E

184
?M5
CG'he
R637
1996

in

La Raza
by Roberto Rodríguez
An anti-book

Including the essays:

* Who Declared War on the Word

Chicano?

* The Missing X in The Treaty of

Guadalupe
*The X in Xicano
 The
The

i n L a R a z a
by. Roberto Rodríguez

in La Raza
Published by
Roberto Rodríguez
P.O. Box 7905 Including the essays:
Albuquerque NM 87194-7905

phone/fax 505-248-0092 * Who Declared War on the

[email protected] Word Chicano?

Copyright (c) 1996 by Roberto Rodríguez * The Missing X in The Treaty of

Guadalupe
All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any a n d

form or by any means, electronic or

mechanical, including photocopying, The X in Xicano
recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without the written
permission of the author, except where Copyright 1996
permitted by law. by Roberto Rodríguez
 8889?19

The in La Raza
I am indebted to all our Raza scholars, from
by Roberto Rodriguez t h e t i m e s w h e n t h e y w e r e k n o w n as
"possessors of the red and black ink," to
current ones, who have dedicated their
Acknowledgements lives to uncovering our history and
knowledge - especially those whose
books I utilized in this piece. I am also
indebted to the many elders and barrio
Writing this in a sense is a continued act of philosophers I have met along the way and
to the many women -- oftentimes mothers
defiance; that is, I didn't ask anyone
and grandmothers -- who struggle for our
permission to write it and I seek none,
lives. I am also indebted to my wife,
particularly from editors, publishers or
Patrisia Gonzales, for allegedly stealing
CHAVEZ COLL grammarians. some of her ideas, and to Rudy and
Patricia Anaya for the use of their
I also refer to it as an anti-book because
mountain casita in writing this.
I'm free to say whatever I want to say - or
184 use whatever words I want to use, in
A special thanks to Gustavo Gutierrez -- an
whatever language I choose,without elder who has dedicated his entire life to
having to ask Webster for permission.
the movimiento -- and whom I promised
R637 "The X in La Raza," contains two parts, long ago that one day I would write a part
two.
written 15 years apart. The first part is "Who
1996 Declared War on the Word Chicano?"
written in East Los Angeles in 1982 and Also, a special thanks to Angela Acosta,
the second is "The X in Xicano," written in Cecilia Aragon and Raquel Gutierrez -- for
the summer of 1996 in Jemez Springs, allowing me to bounce these ideas off
them.
Nuevo Mexico.

The second part is actually quite longer This is dedicated to the generation of Raza
than the first and addresses such themes that call themselves Xicanos. The spirit of
as the migra's continued policy of Indian Cuauhtemoc lives in them.
removal, demographic genocide,
redefining our existence, bridge people,
the importance of X to the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo and the X in Xicano.
 Who
Michigan State University Libraries
CESAR E. CHAVEZ COLLECTION Declared
Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan
® Used with permission of The Cesar E. Chavez Foundation

War
on the
Word
Chicano?

· 6 :

12 :' A s G a n y

v'im
, . /

8.11vw i

18E9: An!

? * .

Treaty
S a i d :
 I was born in Mexico and I spoke nothing
Who Declared War but Spanish. I was a wetback. They were
brown, they were born in the U.S. and they
on the Word spoke English -- they were Americans. This
was East L.A. in 1960. I knew something
Chicano? w a s w r o n g . I l e a r n e dt o s p e a k E n g l i s h
almost instantly.
by Roberto Rodríguez
So the years went by and I couldn't
Ameristan. i seemed like the mai Miey iane
"The word Chicano, I learned, ashamed to be Mexicanos. Many claimed
was not a denial of Mexican to be Americans - they even denied
having Mexican blood. But how could they
olood, rather it was a
reaffirmation of it." exey were splash, they were Americans
of Spanish decent. As a kid, I couldn't
understand why Mexicanos born in the
U.S. side of the border, hated Mexicans,
like myself, who hadcome over from
Mexico.

At the time, I didn't know the history of

discrimination against the Mexican-
Americans. All I knew is that because I had
learned English fast, I was no longer
considered a wetback. Because of this, I
would constantly hear the extreme hatred
Mexican-Americans had against
Having been born in Mexico, my family Mexicanos.
moved to East L..A. when I was six years
old. At that time, Spanish was not spoken So in Junior High - who was thinking
too much- and if you spoke it, you were politics? We weren't. At the school I was
considered a "wetback." Since that is all I
going to, Eastmont Jr. High, we used to
spoke when I first went to elementary
have food riots, walkouts, and sit-ins
school, I was a wetback. Crossing the
border was instant education. I was brown, routinely. One of our walkouts happened to
coincide with the big-time East L.A.
2
walkouts of '68. At this time, I began to When the Sheriffs killed Ruben Salazar
start hearing the word Chicano used in a (along wit Angel Diaz and Lyn Ward), a
context different from which I knew. I had prominent columnist for the L.A. Times and
always known La Chicanada to mean the news director for Spanish-language
plebe - La Raza Mexicana. Like I said, 1 television station, KMEX, La Raza united in
wasn't into politics, but I thought it was a total resistance. Anyone who halfways
heavy word. It was a word which said 'soy knew what was going on, knew that the
Chicano -- no soy Americano." Because I war on the Chicano was real. The only
was born in Mexico, I could not use the voice La Raza had, had been silenced.
word Chicano in that context. How could I? Ruben Salazar didn't represent Chicanos,
I wasn't an American, I wasn't even a nor did he claim to, but just as important,
citizen. he wrote about the problems affecting La
Raza.
I think I was in tenth grade when I heard
Sal Castro, leader of the school walkouts Chicano... Resistance...Defiance. It was
more than understanding our bloodlines...
on the Eastside, explain the meaning of the
word Chicano and the Chicano movement. it was more than understanding our history
It was something heavy. The word It was more than understanding the
savagery of Spanish and Yanqui
Chicano, I learned, was not a denial of
Mexican blood, rather a reaffirmation of it. It Imperialism, which was responsible for the
was heavier than that. . i t w a s rip-off of the Southwest. Chicano was to
rebel. To be Chicano was to take a stand
understanding our indigenous roots, and at
To be Chicano meant NO COMPROMISE-
the same time, understanding the nature of
NO ACCOMMODATION. To be Chicano
Spanish colonialism. As a sixteen -year-
old, all that stuff was heavy.TTo
o b
bee Chicano was to say, "WE ARE NOT THE
was a rejection of all foreign labels. To be FOREIGNERS!"
Chicano was to reaffirm our pride in our
Raza. In those years, to call yourself a "We are not Foreigners!"
Chicano was the equivalent of committing
a crime. It was sacrilegious. Even among When we were kids, we were
our Raza -- the word was looked down told by gavachos to go back
upon. To gavachos, it was rebellion -- it
was war. And that's what the word came to
stand for- RESISTANCE and DEFIANCE.
Gavachos declared w a r o n t h e w o r d
Chicano and all those who used it.

3
4
 When we were called
righte suoulders. Arter a Split second, 1
wetbacks, we would respond,
"WE DIDN'T SWIM ACROSS responded: "You know what, nobody's
ever asked me what I call myself. I was
THE OCEAN." born in Mexico and I grew up in East L.A...
SOY MEXICANO..." I paused for a second
When a gavacho told us we were Thinking the recruiter had become irritated,
foreigners-- we just laughed. Gavachos we I asked him, "Is there a difference?" | was
could deal with... but when a Mexican- accepted to Cal-State, but I ended up not
American called us a wetback, that we going there.
couldn't understand. So yeah, when the
Chicano cried out that we were not the I had answered my own question. There
foreigners, it was a welcome cry to was no difference! LA MISMA RAZA... it
was not a denial, it was a reaffirmation--
Mexicanos.
and even more than that, it was TOTAL
RESISTANCE and it was OPEN
Despite all this, I could never get myself to
DEFIANCE.
call myself Chicano. I agreed with
everything the Chicano Movement stood
for - TOTAL RESISTANCE. Yet, the
memories as a kid were too strong. I could Just as the Chicano declared
never turn my back on Mi Raza Mexicana... war against oppression-- the
but something happened during my senior
year in high school. I was going to college
gavacho declared total war
no matter what the cost. The message of on the Chicano.
"Edúcate Raza" had sunk in. So when I
was up for admission to Cal-State L.A., a
Chicano recruiter was interviewing me. I The militancy and resistance of the 1960s
h a ds a t i s f i e d a l l t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s . and 1970s has seemingly subsided
Academically, I had no problem; and although the Chicano population has
politically, East L.A. and the Movimiento doubled. Again, the Chicano is ready to
Chicano was all I could think about. So the
revolt. Conditions which gave rise to
recruiter asked me: "Do you consider
Chicano power are worse today than 15
yourself a Chicano?" | froze. In a split
years ago. The threat of rebellion is real,
second I knew my answer would determine
but in the 1980s you cannot have the U.S.
if I was accepted or not. I knew that
government turn loose its troops against a
Chicano recruiters were not interested in
eggheads. They were interested in large segment of the population -- the
5 Mexican people. The U.S. has enough
6
trouble trying to send troops into El This generation of defiant Chicanos are
Salvador. The U.S. can't send troops now in a position to educate our Raza.
against Chicanos to destroy us -- they don't They are the teachers, they are the
have to. War and genocide occur in many instructors and they are the professors. In
ways. the struggle for the minds of our Raza -- the
gavachos clearly outgun us. Their
The Spaniards were experts in genocide. sophisticated psychological war is directed
So were the English and so were the ingeniously by money. Money is the
Nazis. Genocide is not only the systematic weapon that's destroying our resistance
physical extermination of a people - it also and our defiance. Money is responsible for
occurs psychologically. Genocide against the extermination of the word Chicano!
our race has never ceased. It continues Today, all money coming out to Raza from
daily. The method is a sophisticated the government sector is labeled
psychological war against our minds. "HISPANIC." Everything relating to us is
Hispanic. Why does the Government
Right now, there us a total war against the openly embrace the word Hispanic?
word CHICANO. What's so important about Because the business sector heavily relies
a word? on government contracts. They also
eagerly embrace that radical w o r d
H i s p a n i c . W h e r e a s t e n y e a r sa g o ,
gavachos dreaded hearing the word
The word CHICANO means Chicano-- now they openly promote and
total RESISTANCE. It means encourage the use of the word Hispanic.
OPEN DEFIANCE -- it means Pretty soon they'll be making us bow to the
king of Spain. Why the big push to use that
Y QUE! word? Hasanyone bothered to find out
what Hispanic means or represents? In the
World Book Encyclopedia, the word
This kind of mentality breeds rebellion. The Hispanic means Spanish.. meaning that
U.S. can not have whole generations of when you hear people talk about Hispanic
kids growing up questioning the rights of
culture, they are referring to Spanish
gavachos to walk all over us. On their side, culture. Spanish culture .- what does it
they have media -- and they have money.
represent? In the Americas, Spanish
On our side, we have a whole generation
culture is responsible for genocide. The
of guerrilleros and guerrilleras, a whole
Spaniards killed millions upon millions of
generation who defied the "melting pot," a
whole generation who openly resisted. our Raza. Spanish culture came to the
Americas as a result of conquest -- it was
7
8
 imposed on our population. Genocide on
the part of the Spaniards is unequaled in peaceful mestizaje between the two races
the annuals of human history. Spaniards never took place. The Spanish male
RAPED the Indian woman. The Indian men
invented the Orwellian Society in which
black is white, white is black-- right is never mixed with Spanish females.
wrong and wrong is right. Vestiges of
Obviously, our race, even though tens of
Spanish colonialism are with us today. millions were slaughtered, is still here. We
Chicanos/Mexicanos . . a n _ i n d i g e n o u s were the victims of the worst genocide in
population - are taught to believe that if history. Those that survived were put into
you are Mexicano, you are not Indian. In slavery and worse than that, a cultural,
fact, the Mexicano is taught to hate the spiritual and psychological genocide
Indian. In the U.S., Mexicanos are legally occurred. Spanish culture was imposed on
considered Caucasian -- AND SOME our race. Spanish and indigenous culture
PEOPLE EVEN BELIEVE IT! In Mexico, bear NO similarities whatsoever. They are
there is fierce pride in "Our Indian poles apart... but that was hundreds of
Ancestors," but somehow, at some point in years ago. Independence in the 1820s
history, the Mexicano ceases to be Indian. throughout the Americas kicked the
Where that break occurs, I don't know, Spaniards back to Spain. However the
because the supposed break comes with Criollos (Spaniards born in the Americas)
the Mestizaje. The Mestizaje is a MYTH as and Spanish culture remained. The
is the concept of the cosmic race. Mexico is revolution of 1910 was an indigenous
an indigenous country with primarily an revolt. It was a revolt against Diaz -- but it
indigenous population. There is, however, was also against European interests and
a European element in Mexico (also European ideas. It was an attempt to break
Central and South America) which controls the shackles of European (Spanish and
and promotes Spanish and other American) culture.
European cultures. The concept of the
mestizaje and its twin theory of the cosmic
race are mythical inventions. When one In history, the revolt of
hears mestizo, it implies that we are half- Chicanos will also be seen as
Spanish and half-Indian. This is not proven an indigenous revolt.
by history. Rather than mestizaje, a rape
occurred. To begin with, in relation to the Here now in the 1980s -- an attempt is
indigenous population, not that many
being made to suppress the rebellion of
Spaniards came to Mexico. Of those that
the Chicano/Mexicano Indigenous Race.
came, the overwhelming majority were
males. The free mixing, or rather the
9
10
 The solution is simple. Impose Hispanic a very sophisticated psychological war.
culture on our Raza. Hispanic culture is
European -- it is not indigenous... so... the In twenty years the difference between
war has begun... Hispanicize La Raza. We Chicano and Hispanic will mean the
already kicked the Spaniards out once... difference of a South Africa-type situation
and it seems like we'll have to do it again, in which the native majority is ruled by a
but this time, it will be a lot harder. This minority, in which the native majority is
crut t i m e , w e r e n o t f i g h t i n gS p a n i a r d s o n considered the foreigners and in which the
horseback. Likewise, we cannot fight with native majority is subject to deportation.
of this spears and stones. The struggle is this -
Europeanize La Raza or else... or else The word Hispanic is not interchangeable
Loper
what? If the U.S. does not Europeanize us, or synonymous with the word Chicano.
intla
then our Raza will reclaim our Indigenous They are diametrically opposed to each
Nor.
South west roots. Meaning... that if we are Hispanics, other. Again, why the big fuss over a word?
we are proclaiming that we have European Because there is nothing positive about
roots. This is not only important, it is the key Hispanic culture in the Americas. Hispanic
to our future. By the year 2000, Raza will culture in the Americas is the equivalence
be the overwhelming majority in the of imposing Nazi culture upon Jews. To
Southwest. If our population is conned into promote Hispanic culture is not to
believing we are Hispanics, then in effect, understand history correctly.
we are saying that we are immigrants. So
the real immigrants, gavachos, claim to be The Spaniards were responsible for the
the Native Population, while we, the Native slaughter of millions. We cannot forget that
population are treated like the foreigners. part of our history. Promoting the word
We become subject to deportation. It's Hispanic as something positive is denying
twisted logic -- but it's already here with us. that genocide of our race ever took place. It
is hard not to use the Hispanic because it
Our only hope is to struggle is all pervasive. Everywhere you turn, it's
against ideas which lend
credence to the belief that we would be all right, but we didn't.
are foreigners - WE ARE
NOT THE FOREIGNERS! That word is being shoved down our faces.
You can't ignore it, but you can reject it.
It sounds like a lot of hot air over nothing--
One of the main reasons it is pushed on us
over a couple of little insignificant words.
is because bureaucrats claim that Hispanic
Well, like stated earlier, we are engaged in
11
12
 refers to not just Mexicans, but also to
Central and South Americans, Caribbean,
etc. Hispanic might be a convenient term,
but it is totally inaccurate. The
The word Hispanic refers to no one but the
European element which attempts to crush
and suppress our indigenous culture -- be
it in North or South America. Consider the
question:

