The Cristal Experiment: A Chicano Struggle for Community Control

Notes

Notes Preface 1. Throughout the book I use the term Mexicano to identify those of Mexican ancestry who are born or reside in the United States. I feel that for the purposes of this book Mexicano is more appropriate than Chicano, MexicanAmerican , or any other term. The reasons are essentially two. In the course of my research I concluded that most Raza Unida Party supporters identified more as Mexicano than Chicano, whereas the leadership of both the Mexican American Youth Organization and the Raza Unida Party in Texas used both terms interchangeably to identify themselves. Also, I feel that in order to foster a greater sense of identity and community in the 1990s and the twenty-first century, using the term Mexicano is preferable, especially in the context of understanding the effect of the continuing exodus from Mexico. However, in some instances I do use Mexicano ar.d Chicano interchangeably, because I and others see the terms as synonymous. Moreover, I will use the term Latino to generically describe all people with origins in Latin America and Spain. 2. Gringo is a term commonly used by Mexicanos and other Latinos to pejoratively describe whites who are racist, especially in regard to Mexicanos. Conversely, an Anglo is a white who tends to be supportive of Mexicanos. The distinction is clear and important for many Mexicanos. Similarly, Merriam Webster 's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed., provides the following definition: "a foreigner in Spain or Latin America esp. when of English or American origin; broadly: a non-Hispanic person-often used disparagingly." The term's etymology is even more interesting: a Spanish alteration of the Greek griego, or stranger. Its earliest recorded date in English is 1849. In addition, I use the term white to describe both gringos and Anglos without making distinctions about their politics. "Gringo power holders" refers to those whites who are members of a community 's elite power structure, which is comprised of elected officials, former elected officials, farmers, ranchers, businesspersons, and affluent society types. In the context of Cristal and south Texas, the phrase refers to those who are a minority yet wield an exorbitant amount of control and power in local politics. 3. See Armando Navarro, Mexican American Youth Organization: AvantGarde ofthe Chicano Movement in Texas (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995) for an examination of the exogenous and endogenous antagonisms instrumen381 Copyrighted Material 382 Notes to Pages xi-3 tal in fc..ging the Chicano Movement. Exogenous refers to the external and endogenous to the internal historical events, passage of laws, issues and problems, emergence of leaders and organizations, and so on that nurture a climate for change. 4. Chicanismo refers to a quasi-ideology predicated on cultural nationalism . It incorporates the word Chicano, which describes those Mexicanos who were born in the United States. The term came into vogue during the era of the Chicano Movement (1962-1974), popularized by activists who categorically repudiated their hyphenated status as Mexican-American and zealously embraced their "Mexicano-ness," meaning their Mexican heritage, culture, and language. It connoted a rediscovery of the "we:' of a revitalized pride, or orgullo , in being Mexicano. For some activists it translated to either the formation of a separate Chicano nation called AztIdn or to a nation within a nation. 5. AztIdn refers to the southwestern part of the United States, the mythical homeland of the Aztecs. It refers also to the lands lost by Mexico to the United States during the US. War on Mexico (1846-1848). These lands included California , Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and parts of others states contiguous to these. 6. The term liberal capitalism refers to the blending of traditional liberalism as a political belief system-the foundation of this nation's so-called democratic institutions-with capitalism as an economic system. In classical terms liberalism defined the relationship of the individual to society and government. It meant serving the needs of the individual and freeing the individual from restraints-most of which were assumed to have come from government. Traditionalliberalism rests solidly on the following values: the right to individualism , right to private property, adherence to contracts and laws, guarantee of freedom, opportunity for equality, and-last and more importantdemocracy . In contemporary usage some see liberalism as connoting government intervention in the nation's economy for purposes of promoting change for the disadvantaged . For others the term carries the negative connotation of big government that intrudes in people's everyday lives. Today most Democrats, and...