The Chicano Experience

Alfredo Mirandé

Description

This revised, second edition of The Chicano Experience offers a new interpretation of the social, cultural, and economic forces that shape the situation of Chicanos today.

For more than thirty years, and now in its ninth printing, Alfredo Mirandé’s The Chicano Experience has captivated readers with its groundbreaking analysis of Chicanos in the United States. Although its original context differs markedly from the current demographic landscape, it remains no less relevant today—Latinos have emerged as the largest minority population in the United States. With updated chapters revised in light of contemporary scholarship, this second edition speaks to the Chicano of today, in addition to puertoriqueños, Central Americans, and other groups who share common experiences of colonization, racialization, and, especially in the last decade, demonization.

In this foundational text, Mirandé develops a comprehensive framework for Chicano sociology that, in attending closely to Chicano experience, aims to correct the biases and misconceptions that have prevailed in the field. He demonstrates how the conventional immigrant group model of society, with its focus on assimilation into mainstream American culture, does not apply to Chicanos. Supporting this constructive proposal are analyses of Chicano social history and culture, with chapters focusing on the economy, the border, law, education, family, gender and machismo, and religion. The book concludes with a case study of community attitudes toward the police in an urban barrio. In many ways, the first edition of The Chicano Experience anticipated the sensitivity to the experiences of the underrepresented in American culture. This second edition reaffirms the prescience of Mirandé’s work and makes it available to a new generation of students and scholars of Chicano and Latino studies, ethnic and race studies, sociology, and cultural studies.

Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: Toward a Chicano Social Science

PART I DISPLACEMENT OF THE CHICANO
1. Chicano Labor and the Economy
2. The United States-Mexico Border: A Chicano Perspective on Immigration and Undocumented Workers
3. El Bandido: The Evolution of Images of Chicano Criminality
4. Education: Problems, Issues, and Alternatives

PART II CHICANO CULTURE
5. The Church and the Chicano
6. La Familia Chicana
7. Machismo

Epilogue: Toward a Chicano Paradigm
Appendix: Chicano-Police Conflict: A Case Study
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Hispanic American Studies
• Ethnic Studies
• Public Policy
• Social History
• Social Science
• HISTORY
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Sociologie, société et politique
• México
• América
• Hispanic and Latino Americans
• Latin America
• Central America
• SS Central America
• Latina
• American
• United States
• Mexico
• Latino
• Immigration

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 15 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268202835
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

THE CHICANO EXPERIENCE
THE CHICANO EXPERIENCE
An Alternative Perspective
Second Edition
ALFREDO MIRANDÉ
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
undpress.nd.edu
Copyright © 2022 by the University of Notre Dame Press
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States of America
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022935738
ISBN: 978-0-268-20284-2 (Hardback)
ISBN: 978-0-268-20285-9 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-268-20286-6 (WebPDF)
ISBN: 978-0-268-20283-5 (Epub)
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail]
Para Alejandro Xavier Mirandé Enríquez
“Mano Man”
Y en memoria de
Xavier Mirandé Salazar
Rosa Adelina González Ochoa
Alejandro Mirandé González
Héctor Javier X. Mirandé González
Alejandro Mirandé Garmendia
Gabriela Mirandé Garmendia
CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgments to the Second Edition
1 Introduction: Toward a Chicano Social Science
PART I . Displacement of the Chicano
2 Chicano Labor and the Economy
3 The United States–Mexico Border: A Chicano Perspective on Immigration and Undocumented Workers
4 “El Bandido”: The Evolution of Images of Chicano Criminality
5 Education: Problems, Issues, and Alternatives
PART II . Chicano Culture
6 The Church: Source of Oppression or Liberation?
7 La Familia Chicana
8 Machismo