Every time someone uses the

word Hispanic-- is that person in
consciously or unconsciously
denying our indigenous
culture?
ISOY CHICANO
Icano
Y QUE!

8 t r

10

? 1.8.

(c) Corazón de Aztlan Magazine ;

East Los Angeles
31982 16
13
 pueblos or colonias. The general
31 million exceptions were San Francisco and Los
T h e in Xicano Angeles. Today, Raza from all of the
mexicons
by Roberto Rodríguez 200
Americas live in the U.S, and they also
have their own separate and
well
Introduction developed identities

Fifteen years after writing "Who Declared While all of these other communities and
War on the Word Chicano," I have finally identities have evolved, the identity of
gotten around to writing a part two, "The X those whom society refers to as Mexican
in Xicano." Americans has generally stagnated and
virtually begun to homogenize into a wo
have mixed feelings in writing this, "Hispanic" category. go...g
because in one sense, I don't think it's
necessary. When part one was written, However, perhaps that has passed. An
there was a lull in activism nationwide. identity for Mexican Americans is once
Some considered it a time when the again developing and reemerging.
"Chicano movement" had died. The
movement never did die. However, one
can say that as we begin to close out this Most Raza groups
century, the movement is much more vocal understand that there is no
than at any other time since the 1960s.
Also because of the demographic changes
such thing as a generic
in our barrios -- our movement is no longer "hispanic" group -- yet it
Timited to people of Mexican origin. appears that the Mexican
origin population group is the
Actually, the Chicano movement was never
exclusive. Many Chilenos, Nicaraguenses, last to make this realization.
Salvadorenos, Guatemaltecos, Argentinos,
Peruanos, Puertoriqueños and other Raza
were part of the movimiento and some of
Within this context, this group is once again
them also called themselves Chicanos or
r e c l a i m i n g i d e n t i t i e s s u c h a sR a z a ,
Chicanas. However, when it was in full
Mexicanos, Chicanos, Chicano-
bloom, relative to now, there was few Raza
Mexicanos, Mexica and Xicanos.
from Central or South America or the
Caribbean living in Chicano barrios,

2
 es fluid. on Resistane arvement be built or.....
Ident.+g Of course, there is no consensus on what
h o p e t h i s h e l p s
is the correct name. That is perhaps my in promoting
reluctance to re-enter this debate. Through Chicano/Chicana and now, Xicano identity.
the years, Lhave found that identity is
something very personal and very fluid. The new stress on identity of the past few
Many people hold multiple identities and years coincides with a new activism by
youth, coast to coast, who are as militant
don't see it as a problem or a contradiction.
today than the youth of the past generation.
Most of all, I have found that few people
The vicious attacks against us a people
change their identity on the basis of mere have created this new militancy. I would
arguments, but rather on the basis of also venture to say that the movement is
example -- on seeing the sincerity and the much more vibrant and bigger than it ever
lives that people lead and the struggles was. New forms of resistance -- such as
they engage in. Raza rap (hip hop) and even Raza cyber
communications and information networks
At the same time, struggles over identity
- have supplemented the traditional
usually take place when individuals are protests, rallies, walkouts and marches.
struggling over their own identities. In the And the protests have never been bigger
past 25-30 years, I don't feel like I have or as widespread; witness the statewide
struggled with my identity. That is not to say and nationwide protests against
I haven't learned anything new. On the California's anti-Raza Proposition 187. The
contrary. I have and it has enriched my nationwide walkouts and protests by
understanding of my own identity. What college, high school and junior or middle.
has changed for me is how I view how students against 187 dwarfed anything
others struggle with their identities. In a From the 1960s or 1970s. The same holds
sense, I view finding one's identity as true for the nationwide 1996 protests,
merely the first step on a long road, triggered by the beatings of several
whereas sometimes, I perceive that others Mexican citizens by Riverside County
see it as more than the first step. That's part Sheriff's deputies. Similarly, there had
of the basis for the reluctance to write on never been Raza protests against either
this subject. I don't see that as bad. It's just
the Republican or Democratic conventions
not me and I sometimes think that these or national marches and protests in
struggles over identity should be resolved Washington D.C.
by those who place more emphasis than l
do. And not wishing to get in the way, in
As such, the torch, or rather, the book has
fact, I write this in hopes it helps those who
been successfully passed on from one
have dedicated their lives in promoting the
generation to the next. Our Raza refuses to
philosophy and spiritualism of Xicanismo. 1
be stepped upon. Incidentally, the rallying
3
4
cry against 187 was and continues to be:
"We didn't cross the border; the border communities, generally refer to themselves
crossed us." It harkened back to the slogan as Xicanos. Some have changed the name
of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de
of the 1960s-'70s, popularized by Luis
Aztlan (MEChA) to Movimiento Estudiantil
Valdez of the Teatro Campesino:
1 Xicano de Aztlan (MEXA). Those who
identify themselves as Xicanos are also
"We didn't come to America; active in indigenous networks. throughout
America came to us. the Americas, particularly in support of the
Zapatistas.
Our indigenous sense of being, our identity
as a people, particularly amongst the
rebellious youth is secure: "Aquí estamos y
no nos vamos!" If anything, the militancy of The Raza that have
our Raza is such that they question the embraced the term Xicano,
right of Europeans to be here.
explain that contrary to the
The new activism has been rekindled by term Chicano, it is gender
attacks against our communities and in neutral, or rather, that
part, as a result of the death of Cesar E. because it is a Nahuatl-based
Chavez. Ever since his deathi n 1 9 9 3 ,
there has been a rebirth or revitalization of word, it is both masculine and
the movement -- led by youth -- many of feminine.
them called Xicanos. And they have done
quite well in struggling for Raza Studies
and in combating the blatant racists who There are a number of people who have
have scapegoated our Raza as the people
responsible for this nation's severe Are argone ine a Posited varying theories as to the origin
and evolution of the term Xicano. One
economic and social problems. specking to eccin thorough explanation can be found in
other reading "XICANO, an autobiography," by
Not all the politically active youth who are Apaxu Maiz.
of Mexican origin embrace the term
Chicano or Chicana or Xicano -- yet, many Aside from Maiz, there are a number of
of those that have been at the forefront
others who offer other explanations and/or
against Proposition 187, against racist and
who are at the forefront of promoting
discriminatory attacks against La Raza and
Xicanismo. A few groups (who are part of
against law enforcement abuse in our
national and international networks) that
5
6
 struggle on behalf of Xicano/indigenous
rights are: Tonatierra, Peace and Dignity Xicano. Again, those from the X generation
Journeys, Tonantzin, the National Xicano or the Mexica movement should write a
Human R i g h t s C o u n c i l a n d t h e part 3, and I know through personal
contact that some indeed are already in
International Indian Treaty Council.
the process of doing so. As a result, our
people will be better off because of it.
All these groups -- as well as danzantes -
members of the Mexica movement -- are
I'm more motivated by a desire to continue
perhaps the more appropriate people to
the discussion I raised in 1982 and to take
comment on the term Xicano and the
it to another level; in effect and respectfully,
Xicano Movement. They are the
beyond identity and the names we choose
appropriate people to make the definitive
and go by. Part of the reason has to do with
statements on the meaning of X.
the fact that I had no idea that what I wrote
back then would continue to be used in
Rocky Rodriguez, director of the National discussions regarding identity, years after it
Xicano Human Rights Council says that the was published.
reason Xicano was spelled Chicano in the
1960s-70s is that "we were thinking in When I wrote the first part, it was written for
Spanish or English back then." a magazine I was publishing in East Los
Angeles, C o r a z ó n de Aztlan, with
Of note, while Xicano may be a Nahuati-
circulation primarily limited to Southern
based word and gender-neutral, there are
California. About seven years later, the
many women who call themselves Xicanas
article was rediscovered and it is now the
-- or as writer Ana Castillo says --
most widely reproduced article I have ever
Xicanistas; a fusion between Chicanas,
written. (I began writing for La Gente
feministas and activistas. Her book,
"Massacre of the Dreamers," is an Newspaper ai UCLA in 1972). Since then,
people around the country continuously
excellent treatise on Xicanisma. And in
bring the article to my attention and ask
many cases, as Castillo points out, the
movement is now in the hand of Xicanas. permission to reprint and distribute it. What
I noticed is that while I thought it was good
My wanting to write a second part to "Who to continue reprinting the article, at the
Declared War on the Word Chicano," is not same time, I felt a need to incorporate 15
motivated by a desire to set the record additional years to that discussion.
straight or to take sides on which is the
appropriate term for us as a people or to Since that article, I have written several
give the definitive explanation on the term books, hundreds of articles and hundreds
of columns, read hundreds of books and
7
8
 have lived throughout the United States
and have traveled throughout the When I wake up, every morning, before
Americas. One of the things I most write sunrise, I pray and meditate and ask for
about is the abuse and brutalization -- in all guidance in my writing. It is never my intent
its forms and all of its manifestations -- of to defame anyone. Rather, I write with the
Raza by oppressive law enforcement hope that what I write may help illuminate
agencies throughout the United States and some paths, including my own. Particularly
the Americas. Another thing I write about is my own.
the daily struggles of our people for our
human dignity. In all these years, I have So let me say that after all this writing and
all these years and all this meditating, the
had the opportunity to speak with a n d
ominous note I sounded in the first piece,
interview people from all walks of life,
including some of our Raza's greatest rings true today and it rings even louder.
thinkers and fighters -- both men and
women - barriologists, philosophers,
visionary youth, and most importantly, our The issues have digressed to
elders. Also I can't leave out the artists, the point where we're no
writers, poets or the comics. They are the longer talking about what to
insane ones amongst us who make our
world sane. call ourselves or even the
issue of our proper identity,
So as I write this, I would like to think that but of literal attempts by
after 15 years, I have attained a bit of society and all its institutions
wisdom -- wisdom from our own community
that is reflected in these writings. to wipe us off the face of the
continent.
As a colleague of mine,
Demetria Martinez (Mother
Tongue) of Tucson, Arizona, This here hopefully picks up from where
says, "When I write, I feel my the discussion was left off and adds to the
discussion of the significance of X to La
ancestors writing through Raza.
me."
As I close this section, I am conscious that I
h a v e s p o k e n o f t h e 1960s-70s
"movement" or "movimiento." In the past, I
have written extensively and spoken of that
9
10
 era as having produced movements or
movimientos because there never was In no way do I expect
one, unified movement. For some, it was a everyone to agree with
civil or human rights movement and a
movement for racial and gender equality.
everything that I am writing
and at the same time, I do not
For others, it was a cultural rebirth and a
political/spiritual movement to reclaim expect to be treated as
Aztlan -- a movement of self-determination. someone's enemy (unless
And still, for others, it was an anti- they're hate-radio fanatics)
imperialist class struggle - a movement of
workers, in the factories and the fields. For
because they disagree with
some, it was broader; a movement as old me.
as time, part of the universal struggle for
human dignity -- independent of whatever At the same time, I don't want this to be
political or economic system we live in. used as something to pound someone else
over the head with.
Geography, political environment, age,
traditions, experiences and generational That's where wisdom comes in.
differences help explain some of the
differences. The lessons of history tell us that in the
past, we spent more time attacking each
So when speaking of movement, perhaps other -- because of slight differences in our
we should be conscious that there were thinking or because of what we called each
movements in the past, and most likely, other and how we spelled words -- than on
movements in the future. Movimientos.

