Spanglish

The Tex-Mex Language

In this paper I will attempt to address both my position on the “Tex-Mex” phenomenon as it pertains to the application of a mixture of Spanish and English, which some may call “Spanglish” and my opinion of Race/Ethnicity and how it affects a relationship. Furthermore, I shall divulge my opinion of how the geographical area plays an important role on interracial relationships. Additionally, I will attempt to explain my experiences of how the geographical area affects the general consensus with relationships in general which therefore affects interracial relationships due to different ethnic upbringing.

The Tex-Mex language is essentially a language that has evolved from the mixture of English and Spanish, and even today is still evolving. There are those linguists who believe that it is not evolving into the same level of Ebonics, however, being a Latino myself I would have to strongly disagree. Living in Texas has enabled me to experience firsthand this “Tex-Mex” language and even more engage in the practice of the language. Some may say that it is just a simple switching between English and Spanish, but once again I would have to disagree with them. Take for example, If I would approach a clerk at a service counter, regardless of what store, he or she would ask “Can I help you sir” placing an emphasis on the “sir”. This is unique to the Tex-Mex language such as the “aight” is to Ebonics. It is my opinion that for an individual such as myself, I am totally in sync with the Tex-Mex language and would be quite prideful to know of it being acknowledged as a language such as Ebonics has obtained acknowledgement.

Depending on the geographical area there will be different levels of acceptance or rejection of interracial relationships. Take for example, Houston, TX. There is a large population of black and Hispanic people who date regularly without persecution from the general public. Now let’s relocate that same couple to say, Morristown, TN, the town which I formerly called home, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that the people who will be doing the persecuting will be the Hispanics. If the Caucasians see this type of relationship they will generally do a double take and then go on about their business. The trouble and/or criticism will come extremely harsh from the Latinos of the area. Latino’s in Morristown, TN generally see blacks as being taboo and off limits whereas in Houston not so much. Then let’s take a Caucasian and a Latino and we will not see a rejection from the general population in Texas as a whole, but again relocate them to Morristown, TN or even statewide Tennessee, and the persecution and rejection will come from the Caucasians. Caucasians in the “bible belt”, despite being Christian, still hold a strong resentment against interracial relationship. Most of them tolerate the “foreigners”

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