Chican@ Studies 10A
Chinese Exclusion Act
Define: an immigration law passed in 1882 that prevented Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States Text/ Lecture: Molina Chapter 3 Those in California couldn't bring their families into the U.S. In lecture: created modern day border patrol Chinese immigrants were entering into the US through Mexico, so the US had to patrol the border and 100s of miles around it to prevent chinese immigration Significance: Foundation for immigration policy towards Mexicans
Poem: "Juan Valdez"
Definition Carlos Andres Gomez performs a poem called "Juan Valdez" and is presented as a counterstory to the census. Describes its Relation to the Text/ Lecture Carlos Andres Gomez claims that latinos come in different ways. We don't all look a certain way and are not limited to one specific group. Latinos can be both Puerto Rican and Mexican , light or dark skin, speak spanish or none at all but the census tends to limit the categories that a latino identifies as which can be problematic. Valdez does a good job into taking into account the diversity of latinos. Hispanics is more of state government given name ( self-imposed name where governments place latinos into categories). Government and the lady don't give latinos the opportunity to self-identify. Connect to Penalosa reading where he claims that it is very difficult to define a Chicano/a because it they come from different backgrounds. Significance: It is important to realize that latinos/ chicanos come from different backgrounds ( different cultures, religion. etc.) and therefore do not always share a unifying identity. Chican@s are reminded of this identity crisis constantly when filling out college applications, standardized exams, and even the census. It is especially important when it comes to the census since it can be problematic in order to determine the allocation of federal funds in terms of ethnic groups.
Chicana/o Studies
Definition an interdisciplinary field of research focused on Mexican origin people in the United States (can happen with books-conversations) born of activism. Study of history and culture of Mexican-origin people in the US Addresses race, class, gender, immigration, art, Indigenous populations, other Latinx groups, etc. Debate over where study starts (pre-classic, classic, or post-classic)` Describes its Relation to the Text/ Lecture- Penalosa Reading--> its important to acknowledge that Mexican Americans are not all alike and come from different backgrounds and it establishes how an individual`s past with Mexican ancestry is still relevant today. Juan Valdez poem by Carlos Andres Gomez Explains how Chicanos are not the same . Come from different backgrounds and not all have brown skin, speak spanish, or are catholic. Informs the public that Chicanos are a diverse group. Significance: The purpose is to familiarize students with the diversity and complexity of the Chicana/o experience and to introduce some basic issues central to that experience. Leads to student activism and growth in study of marginalized populations ( females, people of color, etc.). If we understand our past we can understand the present.
social construction
Definition a norm created by higher institutions such as the govt, movement, and messages that define how we see ourselves and how others see us. 1) Receive them through social movements/ media 2) Come from people with power 3) Implicates a difference between people It is a combination of how people view you and how you view yourself and others. "Society places you in a little box" Describes its Relation to the Text/ Lecture: Social construct can be seen as being placed by society into a racial category; what a person's "race should be" based on their appearance. For example in Carlos Andres' spoken word piece he speaks about the word Hispanic and addresses the question "What is a Hispanic supposed to look like? This idea that "Hispanics" are supposed to look like something is what can be perceived as a social construct. Penalosa argues that the extent to which Mexican Americans conceive of themselves as a separate ethnic group varies depending on the level of consciousness of the individual`s identity. There are some that acknowledge their Mexican descent and those that find it unimportant. Significance: Race is a social construct. Race & ethnicity change through time & shift depending on where you are. Because of these social constructs against races many were deemed inferior because they came from different "races". People such as Native Americans, Mexicans, and Asian were looked down upon because they weren't white. What did the term "white" really mean? There wasn't a set definition but if judges ruling thought you didn't fit the profile of being "white" then you had less privileges. Social constructs led to hierarchical views and pitted races against one another.
