The Chicano Movement
By the 1960’s, American history was a turbulent decade of problems on problems ranging from Civil Rights to the war in Vietnam. The Mexican American Civil Rights Movement was one of the least studied social movements of the 60’s. Chicanos had many problems like giving land back, farm workers were treated differently, getting better education, and being able to vote. Discrimination was the biggest problem during the Chicano Movement causing unemployment for Hispanic Americans because of their English.
Hispanic Americans are Spanish speaking Americans also called Latinos. In the United States today there’s about 50 million people of Hispanic descents (Orozco). They are also the fastest growing minorities in the US because of high birth rates and continuous immigration. The Hispanic population is basically made up of Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Mexican Americans. About 63 percent of Hispanics are Mexican Americans in the US and 16 percent of the population is Hispanics. With jobs, housing, and education Hispanic Americans suffered from discrimination (Orozco). In schools Hispanics were not allowed to speak their language so for the ones that did they were punished and Anglo students also often reported them if they heard them (Ribera). Discrimination and lack of skills like understanding and speaking English played a major role in the high rate of unemployment and poverty (Orozco). Most of the Hispanic Americans lived in the Southwest and urban areas like Chicago. Puerto Ricans made up 9 percent of the Hispanic population and there were a fifth of them living in New York City. In Miami and other southern Florida cities, there are lots of Cuban Americans also Chicago has a large population of Mexican Am...
... middle of paper ...
...they were fighting for. Cesar Chavez led the Mexican Americans to many victories throughout the movement. The nonviolent boycotts and school walkouts were worth it and played a major role in the Chicano success because they got what they wanted. Over the years, the Mexican American population has increased and most are now able to get jobs without discrimination.
Works Cited
“Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement.” Journal for Multimedia History. Vol. 2 (2000): n.p. NLCC Educational Media, Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
Gutierrez, Jose Angel. “The Chicano Movement: Paths To Power.” Social Studies 102.1 (2011): 25. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Orozco, Cynthia E. “Hispanic Americans.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.
Ribera, Feliciano M. “Chavez Cesar Estrada.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.
Cesar Chavez, a civil rights activist, was a major proponent of workers’ rights in Hispanic history. Cesar was born in 1927, in Yuma, Arizona, as a Mexican- American. He grew up in a large family of ranchers and grocery store owners. His family lived in a small adobe house, which was taken away during the Great Depression. In order to receive ownership of the house, his father had to clear eighty acres. Unfortunately, after his father cleared the land, the agreement was broken, and the family was unable to purchase the house. Since Cesar’s family was homeless, they had to become migrant farmers. In order to find work, they relocated to California.
With pure intension the people understood a bit more what Cesar Chavez was trying to do. They saw that he was not only fighting for equality but for other things as well. They also saw that he would do almost anything to be able to reach that goal. Cesar Chavez proved that he would do almost anything when they protested with the 250 mile
In the early 1960’s, the Civil Rights Movement was rearing its head amongst ethnicities other than African Americans. The mid-60’s saw the flowering of a movement for legal rights among Mexican-Americans, as well as a new militancy challenging the group’s second-class economic status. The aptly named ‘Chicano’ movement had many similarities to what the ‘Black Power’ movement also advocated. It primarily emphasized pride in both the past and present Mexican culture, but unlike the Black Power movement and SDS, it was also closely linked to labor struggles. The movement itself found one of its leaders in César Estrada Chávez, the son of migrant farm works and disciple of Martin Luther King Jr. César Chávez would become the best-known Latino American civil rights activist through his use of aggressive but nonviolent tactics and his public-relations approach to unionism. In 1965, Chávez led a series of nonviolent protests which included marches, fasts and a national boycott of California grapes. The boycott drew national attention to the pitifully low wages and oppressive working conditions forced upon migrant laborers, and in 1969, Chávez addressed a “Letter from Delano” to agricultural employers, defending his own movement’s aims and tactics.
The Latino community is a very varied community each with its own unique past and circumstances. In the book Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez the readers can learn and appreciate some of the experiences and history that the different Latino groups had. This book does this with a special emphasis on immigration trends. These points of emphasis of the book are explained thoroughly in the identification of the key points, the explanation of the intersection of race, ethnicity, and class, in addition to the overall evaluation of the book.
Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire a History of Latinos in America. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc, 2000.
The 1960’s comprised of many different movements that sought the same goal of achieving equality, equality in means of: political, economical, and social equality. Two similar movements emerged during this era that shared the same ideologies: the Chicano and the Black Power Movement. Both shared a similar ideology that outlined their movement, which was the call for self-determination. The similar experiences that they had undergone such as the maltreatment and the abuse of power that enacted was enacted by the dominant Anglo race helped to shape these ideologies. Despite their similar ideology, they differed in how they achieved this goal, by either obtaining political participation or going to the extreme as using force to achieve their goals and moving to literally governing their own selves. Although the Chicano and Black Power Movement sought for self-determination, they differed in the tactics they used to obtain this goal.
