Stand und Trends betrieblicher Anwendungssysteme

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction

2. Definition
2.1 Chicano/Chicana
2.2 Chicanismo
2.3 The Chicano Movement

3. Major events during the Movement
3.1 Student Walkouts
3.2 Groups and organizations
3.3 Anti-war activism
3.4 Strikes

4. Leaders of the Movement
4.1 César Chávez
4.2 Reies López Tijerina
4.3 Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales
4.4 Dolores Huerta

5. Chicana women within the Chicano/a Movement
5.1 How the Chicano Movement dealt with women
5.2 Chicana Feminism
5.3 The Chicana Feminist Movement
5.4 Chicana women within the Chicano culture and society
5.5 Chicana women nowadays

6. Conclusion

7. References

1. Introduction

The 1960's and 1970's were critical years for the Latino community across the United States. Spanish-speaking people from the east to the west coast were engaged in groundbreaking civil-rights efforts during these decades. These efforts, which were built on earlier struggles of Latino and Latina activists since the end of the Mexican-American war in 1848 (cf. Escobar 1993), established a new factor in U.S. society and race relations. Hard work was put in to achieve those goals. The most challenging region of Latino activism during this era was southern California. In Los Angeles, Mexican-Americans had to face severe discrimination, segregation and racism. Therefore, some of the most important events in the Chicano community occurred in Los Angeles; the Chicano Blowouts, the Chicano Moratorium and the Chicana women rights movement, also known as the Chicana Feminist Movement. All three fuelled a national movement, that would forever change the face of Latino identity and politics in America (cf. Trevino 2001, 7). Having Mexican ancestry during that time was not considered as something to be proud of, people with Mexican heritage were not treated as equals by the white population in the United States, therefore it was just a question of time until some sort of movement would break out. This paper will focus on Chicana women and Chicana feminism, with a closer look at how the Chicano Movement dealt with Mexican-American women. Another point of particular interest is if and how Chicanas influenced the Chicano Movement and how they dealt with each other and finally the investigation of the role of Chicana women within the Chicano/Chicana Movement, their traditional role and the later change to the modern role, within the Chicano community and within American society. To be able to answer these questions, one at first has to take a closer look at the Chicano Movement itself. The first chapter introduces the Chicano Movement in general, explains terms and definitions, the second chapter focuses on major events during the movement, the third chapter deals with the leaders of the movement and the last chapter with Chicana women, feminism, their role during the Chicano Movement and their position within society back then and nowadays. The paper ends with a functional conclusion.

2. Definition

2.1. Chicano/Chicana

Chicano was a label in the earlier generations for the “lower classes” and referred to young Mexican immigrants and Mexican-American field workers (cf. Chavez 1962, 8). Whereas Chicano referred to males, Chicana referred to females. In the 1930's and 40's they were used for discrimination as a derogatory term. The name derives from the term Me-chi-ka-no , which was then shortened to Chicano. However, in the 1960's their meaning started to change and they became a term which defined a new cultural, political, ethnic Mexican-American identity. A slogan which came along was La Raza primero, (my people first), conveying the meaning of a large family in which each individual member had pride (cf. Trevino 2001, 229). They called for self-determination and ethnic pride within the Chicano community (cf. Moquin et al. 1971, 387f.).

2.2. Chicanismo

Chicanismo was the ideology behind the Chicano Movement. It was used as a vehicle to express Chicano nationalism, based on the consciousness of belonging to a political entity, in this case, Mexican (cf. Chavez 1962, 5). It was based on self-awareness in order to create strong self-identity (Trevino 2001, 363). Moreover, it was also part of cultural affirmation to honor Mexican roots and heritage, calling to fight for liberties (cf. Tutino 2012, 214f.). This ideology spread rapidly across one of the largest minorities in the United States. In addition to that, it also expressed the solidarity Chicanos felt with other oppressed racial groups (cf. Escobar 1993).