census
Definition: An official count or survey of the population, typically recording details of individuals. It was a way to categorize individuals into certain binaries; it categorizes people into races. Served as a case study for social construct. Describes its Relation to the Text/ Lecture: *From lecture: In the 1850s, census takers are told to categorize Mexicans as whites. Later in the 1930s, Mexican appears as a race on the census due to the Great Depression and viewed as a burden to the country since they were believed to steal their resources. By the 1940s, Mexicans were redefined as white due to World War II. By the 2000s, there are 35 million Latinos in the US. For the first time, the census allows you to pick more than 1 race ,however, it is still very difficult to fill out since within the latino and chicano community there is so much diversity. *From lecture: In Carlos Andrade Gomez's spoken word, he asks the question, "What does a Hispanic look like?" His words explain how Hispanics are people who have very diverse pasts from one another and have worked hard to overcome challenges brought on by their race. Significance: Race is a social construct. Race & ethnicity change through time & shift depending on where you are. This is important because the census fails to realize that not everybody identifies with one single race and it makes us aware of the different backgrounds that people have. Race is not simply defined by common language or religion, but also by cultural backgrounds and history.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Definition: It began in 1848 and was a dispute over land. The treaty ended the Mexican-American war in favor of the U.S. It had Conditions applied to 80,000-115,000 Mexican occupants Three options Leave for mexico within a year Stay and retain mexican citizenship Become U.S. citizens → achieve white racial status Relationship to lecture/text: In relation to mentioning the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, during Professor Caprio's lecture, week two. She explained how it categorized mexicans as white. Territorial impacts United States doubles in size Redistribution of mineral resources Secure a port to the Pacific Training ground for the U.S. Civil War of 1861-1865 Mass dispossession of Mexicans Significance: "We didn't cross the border. The border crossed us." In fact, the land that had become Texas originally belonged to Mexicans who had won their independence from Spain in 1821. important to chic. studies b/c it was the foundations understanding how people were starting to identify themselves in these time. It is relevant to Chicano Studies because the status of Mexican Americans as a racial group is rooted in their long history in this nation. In making this argument, I draw heavily on the experiences of the first Mexican Americans, those who joined American society involuntarily, not as immigrants, but as a people conquered in war. As Mexican Americans sometimes say, "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us. Anglo-Americans view of the Mexican American people as inferior is exactly what has shaped race relations today. Manifest Destiny's LegacyRace in America at the Turn of the Twentieth CenturyThis chapter elaborates on the three central themes of this book as they relate to the national scene: (1) the centrality of colonialism in constituting Mexican Americans as a racial group; (2) the important links between the experience of Mexican Americans and the broader pat-terns of racial formation and racial ideology in the United States; and (3) the crucial role of law in the social construction of race. One of the major effects of the American colonization of Mexico was to transform property ownership and the regime of property law itself.1These effects of colonialism led to the loss of the land base on which both elite and lower status Mexicans had depended (in the latter case, for sub-sistence farming and ranching). Although some Mexicans either held onto their land or gained new opportunities for ownership under American rule,2 the vast majority of land that previously had been owned collec-tively by Mexicans—via community land grants awarded by the Spanish or Mexican governments—came to be owned by the U.S. Government or by Euro-American individuals or corporations. The process by which this massive transfer of property occurred is illustrated with the story of one Mexican American community's forty-year legal struggle to retain its land. Their lawsuit eventually ended in failure in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1897.3The formation of Mexican Americans as a racial group was closely linked to the broader evolution of the American racial order in the nine-teenth century.
Pre Colonial Mesoamerica
Definition: Mesoamerica refers to the diverse civilizations that shared similar cultural characteristics in the geographic areas comprising the modern-day countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Relationship to lecture/text: In lecture Contested beginnings falls under the historical survey of Chicano/a/x studies and refers to the different ideas as to when and where racial identity comes from. In lecture professor Carpio mentions 2 beginnings: pre-colonial Mesoamerica and New Spain/ Spanish conquest. Under mesoamerica we took a closer look at the Pre Classic Olmecs, Classic Mayas, and post Classic Aztecs/Mexica. Focus on the fact that these three civilizations were mostly agricultural and highly dependent on corn, participated in long trade with each other, had different forms of government and no one civilization had complete control over any other, meaning they were always competing.When it comes to spanish conquest, think of Spain and how the conquistadors came to mesoamerica, took over and completely changed the structures of these civilizations, stripped them of their lands and any types of power they had. Significance: the idea behind contested beginnings is that there is no solid way of determining where the chicano "race" originated. Questions like "did race begin in mesoamerica or in new Spain?" are difficult to answer without thinking of the factors that really come into determining a race.
