Chicano Movement Research Paper

After more than a century of being seen as foreigners in their own land, the Mexican-American community in the 1960’s formed a movement called the Chicano movement. This movement was to take back their homeland, the land of Aztlán. The mythological paradise of Aztlán became a symbol of identity and belonging for the Chicanos, a representation of their right to belong in a land that rightfully belonged to them. The creation of a homeland brought the Chicano or Mexican-American community together in order to unite and fight against the discrimination they have faced in their own inherited land. “As a Chicano symbol, Aztlán has two meanings: first, it represents the geographic region known as the Southwest of the United States, composed of the …show more content…
We had reached the point where we were going to say, ‘Hey, we don’t have to prove ourselves, feel an inferiority complex and go out and serve in that war.’... People were becoming experts at getting out of the war. You know, so as more and more middle class people that could afford lawyers began to get deferments, the draft boards filled up their quotas with more of the poor, and particularly Mexican-Americans. Mexican-American casualties were disproportionately high. In the Southwest, Mexican-Americans made up 12% of the population, but accounted for almost 20% of the region’s deaths in Vietnam according to many sources.” (Chicano!, 43:05-43:21.43:37-44:12) Despite different approaches, they both strived to bring the community together with the symbol of Aztlán, emboldening Mexican-Americans to stand up for their rights and assert that the Southwestern United States was their homeland and their birthright to belong in and not be treated like foreigners in their own land. With the death of Ruben Salazar, one of the community’s only ties to the mainstream media, the movement died down significantly as they realized that they were vulnerable and could be snuffed

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