Latino Mennonites: Civil Rights, Faith, and Evangelical Culture

Notes

Notes Introduction Epigraph. Neufeld, Eight Years among Latin-Americans, 70. 1. Samuel Hernandez, interview by author, tape recording, Goshen, IN, March 2007. 2. Perfecta De León, interview by author, tape recording, Mathis, TX, December 28, 2006. 3. Markers of ethnicity, nation, and gender have become increasingly complex in an era of heightened immigration, globalization, and debates over the language of identity politics in academia. But for the sake of clarity, throughout the book I use the terms “Latino” and, to a lesser extent, “brown” to identify Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans that I discuss in this book. I also understand the pitfalls of sexism and heterosexism, but in the interest of clarity I have chosen to use the masculine form “Latino” throughout most of this book except when I am talking specifically aboutwomenofLatin Americanorigin. In thosecasesIusetheterm“Latina.”When more precise language is necessary and appropriate, I sparingly use “Latino/a” or “Latino and Latina.” I also use the term “minority” because it is the one consistent way that black and brown people in this study are identified. I use the term “ethnic Mexican” to describe the Mexican population, regardless of citizenship. The labels “Mexican American” and “Chicana/o” are reserved for the Mexican-origin population either born or raised in the United States and those that self-identify as such. See Itzigsohn, “The Formation of Latino and Latina Panethnic Identities”; Gutiérrez , Walls and Mirrors; Arredondo, Mexican Chicago; and Oboler, Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives. 4. Klaassen, Anabaptism, 1. The work of J. Denny Weaver is most helpful in defining Anabaptism. Weaver suggests three “priorities” of Anabaptism: (1) “the nor- 222 T notes to pages 3–5 U mativeness of Jesus for truth,” which emphasizes praxis and discipleship; (2) “community ,” placing community over individualism and stressing the priesthood of all believers; and (3) “peace,” standing against violence in any form and believing that Anabaptists are to work for peace and justice. Weaver, Becoming Anabaptist. Most recently the work of Stuart Murray has reignited a debate over the “bare essentials” of Anabaptism. See Murray, The Naked Anabaptist. 5. My work builds on the call by Chicana/o studies scholars to expand our understandings , timelines, and geographies of Chicana/o history and social movements . See Davalos et al., “Roundtable,” 143. 6. Gastón Espinosa and Rick Hunter, “Latino Religions and Politics Survey Voter Report: Pre-2012 Election Findings,” nationally representative bilingual telephonesurveyof1,000LatinoChristianlikelyvoters,conductedOctober4–10, 2012, Claremont McKenna College, 7. 7. The last 10 years have seen a flurry of books on the Latino religious experience during the civil rights movement. Among the more influential works are Sánchez Walsh,LatinoPentecostalIdentity;Busto,KingTiger;R.Martínez,PADRES;Medina, Las Hermanas; Barton, “¡Ya Basta!”; Espinosa and García, Mexican American Religions. 8. Stevens Arroyo, Prophets Denied Honor; Espinosa, Elizondo, and Miranda, Latino Religions and Civic Activism in the United States; Watt, Farm Workers and the Churches. 9. Other interethnic religious movements in the mid-twentieth century include the Catholic Interracial Council, which worked in New York and places across the Midwest, and the Christian Friends for Racial Equality, which worked in Seattle. See Walker, Religion and the Public Conscience, and Janet Weaver, “From Barrio to ‘¡Boicoteo!’” 10. M. García, “Religion and the Chicano Movement,” 125; R. Martínez, PADRES; Treviño, The Church in the Barrio; Medina, Las Hermanas. 11. Pinn and Valentin, The Ties That Bind. 12. One key example of this is Gordon Mantler’s treatment of Chicano involvement , including that of Chicano religious leaders, in the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968. Mantler, “Black, Brown and Poor,” 158–228. For more on multiracial dynamics see Kurashige, The Shifting Grounds of Race. I make this argument knowing that some Latino evangelicals were ambivalent about the politics of the civil rights movement. Historians Edwin Sylvest Jr. (“Hispanic American Protestantism in the United States”) and Paul Barton (“¡Ya Basta!”) make this point clear. In this book I also highlight parts of the Latino church that struggled with how to relate to the movement. But no matter the dissent, it is hard to ignore the very real and practical changes that the civil rights movement had on Latino churches. Throughout this book, I demonstrate exactly what those gains were and how they helped shape the experience of Latino Mennonites in the 1970s. T notes to pages 6–7 U 223 13. Alvarez, “From Zoot Suits to Hip Hop,” 56. 14. Brilliant...