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Audio Recording "I feel that being a Latina gives me an advantage."

"I feel that being a Latina gives me an advantage."

About this Item

Title

  • "I feel that being a Latina gives me an advantage."

Names

  • Meza, Beatriz (Narrator)
  • Carroll, Thomas D. (Interviewer)

Created / Published

  • 1994-09-12

Headings

  • -  Interviews
  • -  Lawyers
  • -  Oral history
  • -  Sound recordings
  • -  21st Avenue (Paterson, N. J.)
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  United States -- New Jersey -- Paterson

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews

Notes

  • -  Interview with Beatriz Meza, an attorney.
  • -  Summary of audio segment: Is that a double burden? BM says that she feels that being a Latina gives her an advantage, because she is bi-lingual and knows another culture. It makes her more accessible to a different community. Hispanics who come into the law firm feel more comfortable with her, and they bring others to the firm knowing she's there. So BM thinks she's an asset to any firm or company she will work for. She was hired at certain law firms because she knew the language, they were situated in areas where there were many Spanish speaking clients. BM says she speaks Italian also, and a little Portuguese. Knowing that, the law firms find that to be an asset. So it may be a burden, maybe not, being Hispanic. TC asks about when she has to deal with a Spanish speaking male. BM says that's a little difficult, because the attorney who she thought should give her more respect when she went to his office was Spanish. His attitude was very difficult for BM to accept. There is no problem with clients who come into the firm and know she's an attorney. But even talking to Latino [male] lawyers, it depends on their mentality. Some respect you because you're an attorney and they think of you as a professional just like them, and some of them don't, because they feel you shouldn't be there, you should be at home. And that's the machismo of some of the Latin American men.

Medium

  • Digital Audio Tape

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1995/028: WIP-TDC-A022

Source Collection

  • Working in Paterson Project Collection (AFC 1995/028)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

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Credit line

Working in Paterson Project collection, 1993-2002 (AFC 1995/028), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Meza, Beatriz, and Thomas D Carroll. "I feel that being a Latina gives me an advantage.". -09-12, 1994. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/afcwip003977/.

APA citation style:

Meza, B. & Carroll, T. D. (1994) "I feel that being a Latina gives me an advantage.". -09-12. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afcwip003977/.

MLA citation style:

Meza, Beatriz, and Thomas D Carroll. "I feel that being a Latina gives me an advantage.". -09-12, 1994. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afcwip003977/>.