Chicanismo in Burciaga´s Drink Cultura

Unfortunately much of the Latino history has been ignored or not written in conventional textbooks, but the reality is that Latinos experienced similar experiences to the ones of African Americans. According to Richard Delgado, “Recent research by reputable historians shows that Latinos, particularly Mexican Americans in the southwest, were lynched in large numbers during roughly the same period when lynching of blacks ran rampart” (583). Moreover, Latinos have also been heavily discriminated within the educational system through segregation. Latinos along with African American were not allowed to attend school with white children and often had schools assigned to them. The purpose of segregating was to, “isolate Mexican American children and to retard their educational process” (Perea 601). Other methods of academically repressing Latinos included retaining them “in first grade for two or three years, which automatically placed them behind their Anglo peers” (Perea 602). Some of the rationale behind segregating children was that stereotypes were prevalent amid educators. Juan F. Perea sites in his article that show that, “teachers viewed their . . . students as lazy and favored Anglo students in . . . leadership roles . . . [that] were necessary to teach Anglos how to control and lead Mexicans” (Perea 602). The previous clearly demonstrates that the educational system sought hinder Latinos in the educational system for the purpose of maintaining a working

In “Puerto Rican Obituary” by Pedro Pietri, the author takes his readers on a journey of the oppressive life of a Puerto Rican immigrant. He describes a vicious cycle of stagnancy in which immigrants work endlessly without reward. Hopeful every day that the American dream they once imagined would come to fruition, but instead they are continually faced with trials and turmoil on every hand. Instead of uniting as a body to work towards greatness, the immigrants grow envious of each other, focusing on what they lack instead of the blessings that they currently attain. Contrary to the ideals of early immigrants, Pietri portrays Puerto Rico to be the homeland. The ideals of early immigrants have drastically changed throughout the development of America. Petri paints a completely different picture of America throughout his poem. Early immigrants describe an America that is welcoming, with endless opportunities, and a safe haven. Despite earlier depictions of the immigrant experience, these ideals are challenged because they weren’t integrated into society, were inadequately rewarded for hard work, and were disadvantaged due to their socioeconomic status.

European history and British literature are perfectly fine classes in most American high schools, however the government has deemed that Hispanic-culture related classes are unacceptable, despite the positive results shown by the students. The prohibition of the ethnic studies program might revert the student to their old ways of dropping out of high school, which would essentially take away the chicanos’ chance of succeeding in getting a career and obtaining a college education. This is only one example of how minorities may not have equal opportunities as the white majority does due to institutional

Racial formation is a vast sum of signifying actions and social structures that clash in the creation of complex relationships and identities that is a labeled race. Throughout the history of the United States, a large array of strategies was engaged in regarding education that took advantage of nonwhites. Since policies by those who supposedly “protect our rights” attempted to eradicate social, economic and cultural aspirations, dominated groups were more often than not suspicious of the school 's interests. According to John Ogby, “children from dominated cultures often failed school because they considered the school to be representative of the dominant white culture” (Spring, 101). This portrays racial formation having an effect on equality. “Acting white” meant to attempt to do well in school because

Caught up in the whirl of a gringo society, confused by the rules, scorned by attitudes, suppressed by manipulation, and destroyed by modern society. My fathers have lost the economic battle and won the struggle of cultural survival... I look at myself. I watch my brothers. I shed tears of sorrow. I sow seeds of hate. I withdraw to the safety within the circle of life MY OWN PEOPLE. (Gonzales)

Anzaldúa wrote about the conflicting views that Chicanos face involving their own self-identity growing up in societies that tell them they do not belong. Chicanos are people that were born in the United States but have parents that were born in Mexico. They face constant criticism for the way they speak, by both American and Mexican people. Often times Chicanos are told that they’re cultural traitors and that they’re speaking the oppressors’ language and ruining the Spanish language when they are heard speaking English by Latinos (Anzaldúa, 17). They are made to feel as if they need to choose a sole identity to represent and anything other than that is going to be looked down on. Chicanos have felt as if they didn’t belong anywhere, so they created an identity to fit in and belong to “Chicano Spanish sprang out of the Chicanos’ need to identify ourselves as a distinct people” (Anzaldúa, 17). A feeling of

Throughout our history as a nation, we have earned a reputation of undermining the relationships we have had with minorities and of largely neglecting their needs. Our almost hostile nature towards minorities in the United States can largely be seen in the treatment of Mexicans and Mexican American citizens in the times surrounding World War Two. Such hostilities are reflected in our treatment of Mexican Americans in the late 19th after the Civil War and early 20th centuries, the Sleepy Lagoon murder responses, and the Zoot Suit riots. My primary source reveals a feeling of inferiority in the United States by the Mexican American youth due discrimination that they faced, which can be better understood by analyzing the cultural contexts.

