Chicano Movement

The Chicano movement, or el movimiento, grew out of the turbulent civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Similar to their African American counterparts, Chicanos/as struggled for social, political, and economic parity and to subvert discriminatory laws and practices. Within the civil rights movement, Chicanos/as challenged institutionalized systems of oppression that, for decades, had relegated them to second-class citizenship, principally in the U.S. Southwest. Their efforts to achieve complete citizenship were inspired by African American activists struggling for self-determination against the Jim Crow laws in the South. Historian F. Arturo Rosales points out that the African American civil rights struggle was crucial in leading Mexican Americans to forge their own movement. Indeed, the involvement of Mexican Americans in African American organizations, such as the National Student Association and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, provided them with insightful community-organizing experiences. Undeniably, this second generation of Mexican Americans, or Chicanos, matured politically in an era of social dissent.

As the Chicano movement evolved during the late 1960s, Chicanos/as called for a cultural renewal and search for identity. Their political self-identification distinguished them from their parents' generation, which they thought was more accommodating. Chicanos/as contended that the term Mexican American reflected assimilationist tendencies. Like their African American peers, Chicanos/as challenged European American definitions of Mexican Americans. Instead, they espoused phrases that were self-empowering, such as “Brown is beautiful,” and called themselves Chicanos/Chicanas, a term their parents despised.

As a community, Chicanos/as demanded an educational curriculum that reflected their historical presence in, and contributions to, the United States; their cultural achievements; and their desire for control over their own communities. They also adopted an indigenous identity, or indigenismo, that celebrated their native ancestry, especially that of the Aztec civilization. This cultural affiliation tied the Aztec's mythical origins to the Southwest, or Aztlán. Thus, it became easier for Chicanos/as to situate themselves between two nations that rejected them for being culturally distinct. In turn, these claims concretized their identity and induced an activist philosophy largely based on racial pride and cultural nationalism, Chicanismo. This newfound ideology mobilized the Chicano movement [Page 312]differently throughout the Southwest. In addition, what distinguished the Chicano movement from the previous Mexican American generations was its broad activist base. Chicano/a activists came from different walks of life. Many were high school and college students, community and grassroots activists, and working-class citizens. In contrast, the Mexican American generation was composed of middle-class citizens and leaders, who addressed their concerns through the judicial and legislative systems.

The relationship between Chicano/a activists and the Mexican American generation was one of discord. Chicanos/as were critical of the Mexican American generation for their patience and belief in a system that prolonged social, political, and economic inequality. Instead, Chicano activists appealed for a militant form of activism. The absence of a national leader and disagreements over an ideological platform and long-term strategy, according to Rosales, complicated the Chicano movement. For instance, Reies López Tijerina founded the Alianza Federal de las Mercedes (Federal Alliance of Land Grants). Tijerina's main goal was to garnish support to reclaim land grants that were lost in New Mexico. In the late 1960s, Tijerina occupied various locations on behalf of the people, such as the Echo Amphitheatre, the Carson National Forest, and Tierra Amarilla, where he intended to make a citizen's arrest of District Attorney Alfonso Sánchez. As a result of his activities, Tijerina was sent to prison, where he became a symbolic political prisoner. He was released in 1971.

...