Racial Scripts
Definition: Racial scripts are generalizations and ideas assigned to racialize groups that could be transferred and applied to multiple groups across time, history and places. Allows us to see how different racial projects operate at the same time, affecting different groups simultaneously From book: refers to the ways in which the lives of racialized groups are linked across space and time, affecting one another even when they do not directly cross paths Where Mexicans fall into hierarchy The way events are linked across time and place Events affect one another and racialize certain populations How society use stereotypes of past groups to define them Chinese Immigration and Mexican Borders Text/Lecture: Chinese immigrants received health checks on angel island and that also happened Mexican on border. Molina Intro Significance to class: Racial scripts have shown the longevity of social constructs. They also show connections between different cultures/racial groups. Brings them together through history of oppression.
Box Bill
Definition: The idea that quotas should also be placed on Mexico, in addition to the quotas already placed on Europe and Asia. Many bills circulated and there was a huge debate, but it was ultimately unsuccessful. Followed Immigration Act of 1924 Led by Congressman John Box of Texas Two Dozen Bills in 5 years Debate over Quota Restrictions on Mexico Text/Lecture: Molina's reading- Ch.1 states that Racial scripts served as shorthand to swiftly link Mexicans to other races that were already deemed problematic. By linking Mexicans to Blacks, he suggested that if Mexicans were afforded the opportunity to become a permanent population, they would develop into yet another labor problem, thus requiring the establishment of systems of social control just as the South had done with the creation of Jim Crow laws beginning in the 1890s. By connecting Mexicans to Blacks and Indians, he indicated that Mexicans too were racially inferior to whites. Anglos linked Mexicans to other undesirable racial groups to garner support for the Box Bill. Significance to Chicano studies: Circulated racial scripts about Mexicans with the ideas that they couldn't assimilate, that they cut out white labor, that they unfairly take over resources of the population, and that they were likely to become a public charge.
Spanish Casta System
Definition: The result was an elaborate hierarchy of race-based inequality built around combinations and degrees of racial mixture among Spaniards, Indians, and African slaves who had been brought to the Americas. The foundation for this "régimen de castas" (caste regime) was phenotype, expressed as difference, most importantly in skin color, but also in hair type, eye shape, facial structure, and the like. These external differences among a population rapidly mixing "became the visible indexes of what were construed as natural inequalities of social being," according to anthropologist Ana Maria Alonso. Relation to Text/Lecture: Consider that, in 1646, Mexico's population contained roughly equal numbers of those claiming Spanish descent (a minority of whom had been born in Spain) and of those persons identified as black, but ten times as many mestizos and Indians as either of those groups, so that an inevitable mestizo population eventually resulted. ( Gomez reading) Significance: It is significant and still very much relevant today because this is the time period where we begin to see how racial relations are shaped. It allows us to realize that racial categories are socially constructed by people who feel superior and view the targeted group as inferior.
US Central American
Definition: A term used to describe the people originating from Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Costa Rica (7 countries in total) Lecture/ Text: U.S Central Americans (Intro) Alvarado explains that using this term rather than hyphenated national identities emphasizes the shared histories, cultures, and struggles of Central American diasporic communities in the United States Significance to Chicano history: Pushing against previous ways of describing this group of people. The lack of the hyphenation solidifies the experiences of these individuals.
