jukemorten

I really like A. Michael Martinez's article in response to this article in the March 25-31 issue. He points out that Northern New Mexicans have an entirely different culture and history than those south of the border and that Northern New Mexicans are not "wannabe Europeans" but have a 200+ year history as Spaniards and a mere 25 years under a Mexican government (and during that time we were trading so heavily with Americans and under American influence that it wasn't difficult to change flags, yet again in 1846). Northern New Mexicans do not claim their heritage on a basis of aligning with the "white side" in response to racial prejudice, but on history and experience. Even the Spanish dialect spoken in Northern New Mexico is unique (and dying out), and the terms and slang used by Baca are not anything my grandparents would say...in fact, aspects of the language used by my gradparents sound really out of place (ie archaic) and almost Arabic at times...vestiges of the Moorish influence on the Spanish language when the Spaniards came to present-day New Mexico. The bottom line is, Northern New Mexicans are proud of their history and know it is different from, say, Puerto Ricans, and also from our fellow Hispanic neighbors across the border.