By Ru Apt
“Nací en el arroyo.” (I was born in the river.) So began José Mendoza’s life in Chihuahua, México. He describes his childhood as being “salvaje” (wild/savage). José, his five siblings, and their father lived in a two-room house José’s father, a construction worker, made himself. José’s mother left her family when he was just a boy. José describes the social difficulties that arose from his mother’s abandonment:
Me acuerdo que allí en el barrio en que vivíamos, todos nos apuntaban con el dedo, “ah, son los que su madre se fue, los abandonó, blah blah blah blah blah,” y yo pues sí me afectaba. Incluso a la edad de esa edad ya usaba cuchillo. Lo sacaba y decía “cállense.” Se les atreviese. Entonces me creció salvaje, me entiendes, salvajemente.
I remember that in the neighborhood we lived in, everyone would point their fingers at us and say, “Look, they’re the ones whose mother left and abandoned them, blah blah blah blah blah” and so it affected me. At a certain age I even started to use a knife. I would take it out and say, “shut up.” I would threaten them. So I grew up savage, understand? Savage.
There were people who helped José. There was one woman who loved him a lot. She knew about his situation (with his mother) and would have him over to eat. Eventually, this woman, whose husband was a judge, let José know that the police were looking for him and advised him to leave. If it weren’t for this woman, he says, he might have gone to jail. That’s when José, at the age of 15, crossed into the US, accompanied by his brother, his 1-year-old nephew, and a coyote. They moved in with his grandmother, who was already living in Orange County. José’s first job in this country was at a carwash. The pay was $2.50/hour, so he mainly worked for the tips. It was at this time that his grandmother gave him the opportunity to go to school.
His experiences with school were difficult, due to the racism and the language barriers he encountered. During his education in this country, José faced a lot of racism, especially, he recalls, from “nuestra propia raza, los chicanos” (our own race, chicanos). He suggests that the chicanos were embarrassed that they came from the same race as native Mexicans, and as the immigrants who didn’t yet speak English. He describes the social groups as being completely divided among racial lines. When I ask him about racism now, José tells me about an experience his daughter had defending a Mexican-American boy at her high school. Recalling his own high school experiences, he remembers a girl who similarly defended him just as his daughter defended this boy. In both instances, I hear the sadness that racism exists, but also the hope in solidarity.
José remembers his first day of school in the US, when he didn’t even know the language yet. He recalls a Puertoriqueña who helped him out by taking him to the office and giving him a tour of the whole school. At this school, there weren’t even ESL classes, which made it a lot harder to learn at the beginning. He learned most of his English working at a carwash, his first job in the US.
Though he attended Cal State Fullerton for a semester, José says he lacked the focus to finish a major at university due to being involved with drugs. It wasn’t until he met the woman who is now his wife, who worked at the same factory he did, that he changed his lifestyle. He knew that for this person, it was worth it to make the change. He has never looked back. They got married in secret, before they had enough money to move in together, and then four months later, rented an apartment with nothing but a bed, a stove, and a fridge in it. He describes this moment as one of the most important of his life. Family is central to his life now.
As a Catholic, José says if he pays attention to religion, it helps him stay out of trouble. He notes than many people, including himself in the past, are hypocritical Catholics. José’s perspective on live is overwhelmingly positive. Although he was unemployed at the time of our interview, José has now found work as a truck driver after 4 months of unemployment. During this time of unemployment, he never lost hope for a better future, for himself or for his family.