9 Conclusion: Toward a Chicana/Latina Sociology Paradigm for the Twenty-first Century
Epilogue
Appendix. Chicano-Police Conflict: A Case Study
Notes
Bibliography
Index
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO THE SECOND EDITION
The Chicano Experience , first published in 1985, in the midst of the so-called Decade of the Hispanics, is now in its ninth printing and has experienced great success. The book offered a distinct Chicano voice and perspective on the lives, history, and culture of people of Mexican descent residing in the United States. 1 While this edition focuses on the Chicano people, I hope it is also relevant to puertoriqueños , Central Americans, and other groups who share common experiences of colonization, racialization, and demonization. While it is important to unite and celebrate our commonalities with other groups, we should also respect our differences and be guided by the principle that Latinas/os remain “Juntos pero no revueltos” (“United, while respectful of our differences”).
In this revision I have sought to update and revise the book while retaining its unique critical and forceful voice and perspective. Although the Latino population has grown incrementally in the decades since the first edition appeared, emerging as the largest minority in the United States, and is predicted by the U.S. Census to exceed 111 million, constituting 28 percent of the population, by 2060, 2 we have yet to reach the “Promised Land.” 3 In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, which disproportionally impacts Blacks and Latinos/as, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the quest for social and racial justice, we remain economically, socially, culturally, and politically subordinated.
A number of persons have contributed directly or indirectly to the successful completion of this volume and deserve acknowledgment. Ashley Leiva was incredibly supportive and helpful in organizing and formatting the entire manuscript. Ralph Pioquinto served as my teaching assistant, supported my teaching, and read and commented on earlier drafts of several chapters. Bernabé Rodríguez provided critical technical assistance by successfully converting the original manuscript to Word. Over the years, countless undergraduate students and a core group of graduate students at the University of California, Riverside, have aided my intellectual growth and development, challenging my ideas and providing valuable input and feedback. But mostly I would like to acknowledge the pioneer scholars like Octavio Romano, Nick Vaca, Deluvina Hernández, Américo Paredes, Ana Nieto Gómez, and Gloria Anzaldúa, who blazed the trail for subsequent generations of Chicana and Chicano scholars. I also owe a special thanks to Maxine Baca Zinn for her scholarship, undying support, inspiration, and friendship. Finally, Evangelina Enríquez provided continuing input, guidance, and incredible insights.
In the end, perhaps my greatest debt is to my family for giving me a rich and proud legacy on both the Mirandé and the González sides, and to my raza , who have endured centuries of economic, political, and cultural oppression while instilling an undying sense of pride, dignity, and resistance in ourselves. While we have yet to reach the Promised Land, I remain optimistic about the future and am pledged and committed to the fight for social and racial justice.
Alfredo Mirandé González
Riverside, California
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Toward a Chicano Social Science
One of the consequences of the civil rights movement of the 1960s was a re-evaluation of the role played by social science in the continued subordination and exploitation of racial and ethnic groups. Social science typically was written from the perspective of the dominant society and culture and reflected their values. Oppressed groups sought recognition of their own perspectives (Moore 1973, 65), arguing that both history and social science should be reexamined and evaluated from female, Black, and Chicano perspectives, for example. 1 Over the past several decades, major changes in social science paradigms have been proposed, changes so radical that they have held the potential for fomenting a scientific revolution that would incorporate the worldview of the oppressed. But acceptance of these changes would mean a complete revamping of social science and a rejection of prevailing paradigms. In sociology, Joyce Ladner (1971), Robert Staples (1973, 1976a and b), and others (Wilson 1974; Watson 1976) sought to develop a Black perspective. A distinctive feminist view of sociology has also emerged (Ladner 1971; Firestone 1972; Freeman 1975a and b; Smith 1977; Baca Zinn and Zembrana 2019). 2

While research on Mexican-Americans is extensive, to date a coherent framework for or perspective of Chicano sociology has yet to be developed. A number of pioneering scholars, including Octavio Romano (1968a and b), Nick Vaca (1970a and b), Miguel Montiel (1970), and Deluvina Hernandez (1970), have written incisive critiques of historical and social-science depictions of Mexican-Americans, but their works were published primarily in Chicano journals and have not been incorporated into mainstream academic writings, so their impact on social science as a whole has been minimal. These early works were typically revisionist and did not fully develop alternative frameworks or conceptualizations. While more sophisticated and sympathetic depictions of Chicanos appeared (see, for example, Murguía 1975; Barrera 1979; Baca Zinn 1979b, 1981), such works tended to neither build on nor extend Chicano perspectives, nor did they attempt to revamp social science; rather, they simply applied existing paradigms to Chicanos. Although their orientation was clearly less pejorative than mainstream views, their ultimate frame of reference has remained social science, and they have failed to propose or develop a paradigm for Chicano sociology.
I argue that despite recent advancements in the field, the need for Chicano and Latino sociology is as great today as ever. Despite limited gains and the increasing visibility of Latinos, for example, the composition of the profession remains predominantly White. 3 What I am proposing here is not a scientific revolution but a paradigm shift toward a new postcolonial paradigm for Latino sociology in the twenty-first century that builds on emerging theories like critical race theory (CRT), feminist theory, and intersectionality. After reviewing recent developments and recurrent issues in the field, I conclude that because Chicanos and Latinos fall outside the White/Black racial paradigm, a full understanding of the experiences of Chicanos and Latinos will require abandonment of the racial binary in favor of a more expansive theoretical model that addresses not only race and racism but discrimination against Latinos and other groups that is not solely race-based. I am not suggesting that race is not important. Race is important, and race and racism are systemic and endemic to American society, as is evident from the rise of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, but there is much discrimination directed at Latinos and other immigrant groups that is based not only on race but on language, accent, culture, and real or perceived immigration status. Contemporary racism is also different than it was in the past. It is more subtle and less overt: what some folks (Haney López 2003) have described as common-sense racism or what Bonilla-Silva (2006) terms “racism without racists.” The proposed paradigm also recognizes that you cannot eliminate racism without adopting an intersectional framework that addresses sexism, homophobia, classism, and other forms of oppression.
In this chapter I propose a Chicano perspective on sociology and social science, arguing that it is both badly needed and long overdue. A basic thesis advanced is that prevailing views, even if well intended, reflect the biases and misconceptions of the dominant society and perpetuate a mythical conception of Chicano culture. Specifically, here I attempt to (1) point out flaws and limitations in traditional frameworks, (2) demonstrate the need for a Chicano sociology that would call into question the more traditional sociology of Mexican-Americans and that of Latinos, (3) show how the ethic of scientism may help keep Chicanos and other minorities in a subordinate and exploited condition, and (4) propose a new perspective that will not only serve as the underlying fra