An Evolving Chicana/o Identity
The definition of Chicana/o social identity has evolved since its beginning in the Spanish Conquest, and will continue to evolve to fit the identity of the Chicana/o population today. The origin of the term Chicano came during the Spanish Conquest; the Spaniards conquered indigenous land, and made it possible to mix cultures. Not only did they create a mestizaje population, as pictured in “I Am Joaquin”—“I am both tyrant and slave ,” referring to his mixture of indigenous and Spanish blood—but they also exploited the indigenous peoples. According to the book titled “The Broken Spears,” the Mexicanos tried to fight back against the Spaniards. However, the Spanish group held superior weapons and thus were able to
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In Hurtado and Gurin’s article, we see the first label of Chicano as “the Chicano Generation” originating from 1966 to present time. The generation before the Chicana/o generation were the Mexicanos whom valued the Spanish language over English, Mexican customs, and their Mexican culture. However, the article states that the Chicano Generation, although derived from Mexican ancestry, critiqued the Mexicanos based on their “loyalty” to the United States. Thus, the Chicano Generation deviated from their Mexican culture, but did not fully assimilate to an American culture.5 Chicanas/os placed themselves in between, not accustoming to one culture or the other; thus, creating their own. From this, we can conclude that the early definition of a Chicana/o social identity is solely that of a first generation American-born citizen into a Mexican-American …show more content…
I think the most important is a commitment to activism. We often hear of many powerful Chicanos that changed the view of the Chicana/o community: Cesar Chavez, Reies Tijerina, and Rodolfo Gonzales… but what we often fail to recognize is that women, such as Yolanda Broyles-Gonzalez (whose research “questioned the ways in which Chicano Movement histories are ‘text-centered, chronological, and male-centered’” ) too have a big role in Chicana/o history. It is important for Chicanos to be inclusive of both genders since women too can identify with the three traditional characteristics of Chicano social
The Chicano movement was formed by mexican-americans. They influenced the Chicano culture and Chicano artistic expression by giving it the power to find themselves and express. The Chicano culture allowed them to know about themselves. It can be different than other U.S cultures and can be under estimated. The Chicano artistic expression allows people to express themselves.
The Chicano movement derives from early oppression of Mexicans. Robert Rodrigo, author of “The Origins and History of the Chicano Movement” acknowledges that, “At the end of the Mexican American war in 1848, Mexico lost half of its territory to the United States and its Mexican residents became ‘strangers in their own lands.’” In stating this fact, Rodrigo exemplifies the United States’ relations with Mexico, that, ultimately, led to their oppression. Moreover, these early relations led to social injustice for the Mexican community. Carlos Muñoz, author of The Chicano Movement: Mexican American History and the Struggle for Equality reports, “As a conquered people, beginning with the Texas-Mexico War of 1836 and the U.S. Mexico War of 1846-48, they have
Classism and sexism continue to be one of the issues that Chicanos are currently fighting for within the Chicano identity through curanderismo. Chicanas use curanderismo to oppose religious patriarchal ideology to justify that they should have equal rights. As curanderas, Chicanas challenge the Church by maintaining the practices once taught by their ancestors, the Aztecs, to avoid becoming estranged from social nuances. Under Catholicism and several other patriarchic religions, patriarchal ideals such as men being superior to women are taught and enforced by only having male Gods. Chicanas use curanderismo to oppose this idea of gender stratification by not worshiping male Gods and gaining a higher status in society as curanderas.
The Aztec Empire was conquered by the Spanish in 1519 so quickly and rapidly that the Aztec people were left with devastating effects. When the Spanish went to invade the Aztecs they were ready, they had strong steel swords that didn 't break easily and they had cannons and guns as well. But sadly the Aztecs weren 't as rich as the Spanish and only had wooden spears, wooden clubs and wooden and leather shields which could break easily and were no match for the
“Older Mexican Americans, wedded to the ideals of white identity and assimilation, often shunned any association, actual or metaphorical, with blacks. Younger people were more willing to learn from blacks, and this generation became the vanguard of the Chicano movement.” (Page 164, Lopéz) “We, Brown and Black, stand here together... Hermanos unidos ! We, Brown and Black, make this statement together, mano-a-mano, because we are one.
In American history, social equality developments have assumed a noteworthy part for some ethnics in the United States and have shape American culture to what it is today. The effect of social liberties developments is huge and to a degree, they finish the targets that the gatherings of individuals set out to accomplish. The Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement, all the more generally known as the Chicano Movement or El Movimiento, was one of the numerous developments in the United States that set out to acquire fairness for Mexican-Americans (Herrera). At to start with, the development had a frail begin however inevitably the development picked up energy around the 1960's (Herrera). Mexican-Americans, otherwise called Chicanos, started to
To support this claim, Rodriguez uses the example of Nixon’s inclination to divide America into five racial groups in the 1970s (407). From this point, Rodriguez focuses on one of the five racial groups: Hispanic. To illustrate the ludicrous nature of the term Hispanic to describe race, Rodriguez says that “such a definition suggests I have more in common with Argentine-Italians than with American Indians; that there is an ineffable union between the white Cuban and the mulatto Puerto Rican because of Spain” (407). Rodriguez uses this quote to show that the broad sense of the term “Hispanic” is not only misleading, but also incorrect when it is used to describe race. The term “Hispanic” classifies two arguably dissimilar groups such as Argentinians and Italians into one category.
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
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.
Not only that but when the Spanish arrived, the Spanish arrived with elite warriors of the Spanish land with a specific purpose to conquer, these were trained men that came to the new land hungry for gold and silver (Source 2, Del Castillo). With that being said they came ready to conquer wielding guns, swords, cannons and armor that made most of the Aztec weapons useless in combat. To add to their great advancement in weaponry and armor, the Spanish had horses that can swiftly carry them through battle and allow each individual in the Spanish army to kill several Aztec Indians and still live (Source 3). Although at one point the Aztecs overwhelming numbers almost finished the Spanish off and many died, they died with smallpox that was spread through the Aztec civilization killing 25% of their population over the next ten years.
“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.
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
Lastly, this paper will mention some of the radical ideologies of the Chicano movement, like the reclaiming of the their homeland, Aztlán, that turned some away from the movement, but ultimately was able to survive and adapt to better serve its
Using war equipment that the Aztec had never seen before and different battle techniques, Cortes and his men were able to quickly and effectively conquer Tenochtitlan. During battle against the Aztecs, animals from Spain that served in many battles called horses (about twelve), as well as swords and crossbows (a much more advanced version of the Aztec war club and spear-thrower) were labelled as advanced technology as they were quicker, deadlier, and consequently more efficient. These many advantages against the Aztecs and their traditional weapons; and therefore the Spaniards won many battles alongside their allies, and succeeded greatly by using guns that were far more powerful than the Aztecs' weapons. Unfair as it is, this gave the Spanish explorer a supremacy in conquering one of the most elaborate European cities at the time. “The Aztecs were unable to rebel against the Spaniards because most of them were sick or dead from smallpox.
Aztecs should strength by pushing them out the Spaniards didn’t have a reliable supply of food and water. The Spaniards tried escaping through the city but were caught and they killed a lot of Spaniards to the point that the Aztecs believed the Spanish were gone for good. The Aztec warriors had a weakness of the disease of small pox forming this caused a lot of deaths towards them. Even though the Aztecs were having victories over the Spaniards and putting their heads on polls as well doing the same to their horses they were starting to have a problem of shortages of food and water, and having less