How long till we’re American enough?

My parents and my grandparents on both sides were born in Texas. I am the third generation, my children are fourth generation, and my grandchildren are fifth generation. The great-grandchildren of my siblings make up the sixth generation.

How many generations does it take to be considered American? What does it take to be considered American in the sense of being born in the U.S. and being part of the general population?

Except for Indigenous people, whose ancestors inhabited the Americas first, all other Americans came from somewhere else.

What happens when two countries border each other with different languages and cultures? As Mexican chef Pati Jinich, who has a food show on PBS, and Jorge Ramos, a prominent news anchor on Univision, see it, the U.s.-mexico border region is almost like its own country. The cultures and languages of both nations mingle and influence each other.

Jinich and Ramos were born in Mexico but now live and work in the U.S. People in Mexico may not consider them Mexican, but in the U.S. some may view them as foreigners.

It reminds me of a song sung by popular Mexican singer Pepe Aguilar, “No soy de aquí,” which includes the lyric, “No soy de aquí, ni soy de allá.” This translates to “I’m not from here, nor am I from there.”

Geography influences culture as well as politics. We are living at a moment when the portion of our nation’s population that defines itself as “white only” is in decline.

What does that mean politically and culturally? It means a portion of the population that has influenced voting in this country could lose control.

Then consider someone like me and my descendants. When do we become part of the dominant culture? Because I belong to the largest minority group in the U.S., I still suffer discrimination. My children and grandchildren have also experienced it, but not at the same level that my siblings and I did. One of my sisters had to retake an English test when she was a junior in college because she made a perfect score the first time. Someone was in the room with her when she retook the test and scored equally well.

Fortunately, successive generations in our family have been more assertive in their endeavors. They have careers in such areas as law, engineering, teaching, business, speech therapy, the military and agribusiness.

Does the color of one’s skin make us any less American after we have been here for generations? Don’t we become as assimilated and acculturated as those who came from England and Ireland?

All we can do is fight back. Run for office, earn an education, start a business, vote every single time, and vote for candidates who support policies that are fair to everyone.

Skin color and country of origin should not be obstacles to equality. At what point am I American enough?