Chicanismo: The Forging of a Militant Ethos Among Mexican Americans (review)

294 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Chicanismo: The Forging of a Militant Ethos Among Mexican Americans The University of Arizona Press, 1997 By Ignacio M. GarcÃ-a The Forging of a Militant Ethos Among Mexican Americans is a politically charged book that discusses the historical rise and decline of the ideology that united Mexican Americans in the United States during the 1960s and 70s to confront the injustices imposed on their communities by a dominant U.S. society. Rather than presenting a chronology of the Movement, Ignacio M. GarcÃ-a identifies four thematic constructs which he uses to delineate strategies followed by activists who wanted to promote unification and social change in the Mexican American community . This multifaceted approach to the Chicano Movement is innovative since it allows for a detailed and complex historical overview of an important period in Mexican American history. The first four chapters of Chicanismo correspond to GarcÃ-as fourphase description of the Movement. According to the author, the first phase is the rejection of a liberal agenda that did not seek to empower Mexican American communities. This was achieved through the establishment of four organizations that played a significant role in initiating a Movement that would eventually combat issues such as inept educational systems, substandard housing, insufferable working conditions, and the violation of land rights. The United Farm Workers, Alianza Federal de Pueblos Libres, Mexican American Youth Organization, and Crusade for Justice were responsible for bringing about a strong effort to organize Mexican Americans throughout the Southwest. The author describes the second phase as one that relocates the Chicano experience. During this period, a reformation of Mexican American culture and history was in order. Garcia remarks that "For activists, Chicano history was a recollection of events, of ideas, and of people who had resisted the American conquest of the Southwest and the subsequent colonization that followed"(45). The art, literature, and theater that emerged during this phase, according to GarcÃ-as paradigm, were also crucial in contributing to the positive reconfiguration of Chicano culture and history. In the third phase, Garcia highlights the Movements affirmation of class and race. Prior to the Chicano Movement, racial origin and working -class status were used to point out the inferiority of Mexican Americans . However, as Garcia correctly notes, the Movement recasts these aspects in a more positive light, thereby transforming them into "sym- Arizona fournal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 295 bols of the unique character of La Raza"(85). As part of the formation of Chicano nationalism, it was essential for activists and scholars to emphasize the working-class status of the Mexican American community since the majority of the individuals that provided the core of support for Movement were from this background. Race was also an important component of Chicano nationalism. In order to establish a point of departure for the racial origin of ChÃ-canos, activists and scholars of the Chicano Movement looked to pre-Cortesian Mexico, particularly to the Aztec and Mayan civilizations. In GarcÃ-as words, "For the Chicano activist, the pre-Columbian people represented the teal birth of the Chicano nation, ChÃ-canos chose to view the indio at the height of his or her power and culture"(71). The author more than adequately elucidates the mythical, romantic, and necessary historicity of the ChÃ-canos' native origins, yet, he neglects to mention that patriarchal conventions formed part of these civilizations' power structures. A reference to this notion might have been useful since it forms part of an ongoing discussion about sexism and its link to domination within the context of Chicano nationalism. Phase four is a detailed commentary on the political tactics deployed by student organizations, the UFW, The Crusade for Justice and La Raza Unida Party. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that in this section Garcia does underscore the valuable contributions that women made as well as some of the obstacles they faced in a Movement that was maledominated . He wtites that "in each of the organizations in which they [women] participated, they encountered strong male resistance, especially in ideological and leadership matters. Many Chicano activists, caught up in the machismo of cultural nationalism, kept seeing the women's role as a...