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Race through a social construct is an incredibly powerful construct that plays the most major role in shaping identity
Race through a social construct is an incredibly powerful construct that plays the most major role in shaping identity
Importance of race in identity
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In Richard Rodriguez’s article, “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans”, he states using race as a basis for identifying Americans is not valid, culture should be what defines a person. For example in the essay Rodriguez states, “I am Chinese and that is because I live in a Chinese city” (91). This indicates that just because he is categorized as Hispanic it does not define who he really is, since he is saying that since he grew up in a Chinese culture and he knows more about Chinese cultures than he knows about his own family culture. Rodriguez defines himself Chinese also because he grew up the Chinese way and not the Hispanic way, but deep down Rodriguez knows his race is actually Hispanic but he rather define himself as Chinese because
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
During the Chicano Nationalist Movement, a well-known speaker, Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales, delivered a speech titled Chicano Nationalism: Victory for La Raza. In this speech, Rodolfo Gonzales tries to unify the Latin American people within the United States by using the idea of a family and to create a new political organization for the Chicano people. This speech was a cumulation of various ideas which stemmed from his own life, the experiences of the Chicano people, and the Chicano Nationalist Movement in general. Each of these factors contributed to the context of the speech and how the ideas within the speech are presented by Rodolfo Gonzales. Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales was born to Federico and Indalesia Gonzales, two Mexican immigrants, on June 18, 1928.
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.
Advancement was obraved in the Chicano and Mexican race was slow but proliferate in today’s modern and race accepting society. In the 1960’s the Mexican and Chicano race were ridiculed upon in the classroom as well as in the society. And moreover, there was a sense of inequality lurking in the shadow. The Cristal City incident was important to bring out the legacy which is now seen as the Chicano Movement.
Furthermore, it explores the cultural hybridity of the Chicanos and the need to create a new uniting identity (Anzaldúa 77-83). The book
“Aztlan, Cibola and Frontier New Spain” is a chapter in Between the Conquests written by John R. Chavez. In this chapter Chavez states how Chicano and other indigenous American ancestors had migrated and how the migration help form an important part of the Chicanos image of themselves as a natives of the south. “The Racial Politics behind the Settlement of New Mexico” is the second chapter by Martha Menchaca.
“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.
Chicanos are bilingual. But Chicanos have not had a true representation in mass media and literature. Their racial and cultural features have been
Throughout “The Mexican in Fact, Fiction, and Folkore” examines the term “Mexican” as it is applied in Southwest literature and argues the Anglo society has made a conscious effort to misrepresent Mexicans (Rios 60). He states the people of Mexican descent are viewed as un-American because they are perceived as filthy, lazy, and dumb. Ricatelli adds to the conversation of Mexican stereotypes by examining the literary expressions of Chicanas and Mexicanas in the literature of both the United States and Mexico. In “The Sexual Stereotypes of The Chicana in Literature” Ricatelli explains how in Yankee literature, the Chicana is referred to as the “fat breeder, who is a baby factory” meanwhile the Mexican is described as an “amoral, lusty hot tamale” (Ricatelli 51). He makes note of these stereotypes in order to highlight the ethnocentric and nativist points of view that dominated Anglo literature.
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…
We’re constantly being influences by our surrounding. Usually, our parent’s cultural background plays a significant part in shaping who we are. On the other hand, co-cultures also promote their own set of values which could easily shape our ideas about certain matters as well. These components are a part of how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive too. Growing in a Mexican household allowed me to be exposed to more family orientated events that included music, food and dancing.
Chicano culture came as result of a mixture of different cultures (Shingles and Cartwright 86). Despite the assimilation by the majority whites the Chicanos have preserved their culture. This paper seeks to prove that Chicano culture has deep cultural attributes that would appeal to the larger American culture, leading to strengthening of
The Chicano movements were not primitive. Instead they were movements that protested the inequalities and treatment of their people like they did not matter. These movements then attracted police brutality on the people though this violence always been justified like an effort to liberate the people from the tranny of the Mexicans. None of this is true, however. Accuna thus looks to deconstruct the myth that the Hispanics were any primitive or wild or that they could not govern themselves (Acuna, n.p).
This is because the movement itself began as a search for identity in a nation where Chicanos where once classified as White, but never received any of the rights associated with it and where later reclassified as Hispanic. It is also because what was once considered Mexican culture is no more as it has been taken, manipulated, and killed by the Anglos in their conquest. In “I am Joaquin” we see this concept throughout the work in a variety of forms that range from what Mexicans are to the concept of being Chicano. One major example of the search for Identity in the work is shown in the beginning with the paradox question where many young Chicanos are forced to choose between cultural life in poverty or stability at the price of their culture. Basically it states that they must choose between embracing their heritage at the cost of stability or to reject it and conform to the Anglo world and have a chance to be successful.
