“You start looking at yourself and think about how if you are a human, then other people who are different than you deserve the same respect”
Pablo Jimenez
Story #24
Dominican-American
Pablo moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic at the age of 12. Adjusting to life in Salem, MA was complicated, especially with the way Pablo was perceived.
“Living in the Dominican Republic, you’re not seen as an other or as an outsider.” He had never been hyperconscious about his race or ethnicity, but once he moved, he dealt with a big shock - how to identify with different groups outside of your own.
Pablo had never called himself Latino in the Dominican Republic because everyone else was just like him, but he found himself having to describe himself as such.
Pablo went to a predominantly white populated Irish Catholic High School, where stereotypical views of a Hispanic person were often thrown at him. He was forced to face the harsh reality of being conscious of what others think, especially as one of three persons of color among 100 white students.
Perceived as inferior by others, and often seen as the lively goofy Hispanic person, Pablo didn’t believe that his peers or teachers perceived him as someone who was complex and layered like everyone else - especially with his strong Hispanic accent.
“The reality is that when you move to a country like the United States, some people may not consider you intelligent or a complex person. But just because you can’t speak the native language of the country you immigrated to perfectly, does not mean you are not a complex individual.”
In terms of his family adjusting to life in Salem, there were definitely some difficulties for his parents.
“When you move to a different country at an older age to give your kids a better life, it’s much harder to create a social bubble.”
Similarly, Pablo’s adjustment forced him to adopt an American mindset to ensure he could socialize with others and excel at school. He also had to learn how to code switch, which occurs when people alter the way they speak with others depending on the social context.
“To me, this consisted of catering to my white peers by changing the way I talked and the way I would usually act around my own community,” said Pablo. Code switching helped Pablo integrate quicker into a community he felt very disconnected from.
“The reality is that when you move to a country like the United States, some people may not consider you intelligent or a complex person. But just because you can’t speak the native language of the country you immigrated to perfectly, does not mean you are not a complex individual.”
Pablo expressed that migration changed his family by learning how to accept the stereotypes thrown at them. “You start looking at yourself and think about how if you are a human, then other people who are different than you deserve the same respect. By being disrespected, you learn the importance of respecting others.”
Pablo says he wishes that people understood the shock that immigrants experience when they move to the United States. “A lot of them deal with an inner turmoil with their lives because they are most likely immigrating to a country that is very different from their own religiously, ethnically, and linguistically.” The older immigrants, the parents and grandparents, sacrifice themselves for their children when they move to the States.
Pablo is also proudly gay, and is grateful to live in a society that is much more open from that of the Dominican Republic’s.
Throughout high school, Pablo saw the acceptance of individuals from the LGBTQ+ community in Massachusetts with some of his own friends coming out, the Pride Parade, and the acceptance of gay marriage. His perspective shifted and he then became comfortable with coming to terms with his true identity.
Pablo hopes to uphold both his identity and sexuality, but different attitudes towards LGBTQ+ in Dominican and American societies make it challenging, especially with family members and relatives. “You have to give people time, especially with topics that are not as common in their home country,” said Pablo.
As an immigrant, “you want to retain your culture,” and he wants to find that balance with his identity. Pablo expressed that, “It’s a matter of retaining who you want to be and how you want to exist in the world.”
Pablo now works with first generation high school students with immigrant backgrounds to help them with college access.
He recently graduated with his MA in Urban Affairs from Boston University, and his next step will be attending Columbia University for his second MA.
