Dominican roots to NYC streets: Interview with Larissa Cuevas

For this essay, I was assigned to interview Larissa Cuevas, a 20-year-old Dominican-American woman here at City College. She chose to speak about the Dominican American community, which implies people of Dominican descent who have relocated to America at some point in time in their ancestry. It is a community joined by the commonality of national heritage, shared customs, traditions, cultural identity, and language. Larissa was born into a fully Dominican American household, her parents having been raised in the Dominican Republic, and her being born in the US. This would also make her a part of the second-generation immigrant community as well. 

The Dominican American community, like many immigrant communities, is definitely a marginalized community. This comes with them being an ethnic/ national minority, and facing similar discrimination that other Latin Americans face in the US. This community faces issues involving wage discrimination, language barriers, educational barriers, immigration issues, acculturation, economic disparities, and stereotyping. These are issues that push Dominican Americans to the sidelines and give them unequal footing against other Americans. Though individuals may face these issues at different levels due to personal circumstances, it’s important to keep in mind the inequalities they face. 

Being Dominican American can shape someone’s identity in many ways. Larissa is someone who grew up in New York and would visit DR. She emphasized community as being there for each other, this could stem from collectivist values present in Dominican culture over the typical American individualism, which would give her a very different outlook on life than most other Americans. These collectivist values would come in the form of support systems and a sense of togetherness. Cultural preservation and values would have also shaped her outlook on life to be proud of her heritage and approach things from that standpoint. 

By the time the interview was occurring, I had prepared a set of questions to ask Larissa about her experience. When asked about challenges she faces as a result of being marginalized, she answered quite personally regarding her own interactions within the community, stating that she would become the butt of the joke if she felt she couldn’t speak Spanish well enough within her own community. This brought to mind acculturation, which would be her assimilating to the dominant culture, which in this case would be speaking English more comfortably than Spanish. Her community’s response to that showed a fear of the loss of culture and a want to preserve it which is very natural for an immigrant community. Another question she answered was regarding marginalization she experienced personally, to which she responded by saying she doesn’t keep it in mind and tends to brush that sort of thing off. To me this was slightly alarming but sadly a reality of the way a lot of marginalized people cope with their oppression. Another question she answered was regarding stereotypes, where she said she encountered stereotypes people have of Dominican people being party animals, and how she felt a disconnect to that idea since she is nothing like that. This is an example of stereotypes being harmful, either Larissa would fit the stereotype and be seen as irresponsible and reckless by mainstream society, or she wouldn’t and feel more ostracized for not performing to the expectations of others. 

My community, being a first-generation immigrant in NYC, and Larrisa’s hold many differences. While she has an established sense of togetherness, my experience has been very isolating. However, our communities face similar struggles in terms of the discrimination brought on by society including wage discrimination, stereotyping, immigration issues, language barriers, and acculturation. Although I came into the interview knowing little about Dominican Americans, I came out of it having a better grasp of what their community faces in America. Advocating for them would look like fighting against stereotyping and worker discrimination that they face, and coming to an understanding and appreciation of their culture.