For years, the community of Chicano was viewed as a forgotten and silent minority. It was referred to as one of the most vulnerable and oppressed nationalities. Their plight was never considered a public matter. The condition changed dramatically in the late 1960s with the development of a movement that aimed to respond to the oppression of the Chicana people. Rodolfo Gonzales was the proprietor of the activism that demanded a sense of self-determination for the community. He wrote a poem called “I Am Joaquin” that described the harsh life of the forgotten Mexican ethnicity. This essay expresses the desires and frustrations of the Mexican-American individual in the late 1960s.
The Chicana people believed that America was their indigenous home, and they did not deserve to have the minority status in their own land. The community comprised of conflicting identities that arose from interconnection with the Europeans, Americans, Indians, and Mexicans (Gonzales, par. 1). The combination made them the true inhabitants of the American region. The desires of the Mexican-American person were to obtain educational reforms, rights for the farm laborers, and the restoral of the land. The society also did not have any political influence due to their minority status. The aspect limited their chances of being heard. Hence, they requested for political representation in the country. Political, social, cultural, and economic independence was the only way to attain full liberation from racism, exploitation, and oppression (Wikipedia, par. 6). The Chicanos demanded a chance to control their culture, leadership, economy, lands, etc. The rural contrasts in California made it difficult for the Chicanas to develop and access crucial resources such as education and good jobs. The community also wanted to end the suppression of the Spanish language in schools. The capitalist attempt hoped to strip the society of its history and cultural identity just as they did to the African slaves.
Works Cited
Gonzales, Rodolfo. I Am Joaquin. Denver, 1967.
Wikipedia. Rodolfo Gonzales. Web, 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodolfo_Gonzales>
