This was written by Ruben Salazar the year of his Murder, Feb. 6, 1970.
WHO IS A CHICANO? AND WHAT IS IT THE CHICANOS WANT?
A Chicano is a Mexican-American with a non-Anglo image of himself.
He resents being told Colimbus "discovered" America when the Chicano's ancestors, the mayans and the Aztecs, founded highly sophisticated civilizations centuries before Spain financed the italian explorers trip to the "New World".
Chicanos resent also Anglo pronouncements that Chicanos are "culturally deprived" or that the fact that they speak spanish is a problem.
Chicanos will tell you that their culture predates that of the Pilgrims and that Spanish was spoken in America before English and so the "problem" is not thiers but the Anglo's who dont speak Spanish.
Having told you that, The chicano will then contend that anglos are Spanish-oriented at the expense of Mexicans. They will complain that when the governor dresses up as a Spanish nobleman For the Santa Barbara Fiesta he's insulting Mexicans because the Spanish conquered and exploited the Mexicans.
It's as if the governor dressed as an English Redcoat for the Forth Of July parade, Chicanos say.
When you think you know what Chicanos are getting at, a Mexican-American will tell you that Chicano is an insulting term and may even quote the Spanish Academy to prove that Chicano derives from chicanery.
A Chicano will scoff at this and say that such Mexican-Americans have been brainwashed by Anglos and that they're Tio Tacos (Uncle Toms). This type of Mexican-Americans, Chicanos will argue, dont like the word Chicano because it's abrasive to thier Anglo-oriented minds.
These poor people are brown Anglos, Chicanos will smirk.
What, then is a Chicano? Chicanos say that if you have to aske you'll never understand, much less become a Chicano. Actually, the word Chicano is as difficult to define as "Soul".
Such explanatinions, however, tend to miss the whole point as to why Mexican-American Activists call themselves Chicanos.
Mexican-Americans, the second largest minority in the Country and the largest in the Southwestern states (California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado), have always had difficulty making up thier minds what to call themselves.
In New Mexico they call themselves Spanish_Americans. in other parts of the Southwest they call themselves Americans of Mexican decent, people with spanish surnames or Hispanos/Hispanics.
Chicanos are trying to explain why not. Mexican-Americans, though indigenous to the Southwest, are on the lowest rung scholasticlly, economically, socially and politically. Chicanos feel cheated. They want to effect change, now.
Mexican-Americans average eight years of schooling compared to Blacks' ten years. Farm Workers, most of whom are Mexican-American in the Southwest, are excluded from the National Labor Relations Act unlike other workers. Also Mexican-Amercans often have to compete for low-paying jobs with thier Mexican Brothers from across the border who are willing to work for less. Mexican-Americans have to live with the stinging fact that the word Mexican is the synonym for inferior in the Southwest.
Chicanos are merely fighting to become "Americans" with a Chicano outlook.
WHO IS A CHICANO? AND WHAT IS IT THE CHICANOS WANT?
A Chicano is a Mexican-American with a non-Anglo image of himself.
He resents being told Colimbus "discovered" America when the Chicano's ancestors, the mayans and the Aztecs, founded highly sophisticated civilizations centuries before Spain financed the italian explorers trip to the "New World".
Chicanos resent also Anglo pronouncements that Chicanos are "culturally deprived" or that the fact that they speak spanish is a problem.
Chicanos will tell you that their culture predates that of the Pilgrims and that Spanish was spoken in America before English and so the "problem" is not thiers but the Anglo's who dont speak Spanish.
Having told you that, The chicano will then contend that anglos are Spanish-oriented at the expense of Mexicans. They will complain that when the governor dresses up as a Spanish nobleman For the Santa Barbara Fiesta he's insulting Mexicans because the Spanish conquered and exploited the Mexicans.
It's as if the governor dressed as an English Redcoat for the Forth Of July parade, Chicanos say.
When you think you know what Chicanos are getting at, a Mexican-American will tell you that Chicano is an insulting term and may even quote the Spanish Academy to prove that Chicano derives from chicanery.
A Chicano will scoff at this and say that such Mexican-Americans have been brainwashed by Anglos and that they're Tio Tacos (Uncle Toms). This type of Mexican-Americans, Chicanos will argue, dont like the word Chicano because it's abrasive to thier Anglo-oriented minds.
These poor people are brown Anglos, Chicanos will smirk.
What, then is a Chicano? Chicanos say that if you have to aske you'll never understand, much less become a Chicano. Actually, the word Chicano is as difficult to define as "Soul".
Such explanatinions, however, tend to miss the whole point as to why Mexican-American Activists call themselves Chicanos.
Mexican-Americans, the second largest minority in the Country and the largest in the Southwestern states (California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado), have always had difficulty making up thier minds what to call themselves.
In New Mexico they call themselves Spanish_Americans. in other parts of the Southwest they call themselves Americans of Mexican decent, people with spanish surnames or Hispanos/Hispanics.
Chicanos are trying to explain why not. Mexican-Americans, though indigenous to the Southwest, are on the lowest rung scholasticlly, economically, socially and politically. Chicanos feel cheated. They want to effect change, now.
Mexican-Americans average eight years of schooling compared to Blacks' ten years. Farm Workers, most of whom are Mexican-American in the Southwest, are excluded from the National Labor Relations Act unlike other workers. Also Mexican-Amercans often have to compete for low-paying jobs with thier Mexican Brothers from across the border who are willing to work for less. Mexican-Americans have to live with the stinging fact that the word Mexican is the synonym for inferior in the Southwest.
Chicanos are merely fighting to become "Americans" with a Chicano outlook.