This partly explains why some people

place more emphasis on certain subjects,
such as identity, gender, worker, immigrant an especially critical point we should all
rights and land and autonomy struggles. take to heart because oftentimes, some of
the disputes we engage in are strictly
A final point regarding the introduction is semantical in nature. The last thing we
that over the years, the one thing many of need is to create a generation of Raza who
us have learned is to distinguish between are intransigent in their ideas and views.
those who disagree with us versus those That was one of the tragedies of the 60s -
who want to destroy us. 70s. Sadly, there are still individuals and
groups who carry on that way -- as though
11
12
 they know everything and everyone else
At the same time, let us be conscious about
knows nothing - as though they have
generalizations. As we all know,
reached enlightenment and everyone else generalizations is another word for
i s a n ideological troglodyte and/or a stereotypes and we all know that we have
vendido. all suffered from them.

Those individuals or groups are not So what I'm saying here is that there are
actually bad. They just need to change the no absolutes and there are always
focus of their attacks and be convinced that exceptions. In this light, I write this as a
there is still a lot of learning to do. They guide that can help along in discussions as
also need to be able to distinguish the to who we are as a people and where
good guys from the bad guys. we're going. Equally important, I write this
(Incidentally, the bad guys have names like also as a guide as to how we should
Newtie.) discuss these matters or any other matter.

We must always be prepared to learn new Let us open our ears, our hearts and our
ideas and be prepared to discard old ones. minds and let the spirit of our ancestors
Dialogue is a good thing. At minimum, we speak through us.
must n o t b e o p p o s e d t o d i s c u s s i n g
different ideas - even if it's just among
ourselves because only through
exposure and discussion of them do we
intellectually grow.

To believe that we are right

about everything and that
there is nothing else to learn
is to show that we have
closed our minds and we
have stopped growing.
A little humility amongst those of us who
engage in these kinds of discussions never
hurt anyone.
13 14
The "H" WORD
Another reason is because there actually is
no such thing as Hispanic people, unless
when referring to people from the island of
Hispaniola. It generally doesn't even refer
to people from Spain; they're Spaniards. If
anything, it implies people owned,
associated or possessed by Spain.
Subjects or people possessed by Spain in
Hous ¡ a n i c s the Americas was true indeed, but since
the many wars of independence against
Spain last century, that is a feature of
history, not the present. If anything, that's
where the term belongs, as a remnant of
colonialism, a European term in a pre-
independence context.

To this day, I still can't say the Despite this, because of government
word. I can't even write it. It burrocrats, the term is pervasive in both
official government and media circles.

Generally, all government documents refer

in Spanish is silent. Most to Raza as "Hispanics." And in the media,
likely it's because my generally, regardless of what people call
themselves, media executives have also
Indigenous self rejects it determined that we are Hispanics. On a
outright. personal note, as a journalist/columnist,
I've never used the H word to refer to Raza.
Yet throughout the years, I will often see
My personal and collective memory rejects where some editors took the liberty to
it. insert the term. Because it has happened
to me, I know the practice is prevalent in
Another possible reason is because it is the industry.
also rarely used properly. And there is a
proper use for it, namely, when it generally I ended the first piece by asking: "Every
refers to the Spanish language. time someone uses the word Hispanic -- is
that person consciously or unconsciously
denying our indigenous culture?"
15
16
 I am still convinced, and now more than studies (it's difficult to learn it anywhere
e l s e ) , i n s o m e respects, i t i s
ever, that the answer is an emphatic yes.
understandable. It's the equivalent of being
stranded on a deserted island for 30 years
However, 15 years later, for many of the
without a cellular phone, e-mail, a satellite
young, it is not so much denial as it is a
d i s h or any o t h e r high-tech
lack of knowledge. Schools have done a communications device and still being able
good job of censoring and erasing the to keep abreast of all the changes in the
knowledge gained and recovered in 30 world.
years of Chicano and Chicana Studies and
ethnic and women studies in general, However, for those who are aware of their
Thus, as children go to school, very few are history and who have been shamed -- due
taught their history, much less the meaning to the political climate - into retreating to a
of what it is to be Raza. And they certainly pre-movement era, that is not so much sad
don't get it in the media or other as it is cowardly and unconscionable. After
institutions. gogg having had stood up with pride, living on
one's knees is unacceptable. (Whatever
In a sense, this also applies to the happened to their old Zapata poster?)
generation that preceded the movimiento
of the 1960s, that is, they grew up at a time We all know that no one will ever come up
in which their history and culture was also with the right term to call all the peoples of
suppressed. the Americas. What one group likes,
another one dislikes. What someone
considers inclusive, another group
considers exclusive, what some consider
For those who deny their reaffirming, others consider insulting and
indigenous heritage, there is what some consider part of the now, others
consider obsolete. And we'll get to that
still a lot of of shame subject in a little bit.
associated with being Indian.
This society has taught them The point is that when someone uses the
to despise themselves -- to " H " w o r d a s a n u m b r e l l a t e r m --
theoretically, it's ok in that for some, it is an
despise all things Mexican -- attempt to be inclusive -- to include all the
all things Indian. people of the Americas. However, because
of its history and its imposition by the
For those who never had a chance to learn government, that word will always be
of their history through Chicano or Chicana
17 18
 unacceptable to many, including myself;
it's the worst possible umbrella term and And they think this because the idea is still
the reasons have already been explained out there that somehow, to be Mexican, to
in part one. be Raza, is to be inferior and to some, to be
"dirty." It's a return to the pre-1950s era
However, my initial objections to its usage when to be Spanish or Latin American had
had little to do with its use as an umbrella an aura of pretension and respectability.
term. My fierce opposition had to do and As the late New Mexico Senator Dennis
has to do with its usage as a substitute Chavez used to observe: "In time of war,
term -- the fact that kids are now Hispanics we're called patriotic Americans; during
as opposed to Mexicans, Chicanos or even elections, politicians call us the great
Mexican Americans. Spanish-speaking community of America;
when we ask for jobs, we are called ' those
damned Mexicans.'" Or as long-time
In the United States, there seemingly are
Texas Congressman Henry Gonzales is
no more Mexicanos, Chicanos or Centro
famous for observing: "A Latin American is
Americanos or Puertoriquenos, etc... only
[was] a Mexican with a poll tax receipt."
generic Hispanics.
Anything but Mexican.
And as has been mentioned earlier, the
practice of using Hispanic as a substitute
I n a s e n s e , amid these racist and
identifier appears to be most prevalent
xenophobic times we live in, it is perfectly
among Mexican Americans. The way it is
understandable why a kid, lacking pride,
employed by many reminds me of how the
word Chicano was initially used when I would want to proclaim that they are from
was growing up: someone born in the the United States, without any ties to
Mexico, El Salvador or Guatemala.
United States.
This yearning to identify oneself as an
"My parents are Mexican, but Hew is thel- American -- or at least as an American
I'm not." That's what citizen -- is nothing new and goes back to
differan!
the period immediately after the Mexican
Hispanic appears to mean to N o w ? American War. One can trace this attitude
many youth; Hispanic, but not all through history, including and
Méxican. Hispanic, but not e s p e c i a l l y i n t i m e s of heavy anti-
Central American. Mexicanism. During the era of lynchings,
land theft and segregation, many were
quick to point out that they were Americans
of Spanish descent, not Mexican. During
19

20
the repatriation of more than a million
Mexicans during the 1930s, many U.S.- who have these attitudes have older
born children refused to go back with their siblings and parents or grandparents who
came from el otro lado. Stranger still are
parents. The same scenes were repeated
those from el otro lado who come to the
during the 1950s. In effect, the racist
U.S. and develop these same attitudes. It
policies against Mexicanos in the United
does happen.
States has created a population who sees
a need to -- or has been forced to --
These people could potentially be part of
distinguish itself from Mexicanos. This is
the movimiento, but it generally does not
clearly evident today and the closer one
happen in an environment where the
gets to the border, the more obvious this movement is frowned upon or where
need to create a distinction. In essence, to
access to ideas of the movimiento are
avoid being discriminated against, many
suppressed or not available. Incidentally,
"U.S.-born Hispanics" become the biggest
the rate of resistance by Raza against 187
bigots against their own Raza. and other attacks have spurred calls for a
new Americanization movement. Of
Many are willing to share in the tacos and
course, this is in the context of a new
the Cinco de Mayo celebrations, but when
it comes to combating the racist anti- repatriation movement.
Mexican hysteria, many instead join in on
it. Nonetheless, many - the majority, 1
believe -- are not or do not become bigots. T h e Americanization
Proposition 187 has borne this out. Almost
80 percent of Raza citizens voted against it. movement is for the Raza
(It should be noted that only U.S. citizens that remains, who refuse the
can vote, thus it can be assumed that most
non-citizens including t h e
big lie. It is for those who view
"undocumented," don't hate themselves. If themselves as indigenous -
they could have voted, our community who dream of Aztlan -- and
probably would have rejected 187
who question the right of
probably by 95 percent.)
those who landed on
Nonetheless, there are those who still see Plymouth Rock to pass
a need to distinguish themselves from judgment on us.
people who look like them -- people from el
otro lado. The strange part about this is
that many who are born in the U.S.A. and
21
22
 It is the descendants of these Plymouth The Continuing Search for a
Rockers who want to once again Unifying Name
Americanize those that preceded them - -
Native Americans, Puerto Ricans and la Many people have long searched for the
Chicanada -- particularly those who use appropriate term that will include all of the
the X -- because they know its significance; Raza from all of the Americas. In fact some
indigenous. people are hopeful that that elusive term
will in and of itself unite all Raza. So far, no
So in the midst of all the bigotry, we should such luck. Some see no need and say
take heart that they are going through all every group should be addressed by what
these new plans. It tells us that all their they are because in reality, no one (except
propaganda no vale. Or as a friend says: some alienated and miseducated youth --
due to miseducation by adults) uses
"Vale Wilson!" umbrella terms to identify themselves with.
Instead, most people call themselves by
what they are: Mexican, Cuban, Puerto
Rican, Peruvian, etc.

Of note, because of the vast migration from

Mexico to the United States and because
members of same families are born in both
countries, some Raza refer to this
community as the Chicano-Mexicano or
even the Mechicano community.

That still leaves us with the problem of

speaking of all the groups, without using a
f e w d o z e n n a m e s - - without being
inaccurate -- every time we want to refer to
all Raza in one sentence.

In many parts of the country, the H word

appears to create the most friction, mainly
because it is a government-imposed term.
Many people who use the word Hispano --
and who have been using it for hundreds
of years -- say that their term is not a
23
24
translation of Hispanic, nor synonymous arose. Additionally, it arose when
with it, and also say it is unacceptable. solidarity among "Third World" peoples
Furthermore, some of the same people say was common. "Latino" arose as a way of
they identify as Indo-Hispanos or simply as expressing solidarity among all the
Mexicanos, though the latter is used in peoples of "Latin America." And in
private. actuality, it is a term chosen by Raza from
Central or South America, not by
Because it sounds like Hispanic, many Chicanos, though generally accepted by
don't like Hispano either as an umbrella for most in activist circles.
everyone.
As an umbrella term, it appears to be
Incidentally, when terms apply to particular acceptable to most of the people within
groups, and they self-identify as such, few these groups. Yet, few people individually
have problems with the terms, regardless identify themselves as such. In all my life, I
of what they are. It is when the terms are have only met one or two people who
used as, or imposed as umbrellas for claim to be umbrella people. And one of
everyone, that people have problems with them was a white guy pretending to be
them. Raza.

