From Indians to Chicanos: the dynamics of Mexican-American culture

1. Introduction Why a dynamic history? Macrohistorical evolution and the six C's model of culture change Theoretical implications for the present day References Stage I. Pre-Columbian period 30,000 B.C. to A.D. 1519 1. Human evolution in Mesoamerica Ecological adaptation Agricultural revolution Refinement of sociocultural life Olmecs, mother culture Chichimecas, migration from Aztlan Notes 2. Intact and stable social order Class : nobility supported by commoners Land system Social classes and life Rise of the state Confederacy and trade Culture : pantheon of gods, moral order, and literary tradition Education Religious practices and moral code Color : intragroup racism Culture as a basis for oppression 3. Breakup and transformation of the social order Contact : conquerors seek riches Background to exploration and discovery Cortes begins conquest Montezuma and the legend of Quetzalcoatl Mexico-Tenochtitlan Conflict : destruction of Tenochtitlan Causes of Aztec defeat Friction over land and religious practices Change : colonial practices begin Adoption of Christianity Religious syncretism Initial changes in land, labor, and wealth Missionary program Beginnings of instability References

Stage II. Spanish colonial era 1521 to 1821 4. Intact and stable social order Class : haciendas and debt peons Spanish motives Encomienda Repartimiento Hacienda system and debt peonage Social role of hacendados Life of the debt peons : Mechicanos Rationale of the social classes Culture : Hispanicization and Mestizaje Shift in cultural orientation Introduction of Catholicism Mestizaje : cultural blending Cultural resistance and marginality Problems of adaptation Political structure Education : a double standard Native reactions and resultant problems Color : roots of racism and racial barriers Ethnocentrism and development Mestizaje : racial mixture Mestizo mentality Race and social class Effects of racism Racism and group conflicts 5. Breakup and transformation of the social order Contact : enlightment Background to the enlightenment Revolutionary beginnings Enlightenment legacy Conflict : independence Liberals vs. conservatives 1810 : El Grito de Dolores 1821 : peace Change : experimentation and nationalism Age of the caudillo Early difficulties Conflict over Indian program References

Stage III. Mexican independence and nationalism, 1821 to 1846 6. Intact and stable social order Class : ideological struggle between liberals and conservatives Mexico under Criollos Peasant conditions Republicas de Indios Haciendas Peasant economy and ideological changes The role of women Events in Northern Mexico Economic enterprises in the North Breakup of California missions Variations of the system in New Mexico Rancho life Mexican Texas Culture : budding Mexicanismo First steps toward national unity Psychocultural aspects of peasantry Decline of cultural imperialism Cultural variant in Northern Mexico Economic influence on cultural patterns Color : Mestizaje and lingering racism First challenges to racism Problems of redefinition Role of Mestizos Race and class linkages Indians in the North 7. Breakup and transformation of the social order Contact : Anglo-American expansionism Roots of contact Expansionist tradition in the United States Background to American takeover Repercussions of annexation Conflict : end of the Mexican-American War, continuation of strife Texas as prelude Texas annexation and intrigue Declaration of war Skirmishes and resistance Outlaws or "social bandits"? Conflict as pattern Change : new system for Mexican-Americans Treaty of 1848 Ethnic rivalry and hostility Roots of friction : economic competition Variance in treatment of Mexicans New dimension to a sense of inferiority Basis of new cultural blending Cultural accommodation or disintegration Growth of economy Adaptation strategies References

Stage IV. Anglo-American period 1846 to 1960s

8. Intact and stable social order

Class : industrialism and urbanization

Background to capitalism, roots of inequality

Chicano role in the economy

Effects of the 1910 Revolution on the United States : the push-pull factor

LIfe in an urban environment

Internal colonialism

Depression, repatriation, and post-World War II mobility

Failure of the political system

Culture : assimilation vs. nativist acculturation

The shifts and pulls of middle-class American culture and the ebbs and tides of Mexican immigration

Contrast between American and Mexican culture

Strategies and problems of adaptation

New syncretism : pachucos

Separatism

Mexican background : effect of time and place on culture and identity

Strengths and weaknesses of Mexican culture

Aspects of cultural imperialism

Insensitive educational practices

Color : inter- and intragroup racism

Ethnocentrism

Roots of prejudice and discrimination

"Pigmentocracy"

Institutional racism

Public barriers

Reactions to mistreatment

Reverse racists

Roots of intragroup racism

9. Breakup and transformation of the social order

Contact : civil rights ferment

Shaping the Chicanos

Effects of modern urban industrial system

Precursors of change

Nature of inequality

Conflict : 1960s Chicano movement

Movement background

Groups and actions

Consciousness-raising

Step-up in militancy : Aztlan nation

August 29 moratorium

Comparisons with other groups and counterreactions

Factionalism and aftermath of the conflict

Change : 1970s and beyond

State of the people

Chicanozaje

Chicano arts

Educational transformations

Revolution or reform?

Social class and gender equality

United States, Mexico, and undocumented immigrants

Growing Chicano strength

Chicanos : nativist acculturationists

References

Conclusion

A look to the future : 1990s onward

The intersection of history and culture change

Lessons from each stage : continuity and change

Contemporary stage, growing awareness

Economic forces and human expansion

Sociocultural change : the sequence of complexity

Structural ideology

Legacies of the past : patterns and problems

Residue of centuries of history

References.