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Growing up, yeah it was fought over. There were those who felt you should act as a Mexican acts, who was hard working, willingly serve in the military, be fluent in your "native language" (a term I still find laughable honestly) and have a large family as the Pope had decreed.
The opposite end of the spectrum were my grandparents, whose attitude was, "we're Americans and if you don't learn Spanish, fine but don't be upset when people talk about you in another language and you can't talk back to them." Hard work and military service were still highly valued, but now so was getting an education and "not just being a ditch digger or serving the wedo's from up North on vacation." In terms of family, a kid or two was now preferred compared to having up to six or seven of them.
My mom's parents were of the latter thinking after having six kids and my grandfather being in the military for nearly thirty years. While at first my grandfather wasn't happy with my mom marrying a white guy all it took was an afternoon drinking beer at the local bar and they were pretty close after that. Growing up, those who weren't my mom's immediate family never cared, were polite not to discuss things in Spanish around my sister and I (if they did speak any Spanish that is) and threw a going away party the weekend I left for Basic, with many of my parent's generation viewing it as a right of passage to be in the military.
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