Posted on March 30, 2016
López Morín, Jose. The Legacy of Américo Paredes. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. Print.
The book is about the biography of Americo Paredes who is a well-respected Mexican-American author and is written by Jose Lopez Morin. The argument of the book is that Americo Paredes deserves to be praised for showing to the whole world that there is nothing wrong to be a Mexican-American as he was always proud of this cultural background. The text is organized into four chapters which are: Chapter 1: The lower Rio Grande border, Chapter 2: His life and work, Chapter 3: “With his pistol in his hand” and Chapter 4: Toward new perspectives in folklore and cultural anthropology. The author proves his support for the argument precisely by writing the biography of Americo Paredes and giving justice to what he accomplished as a Mexican-American. The book can be synthesized into three main themes which are pride for identity, cultural diversity and passion for learning.
The first theme of the book is about pride for identity. Americo Paredes was always proud to be a Mexican-American and throughout his life he made sure to inspire other Mexican-Americans to feel the same way. He was never ashamed of his cultural background and instead he wrote so many books and taught at many universities so that Mexican-American pride can be restored and respected. Mexican-Americans may belong to the minority groups but this does not mean that they are already inferior to others. Mexican-American deserve to be given opportunities to showcase their knowledge and skills in the same way that Americo Paredes was able to live a successful and a truly meaningful life.
Cultural diversity is the second theme of the book. The successful and meaningful life of Americo Paredes helped to prove that Mexican-Americans deserve a place in American society. It is wrong to believe that only the white people are the most dominant and deserve to be successful. America would be better if it is taking advantage of cultural diversity instead of undermining the integrity of the people who belong to the minority groups. Mexican-Americans belong to the minority groups and yet they have been able to make positive contributions to society just like what Americo Paredes did. He was able to not only shine as a Mexican-American but more importantly inspire many others from the minority groups to not be afraid or ashamed of who they are.
The third theme of the book is about passion for learning. Americo Paredes spent majority of his career trying to learn so much about his own cultural background as a Mexican-American and trying to fit in to the society. He learned a lot through teaching in universities and making sure that he is able to also learn from the ideas of his students. Americo Paredes took advantage of his job as a teacher to promote his ideas of being proud of being part of the minority groups in America and cultural diversity. He was able to share the importance of people being proud of their cultural background and also fighting for the opportunities for them to be successful and improve their lives. Americo Paredes simply did not want to be labeled as a Mexican-American who achieved nothing so he worked hard and became a role model and inspiration for the minority groups in America.
The author’s contribution here is that he was able to make sure that he was able to come up with a brilliant biography of Americo Paredes. Jose Lopez Morin did a good job in making sure that the life of Americo Paredes would be clearly emphasized and his accomplishments would be highlighted so that the readers would know what he did as a Mexican-American. Morin analyzed some of the materials written by Americo Paredes especially With a Pistol in His Hand which is considered as his best material. It was here were Morin really understood what Paredes was fighting for on behalf of the Mexican-Americans. He was able to finally understand the greatness of Paredes by analyzing his works and he revealed his observations and findings in the book.
The book is worth reading because it sets a good example as to how an ordinary Mexican-American was able to instill hope and inspiration to the people from the minority groups. This book is an excellent material especially for the people from the minority groups because they will surely be inspired by the life of Americo Paredes and what he was able to achieve in his lifetime in spite of being a part of the minority group himself. This book can serve as an inspiration for the Mexican-Americans and other minority groups to emulate the life of Americo Paredes and make sure that they are able to show pride of their cultural background instead of being ashamed. The Mexican-Americans and other minority groups can become more confident and motivated to succeed after reading this book because if Americo Paredes was able to do it then they can also succeed.
The strength of the book is that it was able to provide an excellent biography of Americo Paredes. There is nothing bad that can be said as to how Morin wrote the biography of a well-respected Mexican-American. He did his job in finding all the important information about Paredes and he included them all in the book. Morin was able to help to strengthen the already beautiful legacy of Paredes through this book. Perhaps the weakness of the book is that it could have been better if there were more stories about the challenges that Paredes faced in his lifetime because of him being a Mexican-American. It would have been more exciting to read the book if more of such information was included.
The book can be enhanced by adding more information coming from other people who can attest to the greatness of Americo Paredes. It is important to remember that this is his biography and so it must definitely look good as this is part of his legacy. Thus, aside from analyzing his lifetime achievements and works, it will also be great to get the testimonies of people who was able to be influenced by Americo Paredes when he was still alive. These testimonies will further boost the already strong legacy of Paredes and cement his status as one of the best Mexican-Americans who ever lived. There is no doubt that Paredes was able to touch the lives of many people but if some of them can be asked to provide testimonies and share their experiences working with Paredes then this will be great to include in the book and make his biography even more beautiful and interesting.
Work Cited
López Morín, Jose. The Legacy of Américo Paredes. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. Print
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