Although I have never heard of the term Rasquachismo, some of my family's norms are defined by this word. Rasquachismo refers to people whose actions do not follow the norm and "hacen rendir las cosas" which means making things last. Rasquechismo is commonly found in lower-class Chicanos and Immigrant families because they can not afford to buy new things. My mother has always reused different plastic bags from the supermarket as trash bags. She even went as far as to use a brown McDonald's paper bag as a trash bag. Reusing these bags instead of buying new ones would be an example of Rasquachismo. The social norm would be to spend extra money on unnecessary things due to capitalism, but because we are a low-income Mexican family, we follow different values. Even here in college, I have collected multiple plastic bags at the bottom of my desk because I fear spending too much money.
Middle-class Chicanos and Mexicans rarely take part in Rasquachismo because they are not the underdogs. They do not go out of their way to create new things from used objects. They do not come from "ghetto" communities or the barrio, and for that reason, they try to dissociate from the character Rasquachi. The ability to reuse worn-out objects should be praised as a talent, yet it is commonly associated with the poor. It is common now to see middle-class white people participate in a culture of "zero waste" and recycling because of climate change. They do not follow this trend because of economic reasons which are why they gain praise for it. Meanwhile, Mexicans are belittled for their for practicing the same lifestyle. The miss treatment of people who practice Rasquachismo is both classist and racist, and unfortunately, I do not know how to fix this.
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