Double colonization
Definition: Double colonization meant that the various racial groups who inhab-ited the region in the mid-nineteenth century were forced to navigate two different racial regimes simultaneously. Relation to Text/Lecture: Mexican elites had a major role in formulating Mexican American` racial order New Mexico`s double colonization complicated roles Legally white, socially non-white Mexican Americans distancing themselves from non-white groups Mexican Americans began to distance themselves with groups that didn't identify as white ( anti blackness roots) How intentional it was for this community to go to become as white in order to be granted citizenship, rights , land , and were not given to them. Whatever the Mexican Americans did, they would never be viewed white. Gomez mentions how it specifically refers to New Mexico`s double colonization as being a region colonized first by the Spanish and then by Americans which made the position of native elites especially tricky. A lot of the elites included Mestizos who had climbed the ladder of social status. In the first colonization, they were settlers/colonizers and in the second they were the natives in the eyes of the American colonizers. Significance to Chicano Studies: Spanish colonization is not the same as Anglo American colonization ( thats why New Mexico is a phenomenon - New Mexico is were it all started. Important state to consider. This led to the question of how mixed spanish, indigenous people , and African people would fit in the new social order. Many Anglo-Americans believed at that time that Mexicans were racially inferior because they were racially mixed. The racist ideology and view towards Mexican Americans still prevalent to this day.
Christine Sterling
Definition: "Mother of Olvera Street" She wanted to build a "Mexican amusement park" to bring tourists to California, specifically Los Angeles She made sure Olvera Street was built to look old, and employees could only do pre-industrial work to keep the look Text/Lecture: She pitched to the white elites about her ideas of a Spanish Fantasy Past. Kropp- Sterling and Chandler made Mexicans on Olvera street look like "happy poor people," prevented political protests, suggested Mexicans were "remainders of a bygone era" instead of living Significance to Chicano studies: It is not an accurate description of Mexican people. Creates stereotypes of Mexicans as party people and industrial laborers Goes back to the idea of the Anglo savior, "helping Mexicans" while profiting from the culture.
Operation Wetback
Definition: A government program to roundup and deport as many as one million illegal Mexican migrant workers in the United States. More of an effort to control Mexican undocumented immigration. "Pancho the Wetback" had "become to Uncle Sam somewhat of a headache, socially and economically, and an international problem". Statement reflected how Americans thought of undocumented Mexicans in the mid 1950s. Never reached their goal because funding ran out in a few months Relationship to the Text/Lecture: Molina How Race is Made Chapter 5 Significance to Chicano studies: Implicitly evoked an us versus them imaginary: "they are breaking our laws" "they are invading our country"
Birthright Citizenship
Definition: A legal right to citizenship for all children born in a country's territory, regardless of parentage. Under the 14th Amendment, anyone born in the U.S. is automatically a U.S. citizen. Text/Lecture: Molina Ch. 2, Significance to Chicano studies:Enforced racial scripts on all minority groups since it changed from Chinese immigrants to Mexican immigrants since they were easier to
Mestizaje
Definition: A person of mixed origin (mestizo) usually involving natives (spanish and indigenous descent). Believed to be the cosmic race b/c they were mixed and thus encompassed all humanity. Text/Lecture: Gomez Manifest Destinies Gomez 86-87: mentions how mestizos were colonizers during first colonization but natives during second colonization Ex. working into whiteness Significance to class: Mexican Americans' claim to whiteness had been weakened due to their mixed background, which was nonwhite dominated→ so they tried to distance themselves from Pueblos, other Indians, and Black people Addressed in lecture 01/29/2020
Bracero Program
Definition: A program in which United States labor agents recruited thousands of farm and railroad workers from Mexico (contract workers). Plan that brought laborers from Mexico to work on American farms. The agreement was in effect from 1941 to 1964.The program stimulated emigration from Mexico. Over two decades the program brought four million Mexican men to the US to work in agriculture and other industries—such as railroads, to fill WW2 related labor shortages. Text/Lecture: Lecture week 5 - Provided Mexicans with opportunities to earn higher wages, travel to new places, and enjoy leisurous lives, but also increased tensions with Mexican-Americans engaged in the war front during WWII. Significance to Chicano studies:
Pío Pico
Definition: Afro-Latino man who was cheated out of his land possession by American lawyers and businessmen One of the richest men in California Large gains in cattle following Gold Rush Created the Old Pico House Cheated out of his land by lawyers and then kicked out of his home Lost a lot of money from gambling Example of a man that went from rags to riches to rags again Text/Lecture: Lectured by Carpio, Same fate tied to mexican landowners who experienced dispossession. Although the Treaty of Guadalupe promised equality, Mexicans might have been legally white but they were actually socially non-white. Significance to Chicano studies: An example of the extreme class and racial fluidity experienced by afro latinos. The struggles that many Mexicans underwent