"Latino" is a term that appears to be highly Additionally, within indigenous

misunderstood. The termobviously is communities, the term is considered very
European in origin, however, within the similar to "Ladino" .. which refers to
context of the United States, it has Hispanicized Indians or "mestizos." For that
generally developed in the public sphere reason, many within the indigenous
as an umbrella term and as a counter to movement reject its usage.
the government-imposed "Hispanics."
One term that seemingly is more appealing
Contrary to what some say, it's usage is not is the term "La Raza" or simply Raza,
an intentional attempt to deny people's although there are naysayers for this term
indigenous heritage. also. Some reject it because they say it is
associated with "La Raza Cósmica" --
It's usage generally began to be used which is viewed by many as a conjured up
when large numbers of Central Americans, ideology which glorifies mixture at the
Caribbeans and South Americans began
expense of America's indigenous roots.
to move into traditionally Mexican barrios,
particularly in large cities. To be able to
address all the groups, the term Latino
25
26
Some indigenous leaders say Some within the Mexica movement refer to
that the concept of people all Xicano-Mexicanos as being either
indigenous or "mixed blood" indigenous
belonging to races places us peoples ("mestizos"). They apply this to
within the context of the people from Mexico and Central America
animal kingdom. Others don't and view people from these regions as
having Mexica roots. While not everyone
see that as such a bad thing. from this geographic area was Mexica --
because it includes hundreds of other
sovereign nations -- nonetheless, there is
indeed a bond between all the indigenous
Still others, mainly those from the
peoples of this region and all of the
Caribbean or others with identifiable
Americas.
African roots, say that La Raza alludes to
Indian or mestizo roots at the expense of
Writer Ana Castillo apparently has coined
African roots. Incidentally, the African root
the term Mexic Amerindian. Interestingly,
which is known as "the third root of the
one of our Raza's most respected
Americas," i s d e e p l y embedded
artists/writers, Jose Antonio Burciaga, has
throughout the Americas, including Mexico.
long signed off as "El Indio-Hispanic."
Few seem to know that during Mexico's
colonial era, there were more Africans in
There are other umbrella terms such as
Mexico than Europeans. And according to
Latin Americans, Pan Americans and
the recently deceased scholar from the
perhaps the least popular, the eurocentric:
Autonomous University of Veracruz, "Ibero-Americans."Interestingly, because
Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán, Mexico's
of the language many of us speak,
foremost expert on the subject, the African
"outsiders" commonly refer to us as
population lived and worked not simply in
"Spanish" -- a term that most Raza reject
the nation's ports of entry, but throughout
what is today referred to as Mexico and the because of its European connotation.
Some people believe all of the above
U.S. Southwest.
terms are Eurocentric because they are all
either in English or Spanish as opposed to
Of note, mainstream newspapers generally
don't permit the use of this term without an a native language. There are those who
explanation because they consider "Raza" argue that we should use "Americans" in
a street term. and it is... it is probably the the continental sense of the word or simply
"gente" -- in Spanish, English or
most popular term people use on the
streets to refer to themselves. indigenous languages.

27
28
American Indian Movement clue that identity is not something that can
eader Dennis Banks used to be forced or pounded into someone.
note that when it comes to
The advice I follow is respecting self-
terms related to identity, identity and rejecting government-imposed
they're all wrong unless we're ones.
speaking in an indigenous
language. Xicano

As can be noted, every term seems to have

a detractor. However, another point of this
discussion presupposes that people want
to identify with people simply because of a
shared geography. Many peoples' primary
identity is with indigenous people
throughout the world a s o p p o s e d t o
limiting their identities with people in the
Americas. Likewise, many with African
roots in the Americas identify more with
Pan Africanism than with other groups in
the Americas. And of course, the white or
European elite in the Americas has rarely
ever wanted to identify with Indians,
Africans or mestizos.A d d i t i o n a l l y , a s
Castillo points out, some people's primary
identification is with their gender.

All of this tells us that finding a name that

fits everyone is quite a difficult task and
involves many c o m p l e x i d e a s a n d
identities. Peoples identities are oft-times a
very highly sensitive subject. More
importantly, it perhaps should give us a
29
30
Demographic Genocide
races.

The reason I reject using Hispanic as an

If anything, what we call races are actually
umbrella term is because it leads to
outrageous babosadas within the realm of peoples fray share sinar traits, custeas
the U.S. Census Bureau -- or as I call them, and cultures.
the Department of the Zonsos.
It is not an understatement to say that the
The burrocrats within this department are Zonsos are baffled by us. The main reason
some of the principal reasons for this mass they are baffled by Raza is because in
of confusion as to the identity of Raza. Mexico and other parts of the Americas, the
concept of mestizaje -- as a racial category
The Zonsos at the Bureau are so caught up or process -- is more well-accepted than
in their bureaucratic world that it takes their here. That's why close to 100 percent of all
whole department 10 years to screw on a the people who chose the "other" race
single light bulb. And every 10 years, they category in the 1990 Census were Raza.
want to screw a in a new light bulb in, even
if one is not needed. The Zonsos at the Bureau have designed
their surveys so that "other' is considered a
All biologists agree that when wrong answer. Because many of the
burrocrats at their department think they're
speaking of human beings, white -- or think in black and white terms --
there are no such things as they have also gotten the bureau to act as
races. All the great though most Raza should be checking the
philosophies of the world also white box. In other words, they want to
institutionalize their shame and inferiority
preach that we are all one complex -- or their view of the world -- by
people. pretending that Raza are white.

But try telling that to the Zonsos. They are Thus, when 10 million people
still caught up with 19th century pseudo-
checked the "other" race
scientific ideas about race and racial purity.
According to their bureau, there are four category in 1990, the Census
races in the world and in their conception Zonsos were baffled and
of the world, all the peoples of the world
thought the Raza were
are pure. Incidentally, in the 19th century,
scientists believed there were dozens of confused or stupid.
31 32
 In their minds, most Raza are not Asian, Because of this complex reality, a simple
African or Native American, therefore, they solution would be perhaps to create an
expected) Raza to check white.
indigenous/mestizo box. The failure to do
this places us in the situation today in
The Bureau of the Zonsos have done no
which according to the bureau, we
exhaustive studies as to why so much
longer exist. "Demographic genocide" is
Raza (which includes all the peoples of the
the term I came up with years ago in
Americas that live in the U.S.) check the studying the absurdities of the Bureau and
"other" box, yet they have never bothered in trying to explain to the publishers of
to ask Raza why they do so. The reason American Demographic that Raza are not
most Raza check "other' is because many
consider themselves "mestizos," "Afro- white.
mestizos," or some other kind of mixture. Currently, according to the Zonsos,
Some consider themselves outright
everyone in the country is a Hispanic or a
indigenous or Native American. Those that
non-Hispanic. So according to them,
consider themselves Black can check the
whites are no longer whites, but are
Black box. While the vast majority of Raza considered "non-Hispanic whites." It gets
in the U.S., particularly Mexicans, Mexican worse. Rarely is the term "non-Hispanic
Americans and Central Americans are
Blacks" invoked, nor the terms "non-
Native American or indigenous-based
Hispanic Asians" or "Non-Hispanic Native
mestizos, they are not legally permitted to Americans." This absurd situation has led
check the Native American box. This is so,
to classifying people by what they are not.
because it is government who determines
It has also led to the inference that there
identity and a whole bunch of Raza
are two kinds of whites in the country -
checking the Native American box would
Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic whites.
complicate their work. They would have to
be able to distinguish between "U.S.-born- Accordingly, because there is no provision
Native Americans" and "Native Americans for indigenous or indigenous/mestizo and
or indigenous-based mestizos from south because most Raza is not legally entitled to
of the border that have migrated to the check the Native American box, the
U.S.. In many parts of Mexico and Central inference (on paper) is that the vast
and South America, the governments majority of Raza are white. The only ones
consider some native people (those who that are not, according to the burrocrats,
can speak Spanish or who live outside of are some Caribbean Latinos, who the
their traditional lands) mestizos. However, bureau automatically considers them
many of them consider themselves Indian Black.
(native) or indigenous-based mestizos.
33 The Zonsos argue that they respect "self-

34
 identification," yet they don't. If one asks
flawed questionnaire, you will get flawed
where the "others" went, traditionally, they
responses and it is up to the designer of
have stuck them into the white category. the form to correct it, not the respondent. Of
What would make the Bureau happy is if course, because of the intense racism
they could design a census form in which against Raza in this country, there is
no one checked the "other" race box, while shame on the part of some of the
still clinging on to their outmoded views of respondents, however, institutionalizing or
race. In their eyes, a major crisis would encouraging "passing" (from Raza to white)
occur if Raza were to check the Native is the fault of the Bureau, not the
American box -- even though that would be respondents. What this tells us in reference
closer to reality than the current options or to Raza and issues of race is that the
lack of options. Census i s flaweda n d virtually
meaningless. There is no meaning we can
This I maintain is plain and deduce regarding "race" based on their
simple.demographic surveys.
genocide. What the Incidentally, this practice of demographic
conquistadores failed to do, genocide is why government and the
the Census Zonsos have media exist in a black & white world. It is
managed to do. not simply because they ignore Raza, but
rather, as part of their design, we no longer
exist.
However, I believe that the Raza
intelligentsia is partly to blame -- for not Statistically, counting Raza as white does
stepping up to the plate to correct this not radically alter the statistics of whites.
situation. They have allowed burrocrats
However, hiding Raza into the white
who are either inept or ashamed of their
allows society to completely
heritage to impose and dictate their views
ignore us. If you've ever wondered why the
upon an entire people. That intelligentsia media always portrays everything in black
needs to inject itself into this debate before
and white, that's the reason. As far as they
we are again obliterated _by. the_2000
Census. are concerned, we're not being ignored;
according to them, we're generally counted
Of note, many people wonder why is it that as part of the white population.
close to half of the Raza chose "other' and
most of the other half chose white. The Of course, we can blame inept burrocrats
simple answer is that if you design a for this travesty, however, it must be
35 reiterated that much of the fault lies within
3 6
 our communities. Some agencies, who are
people according to races altogether in
dependent on government monies do in
fact see counting more "Hispanics" as their surveys.
preferable to allowing us to determine our No one will convince me that equality is
own identities. They see it as the price to won simply because of number crunching
pay for receiving more government money. and demographic trends. If that was the
Of course, it's a poverty pimp mentality. case, South Africa would never have
endured apartheid and Guatemala would
This is what we've been up against for a
couple of decades. today be governed by Mayans. In fact, El
Paso, Texas would also have a Raza

After the initial phase of the mayor.

1960s-'70s movement, some
people saw fit to define us as Until the government stops
a market as opposed to a counting people according to
people and they were content (their views of ) race, it should
to get a decade named after get its nose out of the identity
them in return. business.
Therein lies the problem.

A solution is not far off if the burrocrats tap

those who have dedicated their lives to
dealing with the subject of identity, not
simply those who know how to crunch
numbers.

As long as the Zonsos continue to

miscategorize us, there will always be a
need for Raza to struggle over questions of
identity.

Personally, I feel that the government

should not only not have a say in our
identities, but that they should quit counting
37

38
 A Continuation of Indian Removal specifically, anti-Indian/anti-Raza. The
story is so long that it would take hundreds
So I have shown how the Bureau of the of books just to relate this history. Suffice to
Lonsos has
perpetrated demographic say that Raza are not immigrants, nor can
genocide against us. Now, I want to put they ever be. If anything, some are
forth the idea that this government's migrants. Within U.S. politics, even Raza
immigration program is based on a do not comprise the majority of the
continuation of its 19th century Indian "undocumented immigrants." They never
Removal policies. On a larger scale, it is a l l immigration
have, yet nearly
the continuation of a 500-year policy of enforcement has always_concentrated on
physical or cultural removal and
extermination. "getting the Mexicans out.".

