Mexican/American Border

Final Paper

It is not an easy task to cross the border. With the hardships and difficulties that come with the long journey, hundreds of Latino immigrants set themselves out for this task risking their lives every day by crossing the Mexican border. There are many reasons for why they risk their lives by doing this but the main one is to seek a better living in the United States. For many, this is the only chance and opportunity that they have to escape poverty. Despite the dangers of border patrol and the deathly hot desert, they are willing to take their chances. However, this is not the end of their struggles. Once Latinos cross the border, many face hatred from the majority groups and face oppression and bullying known as “Mexican Hunting” just because of their ethnic differences. Latinos are not the only target groups; many minority groups deal with racism and discrimination especially in the southern states because the border is very close. The movie Lone Star directed by John Sayles, shows how different ethnic groups that live in Rio County of Texas face oppression and discrimination from the white Anglos and how these type of actions lead to hate crimes which is a continuous problem today.

The movie Lone Star is a perfect example that shows ethnical differences among different groups and the struggles that many face because of those differences. We can see how minorities such as Latin immigrants, Chicanos, as well as the African American community faced oppression from the whites and how they had little or no power in the town. This was shown especially through the way Charley Wade, the town’s old sheriff used to treat minorities and how he felt he was superior over them. Wade was a true bully in the town and I found it shocking when he killed Eladio Cruz cold bloodily just because he was trying to help some Mexican immigrants to cross over. He treated Eladio as if he did not matter as a human and he treated Otis Payne the same just because he was an...