mexican-American border patrol officer reflecting on illegal immigrants, a criminal sketch artist profiling the accused inside the court, first hand observations of how the legend of Tijuana, the dangerous city, continues to haunt families over 3 generations, a self described racial identity fading away from racial tension, the resolution of an internal struggle caused by external violence, a pathway from religious crisis to the questioning of freedom and much more. These stories are tragically frustrating, violently unforgivable, some cringe worthy, or confusing at times, are all warmly exchanged, immensely complex and most surprisingly, they are strikingly honest and personal. They ignite the border from the inside rather than from the outside reminding us that the border does not start at the line between US and MX but it is here, embedded in our lives, in every one of us.
These are the stories that are here and remain here as a memory and history. These are the stories of the border residents. These are the stories of our border—the border that matters.
30 DOTS & DASHES | Self-Interview Amy Kittisoros, born and raised in Las Vegas, NV. Currently residing in San Diego, CA. She is 25 years old. This interview was written on a sunny day in a coffee shop in North Park. w i t h r e s i d e n t s o f T i j u a n a - S a n D i e g o Amy Kittisoros Border is an obstacle to overcome in terms of communication, perspective, culture, socio-economics. Amy Kittisoros is first generation American who is currently a graduate studying Architecture at Woodbury University San Diego. She studied Political Science and International Relations in her undergraduate studies, and has been interested in the politics of different cultures in America. Amy enjoys working on projects that bring to light how different backgrounds contribute to different experiences and lifestyles, as well as how individuals of different backgrounds interact. READ ALL 82 CONVERSATIONS Breaking the Code b o r d e r t h r e e 3 6 c o n v e r s a t i o n s PREFACE & THANK YOU We are humbled and grateful to have had the honor and privilege to cross back and forth between San Diego and Tijuana, listening to the experiences of people living in these borderlands, over these last several years. Those who have shared their personal stories, for others to read, have inspired this rich publication. We thank you all for extending your sincerity, labor and trust in each other and to us—two complete strangers—during our Globos Workshops*. The generosity extended by each participant opened a space to consciously engage together, reflecting on the complex close(d) relationship of living within the region of the most frequently crossed border in the world—And all the mess, beauty and challenges that are a part of it. The resulting 82 conversations on the subject of border were produced via four seminars from an experimental Art & Ethnography course series: HOT AIR BALLOONS and INTERVIEWS from 2015-2017. The seminars were held in conjunction with the Culture, Art & Technology Program, University of California San Diego; the Transdisciplinary Program, Woodbury University at the School of Architecture; and the concluding seminar, Transnational Edition was held in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, in addition to multiple sites in both border cities. MCASD hosted the seminar extending access and content to the their permanent collection and enabling the seminar to exist between multiple colleges, allowing joint participants from Southwestern College, University of California San Diego and Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. This interview collection and artwork consists of a series of transcribed interviews conducted and edited by millennials working collaboratively with each other and with us. * Globos Workshops were developed to produce a fleet of 25ft unmanned hot air balloons to be launched over the US/MX border at Friendship Park, TJ/SD. Balloon construction workshops were held at both sides of the border within many different communities and cultural centers. This publication is a four part series of conversations about the border. Preface & Introduction by Tae Hwang & MR Barnadas of Collective Magpie. Design by Adrian Orozco & Abigail Peña. Copyright. 2015-2018 All authors. . Printed at Diego & Sons, SD. Complete free download of 82 interviews can be accessed at www.collectivemagpie.org/book
Q: Have there been situations where language has created a barrier between you and others?