The repatriation campaigns of the 1930s

and the deportation campaigns of the
1950s were anti-Mexican and the current
Once a friend called me up anti-immigrant hysteria is mostly anti-
and said that the Border Mexican and anti-Central American.
Patrol was stopping virtually The anti-immigrant hysteria since t h e
everyone on the border who 1930s has centered on the idea that the
"looks Hispanic." To which I U.S.A. is being overrun by Mexicans. If
Mexicans were European or white, no one
replied: "You mean everyone would care. But Mexicanos -- independent
who looks 'Indian'." of the statistical and ideological
manipulations of burrocrats -- are Indians.
When all is said and done, whites don't
No one ever got stopped at the border for cringe at the thought of Canadians or white
ooking like a Spaniard. No one ever got Europeans coming across -- they cringe at
stopped for having blue or green eyes and the thought of Raza coming across -- not
blond hair. In a tragic reversal of history, in just because we're "dark hordes" but
the eyes of the migra, the more 'Indian' or because we remind them that we were
the more native one looks, the more alien here before they were.
one looks, the more suspect one is.
P e r s o n a l l y , I h a v e m o n i t o r e dt h e
From the very beginning of this nation's immigration debate since about 1970. It
foreign policy and immigration laws, they has been predicated on the threat of a
have
been anti-people of color and "silent invasion"f r o m M e x i c o . A n d t h a t
39
40
 ? is that most of the
invasion is false.
The r e a l i t y
"undocumented immigrants" in this country
do not enter through the U.S/Mexico
Since 1970, the migra has said that they border and less than half are Mexican or
catch between one to one-and-a-half
Central American. The majority are white
million undocumented immigrants trying to
and they enter mainly through airports with
enter the country each year. Up until 1995, visas and generally overstay them. Despite
they used to claim that for every one this, more than 90 percent of the
caught, that three would get in. That means enforcement budget and 100 percent of the
that if we use conservative numbers, there propaganda is spent along and on the
s h o u l db e least7 5 m i l l i o n
U.S./Mexico border.
undocumented immigrants in the U.S.A. --
just since 1970 alone. And since the Additionally, the laws that govern the
government, the anti-immigrants and the U.S./Mexico border are different than the
media claim that most are Raza, that laws that govern the U.S./Canadian
means that the Census Bureau should be border. If you are a Canadian wishing to
registering at least 100 million Raza in the enter the United States, all you have to do
country today. Talk about under counts. is prove your Canadian citizenship and
you are welcome to enter and stay for up to
O f c o u r s e , t h e s e anti-Raza folks have
six months. That arrangement does not
never dealtwith the issue honestly. Even
quite apply on the U.S./Mexico border,
the migra c l a i m s there are only
where it is extremely cumbersome for Raza
approximately four million undocumented
to enter legally. According to Sylvestre
immigrants in the country. And because Reyes, the former head of the El Paso
they know their own numbers belie an
Border Patrol -- who instituted "Operation
invasion, they now only claim that about Blockade" .. the reason for disparate laws
300,000 enter the country annually. is because in Canada, "no one is trying to
sneak in."

Despite this, the fear- Of course, why would anyone need to

sneak in if you can walk right in. And to
mongers want to scare whites boot, if you're Canadian, European or any
into believing that the brown another white person, there are no hunter
hordes are ready to take their battalions looking out for you after six
months or after six years or ever -- near the
jobs, if not their daughters. border or away from the border.

41 42
 It doesn't take a genius to figure out the Of course, "Operation Wetback" of the
reason for the disparate treatment. 1950s was another policy of massive
"Indian Removal" -- a policy that continues
This country's policies are virtually an to this day. As noted earlier, this policy
extension of the Indian Removal Act -- it never targeted anyone other than Raza.
wants this country as white as possible .. various human rights
as few Indians and Mexicans as possible Studies b y
organizations note that even where Raza is
to remind them that contrary to their
xenophobic claims - in the minority or near the Canadian
native population. they are not the border, Raza is still the target of migra
raids. This is true in cities such as Detroit
and Chicago where the migra themselves
One of the shortcomings of the Chicano
estimate that European undocumented
movement is that most of us did not have a
immigrants are the majority, yet their raids
solid sense of history, therefore we were
not guided by history. For example, if we always target Raza.
study the repatriation efforts of the 1930s,
In the Midwest, where the migra has no
we would find that in that instance, Raza jurisdiction (under their own statutes, they
was virtually blamed for the depression. All
are permitted to patrol 100 miles from the
the Mexicanos in the U.S. combined made border or border equivalent zones, such as
up less than 1 percent of the U.S
airports) -- the Border Patrol is out
population, yet no one else was being patrolling Raza -- thousands of miles from
repatriated. The book, "A Decade of
Betrayal," by Raymond Rodriguez and any border.
Francisco Balderrama documents this
As we say, we have a migrating border,
history and is a chilling reminder that the
and the border follows us.
1990s are dejavu all over again.
Call it what we want or whatever anyone
wants, but the bottom line is that Raza gets
L maintain that the repatriation targeted by the migra and politicians, not
because of our last names or how we
of Raza in the 1930s was the speak, but because we are a reminder to
largest forced relocation in them of what they did to us. As Patricia and
the U.S. of native peoples or Thave written before, the land is written on
our faces and that reminds them that they
"Indian removal" this century. took the land from us and that we may take
it away from them one night while they

43 44
sleep. Throwing the Book at Them

One of the advantages of writing today is

Must b e haunting thought...
demographic nightmare. that there are literally hundreds of books
about our history at our disposal. When I
An additional thought on this subject: went to college, there were but a handful.
In discussing questions of identity and our
history, I would recommend that Raza read
This country should seriously from the available books on the subject of
consider abolishing the migra identity. It would help so that the errors that
because I can only come up were made by my generation and earlier
with one legitimate job for generations are not once again repeated.
them: deporting the H word to Armed with the knowledge that exists,
where it came from. namely 30 years of ethnic studies and
women's studies research, Raza today can,
be well-informed when confronting the Pat
Buchanan's, the Newt Gingrich's and the
"Housepanics" or "Mousepanics" (my
wife's terms) of the world.

The errors I am referring to are basically

arguing with limited knowledge. Most of us
did not know our own history except in an
outline form. At the end of this article, l am
including some books I believe are helpful
in understanding Raza history, but also in
understanding the 1960s-'70s Raza
movements.

In the process of reading and interviewing

hundreds of Raza, I would like to elaborate
on some of the subjects touched upon in
the first piece.

45 46
Redefining Our Existence If anything, mestizos are de-Indianized and
Hispanicized individuals.
One of the first experiences of taking a bad
If we were truly mestizos, we would share
word or concept and giving it new meaning
two or more co-equal cultures. We would
is the word Chicano and now Xicano.
speak an indigenous language and a
European language - not simply two
For many, Chicano is still considered a
European languages. Most importantly,
derogatory and demeaning term, referring our spirituality would be co-equal -- that is -
to low-life Raza. However, for those who - we would be able to practice our
use it to refer to themselves, it is a symbol
indigenous spirituality right alongside
of both pride and defiance and an identity Christianity. Yet, that is not sanctioned by
that reaffirms our indigenous identity.
the church. In the entire history of
Xicano further stresses our indigenous European involvement in the Americas --
roots.
500-plus years - indigenous spirituality
has never been and is still not recognized
This process of changing the meaning of by the church as co-equal or valid. That the
words or concepts has taught me that you church allows indigenous rituals to be
can do that to any word -- that is -- redefine
performed at Catholic rites and ceremonies
it and give it a positive meaning. It's similar i s n o t t h e s a m e t h i n g a sa c c e p t i n g
to engaging in ethnic studies research -
indigenous spirituality as co-equal. To the
that is -- contesting Eurocentric history and
church, that's simply ornamental.
debunking it. It's the equivalent of the
conquered writing their own history books.
To the church, we are simply souls to be
captured and guarded against foreign
In that vein, I have sought to do the same to
intrusions (protestants or other religions).
one of the most vilified words in history and
How can we truly be mestizos if the church
in my own dictionary: mestizaje. and its adherents, continue to believe, as
they did 500 years ago, that practicing
But before redefining the word or concept, I indigenous spirituality is" w o r k s o f t h e
would like to continue some thoughts from
devil?"
part one regarding the subject of mestizaje.
In a sense, we have always accepted Gucci use i
One thing I want to reemphasize; as Raza, (pounded into us) their European-based Touctin
we are not truly mestizos, in any context -. culture and spirituality. What has always S y n c r e t , c
especially not in the eyes of Europeans - been lacking is their acceptance of our
especially in matters of spirituality and No!
culture and our indigenous spirituality.
particularly the soul.
4 8
47
 It one day we truly become "mestizos," it Indianized Hispanics. This type of mestizo
will be the day when all the cultures that is like being bilingual, but outlawing one of
constitute us are fully accepted as equal .. the languages. Explained another way, it's
when none of the cultures are dominant .. like being a switch-hitter in baseball, but
and when our souls cease to be seen as told that you can only hit from one side of
someone else's property -- when we are
seen as no one's property. the plate.
What good does it do to have two cultures
Currently, the Indian part of "mestizos" is if one is suppressed and branded as evil?
denigrated by society in general and
celebrated only in a historical, romantic Nowhere is this more pronounced than in
and folkloric sense. matters of spirituality and the soul -- which
is what defines us as human beings.
Much of this attitude can be traced to 'first-
contact' when indigenous peoples were I personally found this out when I was
not seen as human and their souls were married, or rather, when we attempted to
claimed by the church. have an indigenous ceremony and
Catholic ceremony at our wedding.

But the official church would hear nothing

n 1992, both Spain and the
Vatican made half-hearted of it.
1992
1694 attempts to apologize to the That's when I found out what I already
1965 people of the Americas, but knew; we're really not mestizos. A mestizo
would be able to celebrate two or three
,446 they still did not release their cultures equally. Sure, there were offers to
claims on us. They still have us married by outlaw, renegade or
believe we are their property "progressive" priests, but we wanted
and they still do not consider nothing of it. We hadn't committed a
criminal act, except wanting to express and
indigenous spirituality as co- celebrate our indigenous spirituality.
equal to Christianity.
If we couldn't do that -- and if our marriage
couldn't be sanctified by the official church
-- then what was this concept of mestizaje
In effect, to reiterate, mestizos -- as created all about? What is so cosmic about this
or defined by Europeans .. concept if all it means is that the
are de-
49 50
 Christian/European part of us is dominant human rights champions -- their apologists
of spreading "The Black
and all else is subsumed and condemned
in matters of the soul. a c c u s e
Legend.? you

It makes you wonder about all those nice And some people actually buy this story.
murals that celebrate "our" mestizaje.
Living in the United States, it's difficult to
With all that said and done, I want to move be unaware of how this society deals with
on and begin with a redefinition of the concepts of race and race relations. In
mestizaje. However, in actuality, I'm not so the section dealing with demographic
much as concerned with redefining this genocide, it was explained that the census
word or concept than I am in defining or believes that there are four races in the
redefining our existence.Through the world. However, if one accepts their thesis,
ages, others have defined it for us as that and if one is aware of world history, then
of mestizos. one can clearly see that the world is for the
most part, thoroughly mixed. Yet, that
Lam engaging in this process because I presupposes that there are four races. If
recognize that when Europeans write biologically we are all one people, then the
anything about us, they give it a spin that differences and the mixtures people speak
suits their needs -- like burning our books of are cultural, social or political.
and then turning around and rewriting our
history - and then academic mensos Within this context, I will discuss a
marveling at their work and actually giving redefinition of mestizaje, or rather, a
these book-burners the status of experts redefinition of our existence. Mestizaje
and recognizing their books as primary then, when I speak of it, can't be viewed
sources. Similarly, our existence has within the context of races, but rather
generally been defined and handed down within the context of social and cultural
to us from a Eurocentric or a non-humanist realities. That's not to advocate that we are
perspective. What we have generally been all one indistinguishable people --.we are
in a sense -- but it is also very true that in a
taught is: that the Spaniards were more
humane than the English; that the social sense, there are undeniably many
Spaniards, unlike the English, were good peoples in the world. What distinguishes
guys because they "intermarried" with us is not so much biology, but rather social
Indians and created us. And therefore, and cultural factors and in some cases,
we're supposed to be happy and thankful. nationhood. An argument that can also be
And if you dare say that the conquistadores made is that what further separates us -- in
were not benevolent adventurers nor terms of concepts as peoples -- is ideology.
51 5 2
 One of the things I have found through the harkens to some sort of racial alchemy.
years is that few societies have anything
positive to say about "racial," All these ideas go to the subject of
ethnic or religious mixture. cultural,
"mixing."

Most peoples appear to view mixing as the The biggest fear of bigots is not interacting
Spaniards did: as "contamination of the with peoples they consider inferior - they
blood." The English and Americans viewed do that all the time -- usually involving
it as mongrelization. Half-breeds is another domination/subordination relationships.
is mixing or
word for mestizos and few people have Their biggest fear
???? ever looked at half-breeds in a positive mongrelization. That was Hitler's big fear
light. In the United States, most of the and his big hatred. He considered Jews a
black/white population can trace their mongrel race and also viewed the U.S. as
Scur Mistre heritage to a (forced) mixture -- many have a nation of mongrels. This helps explain
his fixation with "racial purity" and his
lus- common great-grand parents -- yet this is
not readily discussed or admitted, notion of creating a "master Aryan race"
otherwise, America's notions of racial and his attempt to biologically engineer it.
purity would crumble.
i sod corne- The truth is, this dislike and hatred of
Where ideology comes into play is bizarre "mixing" is not part of the past, but of the
societal notions of what constitutes race or present and it is not particular to Germany
a people. For example, ideas of "passing," or the Americas.
blood quantums for Native Americans or
the "one-drop" rule -- developed by Plussy Among Raza, historically, perhaps through
V. Ferguson (1896) are prime examples. the caste system developed by Spaniards,
Blood quantums are pseudo-science at people have always wanted to "move up"
best. the racial/social ladder. And if they could
afford it, they did. That perhaps explains
The notion that "blood" can why Raza always wanted to be thought of
as Spaniards or criollos -- as whites -- as
be divided mathematically is opposed to mestizos or anything darker.
nothing short of mind- For most of our Raza, that still holds true
boggling. today and has even descended to the point
where many now want to be white or
actually think they are.
Yet we as a society accept this. And
regarding the notion that having one drop Of course, as we all know, for many of us,
of "black blood" makes a person black
5 4
 the Chicano movement reversed this actual history of Mexico and the Americas
further suppressed and
process. We clearly were able to see this b e e n
has
absurdity of denying our Indian ancestry. mischaracterized.