Mexican Revolution
Definition: Began in 1910 and ended in 1920; was first civil unrest of the 20th century; was caused in opposition to President Porfirio Diaz's regime Text/Lecture: Professor Carpio mentioned during lecture to explain that it was one of the two causes for increased Mexican immigration to the U.S. That president of Mexico focused on industrialization more than rural elite farmers which helped start the Mexican Revolution. Molina chapter 1 Significance to Chicano studies: Increased Mexican migration to the U.S. → Mexican immigrants went past the border of the U.S. because of the railroads → shifted the attention away from Chinese immigrants
Olvera Street
Definition: Embodied the Spanish Fantasy Past Text/Lecture: Created by Christine Sterling and Harry Chandler (Publisher of Los Angeles Times) as a tourist attraction that embodied a fantasized Mexican culture rooted in the past Puesteros forced to wear colorful costumes while selling "traditional" Mexican ware; señoritas with roses in their hair; constant fiestas It can be used to examine the different identities being affected during this time. Mexicans were looked at as people of the past who were idolized for their culture while at the same time being treated as second class citizens. Significance:
"Likely to become a public charge"
Definition: Expanded phrase by the 1891 Immigration Act. Prohibited entry to any '["If any alien [does this they] shall be returned [to their countryside Text/Lecture: Molina Chapter 4. Because Mexicans would visit Mexico and return to the United States frequently, they were accused of having a "dangerous contagious disease". Created a near-continuous potential for deportation. Significance to Chicano studies: Began the stereotype of Mexicans as "diseased" Racmerged with the long reach of the designation of "likely to become a public charge". This clause was meant to prevent immigrants from spreading disease or becoming too ill to work and thus becoming public charges. Definition: Text/Lecture: community and labor organizer Significance to Chicano studies:
City-empire
Definition: LA sees itself as a city-empire. The transformation of Los Angeles from a small community to a global city-empire through the exploitation of labor and extraction of resources in Mexico. Transfer of wealth, as angelinos invested more money in Mexico than other areas in the United States A sense that LA is "an empire" and uses the resources from neighboring cities and states (Mexican materials, talent, and labor extraction) Text/Lecture: Refer to Kim reading for evidence - Griffith Park and Bradbury Building built and funded by resources extracted from Mexico Significance to Chicano studies: Shows that although America is no longer colonizing and taking away territories, they still are expanding their power commercially to become a super power at the expense of Mexico. Also shows how City boosters relied on Mexicans for development but didn't want them to be part of American society.
Immigration Act of 1924
Definition: Limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the US through a national origins quota. was the nation's first comprehensive restriction law Remapped the nation in terms of new ethnic and racial identities, Transformed European ethnics into "whites" Criminalized Mexicans as illegal workers 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act abolished the quotas established by the 1924 Act Source: Molina, How Race is Made in America Chapter 1 Significance: It "ushered a new immigration regime" as mentioned by Molina because it deemed Mexicans to be "criminals" and whites as the superior race.
Mayan Revival
Definition: Mayan & Aztec architecture in the built environment. Wide fascination with the Mayan and Aztec monuments that influenced modern architecture DID NOT TRANSLATE TO POLITICAL INCLUSION Text/Lecture: Shown images of the architecture and the different styles included into buildings. Yet none of the art showed its appreciation towards the culture Frank Lloyd Wright Used Mayan inspiration for architecture More often about effect than history-- functioned very differently that what they would have been used for historically Ex. Mayan Theater in DTLA Significance to Chicano studies:An example of cultural appropriation→ many Euro 1Americans appropriated and capitalized on this culture without giving the proper credit
Repatriation
Definition: Returned immigrants to their country of origin Intensive recruiting drives Voluntary - some preferred to return to mexico Others were coerced (language barriers), while some were pressured Did not know it was not necessary Immigration raids In places where mexican populations would generally meet Also made population feel unsafe Medical reasons Text/Lecture: Significance to Chicano studies:
Mexican American Movement
Definition: Self organized movement; American first but culturally treated as Mexican. Despite deportations under both Hoover and FDR, any Mexican Americans benefited from the New Deal, and generally held Roosevelt and the Democratic Party in high regard. In California, this youth-focused organization received assistance from liberal New Dealers. Text/Lecture: Lecture 2/3/2020 Significance to Chicano studies: Mexican Americans were at odds with Mexican Immigrants and there was a divide between the west (Mexicans) and the East (Puerto Ricans). It caused a strain on the movement since collaborations were a bit off.
