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goodbye to aztlÁn 1975–1994 9 the political generation that emerged in barrios after the mid-1970s, labeled by chicano historians the Post-chicano Generation—or the Hispanic Generation, given its more conservative nature—lived in a time of rapid and confusing change. Most chicano scholars, swayed by the high expectations of the preceding decade, have tended to be critical. Political gains from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, for the most part a period of republican ascendancy, appeared to them to be minimal . socially and economically, too, the vast promise held out by the movimiento remained unfulfilled. And yet, upon closer examination of this disappointing and seemingly unproductive era, it is possible to detect more hopeful signs for the future. this chapter will try to present a balanced portrait of the Mexicano community in the United states during these two decades, a transitional period between chicanismo and the contemporary age, by focusing on its frustrations and achievements, on its pain and promise. deMoGrAPHic trends Mexicanos maintained a high profile in American society after the 1970s. there were many reasons for this enhanced visibility. Bilingualism and affirmative action were key factors. But perhaps the most salient was the enormous increase in numbers. Hispanics—a government category used by the U.s. census Bureau that included Mexicanos, Puerto ricans, cubans, and other Latin Americans—increased by 61 percent between 1970 and 1980, and 53 percent between 1980 and 1990. By the latter date, according to census data, these communities numbered 22.4 million , about 9 percent of the total U.s. population (exclusive of indocumentados).1 About 60 percent of Hispanics, some 13.5 million people, were Mexican in origin.2 in california alone, according to the census, 109 towns and cities had achieved uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu goodbye to aztlÁn 227 a Hispanic majority by 1990. this dramatic increase reflected an extraordinarily high birth rate. there were 3.8 persons per family, compared to the 3.2 for a typical American family. A youthful population, Hispanics had a median age of 26.2 years, compared to the 33.0 years for the total population. By the 1990s, Mexicanos could be found picking citrus fruit in florida, harvesting tobacco in north carolina, collecting mushrooms in Pennsylvania, picking orchard crops in Washington, cleaning fish in Alaska, and working in slaughterhouses in iowa. As the decade opened, some two hundred thousand Mexicanos lived in new york city. clearly, they had become a national rather than a regional minority. still, 83 percent of them continued to reside in the southwest. the greatest number, 6,118,996, lived in california, where the 7.7 million Latinos represented 25.8 percent of the total population, about the same percentage as in texas (25.5) though lower than new Mexico (38.2). in the Land of enchantment, interestingly, the trend was different than in other parts of the southwest. Here the Anglo population was growing at the expense of the Hispano population. for example, in santa fe county, the Hispano share of the population fell from 65 percent to 45 percent between 1970 and 1990. outside the southwest, the largest number of Mexicanos was found in the Midwest. over 1.5 million of them resided in chicago and detroit and their surrounding areas. By 1990, 90.5 percent of the Mexicano population in the United states was urban, a higher percentage than the U.s. population at large. the highest concentration of Latinos as of 1992, 4,779,000, was found in the Los Angeles metropolitan area (32.9 percent of the total population), where they constituted the majority of students in the public school system, especially in greater east Los Angeles and the san fernando Valley. At this time, the Mexicano community of Los Angeles was the fourth largest in the world, after Mexico city, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. in texas, there were several major cities with heavy Hispanic (overwhelmingly Mexicano) representation, including san Antonio (47.6 percent), corpus christi (52 percent), el Paso (69.6 percent), and Laredo (93.9 percent). in Houston, Latino students made up roughly half of the school population. concurrently, Mexicanos, and other minorities, became part of a major exodus leaving city centers for outlying suburbs, a shift motivated by a multitude of factors, including the desire to escape violence in the barrios. tHe resUrGence of MexicAn iMMiGrAtion in addition to the high birth rate, the second major cause of the changing demographics, and another obvious reason why Mexicanos were highly visible...

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