When I wrote the first part of this 15 years While Aguirre Beltrán's work shows that
ago, I didn't say that a mestizaje had not during Mexico's colonial era, there were
occurred, but rather, that more Africans in Mexico than Spaniards,
we were
rejecting the notion that it had been his analysis of census and demographic
consensual or a peaceful commingling of data also demonstrates that they lived and
t h e peoples and that it somehow worked throughout the whole of Mexico --
constituted a more enlightened approach from south to north and from coast to coast.
thant h e a c t i o n s o f o t h e r E u r o p e a n s , And while much of the African population
namely the British. was worked to death, Aguirre Beltrán's
work shows that the African did n o t
This time, I'm going further and saying that disappear. Instead, the African mixed
we should not leave for others to define our thoroughly with the indigenous and
existence and our reality. It's something "mestizo" populations of Mexico. What this
that we need to do. means is that even though we are
primarily an indigenous-based population,
chances are very likely that we have as
much if not more African ancestry as we do
M e s t i z a j e a sdefined by
European ancestry.
others is either repulsive for
its notions of improving - or When the Mexican Revolution was in full
poisoning the race -- or naive swing, a b u r s t o f i n d i g e n o u s p r i d e
accompanied this monumental social
in describing it as the product upheaval. Unavailable at the time was the
romance and work of Aguirre Beltrán. Thus, when the
Chicano movement also streamed forth 50
enlightenment.
years later, most of us prided ourselves in
our indigenous roots and took our
Additionally, when I wrote the first piece, I inspiration from images of the Mexican
had not been exposed to many writings, Revolution. The era of denying the
including the pioneering works of the late indigenous part of us was over. In much of
the artwork produced by the early
Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán (La Población
movimiento artists, the symbol of mestizaje
Negra de Mexico). Through his works, we
was very prominent; a Spaniard on one
can come to anunderstanding that the
55 56
 side, an Indian on the other and both own ideas on the subject, free of European
coming together to produce the mestizo in bias.
the middle. Never was the African -- who
was more numerous in Mexico than the For me, I think it is incumbent upon us to
European -- depicted. define our visions of mestizaje or as I have
said, our existence. To redefine it.
This had largely to do with the nature of
Spanish and European colonialism. They Indeed, mestizaje as defined
write the books and they value and by Europeans o r b y
validate their own cultures. Everyone
Eurocentric ideas is a myth;
else's culture is suppressed, denigrated or
destroyed. no one did us a favor -- and
our people and our culture
Incidentally, in much of the art work that were not improved because
depicted mestizaje, most of it minimized or
did not even acknowledge the violent of this "mixture."
nature of the "mixture." For some reason,
the mixture was presented as a gallant In the first place, I don't accept that a
conquistador on horseback and an Indian "racial" mixture took place because that
warrior to his side -- as if the mixing had would be to accept that there are races.
taken place between two males. And I don't accept that. I believe that
biologically we are all one people, divided
Some did show a conquistador and a primarily by culture, but alsoi n m a n y
maiden -- a pleasant scene. cases, by various pseudo-scientific ideas.

That's not to say there weren't other murals However, having to explain and having to
speak about t h i s s u b j e c t ,/ f e e l
that presented the brutality -- they did -
however, when mestizaje was presented constrained or trapped in speaking with
as an image, somehow the violence took a words that Europeans have invented,
vacation. about these concepts that they too have
invented.
With the new knowledge that came forth Because of their warped ideas about
from the Mexican Revolution and the many of us have
peoples - even
Chicano movement, and now the succumbed to their nonsensical ideas.
knowledge made available as a result of
Aguirre Beltrán's work, we can understand For instance, because of notions of "racial
our own history better and put forth our
57 5 8
purity," we, whom this segment, is if the mestizo sheds all
the world calls
"mestizos," a r e l o o k e d d o w n u p o n b y traces of European culture... names,
everyone. Even in our own backyards. language, dress, religion and even
appearance.
We already know what Europeans have
historically thought of us. However, the Part of the rejection of the "mestizo" is
hard reality is that many indigenous valid observations - of
based o n
peoples also, and understandably in many mistreatment and hatred of Indians and
instances, harbor ill-will toward "mestizaje" Africans -- which are substantiated by
and "mestizos" in particular. Many view history. However, some of the rejection is
mestizos both as bastards and a product of misplaced. Oftentimes, mestizo iS
rape, but also as the element in society that synonymous with "Ladino," which becomes
suppresses and exploits the Indian. synonymous with European or white. Of
course, the mestizo is far from being white
The elders I know don't harbor these or European and in a sense, they did not
feelings. Neither do those who walk a choose their own identity, but rather it was
spiritual path. They embrace the so-called imposed upon them by governments,
mestizo -- often with open arms -- as part of including and primarily Mexico. In English,
their family. As a friend, Jose Barreiro at mestizos translates to "mixtures" or "mixed
Cornell University once told my wife and I: people." Oftentimes, "mestizos" are actually
indigenous peoples who have moved to
the city. Governments often define
"The mestizo is one less "Indians" as people who speak a native
language and live in their traditional lands.
Indian or one more Indian Thus, if one moves to the city and/or learns
waiting to reemerge." Spanish, the government redefines the
person as a mestizo.

However, this is not always true among the It's kind of a strange notion in the sense
other segments of the indigenous a n d that using that logic, it implies that no one
African populations throughout the else is mixed. Yet the reality is that all
Americas. There's an element of mistrust peoples in the world are generally mixed,
and rejection. To some, the mestizo will including Spaniards.
always be seen as a people, the product of
European conquest, genocide and As far as misplaced rejection, what society
domination. The only way that the refers to as mestizos have never been in
"mestizo" would be completely accepted by complete power of any society and all of its

59 60
 institutions in Latin America. The European
andcriollo elites - which many people always had to justify or explain his/her
existence. This of course describes the
also mistakenly refer to them as mestizos..
existence of Raza - relative to the United
have always dominated these countries
States and our mother countries -- but can
and at times, mestizos have administered
also be observed as a worldwide
these societies or some of their institutions.
To confuse the mestizo as the group that phenomenon.
wields power in the Americas is wholly
inaccurate. That is not to deny that As such, perhaps we are at a dawning of a
new era -- an era when we begin to create
mestizos have incorporated white or
our own self-definition. If we choose to, and
European values. Manyhave and as a
result,m a n y a s p i r e t o b e w h i t e o r many of us have, we can simply reject all
things foreign or European and embrace
European and hate everything Indian or
African. Additionally, many, with these all things indigenous. He wever, that would
attitudes, have traditionally been not change the reality of most Raza.
incorporated into law enforcement and
Additionally, that does n o t t a k e i n t o
military forces that have repressed Indian,
African and mestizo populations. account the new "mixing" that is taking
place in the United States -- not just among
As Chicano theologian Virgilio Elizondo Raza, but all peoples. Perhaps future
correctly points out, "The mestizo is Census surveys will show the extent of the
rejected by all." And understandably, mixing taking place -- a mixture that was
generally no one rejects or hates the not evident a generation ago. In the past
mestizo more than the mestizo. What generation, Raza has been the one group
person of mixed heritage wouldn't hate that has seemingly mixed most with African
himself or herself, given the historical Americans, Whites, Native Americans and
treatment of indigenous and African Asians.
peoples in the Americas? Who wouldn't
hate themselves if someone else was At a cultural level, Raza has been mixing
defining your existence and ascribing in the United States for more than 150
nothing but negative characteristics to the years and it continues on a daily basis.
group you purportedly belong to? Much of the mixing -- at the cultural levels -
- have not always been consensual. In fact,
In a sense, the mestizo has been the much of it has occurred through osmosis
person who is neither from here nor from because outwardly, this society continues
to hate everything Mexican/Indian -- unless
there. The mestizo is from nowhere,
it's relegated to a romantic past or folklore.
wanted by no one -- a person who has
61
62
 things European begin to dissipate. Having
In contemporary times, perhaps a better that disdain is a symptom or a carryover ..
way to view what's occurring between our response for what Europeans did to
peoples is not so much in the realm of our peoples. Once we rid ourselves of that
"mixing," but rather, the dropping of disdain, then the disdain we hold against
artificial and superficial borders that have
traditionally been drawn ourselves also begins to dissipate.
up among
peoples by a sick society. People are Someone else might argue that in order for
beginning to see that people are people, us to accept others, we must first accept
despite what society says. Perhaps, that is ourselves. And I can agree with that
what is simultaneously causing more because our psyches have been violated
friction - the dropping or the thought of and I do believe that since time
dropping these borders.
immemorial, or 500-plus years to be exact,
we have been taught that we are less than
As such, the challenge is more in the realm
and have been taught to hate ourselves.
of culture, especially when one considers
the virulent racism that continues
One thing that we all have to realize is that
unchecked in our society.
no one chose to be born into the people or
culture that we are part of. Thus, to harbor
Ideally, on a cultural level, we should reject ill-will because someone is of another
all things bad and adopt all things good -
group, or worse, because they were born
from all the cultures that constitute us. This
to "mixed" parents, is nonsensical. No one
is in line with indigenous teachings
group is better or superior to another.
because the teachings and beliefs do not
Likewise, there is no such thing as being
preach purity, nor are they racially based. part of a group that is inferior. People can
That is a misconstruction on the part of
not be judged by their genes or their blood
white anthropologists.
quantum. That is a flawed Eurocentric idea.

As a people, we can not view or judge

indigenous teachinincipre other people by their genes, by the name
w e c h o o s e o r b y h o w we identify
teaching is respect for all ourselves, but rather by the values we hold
things - living and non-living. and tne lives we lead. And we need
approval or validation from no one.

Additionally, on questions of race, as

When we embrace this teaching, then our mentioned previously, that is a European
own disdain for all things foreign or all
63 64
 construct, promoted primarily for the For me, that's how I view my reality. That's
purposes how I define my existence. It is the
of justifying racial supremacy.
Notions of racial purity is what holds that antithesis, or antidote, to purity and notions
ideology together and purity is what of racial or cultural superiority. And
have been taught to appreciate: pure We obviously, it is the opposite of a Eurocentric
white, pure Black, pure Indian, etc. Yet definition of my own existence.
purity, in my book, is perhaps the one idea
that has historically resulted in perpetual Can that be taught and be accepted by
and genocidal conflict. others? Hopefully. However, i t g o e s
against everything that we've been taught.
Similarly, there is no such thing as a pure Yet, let us look at what we've been taught
culture. All cultures are products of and see where that has gotten us.
thousands upon thousands of years of
mixture -- much of it unwilling. My wife (who is Kikapu) and I strongly
believe that the future of humanity rests
One thing to note is that as a people, we with coming to accept and value all people
should maintain or acquire our indigenous not only as equals, but as legitimate and
traditions and if we choose to, we can valid.
voluntarily add new ones. It can mean
immersing oneself in one or more cultures. The concept that some
And this is possible by understanding the
p e o p l e a r e i n h e r e n t l y? "less
indigenous concept of duality. One can
maintain two or more cultures, not just one. than" or "less-whole," simply
In effect, that is what Raza in the United because of their genes -
States already do. As a group, we haven't
especially if they are "mixed" -
assimilated, melted away or disappeared.
What we don't do is hold all of our cultures - Is not only invalid but a
in equal esteem. concept that must be laid to
rest.
The accepting of all of our cultures is for
me an extension of the Mayan concept of In a sense, in this section, I have spoken of
"In Lak Ech" - Tu eres mi otro yo. In other the need to redefine not so much the
w o r d s , w i t h i n u s r e s i d e s ap a r t o f concept of mestizaje, but our existence --
everybody. I am a part of you and you are a and not by others, but by ourselves.
part of me. Therefore, if I am you, then I
can't hate you and neither can you hate With all that said and done, I still believe
me. that for Raza to understand our existence,
6 5
66
 we still must first return to our indigenous Raza as Bridge People
roots. This is so because all the other parts
of us that constitute us were (forcibly) The Kikapu long ago were derisively given
added on (and still remain only a small part the name "the bridge people" because they
of us), whereas our actual roots were used to live under bridges. We have taken
ripped out from under us. that name and given it a different meaning.
we see ourselves as bridge
As Raza,
As we have written in the people - a people who bridge peoples
past, "In the tree of humanity, and cultures.
there are many leaves and In practical terms, Chicanos, because of
flowers, but to paraphrase war and conquest, have the capacity to
Cuban patriot Jose Marti, our bridge the North and the South -- the Eagle
and the Condor. And many of us, because
t r u n k w i l l a l w a y s be we speak both English and Spanish, have
indigenous." taken on those roles at historic spiritual
gatherings and political summits. Some
In that respect, the European and the dedicate their lives full time in doing this.
African and to an extent, the Asian that
constitute our existence are all like the However, w e b e l i e v e t h a t t h e
branches of a tree; our roots and trunk Chicano/Chicana, or now, the Xicano --
remain indigenous. has the capacity to bridge all world cultures
-- not because of language, but because of
That is why I say we have to return to our our indigenous base and because of our
indigenous roots -- not in a racial way -- but duality and dual cultural existence. Our
in a cultural and spiritual sense. That reality and historic experience of being
process is to be Chicano or to be Chicana. rejected by all will perhaps one day allow
That is to be Xicano and is what some call us to teach humanity how to navigate and
the Red Road. live among different peoples and cultures.
How to persevere and how to recapture
both our roots and dignity. Most
importantly, perhaps one day we will be
able to teach people how we came to live
with ourselves.