2.3. The Chicano Movement

The Chicano Movement was the movement of the Mexican-American population during the 1960's and 1970's. It is also known as El Movimiento, which means movement in Spanish (cf. Trevino 2001, 363). During the 1960's, the population of Mexican-Americans increased dramatically, they were the second largest and fastest growing minority but were not in the public spotlight (cf. Escobar 1993; Moquin et al. 1971, 339f.). That however, changed with the rise of the second generation of U.S. born Mexican-Americans, whose militancy was awoken by the worldwide rise of student and civil-rights movements. They were inspired to take action, to stand up and fight for equal rights, because according to the author Moquin, the discrimination against them was at odds with the ideals of freedom and equal rights for all citizens of the United States. Thus the independent Chicano Movement developed (cf. Foley 2014, 148f.). It was a protest against the circumstances Mexican-American communities found themselves in and it was predominantly non-violent. The movement expanded in the 1960's and lasted until the mid-1970's. However, the roots of the struggle go back to the Mexican-American war in 1848, because since then, there have always been issues going on. The Movement aimed at uniting all Chicanos, regardless of class, in order to build dignity and pride (cf. Trevino 2001, 225). Mexican-American people demanded a general social and political change of the whole situation they were in, resulting in equal treatment within society, better education and facilities in school, a fair share of land, better working conditions, better and equal pay, and last but not least the end of discrimination and segregation (cf. Moquin et al. 1971, 387ff.; Escobar 1993). Interesting is also the fact about the places where the activities of the movement took place. Focal point number one was California and Los Angeles, followed by Texas and Houston, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Arizona. All these major states had been Mexican territory in the past and Mexican-Americans referred to the southwest as Aztlàn. The origin of the name is not quite clear, but it is very likely that the term refers to the Aztecs, a native American tribe. During the Movement it was used in a political context, even though the southwest was no longer part of Mexico. However, they believed in indigenous roots they had back there which strengthened them in terms of spiritual identity (cf. Trevino 2001, 226).

3. Major events during the Movement

3.1. Student Walkouts

We look for others like ourselves in these history schoolbooks, for something to be proud of, for being a Mexican, and all we see in books, magazines, films and TV shows are stereotypes of a dark, dirty, smelly man with a tequila bottle in one hand, a dripping taco in the other, a serape wrapped around him and a big sombrero (Garcia et al. 2011, 115). That was one of the very typical and stereotyped perceptions of Mexican-Americans conveyed by Americans (cf. Trevino 2001, 363). Students started to think that there must be something else in their history to be proud of, they wanted to change this stereotypical view, so they started searching for their heritage (cf. Chavez 1962, 9f.). This search came along with the conditions they met in school, and thus, influenced by the other activities of the Chicano Movement, they started to protest. The protests were the so called Student Walkouts, later also known as the Chicano Blowouts. Major cities these Walkouts took place in were Los Angeles and Houston. The biggest one happened in March 1968, when over 10.000 Students peacefully walked out in east Los Angeles, to protest against the circumstances they were in (cf. Trevino 2001, 1f.). Those protests were called “walkouts” and later on “blowouts” because students walked out of class during school time to protest, thus “blowing” school. Schools were for both girls and boys and everybody went out to protest. General demands were for more classes in science and mathematics, secondly qualified teachers, smaller classes and better facilities (cf. Moquin et al. 1971, 339). Between 1968 and 1970, young Chicano activists organized and led Walkouts in over 39 high schools in Texas (cf. Foley 2014, 173f.). The curriculum in school focused on teaching them industrial and domestic skills, to keep Mexican-American students from social mobility (cf. Moquin et al. 1971, 390f.). Therefore, it was reasonable that they demanded more education regarding their political and social status, their heritage, history and customs to increase self-awareness and pride, according to the concept of Chicanismo (cf. Foley 2014, 153ff.).

3.2. Groups and organizations

During the 1960´s and 1970's, plenty of groups and youth organizations started to grow, affected by the general time of civil rights movements. There was a huge rise of student activists and a strong and supportive network was established. One group were the Brown Berets, a militant arm protesting against police brutality which Mexican-Americans had to face daily (cf. Trevino 2001, 126ff., 377f.). Other groups were the United Mexican American Students (UMAS) and the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) (cf. Foley 2014, 172f.). All those groups later led to the formation of the political La Raza Unida Party in 1970 (cf. Chavez 1962, 80f.; Trevino 2001, 279f.). Groups organized walkouts, protests, and promoted the development of Chicano Media, magazines, books, libraries and newspapers. A famous newspaper was Inside Eastside, documenting, and informing about, activities of the Chicano Movement (cf. Moquin et al. 1971, 391ff.). Very famous was the National Youth Liberation Conference in Denver, in March 1969, sponsored and organized by Rodolfo Gonzales, one of the leaders of the Chicano Movement and the Crusade for Justice, an urban civil rights movement he founded. His aim was to connect college students with the rural youth, because he realized that people were leaving for college and were not coming back, so he tried to reconnect and to keep the communities together, in order to strengthen the Chicano Movement. The conference resulted in the development of two plans: Plan Espiritual de Aztlàn, a document stating the achievements of the Movement and a promise to keep traditional values and customs (cf. Machado 1978, 170) and in addition to that Plan de Santa Barbara, promising and promoting a change in the educational system, offering more studies programs at university, qualified professors and increasing enrollment for Chicanos and Chicanas (cf. Foley 2014, 172f.).

