Mexican American History: Ancient Mesoamerica, Zoot Suit Riots, And Chicano Culture

As a Mexican American I have a deep history and culture whether it be United States history and culture or the focus of this paper my Mexican history and culture. This testimony is about the how the modules assigned during my Intro to Mexican American Studies either do or do not relate to me this will be done by first explaining what the respective module is about and them connecting it myself on whether it does or does not relate to me. So the paper will be organized in the order the modules were assigned from one to five covering a broad array of topics from ancient Mesoamerica, to the Chicano civil rights movement, to art in the Chicano culture, to sports in Chicano culture, and final violence against Chicanas and Mexicans and the troubles of being a multicultural person.

The first module is an overview of Ancient Mexico, the Mexican American war, and Borderlands / La Frontera chapter one. First it covered Ancient Mesoamerica and show use that Mexico Natives where not just savages that they were not as backwards as future settlers would claim they were how they are civilized and innovative in their own way. For example, they developed so many agricultural foods that “these foods add up to one half of the modern worlds aggregate agricultural wealth” it goes to show that the Indians were innovative. Then it went on to talk about the annexation of Texas and the Mexican American war. While most people are aware of Texas independence and its eventual annexation by the United States most only now about the Mexican American war in passing and that the effects on Chicanos living in the now a day southwestern states and was severe such as losing their land, money, and life’s because “There was little difference between Indians and Mexicans, according to American leaders” so the “Chicanos Living in the newly American territories, the annexation brought a new layer of oppression” (Vigil 156). Then the module skips forward in time to Borderlands / La Frontera chapter one which goes on to explain how the Mexican American war caused the Chicano (later know as border culture) culture and community to be split in two with the new border United States and Mexican border and a brief overview on how it got to this point in time. How do I relate to the content in this module well this is the history of my ancestors whether it be Indians, Spaniards, or Mestizos so of course it relates to me. So, the first reading relates to me on the basis that my grandmother on my fathers’ side is of Aztec descent so as a history major the history of some of my ancestors was really engaging and interesting. The second and third portions of the module relate to my Mexican and Chicano heritage by first explaining vital part of my history as both a Mexican, a Texan, and an American while the other portion delves into my Chicano heritage as someone who lives on the border.

Module two gives an overview of the Chicano Civil Rights movement through a documentary divided in several episodes each explaining a part of the Chicano movement from the from the works strikes to the Los Angeles walk outs. The first film Chicano Episode one Quest for the Homeland follows a group of Chicanos organized into a group called the Alianza who attempt to retake some land in New Mexico that once belonged to Chicanos up until the Mexican American war through several methods even going as far as getting into a gun battle with the local police. Eventually the group failed to get the land and its leader Reyes Lopez Tijerina was forced to go on the run from the law because of the groups encounter with the local police. Chicano Episode 2 The Struggle in the Fields goes into detail about the efforts of Cesar Chavez and grape farm worker movement to improve pay and improve working conditions. It covers the various trials and tribulations of the workers from those that began to strike being replaced, to not being allowed to strike at the farms (they instead moved to the store to get people to boycott the grapes), to the movement’s leader Cesar Chavez fasting for several days but eventually after giving the farms bad PR and costing them lots of money through the boycott the forms met with the union an managed to settle the problems. The third episode Taking back the Schools which overviews the student’s successful attempts to reform the school curriculum in order to help Chicanos learn better, be able to go to college, and for them and their culture to be respected. So, to begin Chicanos where having trouble in school from struggling in classes, to being told they would amount to nothing, and to not being allowed to speak in their native tongue as stated by Anzaldua in the reading “I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess that was good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler” (Anzaldua 53). And in order to bring attention to these facts’ students in several schools in Los Angeles began to have walk outs all day so after several walkouts the school began to prevent these by threatening students with suspensions and expulsions. So, the parents having seen that their children wanted change they began to go to the school board to protest for this and eventually got what they wanted but not before those believed to be responsible for the walk outs were arrested lucky however through protest and litigation they were eventually released. The final episode in the documentary Fighting for Political Power is about the short lived Chicano political party large going over its founding and its 1972 Texas gubernatorial elections were their platform was entirely race based drawing much controversy but to the surprise of many they were not strong enough to win but took enough vote to cause the long wining democrats to nearly lose the gubernatorial election. This module relates to me in two way the first being that these movement changed the way Chicanos are treated everywhere from how we were taught to how we are treated to in work and other aspect of life such as politics. The second being that I got some insight into how my grandfather a third generation Mexican American was treated at the time and what he and other Chicanos did to improve conditions for all Chicanos.

