When I started reading Burro Genius I kind of figured there would a huge focus on the mistreatment Villasenor received while he was in school. As it was a big part of his life he did recount several incidences but he really focused more on his family and how he was raised. I am going to be honest when I was growing up I have no recollection of ever meeting a Mexican or any other Hispanic person till I was grown. The only perception of Mexicans I ever had were from those cheesy Westerns that presented them as dirty and dangerous. I probably would have been leery of Mexicans if I had encountered them just from my limited view. My parents never talked to me about this one way or the other. They always taught me that we are equal in God's eyes. I have no such prejudice now that I'm grown and know better but my point is that in sharing his family, Victor shed light on his culture and race in such beautiful way. As he describes how his grandmother , mother and father survived war and poverty I so admired their spirit and courage. I loved how he was taught to respect women and that the most important thing he could do when he was grown was to find a strong woman to marry. His description of how his father loved his mother was wonderful. His father didn't just love his wife, he admired her and treasured her.
I so enjoyed reading about how his mother and father taught him about life. I think the idea of raising a son like a girl for the first seven years of his life is wise. It does teach them kindness and sensitivity. But then as soon as a boy is eight his training as a man begins and I thought that made good sense. If he were coddled like a girl for any longer he might become spoiled but if the training of manhood started to soon the lessons of kindness might not be firmly established. Victor tells of how he and his friend carelessly and cruelly stomped on snails and burned a lizard alive. That night he was haunted by images of a giant lizard and then a frog throwing up snails. When he came crying into the room his mother told him he was just dreaming and put him back to bed. When the images came again and he came running into the room again his mother was getting rather exasperated with him. However, his father called him over and asked him if he had harmed any of these creatures he kept seeing. Victor was shocked that his father could have known of his cruelty. His father explained he had done something similar when he was a boy and the same kind of images haunted him. So he told Victor that he must go to his room and asked the animals and Jesus to forgive him. He did not want to go by himself because he was scared. His mother wanted to go with him because she said he was just a child. But his father said no now that he was eight years old he must begin to face things like a man. He said if he were old enough to kill those animals then he must be man enough to face these fears on his own. He also told he that it was okay for him to be scared because he said that the deer lives in fear of the lion but she lives her life and raises a family. He also said that it fear that help them live through the Revolution. So Victor returned to his room with images of the giant frog and lizard still looming before him and prayed fervently to be forgiven. As he did he peace came and he knew he was forgiven.
I am not sure how much Villasenor really learned in school but he received a great education from his family. And I, not having ever really known about the Mexican culture, learned a great deal myself. I love when I can learn about other cultures and I think it is so important to learn about people as much as possible. There is no quick fix for racism. It is a day by day, person by person change. We are so tied up in blaming this and that for racism that we don't realize that only by building relationships can we ever hope to overcome it completely.
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