User:Rockero/Chicano

Chicano is an ethnonym for Mexican-American. Initially a derogatory term, the word was reclaimed by Chicano Movement activists as a badge of pride. Their efforts were such that during the late 1960s and early 1970s it became the preferred, "politically correct" term to use in reference to Mexican Americans in the press and in scholarly publications. However, the term's association with the with the antiwar, ethnic nationalist, and anticolonial movements worldwide led to its politicization. It fell out of use in sociological and psychological texts, and is looked down upon by some in the community, particularly social and religious conservatives. There were also those who never identified themselves as Chicanos, preferring the labels Hispanic or Hispano, Latino, Mexican American, or American.

Etymology

The origin of the word has been explained various ways. According to the Mexican researcher on patterns of emigration to the United States Manuel Gamio, "chicamo" was first used as a derogatory term for recently-arrived Mexican immigrants by Mexican-American Texans at the turn of the 20th century. In California, a similar explanation dating to the 1930s and 1940s is proposed: "the inability of native Nahuatl speakers from Morelos state to refer to themselves as 'Mexicanos,' and instead spoke of themselves as 'Mesheecanos,' in accordance with the pronunciation rules of their language". This pronunciation was similarly met with derision by native Mexican Americans, who exaggerated the sound to mock the recently-arrived. In both cases, the term and it's pronunciation are derived from the Nahuatl word "Mexica".

Development

The term was taken up in the mid 1960s by Mexican American activists, who, in attempt to rid the word of its negative connotation and create a unique ethnic identity, reconfigured its meaning by proudly identifying themselves as "Chicanos".

According to the Handbook of Texas,

Inspired by the courage of the farmworkers, by the California strikes led by Cesar Chavez, and by the Anglo-American youth revolt of the period, many Mexican-American university students came to participate in a crusade for social betterment that was known as the Chicano movement. They used Chicano to denote their rediscovered heritage, their youthful assertiveness, and their militant agenda. Though these students and their supporters used Chicano to refer to the entire Mexican-American population, they understood it to have a more direct application to the politically active parts of the Tejano community.

However, opposition to the use of the term arose within the Mexican American community immediately.

Identity

Since the term is inextricably linked to the Identity politics-based activism of Mexican-Americans, its application and meaning are highly subjective. For this reason, it may be useful to examine some of the definitions put forward by prominent Chicanos and Chicanas:

• Ruben Salazar: "A Chicano is a Mexican-American with a non-Anglo image of himself."

• In the 1991 Culture Clash play "A Bowl of Beings", in response to Che Guevara's demand for a definition of "Chicano", an "armchair activist" cries out, "I still don't know!!"

• Reies Tijerina: "The Anglo press revolutionized the word 'Chicano'. We use it, but they use it to divide us from Latin America."

• Bruce Novoa: "A Chicano lives in the space between the hyphen in Mexican-American", . . Houston: , 1990.

• Leo Limón: "...because that's what a Chicano is, an indigenous Mexican American".

• Ana Castillo: "[A Xicana is a] marginalized, brown woman who is treated as a foreigner and is expected to do menial labor and ask nothing of the society in which she lives."