Mexican American War 1846
Definition: Texans think they are a republic Americans annex Texas and that is the immediate cause Mexico was a non-slavery region One of the major catalysts dispute over borders Mexico is defeated Manifest Destiny ideology come from the Mexican american war Relation to the Text/Lecture: According to Gomez, American colonization of the region in the 19th century was grafted onto the Spanish colonization of the 16th, 17th, and 18th century centuries. The southwest developed a double colonization , meaning that both Spanish and American colonial regimes imposed a system of status inequality grounded in racial difference however the particular variants of the ideology differed under the two regimes. Significance: It is relevant to Chicano Studies because the status of Mexican Americans as a racial group is rooted in their long history in this nation. In making this argument, I draw heavily on the experiences of the first Mexican Americans, those who joined American society involuntarily, not as immigrants, but as a people conquered in war. As Mexican Americans sometimes say, "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us. Anglo-Americans view of the Mexican American people as inferior is exactly what has shaped race relations today.
Border Patrol
Definition: The US forms the border patrol in 1924 originally as a response to Chinese immigrants attempting to enter the US through the Mexican border Both during and after the Mexican Revolution, however, the border patrol shifts it's attention to Mexican immigrants trying to enter the US Policing Mexicans was seemingly easier and cheaper to accomplish compared to the detention of Chinese immigrants since it was much easier to send Mexicans back to Mexico than to send Chinese immigrants to China Text/Lecture: Lecture 1/29 Significance to Chicano studies: Racial Scripts
Spanish Colonization
Definition: The concept of erasing any type of Mexican/Spanish cultures; essentially whitewashing the Mexican American culture Fantasizing through physical appearances, paternalizing Franciscans, and passive American-Indians. A "fun" culture, which becomes whitewashed. Relationship to lecture/text: In relation to the mentioning of Olvera Street during Dr. Carpio's Lect. 6. Taking the "rundown" mexican neighborhood, and "reviving" it as a EuroAmerican place of tourism. In Gomez book, she makes a distinction between Spanish colonization and American colonization in which Spanish colonization established a racial order based on phenotype were Mestizos with pale skin could potentially rise in the social ladder but those of colored skin could not. However, American colonization was not as flexible but rather viewed all mestizos and inidigenous people as subjects. Significance: Important to the study of Chican@ History and Culture because it signified the erasure of the North Mexican territory into what is now known as the American Southwest. Many primary sources were wiped out from existence through the Spanish colonization which raises the question as to whether Chicano history begins in precolonial period or after the Spanish arrival. Its also important because we begin to see how racial categories and racial difference are socially constructed; rather than having inherent significance, race is historically contingent and given meaning by persons, institutions, and social processes.
Intervention
Definition: Used to describe the intervention of the United States in Central America, could also be seen as intervention by spain in mesoamerica. Text/Lecture: used in lecture to describe the categorization of race as a social construct following the American intervention in the 1970s following the red scare against communism. Coming from the overthrow of "unwanted government forces" in Central America. Significance to class: relationship to the establishment of distinguished races in the 1970s US through the American census. Was also a cause for Central american immigrants to the US.
