HomeMy WebLinkAboutChicano Concept Not a Stereotype
A Dialogue
F
`Chicano' Concept
Not a Stereotype
IN AN ARTICLE IN THE EAGLE Sunday, Feb. 20, an Eagle
reporter described a Chicano, who was one of the delegates to the
Student Conference on National Affairs like this: "He looked
extremely Chicano, with his bluejeans, pullover shirt and army
boots."
As this statement reads, I see two connations: One, it is
stereotyping the Chicanos in saying that all chicanos dress this
way...a stupid generalization; the other is that the word Chicano
means radical, because most people generally stereotype in-
dividuals that dress this way as radicals. He might have meant to
say something else-what it is I don't know.
THIS STATEMENT WAS PROBABLY written because of the
reporter's ignorance of the subject. Or perhaps he is "culturally
deprived." I use that term because so many people consider
Chicanos culturally deprived, while if they stop and think about it,
they are the ones that are deprived because they do not know
about the Chicano culture...
Chicano refers to Americans of Mexican origin. The wor4
Chicano you will not find in the dictionary, but in the hearts of the
people. The word does not merely identify a particular ethnic
group, but it also carries with it the spirit of unity and awareness
and thefeelingof pride in our culture. It says we are brown and we
are somebody, we are proud of our Spanish language.
THIS SIVIRIT OF UNITY, awareness and pride also conveys the
needs for education among our people, the education that has
been kept away from us because of bigotry, prejudice and
discrimination that is found in our system. Through this education
we can help our people andhelp America become a true
democracy.
This is only a short description of what the word Chicano in-
volves, but I hope that the reporter and all other "culturally
deprived" people will now have a better understanding of what it
stands for. And the next time you see a Chicano, remember-he's
somebody, too.
Daniel Hernandez
1105 Palasota Drive
Bryan
~91 0