The Chicano Movement sought to educate the Latinos consciousness about their social justice, dismantling the white supremacy paradigm, and generally giving back to the communities. Thus it can be termed as a civil liberty movement and liberation. The movement was born out of the need to improve the lives of the oppressed Latinos, fight against police oppression, land struggle, immigration issues and women rights amongst others. The group mobilized students and other groups who accepted and took pride in the Chicano identity and thus embracing it and demanding for recognition and representation. This paper will explore some of the challenges that the leaders faced in fighting for their agendas (NLCC Educational Media, Albany, 1996).
One of the problems faced was lack of resources. The movements were well intended and fighting for a worthy course. The leaders struggled with lack of sufficient resources in order to mobilize the entire Mexican population in the United States to rally behind the organization. It lacked a coherent and broad program that could appeal to the entire population and convince them to rise up for their rights. As a result, it was fragmented and consisted of various groups including schools, churches and villagers each addressing their concerns.
In addition, the movements were opposed by the federal government and as well by the white Americans as it sought to reverse the white supremacy thinking and claiming for the lands and equal treatment in general. The leaders aimed at recruiting more members who were then tasked with the role of educating the members of the public and increasing the circles. They can be therefore be termed as transactional and participative leaders. Rather than giving directions, they sought to influence the members so that they can carry on the roles in their respective localities. They did not succeed in most of their agendas and the failure can be attributed to the leadership styles (Murray, 2016).
References
Murray, A. (2016). Leadership Styles - Management - WSJ.com. Retrieved from http://guides.wsj.com/management/developing-a-leadership-style/how-to-develop-a-leadership-style/
NLCC Educational Media, Albany. (1996). Chicano! A History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol3/chicano/chicano.html
