???  I'm not sure why this popped up again?????

Many newer Mexican immigrants are mistakenly called Chicanos, but the term Chicano literally refers to their American status. It was used as a pejorative in the early part of the last century by Mexicans against Mexican Americans, but soon became a badge of honor. The term Chicano quietly faded away but was resurrected for a short time in the forties during the Zootsuit era, and then emerged with a much stronger image in the sixties during the Chicano movement when young Mexican Americans were trying to find their place in American Society. For the most part Chicanos have been very successful in realizing the American dream, becoming homeowners, small and large business owners, and politicians, authors and entertainers, both in acting and music, and serving with distinction in all branches of the military unmatched by any other ethnic group in the country, garnering more medals of honors than any other group. and in the world of boxing truly a force to be reckoned with.. During the last half of the 20th century Chicanos have started migrating to many different states and have found it in themselves to stake their claim in this country. All chicanos are Mexican American, but not all Mexican Americans are Chicanos. Being Chicano is at its core, a state of mind. Some Mexican Americans shy away from the term. A Chicano at his very core is a rebel., someone who absolutely will not back down in any situation, which is both a blessing and a curse, but it is motivated by his desire to succeed in this country, despite the many obstacles. Perhaps the only other groups of Americans that could understand what being a Chicano is , would be Southerners, who after the Civil War, suffered prejudice and cruelty and scorn from Northerners, and remained rebels at heart, even to this day. The other group of course is the Irish, who have been who have been rebelling since time immemorial Chicanos and Mexican Americans in general, are unique and distinct from any other group that has migrated to America. We are the only people to have become citizens through annexation, and suddenly become foreigners in their own homeland. But still we persevere and seek the American dream. So as you can see, we are not illegal immigrants, we are Americans just like you. In fact blaming chicanos for illegal immigration, is like being angry at Cajuns because of Frances stance on the war. Chicanos and illegal immigrants are two separate issues. We can read and write and speak English quite well. To follow up on Szinhonshu facetious, and surely sarcastic invitation, If you like Chicanos come to L.A. or any other place in the South west you might be surprised.

This is a tough one for me. My mother will refer to herself as Mexican American if you ask her outright. My father (who had primarily of Spanish decent, dark hair, fair skin, clear hazel eyes)will avoid the topic completely and to family he snickers while saying "I'm not mexican!". Two different attitudes for different reasons. I understood both but knew from a very early age that my parents were definitely trying to "break away" from Americas vision of what most Mexicans were all about in their eyes, and who could argue. They lived in near poverty in poor latino neighborhoods as children. My father had a definite plan to try to make it in the "white mans world" here in America and did all he could to supress our ethnicity because of it. He refused to speak Spanish in our house. He feared us having spanish accents that would be recognized in our adult lives. When I spoke of these things to other Mexicans and even certain family members, I would hear all the terms like Coconut and wanna be etc...it was easy to ignore while I lived in the wealthiest section of Houston at the time and all of them lived in typically low income meighborhoods. My father was ambitious and he was not going to let racial pressure steer him away from his path and I have applauded him for it all mny life. No one knows more than families like ours that Mexican Americans in our country are not for the most part "assimilating" enough to be a powerful force. I dont measure a persons character by their wallet but I do recognize the possibility that we as a ethnic group are not making the impact I wish we were. We are generating a lot of the work and small businesses yes, but not becoming leaders near enough. What I am proud of is that Mexicans as a group are not knocking down the medias doors all the time like other racial groups do crying and whining about their hardships.

Our recently returned colleague has left a passionately composed post (below) that has apparently garnered some attention. After having read it a couple times I see that, in fact, Randyman has made several accurate statements. However, what catches my attention is everything that he didn't say. And the omissions are glaring. His piece is similar to an L.A. Times article from the mid 90's when the paper, under former management, was engaging in self-imposed censorship in an effort to lure Hispanic readers in a city that has grown increasingly Latino. It didn't work then because people knew it wasn't the truth and the paper backtracked when subscriptions began to get cancelled. Accuracy has its own inherent value so let me provide you with some here. As I am both a Los Angeleno of 3 decades and, more specifically, someone who does not readily sacrifice truth at the altar of political correctness, I'll use this post to fill out what Randyman didn't say and clarify some points where what he wrote might mislead people. Chicanos have not been as successful at achieving the American dream as what was written below would suggest. In Randy's home state of California, where a significant chunk of the Mexican-American population resides, Chicanos are statistically overrepresented in 1) prison, 2) the criminal justice system, 3) teenage pregnancies, 4) high school dropout rates, 5) arrests for possession of controlled substances, 6) truancy, 7) claims for deliquent child support payments, and 8) illiteracy rates. And the statistical overrepresentations are not insignificant or slight. This is reality in Los Angeles and the rest of the state. Also, as any longtime Los Angeles resident is aware, predominantly Chicano areas such as Pico Rivera, Maywood, South Central Los Angeles and East L.A. (and increasingly Inglewood which is now approximately half black and half Latino) have crime rates that reflect 3 and 4 times the amount of street crime incidents as occur in some other parts of Southern California. The post below also does not reflect the reality that the author's grandchildren face if they are enrolled at Los Angeles Unified School District campuses. That cute little girl who appears with Randy in the picture he keeps on his homepage, as a Chicano, will have about a 51% chance of graduating with a high school diploma in an educational district wherein 71.4% of of the students are Latinos (about 55% of the entire LAUSD student population has Mexican ancestry). As a longtime Los Angeles resident would be aware, the performance of the LAUSD has simultaneously plummeted like a stone during the past two decades as the Chicano population it teaches has grown in leaps and bounds. This sad reality is reflected in Los Angeles' best post-secondary institutions as well. In a county (Los Angeles) where Mexican-Americans are more populous than blacks, Asians, and roughly present in equal numbers to whites, they represent only 10% of the students enrolled at the city's four best universities - UCLA, USC, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. This makes Chicanos far less successful as immigrants in comparison to other recent arrivees such as Persians, Russian Jews and Chinese. The post below also talks about "many obstacles" faced by Mexican-Americans. But the elephant in the room that is not mentioned is that Chicanos who, as an ethnic group, have one of the lowest average household incomes in the country, are shooting themselves in the feet with a culture that places little emphasis on formal education and whose members commonly have children they are unable to afford without government assistance. The reality of all these factors mixed together? Chicanos in the U.S. consume more services provided by the government than their tax dollars generate. And this is according to the U.S. Census Bureau, it is not a matter of opinion. As to inferences that "we are not illegal immigrants" and "we can read and write and speak English quite well," these observations are plainly overbroad. I'm confident they apply to Randyman and his family, however, as a Los Angeleno he passes by at least dozens of Mexican-Americans each day of whom these things are not true. Also, the suggestion that Chicanos have "suddenly become foreigners in their own homeland," is almost entirely divorced from reality. At the time California was annexed by the United States there were, by some estimates, about 5000 Mexican nationals here. The ENORMOUS majority of people of Mexican ancestry present in this country knowingly migrated, or have relatives/ancestors who migrated, into the U.S. after the Rio Grande River became the defacto border. And this applies to the entire country, not just the Golden State. The bottom line - as a collective, Chicanos represent little more than cheap American labor and a steady source of income for this country's poorer neighbor to the immediate south.

One Mexican in five lives in the USA. The number shall keep growing under present conditions.