Steve Sandoval discusses the importance of his cultural identity through reflection and how his relationship with his family has changed.
Language is the way our ancestors communicate with each other. My dad’s side of the family is Mexican, which is the side I always visited with. When they spoke, I would be immersed in a world of a language that I couldn’t comprehend in the slightest. I would always stare off into the wall and daydream when my dad and my aunts would talk with each other.
Then, I would snap back to reality when one of my aunts would ask the same question: “Why don’t you speak Spanish or understand Spanish?” I would always shrug off the question or laugh it off, but whenever I was asked this question, I felt more disassociated with my culture and weighed down by guilt.
Even though my last name is Sandoval, I felt like when I shrugged off the roots of my ancestors, they would see me drifting away from those who came before me, and would shame them of the lineage they left behind.
My ancestors fought hard so that I could be where I am today. For many years, I was the outcast of my family who never tried putting effort into the language that they spoke daily while they had to learn a whole new language just to speak to me. But when I got older, I realized the importance of my cultural identity and how it makes up who we are, and how we perceive ourselves.