Americans in the 1990S: Politics, Policies, and Perceptions

Mexican Americans in the 1990s: Politics, Policies, and Perceptions Item Type Book Authors Garcia, Juan R.; Gelsinon, Thomas Publisher Mexican American Studies & Research Center, The University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) Journal Perspectives in Mexican American Studies Rights Copyright © Arizona Board of Regents Download date 28/09/2021 13:47:11 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/624835 Mexican American Studies ; MEXICAN AMERICANS IN THE 1990s: POLITICS, POLICIES, AND PERCEPTIONS Perspectives in Mexican American Studies is an ongoing series devoted to Chicano /a research. Focusing on Mexican Americans as a national group, Perspectives features articles and essays that cover research from the pre - Colombian era to the present. All selections published in Perspectives are refereed. Perspectives is published by the Mexican American Studies & Research Center at the University of Arizona and is distributed by the University of Arizona Press, 1230 N. Park Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85719. Individual copies are $15. Subscriptions to Perspectives (2 issues) are $25 for individuals and $35 for institutions. Foreign individual subscriptions are $28 and foreign institu- tional subscriptions are $44. For subscription orders, contact the Mexican American Studies & Research Center, Economics Building, Room 208, the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 -0023. Manuscripts and inquiries should be sent to Professor Juan R. García, De- partment of History, the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721. For additional information, call MASRC Publications (520) 621 -7551. Perspectives is abstracted and indexed in Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life. Copyright@ 1997 by The Arizona Board of Regents. All rights reserved. ISSN 0889 -8448 ISBN 0- 939363 -06 -2 PERSPECTIVES IN MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES Volume 6 1997 Mexican American Studies & Research Center The University of Arizona Tucson MEXICAN AMERICANS IN THE 1990s: POLITICS, POLICIES, AND PERCEPTIONS Editor Juan R. Garcia Associate Editor Thomas Gelsinon TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction vii Ignacio M. Garcia Constructing the Chicano Movement: 1 Synthesis of a Militant Ethos Raoul Contreras Chicano Movement Chicano Studies: Social 20 Science and Self -Conscious Ideology Armando Navarro The Post Mortem Politics of the Chicano 52 Movement: 1975 -1996 David M. Hernández Divided We Stand, United We Fall: Latinos 80 and Immigration Policy Christine Marfn They Sought Work and Found Hell: The 96 Hanigan Case of Arizona Phillip B. Gonzales The Hispano Homeland Debate: New 123 Lessons Marc Pizarro Power, Borders, and Identity Formation: 142 Understanding the World of Chicana /o Students Mario Barrera Missing the Myth: What Gets Left Out of 168 Latino Film Analysis Daniel Estrada & Chicanos in the Northwest and the Midwest 195 Richard Santillán United States: A History of Cultural and Political Commonality INTRODUCTION This edition of Perspectives in Mexican American Studies focuses on identity, culture, and politics. Although these themes are identified separately in this introduction, their discussion in the selections that make up this issue of Perspectives are by no means always separate and distinct. Often, they are discussed concomitantly because they overlap or are inextricably linked. Two major foci of the Chicana /o Movement in the 1960s and 1970s were culture and identity. El Movimiento was, of course, highly political as well. One of the critical elements for Chicanas /os was the development of a unique identity that would articu- late the goals and aspirations of the movement, and challenge the prevailing assimilationist ideology In "Constructing the Chicano Movement: Synthesis of a Mili- tant Ethos," Ignacio Garda describes the stages it went through as people within the Movement worked toward their goals. The ethos and these stages, which embodied specific characteristics, propelled the movement and fundamentally changed the way Mexican Americans perceived themselves. In reviewing the historiography of the Chi - cana/o Movement, García challenges some of the prevailing interpretations, and calls upon researchers and scholars to study El Movimiento as a social process, rather than a series of events. Educational reform, especially at the college and university level, was also at the heart of the Chicano Movement. As a result of student and community activism, the 1960s and 1970s witnessed a burgeoning number of programs and centers. A failing economy, the prolonged recession it triggered, and a growing conservative backlash in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in many programs being scaled back or eliminated. This threat to the hard -won gains made by Chicanas/os resulted in