3.3. Anti-war activism

The Chicano Movement took place during the time of the Vietnam war. There was a lot of opposition and anti-war activism and a particular anti-war protest of the Chicano community, was the Chicano Moratorium. Chicano people protested against the disproportionally high death rate of Mexican-Americans in Vietnam. Soldiers were supporting and fighting for America far away and at the same time their families were facing discrimination at home (cf. Chavez 1962, 61f.). Finally, they came to the conclusion that the war won or lost would not change the conditions at home, so the question arose, why to fight and die in Vietnam when one could instead help in the struggle at home, where the police had also declared war on Chicano gangs (cf. Foley 2014, 175f.). Their attitude towards the Vietnam war was very similar to the one Afro-Americans had. A famous quote puts it all together: “I' ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong, I' m not going 10, 000 miles to help murder, kill and burn other people to simply help continue the domination of white slave master over dark people the world over” (Tutino 2014). Chicanos adapted this statement and view on the war and in order to support this idea, they held the National Chicano Moratorium on the 24th of August in 1970. It was one of the largest demonstrations of Mexican-Americans with over 20.000-30.000 people, marching from Whittier Boulevard to a baseball field at Laguna Park in east Los Angeles (cf. Escobar 1993). One of the committee members was Rodolfo Gonzales. However, at the end, the peaceful walk was considered unlawful and the police brutally vacated the park because they feared the mass mobilization of Chicanos. At the end of the day three people died, among them the well-known Mexican-American journalist Ruben Salazar (cf. Chavez 1962, 70f.).

3.4. Strikes

Another activity of the Chicano Movement were the strikes of workers and members of the United Farm Workers (UFW). They fought for better working conditions, housing and pay (cf. Foley 2014, 162f.). Very famous was the Grape Boycott in 1965, against the central Californian grape growers. In order to raise their salary, workers came up with some sort of boycott strategy. They started to influence people on the market, convincing them not to buy grapes at their place but at somebody else's place, so that their owners would not make any profit. This finally led to individual changes and improvement of conditions on some grape farms, and after five years of striking a contract was released which ended the grape picker's strike in 1970 (cf. Moquin et al. 1971, 338; Chicano Movement).

4. Leaders of the Movement

4.1. César Chávez

Several people are considered to be leaders of the Chicano Movement, there was no main leader, because the Chicano Movement demanded social and political change in general and each of the following ones were responsible for a particular area and direction of the Movement. The following four are considered to be main leaders, having played a big role with huge impact during and after the Movement (cf. Trevino 2001, 227f.). First of all, there is Cèsar Chàvez. The Mexican-American farm worker was born on the 31st of March 1927 and died on the 23rd of April in 1993. He was a very active and influential labor rights activist in California. Together with Dolores Huerta, he created and founded the United Farm Workers (UFW), that fought for better working conditions as mentioned above (cf. Foley 2014, 160f.). Moreover, the UFW organized protests, boycotts, like the Grape boycott in 1965 and hunger strikes. Finally, their efforts resulted in the Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975, which gained workers more rights (cf. Education change).

4.2. Reies López Tijerina

He was born on September 21st in 1926 and died on the 19th of January in 2015. Reies founded the Alliance of Free States and was very active in New Mexico, also well known for his fighting for land-grants in the Land Grant Movement (cf. Moquin et al. 1971, 338ff.). One of the things he accomplished was buying property in Arizona, which he and other Mexican-Americans inhabited with their own and independent rules. Another famous action was the Santa Fe march and the occupation of National Forest, which he claimed to be Mexican territory (cf. Foley 2014, 166f.). All in all, his legacy was mainly symbolic, since his actions did not result in new laws, but gave people strength and hope (cf. Machado 1978, 172f.).

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