Essay: Author Interview – Gloria Anzaldua

Author Interview – Gloria Anzaldua
Gloria Anzaldua points out the negative effects of white American colonialism and expansion of the American frontier in her essay, “The Borderlands, La Frontera,” in order to convey to both Americans and non-Americans the hypocrisy of the creation of political borders and how it still hurts indigenous populations in the present. Her point of view clashes with Frederick Jackson Turner’s romantic perspective of the American frontier by pointing out the violence that broke out due to American expansion into native land and how the native Mexican and Indian populations have not only been forcibly pushed out of their land, but further exploited by white American men in positions of power. Not only does she focus on the negative aspects of white colonialism on her culture, but also focuses on the violence committed against chicanas and how deeply sexism pervades the dialogue of the borderlands and racism.
Choi: How do you define borders, and what do you think of the Mexican-American border that separates both countries?
Anzaldua: To me, a border is an “unnatural boundary” created to physically alienate and associate us native Mexicans and Indians as dangerous and as if we were savage animals. (Anzaldua 3). The fence that lines the Mexican-American border is almost prison-like, or cage-like. In nature you can not just create a fence around the sea to separate it from the shore, there are no defined borders in nature that was purposefully created to separate two areas. I think borders were meant to be where two ends meet, not a cage to keep what you deem unsafe away from yourselves. It makes us feel like we are the animals, when in reality the Gringos are the ones who trespassed onto our land and took it from us, as if we would not fight back to keep what is rightfully ours. The Mexican American border makes us Mexicans feel trapped, like we are in a prison as if we are the ones who did something wrong. We are treated like savage animals kept in a cage by the civilized white american society who deem us dangerous, when they are the ones who trespassed onto our land and took it out from under us.
C: What do you think of Frederick Jackson Turner’s perspective on the American frontier in his article, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”, as it is a very different take on American western expansion compared to yours?
A: It is obviously written in support of western expansion and white colonialism as his audience is other upper class, white, male historians. Thus, he clearly only sees the positive aspects of colonizing the west as it directly benefits him and white society, as it kept them in political power. It does not surprise me that his point of view is very biased in the sense that he does not even recognize the previous settlements and society that was built over hundreds and thousands of years by Native Americans and indigenous populations, such as the Aztecs, before America even expanded west. He has this colonialist perspective that if there are no characteristics of European civilization present in a society than they are not really civilized, they are savage, therefore it gives them the right to ‘spread’ civilization and basically steal their land. To ignore that the white people are the ones who were the illegal immigrants in Mexico and started a war to keep Mexican land, Turner is able to maintain this clean slate for the American frontier and is able to justify its expansion.
C: Why do you blame white colonialism for the exploitation of native/indigenous Indian and Mexican people? If cheaper labor is available, why would corporations not take advantage of it?
A: Anglos treated us like we were the weeds in our garden, and pulled us out of our own land, where we had ranches, farms, a way of living and surviving together. They tore families apart through the creation of the border through our own land, forcing us to abandon our homes. What choice do we have, but to be hired by American corporations to work in the fields we once owned and lived on? They not only force us out of our land, but then turn around and make a profit off our backs because we have no other way of making a decent living for ourselves and our families except to work the fields owned by corporations. Illegal labor allows them to get off paying livable wages, thus maximizing potential profits. I call the border an “open wound” because we have never recovered, we are still being exploited to this day (Anzaldua 2). What right do Americans have to take what is not theirs and continue to benefit from it on the hard work of the people they stole from?
C: Why do you think there is such a negative connotation on borders?
A: Borders are seen as an obstacle you are not meant to cross without explicit permission. Through history, we have seen how Anglos have always seen natives as uncivilized or savage, thus dangerous and below them. By creating a border to separate the two, it polarizes that point of view that we do not belong in the Anglo side of society, that we are somehow lesser and dangerous to society. Thus, when we push against that border, when we begin to cross it, it registers as an invasion to their pristine and exceptional American society they have worked hard to build. They see it as an attack, instead of realizing that the indigenous Mexicans and Indians crossing over have always belonged there. Additionally, the history of being treated lesser since the beginning has clearly developed a racist lens on American society. Furthermore, when we rise against the unfair treatment of our people, suddenly we are the aggressors, we are the danger to society, and thus we become the animals, allowing gringos to justify committing acts of violence and even murder against us. The border is unsafe, it is where we are hunted like animals and forbidden to cross.
