Racial Discrimination
Castro reports, “My grandmother arrived in Texas at a time when persons of Mexican descent were discriminated against in ways that often paralleled the experiences of African Americans in the Jim Crow South. Throughout much of Texas, Mexican kids were forced to attend segregated schools. Restaurants and shops posted signs that read No Dogs, Negroes, or Mexicans Allowed, and segregation as common in movie theaters, parks, swimming pools, and even cemeteries.”
Racial discrimination during Mamo’s is open to the degree that racist signs would be used to warn individuals deemed to be inferiors, blacks and Mexicans, from utilizing the public utilities. Including dogs in the same list of forbidden persons implies that blacks and Mexicans are equated to dogs. The discrimination is founded on white supremacy whereby people from other ethnicities are considered to be second-rate to share the same public utilities with whites. Obviously, Mexicans or blacks who would violate the warnings would face punishments due to manifest systemic racism.
“Political Engagement”
Castro recounts, “From an early age, Joaquin and I were taught the importance of political engagement, and we attended rallies and were even picture in some of the campaign literature. By the age of eight, I lost count of how many times I heard my mother tell me, As a citizen, you need to participate in the democratic process. If something is wrong, you can change it. Your efforts may pay off in the long run, even if you don’t get your way right now.”
Castro’s mother’s insistence on political engagement encourages her sons to consider political careers. They are informed about political processes early in life which functions as foundation stones for their political mind-sets. Their mother is instrumental in the responsibility they exhibit in their lives to the extent of rising the racks to become notable politicians in America. Parenting contributes to career choices and ideologies which children embrace.
Single Parenthood
Castro remarks, “Mom would have been well within her rights to take Dad to court for child support, and I don’t know why she didn’t. I like to think it was to protect Joaquin and me from resenting Dad; maybe it was the fear that he’d just disappear if he began to lag behind in his payments. Mom had grown up without a father in her life, and that obviously affected her decision too.”
Although Castro’s mother struggles financially and faces legal threats from collecting agencies, she provides for her sons and educates them. Despite the collapse of her marriage she does not encourage her sons to begrudge their father. Her experience in a single-parent family influences the parenting approach she embraces in raising Castro and Joaquin. Her struggles are representative of the burdens which single mothers endure in raising children in the absence of their ex-spouses’ financial support.