renewed efforts to re- constitute departments and programs on campuses. In "Chicano Movement Chicano Studies: Social Science and Self- Conscious Ideology," Raoul Contreras surveys the events that took place at UCLA in 1993, when students and their supporters de- manded the establishment of a Chicano Studies department. The central focus of his essay is a theoretical analysis of the exogenous and ideological forces that propelled supporters and opponents involved in the controversy. Armando Navarro traces developments and changes in the Chicano Movement between 1975 and 1996 in "The Post Mortem Politics of the Chicano Movement: 1975 -1996." In the process he delineates the forces that have eroded the militancy and altered the focus of the Movement. In the first phase, which he terms the "Viva Yo" stage, the movement became moribund because of the growth of neo- conservatism, the decline of the civil rights struggle, the power struggles and divisions extant within viii PERSPECTIVES IN MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES the movement itself, and because of the external forces that had propelled and united it in the 1960s were no longer present. The result was the emergence of a generation of leaders who were more moderate to conservative in their outlook and politics. Increas- ingly this return to mainstream assimilationist goals among the Viva Yo generation was, in part, reflected in their growing acceptance of the term "Hispanic" to identify themselves. The need to assuage different constituencies in order to be elected led them to turn more to ballot box politics rather than protest and confrontation. In a related vein, this group was not immune to the nativism and racism that characterized the 1980s and 1990s. This resulted in a turn on their part to the second phase, which Navarro terms the "politics of scapegoating." In this stage, Hispanics blamed the problems of their group and of the United States on immigrants. The consequences and impact of this second stage on the movement are further delineated in his essay. Navarro concludes by suggesting strategies for building a new movement. Immigration re- emerged in the 1980s and 1990s as a major issue that created problems and challenges for Chicana /o and Hispanic elected officials. The dilemmas they faced in addressing the needs of differing constituencies, and the impact that controversial issues have on their politics and actions are delineated in the essay, "Di- vided We Stand, United We Fall: Latinos and Immigration Policy," by David M. Hernández. The debate, strategies, and policies of the immigration question have plagued the efforts of Latinos and Latinas to respond to the anti -immigrant attitudes and legislation that have emerged in the past few years. But as Hernández points out, the attacks emanating from the anti -immigrant forces have not always proved divisive for Latinas /os. For example, the controversial Proposition 187 galvanized political activism among them. He argues that much of the resurgent Latina /o political activism has been built on the Latino pro- immigrant's infrastructure that emerged to counter the activities of the anti -immigrant forces. Nonetheless, the widespread immigrant bashing has blurred the lines between legal and undocumented immigration. This has seriously divided Latinos themselves, hindering political efforts. Hernández's essay analyzes the effects of this contradictory, divisive, and perilous dilemma. Too often, the debate over immigration becomes mired in rhetoric, losing site of the human dimension. Critics of immigration rely on heavy handed and inaccurate stereotypes to bolster their arguments and campaigns. A major outcome of the immigrant bashing has been the tendency to dehumanize the immigrants themselves. This often creates an environment that is intolerant to their presence, and indifferent to their human and civil rights. Such was the case in Arizona in 1976, when three undocumented immigrants were captured and brutalized by a local rancher and his sons. The events leading up to their capture and torture, and the indictments and trial that followed are described by Christine Marín in "They Sought Work and Found Hell: INTRODUCTION ix The Hanigan Case of Arizona." In relating the events Marín also presents the dilemmas and problems that the case created for Hispanic politicians, and how it polarized the community. In essence, the trial focused national and international attention on the situation along the border, and profoundly affected the politicians and civil rights organizations that the trial touched. This case study ably demonstrates the dilemmas and consequences that the issue of immigration imposes on organizations and politicians that Hernández and Navarro allude tó in their essays. In "The Hispano Homeland Debate: New Lessons," Philip B. Gonzales revisits the theoretical

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