Labels Of Chicano

Ethnic labels and identity are influenced by specific time era, geography, and family composition. For example, it can be influenced by a certain time in history that has occurred, such as the Chicano Movement. It can also be influenced by the location of people, where they live has a huge impact on their identity. What country they come from and where people from their country mostly live at has a big impact on ethnic labels and identity. We can also see how ethnic labels and identity is influenced by the way a family is set up. For example, having parents that come from different countries. In the reading, “Who Is a Chicano? And What Is It the Chicanos Want?” by Ruben Salazar we learn that during the era of the Chicano Movement, we see

Ruben Salazar mentions, “A Chicano is a Mexican-American with a non-Anglo image of himself” which means that they pertain and identify to belong to this group because they are nothing like the Anglos, the Anglos where the White Americans (Salazar, 1970). The Anglos would talk down on the Chicanos, they would label them as less. For example, Salazar mentions in the reading, “Chicanos resent also Anglos pronouncements that Chicanos are ‘culturally deprived’ or that the fact that they speak Spanish is a ‘problem’” (1970). Something I found very interesting about this reading was when Salazar mentions, “What, then, is a Chicano? Chicanos say that if you have to ask you’ll never understand, much less become a Chicano” which shows that if you don’t know what a Chicano is then you can’t identify yourself as one. Most people will believe that a Chicano is just a Mexican, but it is more than that. Chicanos identify as a group of people who want to make a change. They want to be treated equally and have better labor rights or just rights

In the reading, “Latino vs. Hispanic: The Politics of Ethnic Names” by Linda Martin Alcoff mentions, “But in some areas of the USA such as New Mexico, much of Texas, and the south-east excluding California, ‘Hispanic’ is the preferred term and ‘Latino’ is a term used only by outsiders, thus indicating that geographical context will alter the terms’ political meanings” (396). This shows us that geography has influenced ethnic labels and identity depending on where you live. For example, those who identify as Hispanics might live in a complete different area of those who identify as Latino. Like Alcoff mentions, some might see the other as an outsider but it all depends where you are from. Not only is it influenced by geography but it’s also influenced by the way you are seen and how much power you have. For example, “Gerald Torres recounts the old joke among Mexican-Americans that, if you were really poor, you were Mexican; if you had a little money, you were Mexican-American; if you had a bit more money, you were American of Mexican descent; if you had even more money, you were Spanish; and if you were really well off, you were Italian” (Alcoff 398). Ethnic labels and identity is way for a certain group to show who they are but also what they want to do, “Names do describe groups and group characteristics that already exist, but they also offer explanations about groups and causal accounts of their