The First-generation Immigrant in America Essay -- Minorities Equality

My grandmother has a certain look in her eyeball when something is troubling her she stares off in a random direction with a wistful, slightly bemused expression on her face, as if she sees something the rest of us toleratet see, knows something that we dont know. It is in these moments, and these moments alone, that she seems distant from us, the sames of a quiet observer watching from afar, her body present however her mind and heart in a place only she can visit. She never says it, but I know, and deep inside, I think they do as well. She wants to be a part of our world. She wants us to be a part of hers. But we dont belong. Not anymore. Not my brothersI dont think they ever did. Maybe I didonce, a long time ago, but I cant guess anymore. I love my grandmother. She knows that. I know she does, even if Im never able to convey it adequately to her in words.The scene is of all time the same the three of us sitting in a room together, talking. I see her from the corner of my eye , glancing for only a second or two, but always long enough to notice the look on her face, the expression Ive become so painfully familiar with over the years. I am forced to turn away the conversation resumes. She is a few feet from us. She hears everything, and understands nothing except what she can gather from the expressions on our faces, the bank note of our voices. She pretends not to be bothered, smiling at us and interjecting random questions or comments in Chinesea talking to I was raised to speak, a language Ive slowly forgotten over the years, a language that is now mine only by blood. It is an earnest but usually futile attempt to break through the invisible barrier that separates her from us, and in spite of all her efforts to hide it, that sad, contem... ...weak, when their echoes fade, and in that moment, I will wide-awake to a dark, empty silence. And the silence will be deafening.* La Gringa derogatory epithet used to ridicule a Puerto Rican girl who wants to look like a blonde North American.Works CitedAndalza, Gloria. How to Tame a ill-judged Tongue. Encounters Essays for Exploration and Inquiry. 2nd ed. Ed. crafty C. Hoy II and Robert DiYanni. New York McGraw-Hill, 2000. 93-101.Cofer, Judith Ortiz. reticent Dancing. Encounters Essays for Exploration and Inquiry. 2nd ed. Ed. Pat C. Hoy II and Robert DiYanni. New York McGraw-Hill, 2000. 145-51.History. The Hispanic/a Education Network Service.14 Oct. 2002..Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. Encounters Essays for Exploration and Inquiry. 2nd ed. Ed. Pat C. Hoy II and Robert DiYanni. New York McGraw-Hill, 2000. 603-07.