Life on the border should be the best of both worlds, not one or the other

By Nadia Tamez-Robledo, Latino Times/Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Growing up on the border means living with two of everything.

Some of the sets are obvious. Two languages. Two kinds of traditional food, depending on whether its Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Others are harder to pin down. There are two kinds of social standards to meet. Two streams of consciousness. Abraham Quintanilla’s speech in “Selena” about being more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans hits the nail on the head. It’s a gift and a curse.

It wasn’t until I was in college in Edinburg, 45 minutes down the expressway from my hometown of San Benito, that I realized I missed out on an entire volume of my history.

I didn’t know who Dr. Hector P. Garcia was until my curmudgeon of a “Media and Hispanics” professor showed the documentary “Justice for My People” in class. I’m sure he made a joke about how we, a class of educated people who grew up in a predominantly Mexican-American community where Garcia spent part of his life, mostly knew nothing about him.

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