This thesis focuses on the issue of identity, and how historical factors and personal experiences at school and in the larger community affect the process of identification of Mixteco youth growing up in San Diego. Mixtecos are an indigenous group from Mexico, primarily from the state of Oaxaca. The absence of jobs, lack of basic services, and the industrialization of agriculture have forced many Mixtecos to leave their hometowns in search of employment alternatives in the United States, which has often resulted in the permanent dislocation from their home. With the permanent establishment of Mixteco communities in the US, Mixteco children grow up in an environment very different to that of their parents. They attend school, learn English, and lose their native language in the process. This research provides evidence that the lack of cultural and linguistic understanding on behalf of the school system has powerful effects on the development of a child's identity but more importantly, it is the historical discrimination against indigenous people in Mexico that pervades across the border and continues to shape the identities of Mixteco indigenous youth living in the United States. This research closely examines the experiences and narratives of Mixteco youth growing up in a San Diego. The ethnographic data is composed of participant observation and semi-structured, open-ended interviews with children of Mixteco migrants currently enrolled in K-12 public school, young adults who previously attended public school in San Diego, and Mixteco parents living in San Diego.
