Who Are Chicanos?

La Raza means "The Race" as explained in the article "Who Are La Razas?". In the article "Who Are Latinos" we learn that the term refers to people who speak one of the Romance Languages derived from a slangy form of Latin. In the Americas, Canadians are not commonly called "Latinos" even though many of the residents still speak French which is one of the Romance Languages. Latinos do not want to be called "Hispanic" or descendents of Spain. The La Razas are very vocal in their demands upon the United States government for the right to live and work on the land. The reasoning is that the US stole the land from their ancestors, thus it rightfully belongs to them. Who are Chicanos and what is their partnership with La Razas?

The original La Razas considered themselves Chicanos or Chicanas for females. Bruce Novoa describes them as thus: "A Chicano lives in the space between the hyphen in Mexican-American". The word was coined early in the 20th Century. In the 1960's Mexican-American activists embraced the word starting the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Their plight was overshadowed by a similar battle going on by descendents of slaves. The Chicanos faced bigotry, racism, segregation and were denied access to public schools in the USA. From this movement the flag of Aztlan was created. The location of this civilization is unknown, but the Chicanos claimed Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah as represented by the 7 stars on the flag.

Chicanos do not consider themselves Hispanic. They identify with their Mayan, Aztec or Incan ancestries. The term Chicanos was replaced with Latinos. The Race of La Razas is Latino. The La Razas were responsible for organizing the May 1, 2006 "Day Without Immigrants" where a reported million people took to the streets in Los Angeles California alone. Some proudly carried signs proclaiming "Los Europeos ilegales". Why choose to identify themselves with a name associated with the European country of Spain? When the Spanish armies conquered the land it was first called "New Spain" and later became Mexico. Chicanos considered themselves to be Mexican-Americans. The native Mayans, Incas and Aztec's did not live on the land that has since become the United States of America. The heart of the Aztec's civilization was in Tenochtilan which later became Mexico City.

No one alive today can change what was done to anyone in the past. We could unite to conserve oil and lobby the government for new energy efficient means of heating our homes and driving our cars. It is rare to find a person who uses vegatable oil to run their vehicle rather than gas. While the La Razas badger the government about The Race's needs, do they offer any solutions to problems that affect persons of all races? Are they aware that California is running out of clean water supplies? If the La Razas are successful in seizing the states they claim and Aztlan becomes a reality, will this new place have closed borders to non-Latinos? Do they think that the surrounding states would be friendly towards them? Many of the citizens paid taxes and built the roads, hospitals, schools and so on by the sweat of their labor

What would happen to the cross country rail lines? They were built in part by Chinese immigration labor. Do the La Razas truly believe they are entitled to all these things as those illegal Europeans once did? Will non-Latinos currently living on the lands be allowed to remain in the new Aztlan? Would film-makers from Hollywood pack up and move East? The movie industry has provided jobs for thousands of people outside of the known stars. What would be the economic impact if they and all non-Latino businesses pulled out of Aztlan? California is home to descendents of slaves, Asians and from continents other than Europe as well.

Someone suggested that I am among culturally ignorant "Americans". One would have to be blind not to see the Culture of Hate that is spreading in the USA by the actions of "The Race" or La Razas. None alive today were part of genocides and stolen lands yesterday. We can be a part of stopping that from happening today. We can not fix the past by spewing hatred of any race. We can unite as one race~the human race~and teach our children to respect people of all ethnic backgrounds. We owe this to our children who, as Dionne Warwick sang, "are our future". Let us leave them with a better one than a Culture of Hate.

Resources:
Various Authors and Sources cited, Wikipedia, Aztlan
"Latino" friends, neighbors, co-workers
Various blogs, forums and news story comments by Brown Berets, MS-13 Gang members, La Razas and White Supremists.

Author note: This article is for educational purposes. Opinions expressed are purely my own and not endorsed by Associated Content or it's editors.