The module three consists of three parts the first is about murals and their use to represent our culture and secondly module three also covers Chicano park and the struggle to get, keep, and expand it and finally the third part covers Selena Quintanilla in life and in death. First the reading Chicano Murals of California goes over murals and how they were “Muralism was the most important, widespread, cohesive and publicized aspect of the Chicano art movement during the 1970s” and how they were used to represent our culture. Then Chicano Park Documentary explains the efforts of the Chicano community in San Diego to get a park from blocking tractors to stop a patrol station from being built to them literally building the park themselves to them expanding it to sea front and adding murals and a Chicano themed pavilion. Then for the third part the module covers the music artist Selena Quintanilla over several short YouTube videos. These videos start by covering her career from singing with her siblings in there parents restaurant to her being a sensation and preforming in the Astrodome then it goes on to have to of here songs and then the final video goes on to talk about her death and how here family continued to work with in the music industry and their feelings towards Selena and the industry. So, this particular module does not relate to me to much aside from the fact I am a Chicano and muralism was a big Chicano thing because in the community that I lived was a small barrio surrounded by farmland on all sides murals and parks were not a think and as far as Selena Quintanilla I had no clue who she was until I when over this module.

An overview of module four goes on about Mexican American Historiography then Sports in the Chicano culture and finally goes on to Zoot Suit play and what its based on. So, the first reading starts with explaining Mexican histography and practical no existence “Until the early 1970s, only Carey McWilliams, an attorney North from Mexico, offered any serious history of Mexicans in the United States” (Gonzales 234) up until the sixties and seventies and goes on to explain none of them mentioned the importance of sports to the Chicano cultures. The second reading goes on to explain the common misconception that Chicanos are only good at soccer and can’t play football followed by the story of the Donna Redskins a mostly Chicano football team that made it to the state championship and won. Then the last two readings in the are the Zoot Suit play and an examination of the play on “the ways in which the play Zoot Suit reshapes performances of terror from the 1940s media, making the zoot suiter a symbol for resilience, creativity, and community pride rather than a threat to the safety of others” (Lucas 62). Module four is split down the middle in terms of how it relates to me. On the first hand as while soccer the Stereotypical Chicano sport is not to my liking, I did play football until I was injured in my sophomore year but still loved watching the games and would even be the Color Guard commander caring the US and Texan flags during the national anthem on home games. Were as for second half of the module I had never heard of its contents until I went over the module it was completely new to me and interesting, but I couldn’t relate it to me.

The fifth and final volume has two readings with in its first being Borderlands/ La Frontera Chapter 7: La Conciencia de la Mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness about the Mestizas struggle and the second being Murder in Juárez about sexual violence in the Mexican city of Juarez. The first reading is about the Mestiza struggle and this refers to the multicultural aspect of being a Mestiza and how the contradictions between these cultural causes “the clash of voices results in mental and emotional states of perplexity” (Anzaldua 78). The reading goes on to talk about our invisibility in the eyes of ignorant whites as a minority and how we need to all learn the history of our ancestors and those that came before us. The second reading is about the extreme sexual violence against females in the city of Juarez and the manty murders happening. The reading goes on to mention the how woman are attracted to the city for the maquiladora jobs that give these women a level of economic independence they never had. The final portion of the paper explains that the authorities dismiss these missing women as just leaving stating “the woman was at fault saying, “If she wasn’t a bad girl, then why did she leave?” State authorities that some of the victims were prostitutes and moved slowly on the investigation” (Livingston 61) and finally ends on explaining how restructuring of labour can help with the situation. This module was one that resonated with me as both relate in some fashion. The first half being a Chicano of Mexican American descent often find my self conflicted on which parts of what cultures to embrace. As someone who has witnessed the violence in Mexico and lost some friends and family to it, I can relate to the second half of the module. Intro to Mexican American Studies was an interesting class that taught me new things like the Zoot Suit Riots and insights into my ancestors and heritage such as ancient Mesoamerica and the civil rights movement my grandfather participated in. While I did not relate to all the materials provide of the course of the class it was quite interesting and enlightening.

Works Cited

1. Anzaldúa Gloria. Borderlands/ La Frontera. Aunt Lute Books, 2007.
2. Galan, Hector, director. Chicano Episode 1: Quest for Homeland. Kanopy Streaming, 2016.
3. Galan, Hector, director. Chicano Episode 2: The Struggle in the Fields. Kanopy Streaming, 2016.
4. Galan, Hector, director. Chicano Episode 3: Taking Back the Schools. Kanopy Streaming, 2016.
5. Galan, Hector, director. Chicano Episode 4: Fighting for Political Power. Kanopy Streaming, 2016.
6. Goldman. Chicano Murals of California. N/A. N/A.
7. Mulford, Marilyn, director. Chicano Park. Cinema Guild, 1989.
8. Gonzales, Rodolfo. I Am Joaquin. 1969.
9. Vigil, James Diego. From Indians to Chicanos the Dynamics of Mexican-American Culture. Waveland Press, 2012.
10. Regalado, Samuel O. Mexican American Sport and Chicano Historiography. Invisible Identity.
11. Livingston, Jessica. Murder in Juarez. 2004.
12. Iber, Jorge. The 1961 Donna Redskins and Their Drive to the Texas State Football Championship. On-Field Foes and Racial Misconceptions. N/A.
13. Lucas, Ashely. Reinventing the Pachuco. N/A.
14. Valdez, Luis. Zoot Suit. 1978.