Mexican origins defy 'east-to-west' history of America

A recent story by NBC News Latino reported that Americans whose Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry date back generations say that people overlook their family histories when they think of a U.S. Hispanic. Called “I’m From Here,” the story noted that not all Hispanics in the United States are recent arrivals.

Carlos Velez-Ibáñez, Arizona State University Regents’ Professor and director of the School of Transborder Studies, told reporter Jessica Montoya Coggins that one reason for this is that the history of America is taught as “east-to-west,” even though Mexican origins in the United States defy this direction.

Velez-Ibáñez said when he looks at the history of American immigration, he sees two stories. On the one hand, Ellis Island offered many immigrants from Europe a new opportunity – and often a new name. On the other hand, the U.S.-Mexico border for centuries was a seemingly non-existent boundary which many people on both sides traversed at will and without suffering any consequences.

“We used to go back and forth freely before there even was a border," said Velez-Ibáñez. He noted that it has been only recently that American policy created such a strict divide between the two countries.

The New York-based journalist interviewed several academic researchers throughout the Southwest for her story. She concluded that for many Latinos who have researched their roots, the long history of their family and their culture in the United States is something of a revelation.

As one researcher put it: “This deep-seated (Hispanic) history is not talked about.”