The Making of Chicana/o Studies discusses the historical development of Chicana/o studies from Civil Rights movements until today. In addition, the book written in 2011 by Rodolfo Acuña, one of the 100 most influential educators of the 20th century, identifies the mistakes and consequences of Chicana/o studies in the past and offers solutions for the future. It portrays the struggles of becoming Mexican and building of Chicano Studies, the sixties and the rise of the Mexican American youth organization, the trenches of academe, and the resist in the mainstreaming of Chicano Studies. The book starts off with the two phenomenons that have marked Mexicans in their journey and includes the three hundred years of Spanish colonialism and the creation of a 2,000-mile border, which affected Mexicans identity. Mexicans have tried to establish cultural roots and engaged in a system of beliefs in order to fit into society. It took time and transformation in order to become a Mexican American or a Chicano. Acuña emphasizes, that during this transformation, becoming Chicano Studies involved forming a common identity and considering separate and distinct …show more content…
Chicano studies began with women wanting justice and equality as well as the rapid growth rate of Latinos living in the United States. Finally, Chicano Studies evolved and created new departments and programs such as the EOP program, which provided the opportunity to low income students and minorities to achieve higher education. All of this was a product of sacrifice and struggle. They had to face racism, oppression, discrimination and injustices to overcome all the barriers and achieve what they deserved. Chicano Studies prevails and is important since it holds a rich fund of knowledge that must be share with
Rebecca Norris CCS 100/Section 1 Del Castillo Spring 2016 Final Essay Exam Luis H. Román Garcia, the author of the essay “In Search of My Queer Aztlán” shares his journey through life as a queer Chicano man and what that means of his self-identity. Along with this personal view of himself, Román Garcia postulates on the position in which these identities fit into the sociopolitical outside world beyond his own self-perception.
In high school I was able to choose an elective that had great appeal to me- Chicano Studies. This was a new course at my high school, it was providential for me that the course became available because of the large impact it had on my life. In this course we studied, the history of Mexico and its influence on current culture, past civil rights leaders, and the topic that struck me the most, current events. Our teacher, Mr. Pisano, expressed his alacrity to teach the course to the administration at our high school, and with appeal he was able to teach one section of the course.
“According to the U.S. Census,” Muñoz writes, “by 1930 the Mexican population had reached 1,225,207, or around 1% of the population.” As a result the discrimination became more widespread and an overall greater problem in the U.S. Soon, this racism became propaganda and was evident throughout the media, “Patriots and Eugenicists argued that ‘Mexicans would create the most insidious and general mixture of white, Indian, and Negro blood strains ever produced in America’ and that most of them were ‘hordes of hungry dogs, and filthy children with faces plastered with flies [...] human filth’ who were ‘promiscuous [...] apathetic peons and lazy squaws [who] prowl by night [...] stealing anything they can get their hands on,” Muñoz writes. This exhibits the vulgar racism that evolved into the Chicano movement. The Chicano movement started with injustice in education.
Throughout the early 20th century, many Mexican-Americans attempted to assimilate and even filed legal cases to push for their community to be recognized as a class of white Americans, so they could gain civil rights. But later on by the 1960s, those in the Chicano Movement abandoned efforts to blend in and actively embrace their full heritage. Adopting “Chicano '' or “Xicano '', activists took on a name that had long been a racial slur—and wore it with pride. And instead of only recognizing their
Unity for Chicanos came in the form of an idea, of a dream, called El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán (The Spiritual Plan of Aztlán). ‘Plan of Aztlán’ became one the Chicanos signature ideas, this ‘Plan’ “sought to connect Chicanos to their indigenous past while… reminding them of the colonial implications of the Mexican-American war.” The ‘Plan’ become a method through which Mexican-Americans could be united through their shared ancestry and culture. Simultaneously, the Young Lords pushed for unity through a much more radical avenue. The Lords aimed to liberate their fellow Puerto Ricans and thus “rejected the established norms and American values…
Molina’s article explores a new way of racism suffered by Mexican origin citizens in the United States considering they were neither “black” nor “white”. She presents a brief but interesting instruction which invites the reader to reflect on the concept of “whiteness” and how it is perceived by someone who is denied to obtain American naturalization just by the color of his/her skin. Molina provides an extensive analysis of the challenges faced by Mexicans and Mexican Americans to obtain their American naturalization. Her article encompasses an historical description of events related to racial concerns and Mexican Americans such as the new racial order and the controversy regarding the American legislation of Mexicans, the 1924 Immigration
In this book, author Tara J. Yosso demonstrates how institutional power and racism affect the Chicano/a educational pipeline by weaving together critical race theory and counterstories. Critical race theory is a framework used to discover the ways race as well as racism implicitly and explicitly shape social structures, practices, and discourses(Yosso, pg.4). Counterstories refer to any narrative that goes against majoritarian stories, in which only the experiences and views of those with racial and social privilege are told. The counterstory methodology humanizes the need to change our educational system and critical race theory provides a structure for Yosso to base her research. This results in a beautiful hybrid of empirical data, theory, and fascinating narratives that works to analyze how forms of subordination shape the Chicana/o pipeline, while also exposing how institutions, structures, and discourses of education maintain discrimination based on gender, race, class and their intersections.