C: Why is it that the border that separates Mexico from America is the most closely guarded and watched, yet the border between Canada and America seems to be less monitored and easier to cross? Why is there such opposition to illegal immigration through the Mexican-American border than the Canadian-American border?
A: Since Americans view Canada as civilized, as more European, thus more Anglo-Saxon than the primitive native Mexicans and Indians, they identify more with their culturally similar neighbor than they do with the culture they deem savage. Also, since America has exploited our people and have taken our lands and created the border to keep us out, there is clearly more tension between us. Furthermore, through American exploitation of native Indian and Mexican people and the displacement of their societies and land, it has created a feeling of superiority and power in America, leading to increased border control to keep out undesirables. I still do not understand how we are the ones that are illegal aliens, when our ancestors have a history of living and populations the US southwest, our native homeland.
C: It is interesting to see how America started out as Europeans seeking freedom and created this ‘American Dream’ in which you have the ability to work hard and succeed. Why do you think the American Dream only applies to foreigners that are white or closely related to Europeans, yet people of color, such as yourself, are the exceptions to this dream?
A: I believe that because Europeans have a history of colonizing countries they deem ‘uncivilized’, there is a predisposition to viewing certain societies that do not meet European standards as ‘primitive’ therefore Europeans suddenly have the right to settle and colonize this unexploited land. The dream does not exist for those that are deemed unfit to be a part of this settlement and those that are pushed out of their land, which in most cases, happen to be people of color.
C: What do you think of the treatment of Mexican women, or women of color in the borderlands and their experiences as females?
A: The Mexicana is strong, fierce, and undefeated. We are beaten down constantly, trying to provide for ourselves and our families, working in jobs that are demeaning and pay far under a liveable wage, yet we get back up and continue on our journey. Furthermore, I believe that women experience the border differently than men because they also have to consider not only physical violence and possible exploitation, but also sexual violence. Also, I think when considering the treatment of our women, it is imperative to consider the nuances we experience through the intersection of oppressive institutions of racism and sexism in society. We experience violence not only because we are women, but also because we are women of color.  To demonstrate, we are taken advantage of because we are women with no other options. We are raped or sold into prostitution because we are viewed as indispensable, as objects instead of as human beings that have rights and also because as Mexicanas, we cannot call for help because we fear deportation, being caught.
C: What do you think of Donald Trump’s immigration policy on building a wall on the Mexican American border and making Mexico pay for it?
A: It is ridiculous that a wall is being proposed to keep us out from our own ancestral homelands and ironic that he wants to keep illegal immigrants out, but America was built on illegal immigrants colonizing Native American land that did not even belong to them. Again, such borders are arbitrary, only a way to keep out those who would threaten the hierarchy of power in American society built by colonialism. If more ‘illegal immigrants’ were able to cross the border and integrate themselves in American society, it would force America to become more inclusive, thus giving them more power that directly challenges white men in power. Moreover, forcing Mexico to pay for a wall that Trump wants is hypocritical, as why would the Mexican government pay for a wall that would only further increase racial tensions between both countries, and when American corporations have exploited Mexican land and people.
C: What is your opinion on colonialism in other countries?
A: I am against colonialism in general, because it creates an environment in which native land and people can be exploited to benefit those who invaded that country, which they justify in the name of exploration, religion, or wealth. In my opinion, you can never justify the taking of someone’s lands and resources for your own expansion and benefit. I strongly disagree with the romantic view on colonialism and would argue that the colonialists’ ‘god-given right’ to invade indigenous lands is just an excuse to merely expand and demonstrate or gain power in order to create fear among native people so that they can control them, which can be seen in American colonization of Mexican land and Spanish colonization of Native Americans. I also thinks colonialism is dangerous because it rewrite history of that land into one that views the colonists as superior and erases the history of the native people who live on that land.
In conclusion, Gloria Anzaldua has an interesting perspective on the American frontier and western expansion. She clearly views American colonialism as a devastating event on indigenous Indians and Mexicans living on their native land, as they were forced out of their own native land that has belonged to them for thousands of years. Anzaldua also focuses on the mistreatment of Mexicans and the American exploitation of Mexican laborers and how the journey back to their ancestral homeland is one of hardship and danger. Unlike Turner, she does not gloss over the violent history of American colonialism and instead informs readers of the negative impacts of the geopolitical boundary that separates them from their rightful land and points out the hypocrisy of being seen as the trespasser on her land.