Steel and Identity: Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Lorain, OH

"My parents christened me Francisco, a name impossible to retain in our Anglicized Midwest; so, Frank it became, informally at first, then officially when public school administrators decided that 'foreign' first names were not permitted on school records." (Mendez, 17)

"In the ninth grade, students were placed in the college preparatory or general studies curricula.  Mexican Americans, blacks, and children of Eastern European decent were routinely assigned to General Studies unless a parent objected.  Few did." (Mendez, 35)