The political struggles of Chicana women during the 1960s and 1970s heavily involved a confrontation with both sexism and racism. At the time, the Chicano Movement was fighting against the discrimination and oppressive nature against Mexican Americans present within the United States. The culturally nationalistic movement stressed both freedom and liberation for the population. However, the immediate constraints of male domination within Chicana women’s daily lives helped mold a concern of the traditional gender roles within a patriarchal society. It seemed hypocritical that it was only men that were deemed able to achieve freedom and liberation (García).
Mexican-American citizens and Chicanxs are heavily criticized for their American citizenship and ties. We can see this criticism in border communities like Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez. Mexicans are accused of “agrinfamiento (Euro-Americanization” for their activities with Americans and their economy (Martinez, pg. 3). Border Mexicans and Chicanxs are both looked down upon and excluded from the true Mexican identity because of their proximity and relationship with anglo-culture. While they are Mestizo, which is a part of their identity they can tie back to the national origin myth of Hernan Cortes and La Malinche, Chicanxs, because of their citizenship status, no longer share the need with Mexicans for a origin myth.
The immigrants entering the United States throughout its history have always had a profound effect on American culture. However, the identity of immigrant groups has been fundamentally challenged and shaped as they attempt to integrate into U.S. society. The influx of Mexicans into the United States has become a controversial political issue that necessitates a comprehensive understanding of their cultural themes and sense of identity. The film Mi Familia (or My Family) covers the journey and experiences of one Mexican-American (or “Chicano”) family from Mexico as they start a new life in the United States. Throughout the course of the film, the same essential conflicts and themes that epitomize Chicano identity in other works of literature
She studies their background and circumstances, explaining how “whether living in a labor camp, a boxcar settlement, mining town, or urban barrio, Mexican women nurtured families, worked for wages, built fictive kin networks, and participated in formal and informal community associations” (p. 5). These are the ways, Ruiz found, that helped Mexican American women make them part of the American society. She also talks about the attempts made by groups like Protestants that tried to civilize or Americanize the immigrant women but were unsuccessful due to the religious and community groups as well as labor unions that were formed to give them
The study of the history of various ethnic groups, cultures, and religions is one of the most profound ways an individual can grow their understanding of both themselves and the people around them. The study of gender is one aspect of research highlighting many of these groups’ foundational ideologies and what they provide cross-culturally. For example, the study of gender within Chicano/a/x may provide a researcher with a plethora of historical concepts and ideas that can bolster the understanding of the Chicano/a/x people as well as provide the researcher with new beliefs to inherit. In my personal experience from Chincano/a/x studies, I developed a greater understanding of the group’s challenges and acquired new ways to think about how gender
For this book review, I am going to be talking about David Montejano’s book entitled Quixote’s Soldiers, A local history of the Chicano Movement, 1966-1981. The author’s purpose is very well explained and it is not hard to understand. The author clearly tries to explain different ideologies, individuals and organizations located in one of the Southwest’s major cities, San Antonio, Texas, during the late 1960s and early 190s. All these varieties mentioned above made possible that a movement was created called Chicano Movement, a group that David Montejano provides a deeply understanding and description of the movement during the reading of the book. Since, the city was governed by a tough Anglosocial elite that was firmly convinced in the way
The film Black in Latin America details the black experience in Mexico, Peru, Haiti, and Dominican Republic. Many Latin American countries have deep roots that go back to Africa and slavery, but much of that ancestry has been masked or eliminated. The black experience in Latin America is still similar to the issues of racism present in the U.S. The disgust of black physical appearance and the cover up of some forms of African culture are seen throughout the region. The film takes a look at the social, cultural, and ancestral backgrounds of blacks revealing hidden secrets of their history and the attempts of countries to change their perception of how the world views them.
Critical Race Counter stories along the Chicana/Chicano Educational Pipeline by Tara Yosso focuses on a parent organization called the “Las Madres”. This article counters common stereotypes of Mexican Americans and brings light to several injustices in the education system. This article connects to other readings that also bring up the stereotype of Mexican American parents not caring about their student’s education. “Las Madres” is living proof that they do care about education despite what others may think about them. I feel like more change can be done through “Las Madres” than PTA meeting that they feel like they are being excluded from because they are noticing injustices and issues within the community due to the color of people’s skin.