In Colorado My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes

The dishwashing job that the father has secured in a Tex-Mex restaurant in Durango, Colorado, symbolizes the type of physically demanding and low-paying work often available to unauthorized immigrants. Rather than valuing his individuality, the restaurant staff gives him a nickname—“Jalapeño” (Line 2)—that reduces him to a stereotype, highlighting the casual bias that can accompany such workplaces. As he carries out the repetitive task of washing dishes, the job becomes a quiet symbol of resilience in the face of adversity. 

That the restaurant is in Durango, an American town that borrows its name from an important historical Mexican city, further underscores the irony. Durango in Mexico is regarded as part of a heroic state that long resisted the invasion and occupation of European colonialists. In the poem, this name serves as a backdrop to the father’s experience, blending pride in his origins with the realities of his life as a migrant worker.

The restaurant’s focus on Mexican cuisine adds another layer of complexity to the father’s story. It evokes questions of cultural exchange and appropriation while illustrating how migrants contribute to industries that thrive on their heritage. A proud and strong individual, the father now works in a role that might seem invisible to others, reflecting how immigrants can be overlooked or undervalued in the broader

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