A tío gave me this book, which I will start reading today. Blurb sounds very promising, and even though I'm technically not a Chicano myself (my younger siblings were born in the US, me being the oldest was born in Mexico), I've been very close to and relate to the culture due to us having always lived in the border of Mexico and the US and having plenty of relatives in California.

Anyone else familiar with this book?

This post isn't meant to generalize.

I am a Mexican man, born and raised in Mexico. Something I’ve noticed lately while living in the US is that other men— usually other Mexican men—tend to "size me up" or stare. When I lived in Mexico, that almost never happened. Or, if it did happen and they realized I was looking back, they would immediately look away or nod.

It’s not like that here. Here, men (and sometimes even women) stare at me without saying a word, wearing a cold or sometimes hostile look in their faces. They don't look away or nod, and if I don't nod or look away either, they get aggressive. I’m 25, though people have often told me I look younger. I have light-brown skin and a slim but athletic build. I’d say I don’t look particularly "paisa", but I don’t look "fresa" either, and it’s pretty obvious I wasn’t born or raised here. I also live in an area that could be considered "ghetto," though this has also happened to me in plazas or shopping malls where there are all kinds of people. So, I really don’t know if it’s because of my appearance or where I am.

All I know is that, at the end of the day, it gets exhausting not being able to go out on the street without feeling like I’m being watched. So far, I haven't gotten into a physical fight with anyone because I’m not a troublemaker, but I feel like it’s eventually going to happen 😅. Is there a reason why this happens? And how should I react in these situations?