A: When I was really young, the first language I learned was Thai. I was a bilingual kid, but my brother had some problems differentiating English and Thai. He had a lot of ear infections as a baby, and it really affected his hearing. We were told to solely speak English to him when he started school. I quickly lost Thai, not just being able to speak the language, but also my cultural ties and how I was able to connect to my family. I remember one summer, we were visiting my aunt and uncle’s house in Bangkok and all the adults were sitting in the living room. I don’t remember much about what they were saying - I was dying from the extreme heat, it was so hot that summer and I wasn’t used to the humidity - but I do remember one line from my aunt to my mom. “Why don’t your kids speak Thai? It’s such a shame that they can’t be real Thai people!” Since that visit, I was always aware that our family - my aunts, uncles and cousins - were judging my brother and I because we were not able to connect with them. I can still understand a lot of Thai, but being able to talk to my family is still a great struggle to overcome. There used to be times that I was unable to connect with people because I couldn’t speak English, but now there is another barrier to overcome.
Q: How do you think today’s technology will help people from different countries and cultures communicate with one another? Has it helped you?
A: Technology can be a great tool to help people from all backgrounds communicate with one another. With tools like Google Translate or language programs, we are able to slowly learn each other’s language and communicate, even if it is in a very simple manner. Google Translate was very helpful in times of need, but of course, it’s not always the best translation. Technology helps to quickly translate basic phrases of another language to help get around. It’s a gesture of trying, and no one can fault you for trying. After my wedding, I had to send a bunch of thank you cards to my family in Thailand. Google Translate (and my mom) helped me to translate and write these cards in Thai. I remember a phone call with my mom where she told me that my family was so happy to get these cards and that they were so surprised that it was in Thai! They really loved it and it just goes to show that a little bit of effort goes a long way.
Q: Is it possible that, based on a person’s perspective and experience, they tend to group themselves where they find comfort? Is what we find comfort in a place that forms differences?
A: I think that we as humans are creatures of comfort and habit. I think we look for the easiest path to connection and that so happens to be with what we know best. Since communication and language is the biggest (and sometimes hardest) barrier to cross, we try to do what is simplest. The relationship of language and communication is a close knit one. Language is a tool for communication, and without language, communication can be very difficult. But, in the end, verbal language may not be a useful tool for us, but we are then able to use a physical language to “speak” to one another. I remember when my family moved to a new neighborhood, all the kids would come over to our house and ask if we could play outside. But since I was still young and didn’t know much English, they had to sign for me to come play. For the first few weeks I refused because I didn’t know these kids and I liked playing inside our new home. But one day, I decided to step outside my comfort zone and go outside and play. It was that moment that I realized that we weren’t that different from one another, we just needed a way to communicate with one another.
Q: Do you believe that groups separating themselves in a social setting is a social construct that we have ourselves created?
A: In a way, separation of groups is a social construct, very much like how boundaries are a social construct. It is not a physical thing that comes between groups of people; it’s a mental idea that we pass onto one another. It is something that we see everyday. At school, we group ourselves into different groups, whether it be based on our year or, what is most common, based on our culture. At school, I have noticed that there is a tendency to stick with people that we know can speak our language or people from the same culture as ourselves. The idea of boundaries is not something that is created by nature, but something that we have created. Languages are also a social construct. Languages were created as a form of communication between people in a region. This social construct is something that has since separated people into groups of their own people. For the longest time, language has been used as a barrier that we must overcome in terms of communication, but with the technology of today, we are able to bridge the gap a little.
Q: Have you noticed a language border on a domestic level (like within the U.S.)? Is it something that is faced every day?
A: I think that there is, on some level, a language border here within the U.S. I don’t just mean with different cultures here in the U.S. (we are a melting pot, after all), but rather I mean just a simple border between people of different parts of the country. From one coast to another, there are so many different slangs words and catchphrases. One phrase could mean different things depending on where you are. Something as simple as ‘soda’, ‘pop’, and ‘coke’ is a great example. If you’re on a coast (west or east) you’ll most likely learn to say ‘soda’. If you’re someone who grew up in the Midwest, you’d learn to call it ‘pop’. Or, if you grew up in Texas, you would say ‘coke’, for any kind of soda, not just a coke. These differences in what we call a bubbly beverage alludes to how language can cause borders.
Q: What are some of the struggles you or someone you know has overcome because of the difficulty of communicating? Do you see communication as a border or as a tool?
