Abstract
This paper begins by providing an overview of who the Chicanos are, including an examination of their culture. It then looks at the history of this population group and discusses whether white settlers in North America were racist against the Chicanos. It also compares the situation between Mexico and the United States.

From the Paper
"Many generations ago, people were naturally segregated by physical geographical barriers. Mountain ranges, oceans, even sheer distances between communities formed distinct cultures, unique to their particular region of the world. Technology, however, made the barriers disappear. People, in a very short period of time, could travel wherever they wished, fairly comfortably and relatively quickly. The world figuratively opened up before its citizens and cultures began to co-mingle, and in some instances, were lost completely."

Tags:mexico, racist, america, north

Abstract
This paper explains that, during the 1940s, the period of the Pachucos, Mexican-Americans were considered second-class citizens, suffering similar segregation and oppression as African-Americans of this time. The author stresses that the Pachucos and Chicanos are excellent examples of both the alienation and estrangement of the Mexican-Americans. The paper relates that a major problem of gangs is the loss of parental guidance.

From the Paper
"Chicanos have adopted a unique style of dress. Much like the Pachucos, this fashion style is immediately recognizable by the public. Long-sleeved flannel shirts buttoned at the neck only over a t-shirt and baggy long pants, no matter how hot it is outside begins the ensemble. A bandana, of typically significant colors dependent on the gang they associate with, around the forehead or worn as a skullcap completes the outfit. A ball cap is optional; of course if worn, it will have the logo of the gang's adopted sports team. All in an overt attempt to let everyone know without question to which gang they belong. This outfit is so important to them, that it is not uncommon to see a gang member dressed in this more appropriate for winter garb, out on the sunny beach of Southern California in the middle of July."

Tags:conformists, outfit, segregation, alienation, parental

Abstract
This paper discusses how Vigil's book is a detailed introduction into the Mexican-American experience in the United States. The book depicts Mexican-American history in four stages: the Pre-Columbian, Spanish Colonial, Mexican Independence and Nationalism and the Anglo-American period. It explains that through the discussion of these the author provides a view of the dynamics still at work in contemporary Chicano life.

From the Paper
"The result is a sweeping and panoramic account of the Chicano experience. His work is pioneering in the sense that it is all-encompassing while being brief and readable, where other works on the subject often focus on specific eras, regions, topics or statistical categories. Vigil on the other hand is all-inclusive in providing an account of where the Mexican-American culture as it is known today stems from, as well as a speculation of where they are on their way to. From an academic point of view the book is thus useful both to beginners and advanced scholars. Beginners are furnished with a full account of Mexican history, which is easily understandable. Advanced scholars can use the book as a basis for further, more specified study. Subjects such as Mexican studies and United States-Mexico relations are well supplemented by this book, which also includes a review of relevant literature and a solid conceptualization of the topic. "

Tags:mexico, independence, spanish, colonial, nationalism, columbian

Abstract
The paper starts by discussing how difficult it is to define exactly what a Chicano is. It goes on to discuss the U.S. Civil Rights movement and Arthur Schlesinger's idea of the "cult of ethnicity" also the attempts and problems of assimilation.

From the paper;

"It would not doubt be much more convenient for scholars if all Chicanos had the same political values, followed the same cultural customs, related to language(s) in the same way, conceptualized race in the same way. It would, under these circumstances, be easy to define the field of Chicano Studies.
But, of course, this is not the case. While there are certainly common elements linking various individuals within the Chicano community to each other, as a whole Chicanos are as diverse and as fragmented as any other similarly sized group of Americans. A man who has crossed the U.S.-Mexican border illegally to work as a busboy and who speaks no English, is only partly literate in the Spanish he speaks as a second language after his native Indian tongue, and who has a third-grade education " after all " might be suspected to have little in common with second-generation Cuban-American working as a heart surgeon who speaks Spanish to her family but English everywhere else."

Tags:latino, immigrant, absorbtion, language, melting-pot

Abstract
This paper details the content of Rosales' book which uses testimonies from the past in the form of personal narratives, as well as historical documentation of the often difficult relationship between Mexico and America. The author contends and explains why it's imperative for America to right old wrongs and for Caucasians, Chicanos and Latinos across the nation to become more active in securing greater recognition and political enfranchisement for Chicano workers. This paper examines and details the prejudices chronicled in the book that still resonate today. Rosales' book is structured along four basic parts, which chronologically illustrates the Chicano movement. Part 1 explores the beginnings of the Chicano movement and its place in Mexican-American history. Part 2 reviews the birth of the Chicano civil rights struggle and its association with Cesar Chavez. Part 3 discusses the urban dimension to the struggle for Chicano rights. Part 4 describes the creation of the La Raza Unida Party and its impact on political power and rights.

From the Paper
"Part 4, "Fighting for Political Power," concludes the book. It describes the creation of La Raza Unida Party as a third party force for political power and the importance of political rights. But the 1972 election and the Raza Unida convention of that year resulted in an eventual fragmentation of the party at the height of its membership and recognition, and unfortunately drew the first chapter of the Chicano movement to kind of a close, as older alliances began to drift away, and the American nation as a whole began to lose interest in some of its political concerns. After the Vietnam War wound down, many Americans became less politically interested and mobilized."