Tricultural Harmony
Definition: White elites in New Mexico were trying to convince people to come to New Mexico by saying that there was no tension between Whites, Mexicans, and Indians. Used to try to get New Mexico to be admitted as a state Erased source of tension between Pueblo Indians, Mexican Americans and Euro-Americans did not translate to SOCIAL equity Text/Lecture: Gomez, Chapter 2 Significance to Chicano studies: Tricultural harmony embraces 3 tenets 1 - cultural difference instead of race 2 - harmony that was thought to displace the longstanding history of intergroup conflict 3 - group-based inequality rooted in cultural difference, not race
conquest
Definition: the subjugation and assumption of control of a place or people by use of military force. In the context of the course, it refers to the colonization of the indigenous people by the Spanish and later by American colonizers. Relation to Text/lecture: Patricia Limerick, author of Legacy of Conquest The idea of drawing lines: often happens in terms of maps, the lines between civilization and non civilization, giving meaning and power to those lines, institutions and powers that enforce the idea(s) that those lines mean something Race relations, how does race change under different regimes? Mention double colonization Significance: As previously mentioned, Gomez coins the term double colonization to inform us that at the time there were two established regimes based on racial classifications by Spanish and Americans but were carried out differently. Whereas the spanish allowed some social status mobility, Americans did not which caused many Mestizo elites to resent American colonization. All in all, conquest, the subjugation of a people and culture is relevant to Chican@ Studies because it demonstrates how a people can become assimilated and integrated into society with disdain by the anglo men and be forced to renounce their ideas and beliefs in order to fit in. This is prevalent even today where many Chicano individuals avoid speaking spanish because their parents/grandparents were forced to speak english only and so they did not teach their children about their culture and we still have some anglo-Americans who share that patriotic spirit and view Mexican Americans as a burden.
Manifest Destiny
The Manifest Destiny ideology was introduced during the 19th century. It consisted of the belief(s) that the expansion of American settlers across the United States was necessary in order to progress the potential of the country. This expansion justified the violent dispossession of indigenous communities and other violent, colonial practices that affected non-Anglo American populations. During Dr. Carpio's lecture, she explained how painter John Gast created a visual representation of Manifest Destiny which involved a divine-like figure guiding Anglo Americans though the land while other people moved away. In the book Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race, Gomez explains how the Manifest Destiny movement contributed to the development of the Mexican American race by changing the racial order within the country following the U.S. - Mexico War. Furthermore, Gomez illustrates how the the racist and colonial foundations of Manifest Destiny fueled American imperialism and the expansion west and south into Mexico. The concept of Manifest Destiny is important to the study and history of Chicana/o/x studies because it helps us understand sayings such as "we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us." Often times, there is a common misconception that Mexican/Mexican American people have crossed over into a land that does not belong to them, however, once we understand the past, we finally see that they were invaded by a dominant group who removed them from land that previously belonged to them and continue to push them out completely forgetting who originally owned the land in the past.
Spanish Fantasy Past
The concept of Spanish Fantasy Past consists of the erasure of Mexican culture and seemingly celebrates the colonization experienced by this community. It credits Spanish colonization for "saving" Mexican/Mexican American culture and people by introducing them to new traditions and customs such as religion (i.e. Christianity) and language (i.e. Spanish). This concept continues to fantasize the Mexican/Mexican American experience through physical appearances and exploitation of the population. In Kropp's article, she illustrates the development of the historical Olvera Street in Los Angeles and how Christine Sterling took advantage of the Mexican/Mexican American community by fetishizing their culture and paying homage to the colonizers for introducing Spanish components to the population. Furthermore, Dr. Carpio explains how Sterling was often credited for "reviving the community" and making her seem as a savior for "broken" people. Understanding the concept of Spanish Fantasy Past is important to the study and history of Chicana/o/x studies because it helps us understand the severity and impact of colonialism on a disenfranchised community and the necessity of resisting further erasure under the hands of violent, colonial entities that still exist today.
Luisa Moreno
the responsibility for the violence on the "inborn characteristics" of the "Mexican element", which had a "desire to use a knife or some [other] lethal weapon" 3 years later a school district made an argument that Mexicans needed to be degraded because they had "lice, impetigo, [and] generally dirty hands, feet, face, neck, and ears" and did not have the "mental ability of the white children" Text/Lecture: Molina, How Race is Made Chapter 4 Significance to Chicano studies: These racializations did not stay rooted in one place, they were incorporated into a racial script of Mexicans as biologically distant
