Occupied America A History Of Chicanos Summary

Inequality did not just occur in the everyday life of a Mexican-American, there were also signs of inequality in the educational system. This is explained in “Occupied America A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo F. Acuña. The fact that the Anglo-Americans had stereotypical views such as them being “dirty, shiftless, lazy, irresponsible, unambitious, thriftless, fatalistic, [and] selfish…” (Acuña 186). This made it extremely hard for them to progress since they would always be seen as a nobody. Once again, Mexican-Americans were blinded by a belief in which they thought would help them move up the economic ladder. However, the belief that having an education would help them get somewhere in life was misleading. Anglo-Americans created unreasonable

Mexican-American students went back to the prestigious Anglo schools, but now, Anglo-Americans were trying to Americanize them even more. “...segregation became widespread during the 1920s, aided by the “No Spanish Rule”―the rule prohibiting Mexican children from speaking spanish in school” (Acuña 187). Mexican-Americans took pride in speaking Spanish, now they were being stripped away from their culture. In fact, they would get punished for speaking spanish. Most of the time Mexican families spoke Spanish in their homes, but once they stepped outside their door they had to speak english. Anglo-Americans also tried to Americanize Mexican-Americans by teaching them “...English, U.S history, [and] biblical verses” (Ruiz 37). These Mexican-American students were not going to learn Mexican-American history, but the history of the great United States as its portrayed. Mexicans did not really have a choice but to act more Americanized. If they did not, they were in fear that their children would not be able to get an education resulting in economic failure to pass down