What's the dilly, yo?: We Can't Trace Abuelita's roots But We Know About La Llorona!

Lack of Latino Documentation was a topic of mine last week. It was titled, "Genealogy Quagmire: The Lack of Family Documentation Through-out The Years". I posted it to this very blog, and Sara made a good point in her comments to my story. She said, and I quote (verbatim as I C and P it):

'As an undergrad and grad student, I learned about this lack of documentation our Raza is guilty of and it is most unfortunate. After all, the best way to keep a people submissive and oppressed is by denying them their history. In all fairness to our ancestors, most were uneducated and could barely read and write (if at all). So keeping a diary or journal was virtually impossible. And they didn't have much in terms of material possessions or money. In contrast, most anglos kept inventories of what they owned, i.e. furniture, china, silver, livestock, heirlooms, etc. So now, the research is up to us. We can do the best we can to research and uncover our roots. Then, going forward, we need to document anything and everything for future generations.'

Okay, let me gently and respectfully dissect what Sara wrote via her comment.

• They (Latinos) were uneducated: Yes, I totally agree. They could barely read and write (if at all). Keeping a diary would have been impossible, but as our raza was undergoing oppression equal to that of the blacks, why is it that blacks have so much history to review? Was it because officially blacks were counted as pieces of property by their respective slave owners thus they became part of the white-slave owners inventory roll? I would stand firm in saying that indeed, the inventory roll was indeed part of how blacks were able to trace their roots. By little or no credit to them (blacks), it was their dirty slave owners who ultimately proved to be the "keepers of the flame" for black history. Latinos were never officially referred to as slaves, not in the U.S. but they were subjected to the same awful treatment. Worse, yet, the only historical data we can investigate comes from limited sources out there who were mainly keeping track for economic reasons as well. Most often the labor farms/ranches. If one of us (Latinos) died, it was recorded for financial records so that the land owners could account for such a loss in order to retrieve monetary losses by our own government. A dead Latino was worth more dead than alive. Scarey thing is that little in that regard is much different now: we are worth more dead than alive. OR maybe not, and I do not mean it in a positive way either as currently - in death, Latinos more often than not leave little to no money behind, little to no insurance behind, and their surviving loved ones have to find the means with which to pay for funeral costs and such. It sets back each generation instead of helping us to progress.

• They (Latinos) didn't have much in terms of material possessions or money: Yes, I also agree completely with that statement of Sara's. Our ancestors had little back then and when in a class war, the poor suffer tremendously and die quickly. I am sure that they went into survival mode, and they did what they could to stay alive and to them, keeping historical documents was the least of their worries. They put family first and lived in the here and now and had no time to worry about tomorrow and future generations. Family was important and it was top priority. There was no room for formal education when loved ones were going hungry and such. I firmly believe that such a way of living and thinking for Latinos back in the old days is why present-day Latinos are still not too keen on their children attending college. Too many still stress the importance of working versus higher education. Latino elders still encourage their young to stay home as long as possible. There is none of that kicking young ones out of the nest, per se, in this our Latino culture.

My overall view of documentation going forward:

1) That Latinos get educated and that it becomes a priority versus working. Working is good and it does indeed build character and everyone should partake in it, but we must not allow our education to become impeded by it.

2) Latinos should encourage their young to be more independent and self-reliant. To be ready to leave the nest for a better future. To not be afraid to venture out into the world.

3) That Latinos, although having gotten better at it in recent decades, keep better-detailed records of geneaological facts. When someone is born, write it down with as much detail as possible. Do not just assume that a government agency will have it documented for you because, although they will (they have to as part of the Constitution via the Census Law), they more than likely will screw up some details. I am finding that out as I currently research my own genealogical data. Names are misspelled, left off and the same is for dates, addresses and such. Government records are a joke.

4) That we present day Latinos celebrate our heritage by finding out as much of our past as we can so that we leave more behind for our future than what was left for us. That we forgive the past grievances done onto our ancestors which lead to them keeping limited to nil historical data. That we do better going forward with so much data available to us (i.e. Internet, libraries, newspapers, etc.) so that we can leave more than just stories of folklore.

That brings me to my final thought. Folklore: why is it that our raza can easily recount stories of la llorna, the chupacabra, la Lechuza, and other folkloric legends but when it pertains to stories regarding their own family legend(s), they know very little. Blacks often sang songs and told stories in code so that the white man did not know that they were remembering and mentally recording their roots. They did this to protect their legacy so that future generations would know of their history. Why then did this sort of witty tactic elude the Latino population. I wish we could go back and do things differently, but that is never to be so all we (Latinos) can do is move forward with pride in tact and to research and to remember as much of our past so that we do not repeat it and thustly so that we can achieve so much more success than our ancestors. That we not allow the cruel, harsh treatment of our ancestors to have been in vain. The best thing we (Latinos) can do for certain going forward is to encourage one another to obtain a formal education. I do not just mean high school, we must progress further than that in these days and not just settle for an undegrad education either. We must go even further now and do so by demanding of ourselves a graduate education. The best way to beat oppression is by being educated. An educated man is a powerful man, and he can no longer be oppressed.