It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most severely affected groups because the current immigration system disproportionally affects Latino/as. Recognizing how the experience of Latino/a immigrants have been both similar and different in the past from other immigrant groups and dispelling common misconceptions about Latino/as today brings awareness of how Latino/as are affected.
Chicano!--the History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. Dir. Moctesuma Esparza. PBS, 1996. Tv.
The 1960s was a very progressive era for the mexican americans that inhabited the United States, It was very a progressive era but with every progressive era there are also a lot of hardships leading up to it there were also a lot of tough battle to be fought. The 1960s was a tough time for Mexican Americans living in America, They were discriminated for their cultural differences and were stripped of their rights because their parents weren 't Native born.
In American history, civil rights movements have played a major role for many ethnics in the United States and have shape American society to what it is today. The impact of civil rights movements is tremendous and to an extent, they accomplish the objectives that the groups of people set out to achieve. The Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement, more commonly known as the Chicano Movement or El Movimiento, was one of the many movements in the United States that set out to obtain equality for Mexican-Americans (Herrera). At first, the movement had a weak start but eventually the movement gained momentum around the 1960’s (Herrera). Mexican-Americans, also known as Chicanos, began to organize in order to eliminate the social barriers that prevented them from progressing in American society (Bloom 47). Throughout the years of the Chicano Movement, Mexican-Americans had a “desire to integrate into the mainstream culture while preserving their own identity” (Bloom 47). The Chicano Civil Rights Movement was a progressive era when Mexican-Americans had goals that they wanted to accomplish and sought reform in order to be accepted as a part of the United States.
Crouch, Ned. Mexicans & Americans : Cracking The Cultural Code. NB Publishing, Inc., 2004. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 21 Nov. 2011.
I have recently visited the web-site "Chicano Park" and viewed the video Chicano! I took a critical look at both and evaluated how well the two educated the general public to the issues of Mexican American history. As a point of reference, I used information from the Vargas book, along with class lectures and discussions, and compared it to information found on the video and the web-site. In the following essay I aim to show that the video and web-site do not serve as adequate tools to educating the general public. While they do touch upon many issues of Mexican- American history, they do not do so with the detail of Vargas. Also, they do not depict the hardships experienced by the Mexicans and the racism of the Anglos as well as the Vargas book.
As long as civilizations have been around, there has always been a group of oppressed people; today the crucial problem facing America happens to be the discrimination and oppression of Mexican immigrants. “Mexican Americans constitute the oldest Hispanic-origin population in the United States.”(57 Falcon) Today the population of Mexican’s in the United States is said to be about 10.9%, that’s about 34 million people according to the US Census Bureau in 2012. With this many people in the United States being of Mexican descent or origin, one would think that discrimination wouldn’t be a problem, however though the issue of Mexican immigrant oppression and discrimination has never been a more prevalent problem in the United States before now. As the need for resolve grows stronger with each movement and march, the examination of why these people are being discriminated against and oppressed becomes more crucial and important. Oppression and Anti-discrimination organizations such as the Freedom Socialist Organization believe that the problem of discrimination began when America conquered Mexican l...
Today, the Hispanic population has grown tremendously over the years. We have watched the Hispanics community growth rate grow faster than any other racial and ethnic group in the nation. The Hispanic culture and community has populated all around the United States, introducing new traditions and customs. I was traveling to different to city in the States, I notice the wide spread growth of Hispanic communities, For Instance in Miami the Cuban and El Salvadoran culture is heavy populate in the area. In New York the Puerto Rican culture is dominating through out the several boroughs. I have come around town and Hispanics are known for their good food, which tends to have more diverse people try new cultural customs. Hispanic or Latino Americans are a group of people made up of distinct characteristics. Hispanics or Latinos are defined as a people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish speaking cultures.
Everyone needs something that identifies them, a space where they can truly be themselves without peering eyes and judgement. The idea of Chicano and the community behind is no exception. To have a personal space where community of similar opinions are included are part of their space. History has seen its prejudice against Mexican Americans, through its unequal treatment and demeaning of cultural ideas. Authors and writers, such as Gloria Anzaldua, Rosa Linda Fregoso, and W.E.B. Du Bois attempt to shed light and represent the Latino community that has gone through historical oppression and struggle. To define “Chicano” is impossible, the root idea of it extends far and beyond words and illustrations, as it builds independently inside one’s