The Chicano Movement: Paths to Power

Abstract

This article is a quick overview of the Chicano Movement (CM) with specific analyses of the five major strategies employed by its adherents to effect social change. The CM was a social movement that occurred in the United States with increased activity in the southwest and midwest during a time frame: 1950s to 1980s. Persons of Mexican ancestry residing in the U.S. were its participants and self-identified as Chicanos. The term Chicano stems from the ancient Nahuatl language of the Meshica (Meh Shee Ka) peoples, also known as the Aztecs. Shicano is a shortened version of Meshicano; later pronunciation changed to Chicano and, for some in spelling, Xicano. As a social movement, the CM had as its ultimate goals the acquisition of political power with which to change the power relations between them and the Euro-Americans, also known as the Anglos.

Keywords:

• alliances
• coalitions
• litigation
• nonviolence
• political power
• power relations
• protest and demonstrations
• social movement

Notes

1. De Leon 1983 and Montejano 1986 provide a comprehensive overview from a historical perspective of power relations, race relations, violence, and Anglo racism toward persons of Mexican ancestry in Texas. The information in these books could easily be replicated in any other southwestern state during the early period of conquest toward statehood to the present time.

2. A historical account of power relations between Anglos and Mexicans in Texas is presented in Montejano 1987. The history of Chicanos in the United States is documented by Acuña 2007.

3. Griswold del Castillo 2008 is a revisionist history of that era building on the previous work of others.

4. For a local history of the Chicano Movement in Texas, see Montejano 2010 and an earlier work by Muñoz 1989. For information specifically on the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO), see Navarro 1995b.

5. Paredes, Americo. “With His Pistol in His Hand,” The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1958. The film produced by Moctesuma Esparaza and Michael Hausman in 1983 is titled The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez

6. See Schock n.d. and http://nonviolentweapons.com/?page_id=140, which lists 198 methods of nonviolent action compiled by 7th and 8th grade students (downloaded 27 July 2010). See, also, Sharp 1973.

7. Go to www.naleo.org for statistical data on the number by state and office category. The report is called the Directory of Latino Elected Officials (by year)

8. See Garcia 1989 for an early study of the RUP and Navarro 2000.

9. Federal Register 43, no. 87 (May 4, 1978): 19269-70 for what is now commonly referred to as OMB Directive 15, and for a history of this mandate, see Federal Register 59, no. 110 (June 9, 1994): 29831-35.

10. I was the lead attorney in the case that brought about the settlement and program. Rosalie Lopez was the lead plaintiff of parents and students. She was later elected to the TUSB board of trustees with oversight of the program and overall school district.

11. Good sources of statistical demographic data are http://txsdc.utsa.edu and www.factfinder.gov for national population figures. See, also, Murdock et al. 2003 for population projections to 2040.