What are the main sites to see in the USA?

Questions from a Mexican to Mexican-Americans: Is it hard growing up in the USA?

• Questions from a Mexican to Mexican-Americans: Is it hard growing up in the USA? I'm Mexican. I was born and raised in Mexico. I grew up proud of my heritage. Whenever I read Mexican History, I read that the Spaniards came to Mexico, and I knew that some of my ancestors must've been some of those Spanish people. That's what my parents used to tell me. They used to tell me that lights eyes, hair, and skin ran in our family because we probably had some Spanish ancestors. Going to Mexico City always made me proud of my heritage. I grew up knowing I had indigenous blood in me also. Whenever I visited old Mayan ruins and Aztec ruins, I felt proud. My teachers would proudly teach us about all the accomplishments of our ancestors before the prehispanic civilzation began to fall apart. I was raised to be proud of my heritage. I grew up knowing that Mexico is my home. I studied collge in the USA. I discovered that being a Mexican-American was a completely different story. The first thing I discovered is that some people felt the term Mexican was offensive. This was a shock for me. I couln't understand why being called a Mexican could be offensive. I grew up being proud of being Mexican. I realized Mexican-American grew up in a coutrry where they are treated as second-class citizens. White people are proud of their European heritage. But Mexican-American seems to grow up with the stigma of being Mexican. Americans don't consider having Mexican heritage as something to be proud of. Mexicans live in North America. North America was never really civilized by our ancestors. There were no great prehispanic civiliations in North America. Mexican-Americans don't have that sense of entitlement that I have in Mexico everytime I see the many prehispanic sites. As a Mexican I grew up with a sense of entitlement to Mexico. I know that my ancestor have been in this land for millenia. Mexican-Americans no matter how many generations have lived in the USA, are always regarded as illegals. They don't have the sense of entitlement I have in Mexico. I can't imagine myself having grown up in the USA. Being told all my life that my family and I don't belong in that country. I grew up being told that I should be proud for being Mexican, and for living in the land of my ancestors who got to be a great civilization at some point. Mexican-Americans grow of being told they are illegals. They are not raised to be proud of who they are. Is it hard growing up in the USA for them?

• Answer:

  I am a Mexican teenager and I came to the USA at a very young age. I spent nearly my whole life here. Living in the USA is a blessing. My experiences in the USA have been pleasant. I grew up being told that I should be proud of my heritage and everything that makes us, us. As I began going to school, at an early age I knew that I did not belong. I always saw the media pushing and looking down upon Mexicans. It began to feel difficult. As I got older I heard dozens of things about illegal immigrants or just anything against Mexicans in school. Believe or not I did feel a little ashamed of being Mexican because of the many ignorant people. It also makes me feel like I don't belong at all. Like there is no place for me. But we have to overcome that because we all have a special place on earth. I have many people that support and love me. I don't let the ignorance and hate of others get to me anymore. I am who I am and no one can change that.