When Americans think of racism, they usually think of slavery, and that racism is no longer a problem in America. However, this is not the case. Racism is still obvious in America. Racism can be linked directly to stereotypical mindsets of certain groups of people.  Today’s racism is not restricted to whites and blacks, and it has come to define many different groups and races. Pigmentation as well as physical characteristics and features still are influential for classifying people. It is easy to overlook the racism that hides below the surface and is part of American life. Today, an estimate 54 million Latinos live in the U.S. and around 43 million people speak Spanish. Although Latinos are the country’s largest minority, anti-Latino prejudice is still common. Very few Americans recognize, acknowledge, and respect the contributions of one of America’s greatest ethnic groups – Hispanics. Americans are often confused as to who Hispanics really are and what they represent in America. Although the United States is known for having a melting pot of diverse cultures, recent studies have shown the rise of discrimination against Latinos and Hispanics immigrants. A person’s legal status should not be an excuse for mistreatment.

Affirmative Action. For many Texas high school students, these two words haunt them. Their future, or at least their future at the University of Texas, depends on these words. For Abigail Noel Fisher, a 2008 graduate from Sugar Land, Texas, affirmative action and its race bias policies allegedly ruined her chances of getting into this prestigious state university. Fisher argues that race should not be a factor in college admissions processes, Fisher argues for equality. Equality in respect to race is in our constitution; it surrounds us everyday. In theory, race should be irrelevant in this day and age. Humanity has established that one race is not superior to another, so why should race matter at all in the college admissions process? Why should the University of Texas, or any other university, have that “check your race” box on their applications? Abigail Fisher, and every other person applying to the university, deserves as much opportunity as every other student of any race. When it comes to college, intelligence and character should be key to admission- not the color of the applicant’s skin. The University of Texas’ current affirmative action policy is an unfair college admissions process that the Supreme Court should ban so that admissions are based on intellectual ability in high school, national testing scores, extracurricular activities, and community service; this should be changed so that every person,

Tomas Rivera was a Chicano author, educator, and poet who was most known for his 1971 novel ..y no se lo tragó la tierra. Until the age of twenty-two, he worked alongside his parents as migrant workers and his early life inspired him to write this novel. His life ambitions to give Mexican Americans an opportunity for higher education and writing came true by donating to the Chicano Literary movement. Through the fictional book, ...y no se lo tragó la tierra, Tomás Rivera tells the story of Mexican American migrant workers from the 40’s and 50’s. Made up of fourteen short stories and thirteen vignettes, the book contained a story, The Children Couldn’t Wait, that documented a day in the lives of Mexican American children working in the field.

Jose Domingo Ulloa was born in Chitre, Republic of Panama. Domingo lived from 1919-1997 and was known as “The Father of Chicano Art.” Domingo created this piece of art work in 1957. The painting was based upon real life events that happen day to day. It was one event that really stood out to Domingo which took place in 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

So when Abigail Fisher wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and attend the university she would have to make it on her own, with no special consideration (Nieli, 2013). The state of Texas has enacted the Top Ten Percent Law that gives students graduating in the Top Ten Percent of their high school automatic admission to any Texas public school. Unfortunately, Fisher failed to meet this requirement, and hoped to get admitted through this alternative admission track that takes academic achievement, extracurricular activities, and numerous other things including race and ethnicity. Considering her GPA and SAT scores were higher than most of the students admitted in this fashion, she felt she would easily gain admission this way. When that didn’t happen she felt if she had been a black or Hispanic student and had her same credentials she would have easily been accepted. Fishers’ attorney argued that the University had not been in compliance with the constitutional review. (Nieli, 2013)After losing two appeals, both in the district court and circuit court they appealed to the Supreme Court. The University of Texas gave great transparency in its admission process and gave other universities an outline on how to justify the need for their Affirmative Action Policies. In regards to their policy the University of Texas highlighted the need to deal with students feeling racially isolated or alone. In 2013, the time of Fishers’ litigation African American Students made up less than 5% while Latinos made up about 15% of the student body as compared to Latinos 38% state representation (Hawkins, 2016)Texas’s argued institutions need to leverage the educational benefit of diversity, the need for polices such as affirmative action exists as a result of the lingering effect of discrimination, and that these policies are helping the underrepresented minority groups

This animosity towards Mexican Americans contradicted the shared belief that the west was not only an escape to freedom but also a utopia where immigrants could turn a new page and paint a future for themselves. I argue that segregation in the 19th and 20th centuries was not only centralized in the South but also in the West as seen by the Mendez v Westminster case of 1946 and, consequently, that this incorrect notion of segregation being dominant only in the south led to the pivotal Brown v Board of Education case overshadowing the historical significance of Mendez v Westminster.

The film Precious Knowledge takes a deeper look into the defense and fall of the Ethnic Studies program within the Tucson Unified School District. During the standoff, as Arizona lawmakers bombarded the students and educators with threats and false claims. A major question surrounding the film is whether or not this program’s failure was preventable. Jeff Biggers approaches the situation from a politically centralized point of view, having written for The New York Times, The Nation, and The Washington Post, as well as, working with MSNBC's “All In” with Chris Hayes. Biggers writes the review “Arizona’s Precious Knowledge: Blockbuster New Film Chronicles Ethnic Studies Battle” where he looks at the bureaucracy behind the film rather than

He is a contemporary artist best known for subverting the meaning behind religious symbolism by juxtaposing them against popular icons (Chagoya, Enrique). He juxtaposes these types of symbols to address the ongoing cultural clashes between the United States, Latin America, and the world in general. The inclusion of pop icons is meant to seem shallow so that analysis of the piece in question will open to deeper conversations. His most recent pieces of art address issues on immigration and the economic recession.