I AM PROUD TO SAY THAT I AM CHICANA, AND I WILL ALWAYS BE
What do you think of when you think of Chicano culture? Some people immediately think about cholos with the baggy pants and big white T-shirts or tank tops and cholas with their lip liner, eyeliner and hoops, and both men and women having tattoos. While that is the style of some Chicanos, there is so much more to it than just the look. There is a rich history behind Chicano culture. People on the outside looking in — especially people who want to learn about the culture — need to see what being Chicano is so that they can understand what it really means to be Chicano.
A Chicano is a person of Mexican descent who was born in the United States, meaning they are Mexican American. The word “Chicano” first came on the scene in the 1960s during the fight for the expansion of civil rights, at which time Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, along with many other powerful leaders, helped create change and better conditions for the Mexican American people — and helped popularize the term Chicano and Chicana.
This act was so powerful that in 1970, Los Angeles students participated in a blowout, meaning they walked out of their schools, so they could follow the adults who started the Chicano movement.
In my opinion, Chicanos are often misunderstood. We can be the oddballs of many cultures. Here’s what I mean by that. I know for me, personally, I’m an oddball in my family. When I’m with my Mexican side of the family, I’m la güera — the light-skinned girl — but when I hang out with non-Hispanics, I’m too Mexican for them sometimes. When I did research on my own family, I discovered that my relatives mostly have relationships with other Chicanos. We don’t fit in with Americans, but we also don’t fit with Mexicans. We’re “alienated” from both of our cultural backgrounds. With Chicano culture, there happen to be a lot of stereotypes that make us seem like we’re bad people.
I myself have gone through some situations that made me question if my culture is something I should be proud of. I would get in trouble at school for speaking Spanish with friends. I would get put down and told that “It’s not fair to non-Spanish speakers” and “You live in America, you have to speak English.” Some people have generalized for years that Chicanos, and more broadly Hispanics, are criminals, and we don’t belong in America. We even have a president who made such statements, which empowered others to believe it. It is painting a bad picture of Hispanics and Chicanos, and it makes us appear as if we are bad people when we aren’t. At one point, President Donald Trump said that “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best.” He also said, “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” He added, “And some, I assume, are good people.”
Because of his false statements connecting Mexican immigrants and crime, I have witnessed family members being judged because they are Chicano. One of my uncles who is in a car club, wears f lannel shirts and drives his lowrider all the time, has been stopped multiple times for no reason by the police, and once was held at gunpoint. There are times he’s been stopped and mistreated until he pulls out a badge that shows he is a captain for the San Diego Fire Department. I have another uncle who was shot dead and labeled a Mexican gang member when in reality he was a decorated sniper who served in Fallujah, Iraq, and came home with post-traumautic stress disorder.
There are ways to fix false accusations and stereotypes. We as people need to take the time to get to know and understand other cultures. People need to stop assuming. They need to start asking questions, and getting to know who we as Chicanos are. We are all people, we all bleed the same color blood, we all have opinions and feelings. We as a human race need to come together and take the time to understand one another. We need to understand culture, religion, sexuality, gender and many other things. People need to take the time to actually make a change and make all cultures understood. So what is Chicano culture? Chicano culture is a history, a race, a movement. Chicano culture is an amazing culture. I am proud to say that I am Chicana, and I will always be proud to be Chicana.
Tredo