the typical latino

7/29/2019 The Typical Latino

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-typical-latino 1/4

Kahlil M. Barrett

February 20, 2013

English 1102

Susan Laplant

The Typical Latino

In Celia C. Perez-Zeeb‟s essay “By the Time I Get to Cucaracha”, Perez-Zeeb clearly

voices her disapproval about the way the media handles situations when concerning the Latino

community. Using the sitcom Will Grace as an example, she quotes one of the characters, Karen,

saying “If it wasn't for this you'd be flying back to Cucaracha on Air Guacamole with live

chickens running up and down the aisle!" Perez-Zeeb is upset because the person Karen was

referring to was her maid who was of Latino descent. Perez-Zeeb‟s tone is very straight-forward

and at times, pessimistic towards the media and the country itself for it portrays Latinos.

There is not a lot of utilization of ethics in this particular article because of the credentials

Perez-Zeeb lacks. However, she does appear to appeal to the readers‟ emotions through the use

of Pathos. She states that there is more to being a Latino, a Latina woman in particular, saying

they were much more capable that being “some yuppie‟s housekeeper.” (513) She also goes on

to say that Americans should be grateful to Latina women who made their living off of being

housekeepers revealing that her own mother was a housekeeper when she first came to the

country.

Perez-Zeeb also argues that it is far more difficult to obtain citizenship than one might

actually think. She goes on to describe the process of an illegal immigrant marriage that has to

last at least two years, according to U.S. law and that it must have been entered to in good faith.

She informs the reader that during this two-year period the marriage can‟t be annulled nor

terminated under any circumstances unless the spouse is deceased.

Perez-Zeeb takes it a step further by using an argument taken from an article in the Yale

Journal of Law and Feminism, “The Gender Dimensions of U.S. Immigration Policy,” that

argues that female immigrants tend to be at a disadvantage because their reasons for entering the

country aren‟t really legitimate and more on family ties.

Perez-Zeeb voices her opinion that the U.S. does appreciate immigrants but only “on the

condition that they can do something for the economy.” (516) She argues that they have no

interest in hearing about the poverty and persecution Latinos endure unless they have money and

special skills.



She then utilizes the logical fallacy to appeal to authority when she goes back to the two

year marriage period using the 1986 Immigration Marriage Fraud amendment. This piece of

legislation is actually what established the two year mandatory period before an immigrant could

even be considered for permanent resident status. She then refers back to the Yale Law article

which argues that due to the amendment being passed, “it gave the spouse who‟s a citizen, which

in most cases is often a male, excessive power over the immigrant spouse because at the end of

the two years, the citizen spouse can choose not to sign the petition for permanent resident status

and then immigrant spouse and children, if there are any can be removed from the United

States.” This claim again appeals to the readers‟ emotions through the use of Pathos. What kind

of person do you have to be to deport a wife and possibly mother, who dedicated two years of

their life to you, along with your own offspring? Where is the justice in that?

Perez-Zeeb then quotes Senator Alan K. Simpson, “United States citizens legitimately

petition for „mail order brides‟ advertised in the backs of magazines and tabloids sold at the

checkout lines of supermarkets. The alien admitted as a fiancé will go through the appearance of

wanting to marry and build a future life until the actual wedding ceremony. The alien then

promptly abandons his or her spouse.” She expresses anger at this statement and even goes as far

as insinuating that Senator Simpson doesn‟t seem to find the idea of “ordering” brides to be the

least bit disturbing.

She goes on to say that throughout Simpson‟s speech, he made it seem as if people who

enter marriages with immigrants do so out of pity or because somehow they‟ve been coerced to

do so. The immigrant is made out to be a sinister, scheming person while the United States

citizen is just a poor unfortunate soul. She also argues that Simpson made immigrants, who

married so they could obtain their citizenship, appear to be smooth-talking aliens who just

convinces the citizens, who they were to marry, that they loved them and then abandon their

spouse as soon as they got their resident status. This appeals to the readers‟ emotions, by

convincing them that most illegal immigrants care nothing more than getting their resident status

and will talk their way into getting it by any means.

Perez-Zeeb‟s closing argument is the fact that the media portray things as if thousands of

immigrants get married left and right in order to stay in the country. She also goes on to say that

many people tend to think that it‟s easy for any immigrant to obtain their citizenship as long as

they are married to a citizen because of the media. The media also leaves out the reasons behind

why most immigrants come to the country in the first place and why some women are so

desperate not to go back to their own countries that they will marry someone they don‟t know

and potentially be abused. She also states the United States tend to leave out that the countries

the immigrants flee from have been supported by, in the past, U.S. regimes to begin with.

Perez-Zeeb uses a lot of pathos in her article to help appeal to the readers‟ emotions.

While she does a somewhat good job of this, she lacks a lot of support to back up many of her



claims. However, she does manage to gather some support to a degree and finish with a strong

closing.

Works Cited

Perez-Zeeb, Celia C. “By the Time I Get to Cucaracha.” Bad Subjects April 2002: n. pag. Rpt. In

The Informed Argument . Ed. Robert P. Yagelski, Robert K. Miller, and Amy J. Crouse

Powers. Belmont, MA: Wadsworth, 2012. 513-9. Print.

the typical latino

Documents