Politics of Aztlan: The forging of a militant ethos among Mexican-Americans. Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Garcia, Ignacio Molina. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 11/10/2021 06:14:17 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/187230 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript ,has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. MI48106-1346 USA 313:761-4700 800:521-0600 POLITICS OF AZTLAN: THE FORGING OF A MILITANT ETHOS AMONG MEXICAN AMERICANS by Ignacio Molina Garda A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1995 UMI Number: 9603377 UMI Microform 9603377 Copyright 1995, by OM! Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2 GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Ignacio Molina Garcia entitled POLITICS OF AZTLAN: THE FORGING OF A MILITANT ETHOS AMONG MEXICAN AMERICANS and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 5/25/95 Date 5/25/95 Date 5/25/95 Date Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. /2. /L~. Director Juan R. Garcia Date 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under the rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgement the proposed use of the material is in the interest of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENT In the process of writing this dissertation, I encountered a number of people who provided excellent advise, much needed motivation, and useful -- though not always wanted -.~ scholarly scrutiny. These individuals made this effort a much better one, and deserve as much credit as I do for the end product. I would like to respectfully acknowledge the assistance of my doctoral committee. Juan R. Garda, as committee chair, kept me encouraged when I thought I would never finish. He taught me much about being a meticulous scholar and a good writer. Oscar MartInez forced me to do more research and be conscious that I could do better in proving my thesis. And John Garcia, the only nonhistorian of the group, taught me much about using theoretical models and engaging in better analysis. Along with them were others who contributed to my work even though nothing was at stake for them. Roberto De Anda was one of the first to believe that I was Ph.D "material" and he continually encouraged me. Salomon BaJdenegro extended my parameters on the Chicano Movement and served as my "unofficial" dissertation advisor. Macario Saldate helped me acquire a love for the academy and consequently was my first mentor. There were others, such as Norman Zimmerman, an archivist at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, who found a number of valuable documents for my dissertation. Tom Kreneck of said libary also proved helpful. And my colleagues at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi always believed in me. To them I offer a special thanks. I believe many of these people will remain important in my academic life. Gracias! 5 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to those who made the Chicano Movement possible, and who lived their lives to the fulfillment of those visions conjured up by idealistic young men and women. The Movement was a coming together of people, organizations, ideas, and passions to form a powerful wave of freedom. Movement ideas were not always right, and individuals within that historical moment were not always heroic, but they nonetheless served to correct many wrongs, and to liberate a community from racism, confused identities, and self-victimization. It also served to put on notice mainstream America that Chicanos were willing and able to make changes. The Movement will go down as one of the pivotal points in Mexican American history, and I am proud to be one of those who has decided to chronicle this phenomenon. There is, however, someone even more important to me than the collective of the Mexican community in the United States. That person is Alejandra Aguirre Garcia, my eternal partner, who always understood the passions I had for history and for engaging in movimiento activities. She proved to the be the wiser of the two always. She best personifies that which was good in the Movement. To her, especially, I dedicate this work. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................... 7 1. INTRODUCTION. 9 2. REJECTING THE LIBERAL AGENDA .................... 46 3. RE-INTERPRETING THE CHICANO EXPERIENCE ............ 86 4. CHICANISMO: AN AFFIRMATION OF RACE AND CLASS ..... 125 5. STRATEGIES FOR AZTLAN .......................... 156 6. THE MOVEMEN! IN ROBSTOWN ...................... 200 7. THE ETHOS AND ITS LEGACY ....................... 228 8. REFERENCES ................................... 248 7 ABSTRACT This work is intended to provide a synthesis on the development of a political ethos among Mexican Americans during the decades of the 1960s to the 1970s. This political ethos was neither uniformed nor overwhelmingly acceptable, but it nonetheless formed the ideological nucleus of what came to be known as the Chicano Movement. And this author would contend that some of those ideological strains remain important today among Mexican American leaders. This ethos was undoubtedly nationalistic, but it also incorporated race and class as elements of the Mexican American experience. Chicanismo, as it came to be known, would be the unifying theme for diverse groups involved in a myriad of causes and activities. To understand the development of this ethos, it is necessary to understand the generations of Mexican Americans of the post-war years. Also important to understand are those events, organizations and particularly individuals who began to have an impact on the minds of many Mexican Americans who saw a need for change in the wa.y they lived, thought, and in the way they participated in American society. There are at least four phases to the development of the Chicano philosophical strains that guided the movement. first, the Mexican American intellectuals, politicians, students, and others came to be believed that the liberal agenda which had been seen as the solver of the community's problems was simply morally corrupt. It was a failure. This rejection of the liberal agenda led to a searching for new solutions. These solutions would be oriented toward a philosophical separatism. Second, Mexican Americans saw a need to re- 8 interpret the past as it related to their own history and that of the Anglos who lived nearby. New heroes arose, and the community discovered its legacy of struggle. Also, they discarded the stereotypes of the lazy, passive, feebleminded Mexican American. Third, Mexican American activists, intellectuals and artists affirmed a rediscovered pride in their ethnicity and class status. Many found similarities