In essence, our damnation can be a gift

because humanity the world over --
67
6 8
 especially in Europe - is experiencing the
Missing X in the Treaty of
same conflicts we have lived for more than The
500 years. Guadalupe
One of the things that I learned early on
Hopefully what we teach the world is not was the importance of the written word to
only how to resolve questions of identity, our people and the importance of our
but also, how to live and lead better, languages that the Europeans to this day
spiritual lives and how to lead humanity out attempt to reduce to the category of
of the morass of hate we call planet earth. dialects or even gibberish.

In learning of the Nahuatl language, I

learned of the importance of the letter X to
our Raza. That is, I learned it's proper
pronunciation relative to Mexican words;
the X is pronounced with the "sh"sound as
in Mexica (Meshica not Mejica).

So for Raza, the X is important, but not just

for pronouncing words properly in the
Nahuatl language or because of its
significance to the word Xicano, but also,
to other matters, including its relationship
to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the
document that formally ended the war
between the United States and Mexico in
1848.

During the era of the early Chicano

movement, Raza began to examine the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and its
applicability to their struggles. Reies Lopez
Tijerina and his organization invoked it in
their struggle to get their lands back in the
1960s. Later, the Brown Berets also
invoked it in their symbolic takeover of
Catalina Island, off the Southern California
Coast in 1972.
69
70
 From examining the work of the National
For more than 15 years, many of the Rights Council and the
Xicano indigenous groups have based Xicano Humanw h o o p e r a t e a t t h e
their struggle on the Treaty. The Treaty is other groups
international level, there is no doubt that
used to promote the cause of self. the Treaty has current applications to us as
determination and to defend the human
a people. Besides reading the literature of
rights of Xicanos on the basis that it is a
the National Xicano Human Rights Council
living, legal document that governs and that of the International Indian Treaty
relations between the signators . the Council, I would recommend reading, "The
governments of the U.S. and Mexico -- and
Treaty of Guadalupe: A Legacy of Conflict,"
that Xicanos come under its protection.
by Richard Griswold del Castillo. He is a
fervent believer that it is a living document.
However, part of the rationale for invoking
the Treaty and taking it to international
A reading of his book will familiarize the
forums is the fact that the Mexicanos and
reader not only with the content of the
the other indigenous peoples living in what
is today considered the U.S. Southwest Treaty and its meaning, but also related
were not signators to the Treaty. Another documents and it's history in U.S. and
reason is that a lot of Raza believe that Mexico courts.
domestic options have been exhausted
and basically are of no use to us. When the Treaty was negotiated, 23
articles were agreed to. Upon examining
the Treaty and literature about the Treaty,
Certainly, it can't be argued the most startling thing that stands out is
that article X is missing. Article X of the
that Raza have a long history Treaty of course refers to article 10, but is
of winning court decisions, written in the form of the Roman numeral X
That was the article that explicitly protected
particularly when it comes to
the land rights of La Raza. Additionally,
civil or human rights cases, article IX, which deals with citizenship
especially in regards to land rights was weakened.
theft, law enforcement abuse Both of the articles were agreed to by the
and? o t h e r h u m a n r i g h t s U.S. and Mexico, but while article IX was
violations. modified, article X was deleted altogether
upon ratification by the U.S. Senate in
1848.

7 1 72
 from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1
Many of us were raised with the idea that
literally stumbled unto various books
the war against Mexico was simply
regarding Native American treaties. In
conducted to steal its territory, and the
reading the history of those treaties and
Treaty, negotiated under military duress
American Indian law, it becomes apparent
and signed by a corrupt dictator, simply
that the U.S. continues to use smoke and
formalized the theft of half of Mexico's
territory. mirrors relative to the Treaty of Guadalupe
-- and all Indian treaties for that matter.
Under international law, a "sale" of land
The first issue that detractors bring up
under military threat constitutes a theft and
not a purchase. regarding the Treaty, in relationship to the
protection of the political rights of
Mexicanos who remained in the "ceded"
Despite that, the Treaty offers certain
territories, is that it no longer applies
guarantees that make it a living document because the people covered by the Treaty
to Raza. Interestingly, the most important
are all dead now. That argument of course
part of the Treaty does not appear in it.
is devoid of logic or intelligence
whatsoever. Treaties aren't negotiated for
Coincidentally, X is the article in question
that goes to the issue of land grants -- and simply the generation t h a t ' s l i v i n g .
as has been mentioned -- is missing from Otherwise, no treaty, particularly American
Indian treaties, would be valid today. The
the Treaty. Yet while it is missing, Griswold
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo intended that
del Castillo shows that the "Protocol of
the rights of all the former citizens of the
Queretaro," which was signed later that
ceded territories of Mexico be respected
year to reaffirm the meaning of the Treaty,
agreed that the deletion of article X and the and protected. (Incidentally, after its War of
Independence from Spain, Mexico
modification of article IX, were not meant to
recognized all the people within its
diminish what had been agreed to, nor did
territories as citizens, particularly and
it mean that the U.S. intended to annul the
especially Indians or Native Americans.)
communal land grants owned by
Mexicanos.
Understanding American Indian treaties
and how they've been applied in legal
Despite the signing of the Queretaro
disputes, one could reasonably infer that
document, the U.S. shortly thereafter the signators of the Treaty of Guadalupe
proclaimed that the protocol had no legal intended that the protections guaranteed
standing.
by the Treaty would apply to their
descendants, unless otherwise stipulated
In doing research about the the missing X
73 74
 in another treaty. Also to be inferred is that To better understand this concept, 1
people did n o t h a v e t o b e recommend reading "American Indians,
descendants, but rather a class of literal
people American Justice," by Vine Deloria and
in the same situation. That would mean Clifford M. Lytle.
that the rights of other Mexicanos who
migrate to the ceded territories would also In this book, the authors state that courts, in
be protected by the Treaty - including recognizing the past exploitation and the
those who migrate today. Also implicit is use of force against American Indians,
that if Mexicanos move to other parts of the developed a set of judicial rules in dealing
United States, the Treaty would extend its with disputes. According to the authors,
protection to them there also. "Among the more important rules of
construction are:
Under the precedents regarding Indian
treaties, people do not automatically lose 1) Ambiguities in treaties are to be
their rights. constructed in favor of the Indian claimants.

2) Indian treaties are to be interpreted as

Inherently, people are born the Indians would have understood them.

with and possess universal 3) Indian treaties are to be liberally

rights and when treaties are construed in favor of the Indians.
signed, the people covered
4) Treaties reserve to Indians all rights that
can lose only the rights have have not been granted away
specifically given up under [reserved rights doctrine]."
the treaty.
Under these rules of construction,
Mexicanos or their descendants living in
Incidentally, all human beings are born the United States -- in what was formerly
with universal rights. Governments don't Mexico -- did not lose our rights, unless so
grant them. The United Nations -- through stipulated in the Treaty.
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
has affirmed this. And it is important to note This is critical in terms of the importance of
that the document or the U.N don't either the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in its
grant universal rights. They simply affirm applicability to Raza today. For example,
them. many U.S. citizens claim that Raza do not
have the right to speak Spanish in the U.S

7 5 7 6
because it is not expressly guaranteed in - the authority to make the Raza prove, in a
the Treaty,
short period of time, that the lands were
theirs. Most Raza lost their land by both,
That would be true, except that they are use of force and by having to hire
reading the Treaty backwards, It can not expensive lawyers to prove their claims
give rights to the affected
population and to pay back taxes.
(Mexicans living in the U.S.), It can only
take away those expressly written and Under the four rules of construction cited,
agreed to, It can also affirm rights. The rest the courts should have never agreed to the
of our rights are maintained, cumbersome and fraudulent schemes --
that put the burden on the wrong party --
Thus, if the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and which resulted in Raza losing their
does not expressly take away our right to lands, Based on the results, it can be
speak whatever language we like - and in forcefully argued that the mechanisms put
our case, Spanish ? then we maintain that in place to prove the validity of the land
right. The same holds true for the many claims were designed to take the land titles
native languages spoken in the Southwest. away, not affirm them. Based on the rules
of construction, it is logical to assume that
In the past, literature on the subject shows Raza would never have agreed to give up
that Raza activists have read into what the their lands without a just compensation.
Treaty says or what it means, without
generally citing these rules of construction, On legal merits, I am convinced that if Raza
as they apply to Indian disputes, ever use a test case invoking the Treaty of
particularly the "reserved rights doctrine." Guadalupe and the rules of construction
applicable to Indian legal disputes, the
Raza, to my knowledge, have never case will be won. The main reason for this
invoked those rules of construction in a optimism is that the courts don't generally
court case involving the Treaty of like to make new laws, they like to follow
Guadalupe and land grant issues. precedents,

Because Mexicanos within the United

If one follows the land grant struggles, one
can clearly see how the Raza lost their States are not a sovereign people, the
land grante through fraudulent and question that arises, is whether those rules
of construction apply to the Treaty of
cumbersome schemes that are completely Guadalupe Hidalgo? The answer has to be
illegal, The Treaty didn't need to state that a definitive yes. The main reason is that
people could keep their lands. It was theirs. Mexicanos and their descendants are the
And the states and the courts didn't have
78
77
 only other group within the continental
i n Xicano
United States who are today covered by a The
U.S. treaty. That is the only other similar This is not meant to be the first or last word
situation and the only other legal on the meaning of X - or as some have
precedents applicable to the population in pointed out to me - the sound Xi. As
question. Additionally, Mexican treatment, mentioned in the introduction, I sincerely
particularly in relationship to land disputes, believe that that job goes to someone else
at the hands of whites has also historically because I do not feel qualified to speak on
been marked by use of force, fraud and
exploitation. this subject.

There are those on the Red Road who will

In this country, in reference to step forward and explain it -- explain the
violated treaties, process and explain the journey.
the
difference between legal Similarly, readers should take the time to
merit and political reality has understand Xicanisma and read Xicanista
been force. writers and authors.

Here, I would simply like to give a few

thoughts on the usage of the word Xicano
and the spirit behind its meaning.

The letter or symbol of X, I believe,

belongs to those who use it. Thus for me,
there is no debate as to whether Xicano is
proper or not.

When Raza from the movimiento first used

the word Chicano, many within our own
communities were horrified. But no one
stopped and asked permission to use the
word. We just took it. The more people
objected, the more we used it.

