Cultural Diversity

Interview a person from a different racial or ethnic background. Find out if and how relevant history has affected them or their family. Ask about economic, political and social implications to their personal life.

What happens to a person that is lives in California with the amenities of indoor plumbing, hot running water and a kitchen stove and then it is taken away to have nothing. This is what happened to my interviewee. She, Lilli is Mexican but she was born in California. Her parents first migrated to the United States back in the early 1970's from Mexico but moved to the United States for work. Her dad was working for a company for a long time and was injured on the job. Lilli has always visited her grandparents in Mexico with her 8 siblings off and on throughout the years. The longest they have ever stayed in the little town was a month. This town is in a part of Mexico were the residents are either poor or rich. I asked if there was sometime of middle class and she stated very rarely. Lilli's father worked at a factory and was injured at work do to the company's negligence and he was unable to work every again. While in a lawsuit, Lilli and he family had to live in the projects and collect welfare. She said that it was not bad because they were together and most of the kids that she went to school with lived there too. When the lawsuit was settled, her father reported the increase in income to the state and they increased his rent from $75 per month to $800. As a family they could not afford that increase since the money was one lump sum and they were thinking for the future. As a husband and wife and with their oldest son, they decided to relocate the family to their home town. Lilli recalls that her father more than likely was not treated fairly because he did not know his legal rights as well but as a family they made the move and did not complain. Even though it was rough beginnings with an outhouse instead of indoor plumbing, her father rebuilt his parent's house and they all lived there.

Lilli ended up in Michigan to help out an older sister with her children while her husband worked. She was quickly introduced back into "the real world". Instead of returning home, she stayed and married. She says looking back she married only to keep from going home under her parents roof and he marriage ended in the divorce. Lilli does not like divorce but her husband was on drugs really bad and she was struggling. After the divorce she said that she met the person she was suppose to be with and remarried, they have 5 kids together. Lilli says she likes living in the United States but she does not like that it more materialistic here than Mexico. Life is easier there because if you only have to work 3 days to pay all of your bills then you do it and here you have ot work all the time all day and night it seems. She has considered moving back to Mexico because