Most of my students in class have their roots in Mexico. My grandparents came to the U.S to escape Jewish persecution in Eastern Europe. In The Tortilla Curtain, Delaney pushes back at his racist neighbors when they plan to build a wall around their community to keep people of color out: “Everybody’s an immigrant from somewhere,” he says.
Especially – right now - in the times we live in, The Tortilla Curtain was an important read for us. Boyle wrote the story more than 20 years ago, but the racial issues he develops in the novel just may be hotter and truer today than they have ever been. We like the way he developed the character of Delaney Mossbacher. For the most part, Delaney keeps his anger and racism in check. I often share in classroom workshops he looks like a nice guy. He loves his wife. He takes care of his kid. He’s smart and compassionate. He’s passionate about saving the Earth. He might resemble your math teacher or someone you know from the public library. But he’s not.
Throughout the course of the novel, Delaney has the opportunity to do something about the racism he sees blowing up all around him. It’s not just the fire that is burning. But he does nothing. Nada. In many ways, his behavior reflects what is going on today in this country. We have a president that calls Mexican immigrants RAPISTS and CRIMINALS. We are set to deport thousands of young Mexicans who came to this country with their parents. Our reading of Delaney forces us to examine our own thoughts and opinons on race and illegal immigration. Delaney’s hatred is not obvious, nor is it unique. There is plenty of people like him that move in and out of our lives. They say one thing, but they feel another. They are dangerous. They are frightening. THEY VOTE.
I was happy to see many of my students research their own family immigration experience. I felt their writing valuable. In their research, they touched upon important historical an political issues regarding Imperial Valley. In their family interviews, they drew out raw emotion. Their writing documents the impact of social movements in their lives. Many of them have become the first college students in their family. In their community profiles, they give their family members a voice where previously there wasn't.
Paz,
JL
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