Summary: When Josue arrived in the US he was surprised to find that some of the Latino students in his school weren't as welcoming as he thought they'd be.
Your story was very interesting. I had no ideal that this goes on even between people who are so similar. I learned allot of stuff from your story, that I probably wouldn't have learned in school. You see your piece is a reason why youth reporters are so important, they tell stories that would never be heard and just go unchecked, but now because of people like you we know about this know. I know for sure after listening to your story I am going to try my best to make the new immigrants of every race, culture, etc. in my school feel comfortable, because if is was I, I would want the same. In your story you focused so much on one side ( the people who where picked on) it would have been very interesting to hear more from the people who where being racist and discriminating..asking them simple questions like ?why do you pick on these new immigrants?? Also with radio stories you have to try your absolute best to make sure people can understand you, your accent makes your story unique but you have to be careful and not go to fast so we listeners can understand and put our full attention into the story and not your words....you rock man!!!
Reporter Josue Melgar gives voice to a rarely discussed problem regarding immigrants: the tension between the ones who have assimilated and those who haven’t. By looking at the situation in his high school, Melgar provides a sense of how it feels to be truly on the outs, beyond the regular feelings of simply being a teenager. The assimilated kids feel superior and pick on the new ones. As a student Carlos says with pride, “it’s tradition,” and Carlos has only been in the U.S. for 4 years. Jincho is the derogatory name given to a student who can’t speak or read English. Painful as it is for them to experience, these young people understand the ascendancy of language and how it shapes identity. I appreciate the sound of their accented voices, fighting to be heard above the surety of those who feel comfortable. This is commentary adults should hear.
This piece really made me think about complicated issues like prejudice and stereotypes, while putting it in the everyday context of high school, which makes it easy to apply to other situations. That can help us focus on breaking the vicious circle of acceptance.
Comments for Jincho
Produced by Josue Melgar
Other pieces by WAMU
Rating Summary
3 comments
Rocky Tayeh
Posted on December 30, 2005 at 12:17 PM | Permalink
Review of Jincho
Your story was very interesting. I had no ideal that this goes on even between people who are so similar. I learned allot of stuff from your story, that I probably wouldn't have learned in school. You see your piece is a reason why youth reporters are so important, they tell stories that would never be heard and just go unchecked, but now because of people like you we know about this know. I know for sure after listening to your story I am going to try my best to make the new immigrants of every race, culture, etc. in my school feel comfortable, because if is was I, I would want the same. In your story you focused so much on one side ( the people who where picked on) it would have been very interesting to hear more from the people who where being racist and discriminating..asking them simple questions like ?why do you pick on these new immigrants?? Also with radio stories you have to try your absolute best to make sure people can understand you, your accent makes your story unique but you have to be careful and not go to fast so we listeners can understand and put our full attention into the story and not your words....you rock man!!!
Yolette Garcia
Posted on October 03, 2005 at 08:33 PM | Permalink
Review of Jincho
Reporter Josue Melgar gives voice to a rarely discussed problem regarding immigrants: the tension between the ones who have assimilated and those who haven’t. By looking at the situation in his high school, Melgar provides a sense of how it feels to be truly on the outs, beyond the regular feelings of simply being a teenager. The assimilated kids feel superior and pick on the new ones. As a student Carlos says with pride, “it’s tradition,” and Carlos has only been in the U.S. for 4 years. Jincho is the derogatory name given to a student who can’t speak or read English. Painful as it is for them to experience, these young people understand the ascendancy of language and how it shapes identity. I appreciate the sound of their accented voices, fighting to be heard above the surety of those who feel comfortable. This is commentary adults should hear.
Ben Lavine
Posted on September 14, 2005 at 08:16 PM | Permalink
Review of Jincho
This piece really made me think about complicated issues like prejudice and stereotypes, while putting it in the everyday context of high school, which makes it easy to apply to other situations. That can help us focus on breaking the vicious circle of acceptance.