That's how language changes. Words

change because people give them new
meanings. In this respect, those who use
79
80
 Xicano (many of whom are literally part of be offered viable options.
the X generation -- or as Lalo Lopez of L.A.
That perhaps may end up coming about as
Cucaracha calls it -- the Mex generation)
will in time hopefully revolutionize how a result of Xicano consciousness.
people think of the word and how people The real question, borne out by decades of
think of the people it refers to.
experience is, what of Raza who don't
Perhaps one day, someone will challenge accept the usage of Xicano?
the Census and tell them that Raza -- by
Rather than ostracize or denounce, the
whatever name we go by - are an
indigenous people, objective of those who believe in the usage
or at minimum, of X for Xicano should be to lead by
indigenous-based mestizo people, or as
example -- by the way we walk and not by
s o m e s a y , " m i x e d - b l o o d indigenous
how we talk. In this way, the exemplary
peoples." I choose indigenous.
lives we lead will bring them around to
view Xicanismo as something they want to
Those kinds of decisions are political, not
emulate and identify as Xicanos.
scientific. They don'thappen by
themselves. For instance, it was not long We can not return to the days
ago that Hawaiians were considered part
of the Asian-Pacific Islander race, until when people became life-
Hawaiians objected. They said they were long enemies because they
native to Hawaii, thus Native Americans. In disagreed with what to call
the same respect, our community should
themselves or because they
step forward and tell the census the same
thing -- that they've misclassified us and v i e w e d t h e i r i d e n t i t i e s
put us into a Eurocentric category that we differently.
want nothing of.
Many of those who will still call themselves
That's something that our own community Chicanos or Chicanas are from the same
must do first and perhaps that's a job that generation of the Black Liberation struggle
should go to the National Association of and the American Indian Movement. To
Chicana and Chicano Studies. Instead of many who use Chicano, it is similar to
thinking how big a market we are and how using Black. Many Blacks don't view
many H dollars we can get from the African American as a more positive step;
corporate sector or the government, the some view it as being borne at a time of
thinkers from our community should insist retrenchment as opposed to an era of
that we be classified properly -- or at least
81 8 2
 militancy. Some who use the term Black
see it as part of an era in which Blackness our homes.
was celebrated the world over. Similarly, There are Raza I have met through the
many who use the term Chicano or Raza years who for reasons of history, age,
are from a generation in which they broke geography and other circumstances or
from a complacent past. To them, it means experiences, don't call themselves Xicanos
rebellion and a reaffirmation of or even Raza. Many are simply from
our
indigenous heritage. For many, only the another generation, yet, they live dedicated
spelling is different. To accuse them of lives, spiritual lives and fight for a better
being backwards would be a great world, a new world. Some are elders and
disservice. some are grandmothers who are endowed
with wisdom and a fighting spirit. Many of
Likewise, as much as many of us can't the people I'm thinking about are The
stand the H word or other words that deny Mothers of East L.A. - who are courageous
or denigrate our indigenous heritage, we warriors and who actually are mostly
cann o t d e n o u n c e p e o p l e ( i t ' s o k t o grandmothers. You don't judge them on
denounce government and its burrocrat the basis of what they call themselves, but
stooges) simply because they identify rather by their spirit and wisdom they extol.
themselves differently than us. Our job has And in the past decade, they have shown
to be more than simply convincing them strength, courage and fortitude in leading
that the H word is bad. And it has to be our communities into battle against big
more than simply getting them to call government and toxic polluters.
themselves Xicanos.
In my many years of struggle against law
It does no good if someone uses all the enforcement abuse, I have met many
right terminology and is a spousal-abuser, warriors along the way -- both women and
a cheat, a drunk and a lying scoundrel. It men - and many of them have lost children
does no good if gente use the right terms, - sons, husbands, fathers, uncles, brothers
but go around hurting and maiming our or cousins, and in some cases, daughters -
own Raza. - to that abuse. Many of them don't call
themselves Raza or Xicanos and in that
The path of Raza isn't simply about finding context, it doesn't matter what they call
our identities. It is that, but in a sense, it is themselves. What matters is that they are
only the first step on a long journey. It Is giving their lives so that others won't lose
other loved ones. What matters is their
also dedicating our lives to uplifting
humanity and living accordingly -- in the spirit.
political sphere, in our communities and in
83 84
 In my experience, I have courageous struggle.
learned that warriors are
When Malcolm X became a Muslim, he
judged not by what they call said the letter X represented the unknown -
themselves, but on -that it signified the African last names --
b a t t l e s t h e y e n g a g e i n tahned prior to the European names that were
the work they perform. imposed upon them by the slave owners.

For those reasons, all Raza would also be

Women/ mothers around the world, and
justified in placing an X for their last names
specifically Raza mothers, usually lead the
-- to signify the indigenous names taken
struggles against law enforcement abuse. from us. As we know, most of us don't
They are a powerful moral force who often descend from Spanish Lords, Condes or
times force an accounting from other kinds of European royalty. The
governments and law enforcement names were given to us generally in the
agencies. Regardless of what they call same manner by the large land owners in
themselves, I believe they have the spirit of Mexico - through mass baptismals of
X within them.|
Indians -- and the last names imposed on
us were that of the large land/slave
As a side note, it was gratifying the day my
o w n e r s .
wife and I met Virginia Chacón, a giant out
of Raza and labor history. It is she and So in a sense, X could have the same
other Raza women who helped win the value to Raza as it does to African
famous Empire Zinc strike near Silver City, Americans - representing the indigenous
New Mexico in the 1950s. It was the strike names, the language and our history that
in which when the men were prohibited was taken from us. However, in addition to
from striking, the women took over the that, X to La Razaalso represents
picket lines and eventually won. This of recovered knowledge, wisdom,
course was the basis for the blacklisted compassion and a fighting spirit.
movie, Salt of the Earth.
For those Raza who go by other names,
When we met Virginia, she told us that in they should not be seen as our enemies,
the 1950s, they all referred to themselves but rather as potential recruits. (If one day
as Mexicans, Mexicanos or Mexicanas. In those Mexican Americansw h o g o b y
her seventies, she now says she identifies Hispanics adopt Xicanismo, they will
herself as a Chicana. Of course, they all become X-panics. That's n o t t o b e
had the spirit of X when they waged that confused with ex-Chicanos or ex-Raza).
85 8 6
 Similarly, we should not make the mistake
the spirit of Cuauhtemoc - the spirit of
of a generation ago and assume that Zapata, Adelita and Valentina -- the spirit of
professionals or that everyone who uses the Empire Zinc mine strikers -- the spirit
the H word are vendidos. Perhaps in the found among Raza warriors today.
1960s, many of the professionals, an
there were very few, were vendidos. But Through all this, the X will remain. That is,
we live in a different generation. That instead of a name or another name, we
professional you see in a suit may be from may come to view X as the spirit that has
the post-WW I generation of the late Dr. lived not only in our ancestors, but the spirit
Hector Garcia and the Gl generation .. that since the beginning of time has moved
who went to jail to end discrimination and
segregation and that allowed you to go to human history.
college. It may also be a veterano or an X is the spirit that has allowed
elder who has given his or her life to the
farm worker's movement or to keeping u s t o p e r s e v e r e a n ds e e k
Raza out of the pinta and youngsters off the justice. It is also the spirit that
streets. Some may use the H word rejects oppression, conquest,
because they see no harm or because they
have to. Ask and approach. That individual
exploitation and domination. Joe quie
may be waiting to connect or reconnect
with the movimiento, and quite possibly, X is hope and the fire that can X.
that person may once again identify as never be extinguished and
Raza, Chicanos/Chicanas or Xicanos. the spirit that refuses to die.
At the same time, we have to realize that
five years from now, Raza may choose a Lastly and on a personal note, X is the
different name to go by or a different blood I long ago left on Whittier Boulevard
identity. Some may choose a different way in East Los Angeles -- spilt by Sheriff riot
of spelling Raza or Xicano.
sticks. X is the scar on my forehead. X is
the memories of winning in court against
At a certain point, we will stop chasing after
them and the knowledge that they were all
an elusive unifying name. In fact, one day,
promoted and never spent a day in jail.
we may in fact even find that name, but
independent of that search, we may come X is memory.
to realize that all this time, we were actually
in search of that eternal, timeless spirit that X is the courage and strength of all Raza
many of our elders have long possessed -
87 88
women/mothers - of all Raza warriors. And
finally, despite the weight of centuries of
oppression, X is the ability to laugh and
smile.

All my relations

Roberto Rodriguez
Jemez Springs, Nuevo México
Center of the Universe
1996

89
 Vine Deloria, Jr & Clifford M. Lytle, 1983,
University of Texas Press
in La Raza
"The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo:A
Legacy of Conflict," Richard Griswold del
Selected Bibliography Castillo, 1990, University of Oklahoma
It is customary in this section to list books Press
related to the subject at hand or that were "Chicano Manifesto," Armando Rendon
read by the author. Here, more than listing
some books (in no particular order), I 1972
would urge you to insist that school and "Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation
public libraries and bookstores carry these in the 1930s," Francisco Balderrama &
and other related titles. At the same time, Raymond Rodriguez, 1995, University of
read them or read the ones you can and New Mexico Press
pass on the knowledge, pass the book.
"Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of
"Xicano, An Autobiography," by Apaxu Texas, 1836-1986," David Montejano,
Maiz, 1996, Sun Dog Clan Press, 7707 1A 1987, University of Texas Press
Trestlewood, Lansing, Michigan 48917
"La Población Negra de Mexico," Gonzalo
"Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Aguirre Beltran,1 9 4 8 , U n i v e r s i d a d
Xicanisma," Ana Castillo, 1995,
Plume/Penguin Books Indigenistan Gobierno
I n s t i tdel
utoEstado
Nacional de
Veracruz, Fondo de Cultura Económico
"The New World Border: Prophesies,
Poems & Loqueras for the End of the "The Future is Mestizo," Virgil Elizondo,
Century," Guillermo Gomez Peña, 1996, 1 9 9 2 , T h e C r o s s r o a d Publishing
City Lights, San Francisco Company, New York City

"Borderlands/La Frontera: The New "Chicano," by F. Arturo Rosales, 1996, Arte

Mestiza," Gloria Andalzua, Soinster's/St. Público Press, Houston
Lute's Press, San Francisco, 1987
"500 Years of Chicano History," Elizabeth
"The Book of the Sun: Tonatiuh," Cecilio Martinez; South West Organizing Project,
Orozco, California State University, Fresno, Alburquerque, New Mexico
Fresno Calif. 93740
"Occupied America," Rodolfo Acuña,
"American Indians, American Justice," by
 Harper & Row

"Anything But Mexican," Rodolfo Acuña,

1996, Verso Press

"Roots of Chicano Politics," Juan Gomez

Quiñones, 1994, University of New Mexico "Chicano Politics," Juan Gomez-Quiñones,
Press 1990, University of New Mexico Press

"The Mexican American Heritage," Carlos "Youth, Identity and Power: The Chicano
Jimenez, TQS, Berkeley, Calif. Movement," by Carlos Muñoz, Jr. 1989,
Verso Press
"An Illustrated History of Mexican Los
Angeles," Antonio Rios Bustamante and
Pedro Castillo, 1986, UCLA Chicano
Studies Research Center

" B e t w e e n B o r d e r s : E s s a y s on
Mexicana/Chicana History," Adelaida del
Castillo, 1990, Floricanto Press

"The Emergence of the Modern Mexican

Woman: Her Participation In Revolution
and Struggle for Equality, 1910 to 1940,"
Shirlene Soto, 1990, Arden Press

"Chicana Critical Issues," edited by Norma

Alarcon; 1993. Third Woman Press

"Chicana Voices: Intersections of Class,

Race and Gender," edited by Teresa
Córdova, 1993, University of New Mexico
Press.

"Memories o f C h i c a n o History:
Autobiography of Bert Corona," Mario T.
Garcia, UC Press
 The in La Raza
Resources
About the author
Tonatierra
P.O. Box 24009 Despite his teachers and some employers
Phoenix, Arizona 85074 thinking he was illiterate, Roberto
(602) 254-5230 Rodriguez, along with his wife, Patrisia
[email protected]
Gonzales, write a nationally syndicated
column, distributed by Chronicle Features
in San Francisco. They are two of only a
Peace and Dignity Journeys '96
handful of Raza who do so and only one of
PO Box 1865,
two couples in the country who write jointly
Tempe AZ 85280
602-966-7724 or 602-254-5230
They live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Since 1990, he has also been a senior

Tonantzin Land Institute writer for Black Issues in Higher Education.
PO Box 40182
Alburquerque, NM 87196 Rodriguez was born in Aguascalientes,
505-766-9930 Mexico and was raised in East L.A. He
began his long journalistic career at La
National Xicano Human Rights Council Gente newspaper at UCLA in 1972. He
PO Box 12612 began writing columns for Eastern Group
Denver, CO 80212 Publications in East Los Angeles in 1984
and has been writing columns ever since.
International Indian Treaty Council In 1986, Rodriguez received an award by
54 Mint St. #400 the California Chicano News Media
San Francisco, Calif. 94103 Association, for his defense of the First
415- 512-1501 Amendment, stemmimg from his two
victories against law enforcement in a case
National Commission for Democracy in of police brutality that spanned 7 1/2 years.
Mexico
601 N. Cotton St. #A 103 Rodríguez specializes in race, race
El Paso TX 79902 relations, human rights, law enforcement
915-532-8389 abuse and educational and media issues.

* A portion of the sales of this work will go

toward these organizations
 Forthcoming Books
from Roberto Rodriguez

The
"Gonzales/Rodriguez: Uncut and
Uncensored," by Patrisia Gonzales and
Roberto Rodriguez (Jan. '97, UC Berkeley,
Chicano Studies, Library Publications Unit)

i n L a R a z a "Assault With a Deadly Weapon"

(May '97, Bilingual Review Press)
by Roberto Rodríguez

"On the Wrong Side of the Law" (May

'97, Bilingual Review Press)

To order, send $10.00 (plus $2.00 For information regarding these books,
shipping) via check or money order to: write to or call:
Roberto Rodriguez
Roberto Rodriguez
P.O. Box 7905
PO Box 7905
Albq, NM 87194-7905
Albuquerque, NM 87194-7905
For bulk orders or other information, call
505-248-0092
505-248-0092 or send inquiries to:
[email protected]
[email protected]

70 86/00
54562541
 Housepanics

Toda Madre

Viva la

icanada

The X in La Raza
Who Declared War on the Word Chicano?
The Missing X in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The X in Xicano