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Quote by Richard Rodriguez

“Of course, since we don't see the Indian as a living figure - having turned the Indian into a kind of mascot for the ecology movement, a symbol of prehistory - we can't see the Indian among us.”

Quote by Richard Rodriguez

Author

Richard Rodriguez

Richard Rodriguez is an American writer born on July 31, 1944. His works primarily explore issues of identity, culture, and class, particularly the experiences of Latinos in American society. Rodriguez is known for his profound social commentary and literary talent. more

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“What really terrifies Americans is the prospect that the Indian is very much alive, that the Indian is having nine babies in Guatemala, and that those nine babies are headed this way. This is one reason why Americans hold on so dearly to the myth of the dead Indian.”

Way Reason Alive Baby Myth Nine Indian Reason Why Guatemala

Author:Richard Rodriguez

“The myth of the dead Indian goes back to the Protestant settlement of the U.S. The Pilgrims wanted to start a new life in America. They wanted to believe that in some sense they had come to a new Eden and that they could leave history behind in Europe. So they convinced themselves that this land had no history, that this was "virgin" land. This made the Indians' presence inconvenient.”

Believe Made Wanted America Behinds Land Europe Myth Convinced Indian Virgins New Life Eden Protestants Pilgrim Settlement Inconvenient

Author:Richard Rodriguez

“The Indians had to be either killed, or herded into reservations, which were essentially concentration camps, and forgotten. Their history had to be absolutely obliterated so that we could believe that we were living on virgin soil.”

Believe Forgotten Soil Concentration Camps Virgins Living On Reservations Concentration Camp

Author:Richard Rodriguez

“Suddenly the land is haunted by all these dead Indians. There is this new fascination with the Southwest, with places like Santa Fe, New Mexico, where people come down from New York and Boston and dress up as Indians. When I go to Santa Fe, I find real Indians living there, but they are not involved in the earth worship that the American environmentalists are so taken by. Many of these Indians are interested, rather, in becoming Evangelical Christians.”

People Real Earth Christian Taken Land New York Becoming Involved Worship Dresses Mexico Boston Santa Fascination Evangelical Environmentalist New Mexico Santa Fe

Author:Richard Rodriguez

“Of course, San Diego chooses not to regard the two cities as one. Talk about alter ego: Tijuana was created by the lust of San Diego. Everything that was illegal in San Diego was permitted in Tijuana. When boxing was illegal in San Diego, there were boxing matches in Tijuana; when gambling was illegal, there was always Tijuana.”

Two Courses Cities Ego Regard Lust Boxing Illegal Gambling San Diego Alter Ego Boxing Matches Tijuana

Author:Richard Rodriguez

“What has happened in the last generation is that Tijuana has become a new Third World capital - much to the chagrin of Mexico City, which is more and more aware of how little it controls Tijuana politically and culturally. In addition to whorehouses and discos, Tijuana now has Korean factories and Japanese industrialists and Central American refugees, and a new Mexican bourgeoisie that takes its lessons from cable television.”

World Littles Lasts Cities Generations Happened Television Lessons Thirds Factories Mexico Refugee Mexican Cables Korean Third World Bourgeoisie Disco Mexico City Chagrin Tijuana

Author:Richard Rodriguez

“There is San Diego - this retirement village, with its prim petticoat, that doesn't want to get too near the water. San Diego worries about all the turds washing up on the lovely, pristine beaches of La Jolla. San Diego wishes Mexico would have fewer babies. And San Diego, like the rest of America, is growing middle-aged.”

Want America Wish Water Worry Growing Middle Baby Lovely Beach Village Retirement Fewer Mexico Washing Middle Aged Pristine San Diego Turds

Author:Richard Rodriguez

“The average age in the U.S. is now thirty-three, whereas Mexico gets younger and younger, retreats deeper and deeper into adolescence. Mexico is fifteen. Mexico is wearing a Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt and wandering around Tijuana looking for a job, for a date, for something to put on her face to take care of the acne.”

“It is not simply that these two cities are perched side by side at the edge of the Pacific; it is that adolescence sits next to middle age, and they don't know how to relate to each other. In a way, these two cities exist in different centuries. San Diego is a post-industrial city talking about settling down, slowing down, building clean industry. Tijuana is a preindustrial city talking about changing, moving forward, growing. Yet they form a single metropolitan area.”

“Maybe the American Dream is too rich for us now in the U.S. Maybe we're losing it because we are not like our Swedish grandmother who came across the plains, hacked down the trees, and took the Spanish words she encountered and made them hers. Now her great-great-grandchildren sit terrified, wondering what to do with all these Mexicans. The American Dream is an impossible affirmation of possibility. And maybe native-born Americans don't have it anymore. Maybe it has run through their fingers.”

Made Dream Running Born Wonder Rich Impossible Tree Possibility Losing Fingers Native Grandmother American Dream Terrified Affirmation Grandchildren Swedish Hacked Great Grandchildren

Author:Richard Rodriguez