Tags:latino, rights, perception, literature, review, cesar, chavez, history, prejudice, political

Abstract
The paper explores the ideals of Chicanos, those who actively support and propagate the idea of the Mexican American as a distinct social group with a unique and special culture. The paper discusses how defense of culture is the prime motivation of the Chicano movement and focuses on the Plan de Aztlan that identifies the ideological framework and also political program of the Chicano Movement. The paper then discusses how this may be a useful document to profess the necessity of Chicano nationalism and pride, but its steps of action if taken would only lead to the destruction of the Chicano culture and life. The paper concludes with the assertion that it is the responsibility of Mexican Americans, as with any cultural minority, to maintain their beliefs and culture through pride in their heritage.

From the Paper
"The culture of Mexican Americans is one of variance and differing opinions. There are some who recognize their heritage but continue about life as if it did not matter, while others take active pride in their heritage. A third piece of the Mexican American population is that of Chicanos, those who actively support, and propagate, the idea of the Mexican American as a distinct social group with a unique and special culture. The defense of culture is the prime motivation of the Chicano movement, with many supporters from various realms of life, some more extreme than others, but nonetheless supportive of their collective heritage."

Tags:Plan, de, Aztlan, nationalism, heritage, pride, beliefs

Abstract
This paper explains that the term "Mexican-American" is used for the original inhabitants of the U.S.-acquired northern territories of Mexico; whereas, "Chicano", historically a derogatory term, is used for Mexicans who immigrated in the U.S. during the period of the 1930s and 1940s. The author points out that, historically, during the early period of conflict, while the ?Mexican Americans? had already been assimilated into American society, establishing their social and economic status in the society, Chicanos were mainly ?outcasts? in this country. The paper concludes that, today, the Chicano-Mexican society is, and will be, a balance between the traditional and modern cultures, creating a hybrid form of culture and society that is distinctly characteristic of their Mexican and American heritage.

From the Paper
"As the Mexican society is gradually assimilated into the contemporary American society, its future can be traced or patterned right after the history of African Americans in the US. The emergence of the Mexican American and Chicano movements fighting for equality and recognition of their rights in the American society is reminiscent of the civil rights movement of the African Americans during the 1960s (in fact, Mexicans are also included in this protest movement, along with black Americans). In essence, Mexican society and culture of the present and for the future is described as "people between cultures," where "culture in the borderlands" "human cultures" (metropolitan typifications) are neither necessarily coherent nor always homogeneous.""

Tags:heritage, blend, fight, hybrid, outcast

Abstract
This paper discusses how political theatre in the 1960s, for all that it bucked convention and challenged the mores of society, was also deeply concerned with creating mythologies and moralities that would be comprehensible both within the scope of history and of the moment. It looks at how this can be seen as especially true in the work of Luis Valdez and the "El Treato Campesino" and Schumann?s "Bread and Puppet Theater".

From the Paper
"The 1960s (beginning in the mid 1950s) were a time of massive decolonization of third world nations and of the broader human spirit. ?"The 60s was, then, the period in which all these 'natives' became human beings, and this internally as well as externally... 'minorities,' marginals, and women -- fully as much as its external subjects." (Jameson, 181) Radical theater at this time was much concerned with the creation of new identities and the just-emerging voices of minorities that had never been heard before in the mainstream discourse. It is against this background which one may set Luis Valdez's radical political Chicano theater. "The 60s also saw the emergence of a new historical subjects, or at least groups that constituted themselves as subjects on the basis, for instance, of sex and race. Having formed social movements, these subjects contested institutional spaces but also declared a sort of counter-hegemony to the dominant social and ideological power." "

Tags:bread, luis, valdez

From the Paper
" This study will discuss how Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi and Charley Trujillo's Soldados: Chicanos in Viet Nam affect our understanding of the 1950s and the Vietnam War, respectively. Both books are non-fictional coming-of-age narratives and both involve an awakening of the authors to the lies of the American Dream. Moody experiences the reality of racism in the United States in the 1950s, which were seen by whites as the years of the full realization of that Dream. Trujillo's accounts show the racism of the United States military, which was held up as an example of a fully integrated institution representing the equality symbolized by that Dream.

The latter part of Moody's autobiographical work carries her into the 1960s and the flowering of the civil rights movement, but the part of the book which deals with the 1950s highlights.."

Abstract
This paper considers several aspects of the growing Chicano population in America. The author presents numerous statistics about the growth of this population and the various causes for this growth. Additionally, the paper includes information regarding education and employment. The paper also considers policy-making regarding the welfare of the Mexican-American population. The author sees this as a primary concern in policy-making for the 21st century.

From the Paper
" Public education and welfare are the other major issues for policy-making in the 21st century (Baker). Realistic allocations can be made only when based on true population composition. This is illustrated by a recent decision not to adjust the 1990 US Census Bureau statistics, which disproportionately omit US Latino-residents and, as a result, understate the population bases on which congressional representation and decisions on program funding are made. This kind of resistance has repeatedly resulted in an incomplete policy agenda and the formation of the appropriate and responsive management of demographic change. The fast-aging character of the American population places the burden of caring for the elderly on minorities and immigrants. Current and projected demographic patterns indicate that the economic success of the nation depends more and more on the fate of the growing Chicano population. Their education and welfare can, therefore, not be ignored by policymakers (Baker)."

Tags:Chicano, Chicana, aging, Mexican-Americans, education, welfare, employment