The Psycho-historical and Socioeconomic Development of the Chicano Community in the United States

1. The Psycho-historical and Socioeconomic Development of the Chicano Community in the United States

2. 1.What two factors are taken into consideration by Alvarez in his definition of the “generational experience”? • A. historical period • B. similar historical experiences • C. formulate a common view of themseles--self- perception

3. 2. Mexican people, Alvarez asserts, are a creation of an imperial conquest. Are there in fact two major conquests which have shaped the Chicano experience? • A. Spanish Conquest: 1519-1521, colonial eras • Results in Indian subjugation, mestizaje, ladinoization • B. United States conquest of Mexico, 1846-1848. • Results in Chicano incorporation, subjugation through economic competitions, resource competitions, discrimination, violence

4. 3. The conquests of United States were driven by a singular objective. But the Spanish conquest sought two primary goals: land and souls. What is your explanation of this and for this? • Mexican/Spanish policy which encouraged inclusion and conversion of Indigenous, resulting in racial mixture and social integration through conversion. • American policy segregated Indigenous people into reservations, no racial mixture

5. 4. Alvarez calls the United States society of the 19th century the “homogeneous society.” Mexican society is called the “heterogeneous society.” Be able to distinguish between the two and explain the differences. • United States society is dominated by a single ethnic group. Mexican society has shown a vastly varied ethnic integration. Benito Juarez as an example. • Juarez-desindianizado

6. 5. What was the “cooperative experience”? The “revolutionary experience”? • A. the period of cooperation in Texas during the original settlement by Anglo and Mexican immigrants due to the need for mutual defense and resource, land abundance. • B. the period of conflict between the Texas Revolt and the Mexican American war. 1830s/1840s

7. 6. What was the creation generation? The four factors which played a role in its formation. • The generational experience during the 19th century following the Mexican American war through 1900. • Four Factors: a. presence of racist, anti-Mexican thought, b. economic and resource competitions, c. American familiarity with slave systems, d. process of economic and political subjugation. • Collectively created the Chicano socio-economic position in American society

8. 7. What was the migrant generation? The factors which characterize this generational experience. • The generation that arrived in the United States from the early 20th century through the 1930s, due to the push-pull conditions • Lands identical-physical characteristics • Mexicans as “free agents” no border crossing experience. Individual decisions • Culture, people the same • Not a new experience for the hosts • A pre-determined socio-economic position

9. 9. What were the push and pull factors? • Those economic and political factors which caused displacement in Mexico and contributed to immigration to the United States • A. Push: Mexican Revolution, economic and political displacements, economic conditions and economic disparities between Mexico and U.S. • B. Pull: the lure of jobs in the U.S. agricultural development. Labor necessity in U.S.

10. 11. Mexicans left a class-based society and entered caste-like conditions in the United States. What does Alvarez mean by this? • United States society utilized racial and economic factors to subjugate Mexicans and Mexican immigrant workers into lower caste positions.

11. 12. Be prepared to discuss the distinguishing factors of the Mexican American generation. • A. Out-migrations • B. Assimilationists, acculturationists • C. Spanish in certain regions • D. Loyalties to the United States • E. Optimistic of their gains in the U.S. • F. Psychically secure.

12. 13. Alvarez concludes that the Mexican American generation was psychically secure as a result of their perception of their progress. Why was this a false sense of security, according to Alvarez? • Behind even Black Americans in every measure of socio-economic progress. False security

13. 14. Be prepared to discuss the characteristics of the Chicano generation? • A. Question American egalitarianism • B. No trained leaders • C. Face wide-spread failures • D. Self-defining • E. Critical of American society, predecessors • F. Public minority

14. 15. Alvarez asserts that the Chicano generation faced the prospects of wide-spread socioeconomic and educational failure and a dismal future. Why • A. No trained educated leadership • B. No schools for their specific problems • C. Lack of advanced education, little future • D.Little control of their economic and educational life.

15. 17. In what ways did the Chicano generation try to rescue itself? What is meant by self-determination and self definition? • By redefinition and seizing its future, • By re-idenfication with Mexican past through parents, history, traditions • By emphasizing the indigenous elements, strength of Mexican culture and traditions, • By asserting a new Mexicanness.