The Vibrant Tapestry of Albuquerque, NM: Exploring Family Roots and Community Identity

Abstract

Instructor’s Name Living in [City, State], is one of the best moments in my life. The beauty and grandeur of the marvelous city are amazing. The culture, food, and people are one to reckon with. Social locations and status of students in college provide opportunities to an individual in which they can improve their quality of life. [City, State], is a compelling case in shaping one's experience about life and the identity of a person. Life chances depend on the social structures in society impacting people’s lives. The largest ethnic group in Albuquerque nm is the Hispanic population forming 49.8% of the city's population. Yet, the town's poverty is higher than the United States average, and it is regarded as one of the poorest suburban areas (Albuquerque Demographics - Get Current Census Data for [City, State], n.d). Hispanic roots can be traced back to immigration from the 1970s and 1990s from Latin America (Duncan et al., 2006). Since then, assimilation has become a dominant factor in the community, mostly done through intermarriages. The people believed in marriage and peaceful coexistence with a marriage partner. However, the family structure has since changed. The rates of divorce and children born of wedlock have significantly increased. Children born out of wedlock have increased considerably, and family separations have become a norm. Being part of a family where the mother is the head of the family, life tussles have hit hard. The family headed by a single parent was less privileged in getting the best education. Furthermore, my parents had no education to give them insight into the importance of education; I believe they created a generational problem. We lived in a typical welfare-dependent house, and parents speaking in Spanish were a setback to succeeding academically. [City, State], is a poor suburban area. The education levels in the community are low compared to other groups; low literacy levels in the city are linked to high poverty rates. The English-speaking levels of students in the community can define literacy levels. Speaking Spanish is common in Albuquerque, which prevents most students from speaking English fluently. Poor quality education in preschool programs gives the white privilege than students in our community to harness the best education. Studying at NMC gave me the insight to dig more about the community to learn their ancestry and roots, culture, ways of survival, their vulnerabilities and privileges, and take-home ideologies about the community. As a student at NMC college, the surrounding community's exposure profoundly influenced my mindset. Poverty in the suburban area positively impacted my approach to the new experience. The fallacies that the poor are disadvantaged and vulnerable in the United States proved a reality....