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El Laberinto, 1971-1987

9
[emblem]

iority that emanate from the colonized state of their oppression.

One way to combat this "false consciousness" can be to develop an understanding of the colonial nature of the Chicano experience. Thus, the concept of internal colonialism, as Professor Barrera explains began to be used in the 1960's as a response to the liberal interpretation -- cultural pluralism -- about the roles of national minorities within the U.S. As applied to the Chicano, this colonialism can be seen in three periods: 1) the period following the Mexican-American War (1846-48); Yankee colonialism involved the conquest of theSouthwest (Aztlan) and the takeover of the land from the Mexican 2) from the turn of the century to World War II; Yankee colonialism took the form of the exploitation of the labor of thousands of Mexicans who came to the United States to participate in the "economic boom" that characterized parts of the Southwest, especially in agribusiness; 3) Yankee colonialism after World War II has shifted in the exploitations of Mexican workers from rural areas to the urban industrial areas of the Southwest.

This third phase, however, may see a process of "neo-colonization" on the part of the ruling class. According to the Barrera, more and more Chicano workers are becoming "marginal" because their unskilled and semi-skilled abilities are less vital to the needs of the new technological industries of the Southwest. The results may be not only a dispersal of many Chicano workers through unemployment, urban renewal, deportations, etc., but an increase in what Barrera calls the "new regulated-working class" of technically skilled labor and professionals. This latter development will further serve to break up Chicano communities and orient this "new Chicano working class" towards having an "interest" in the established system. This trend-if it continues-could represent a realization. (?) the power structure that the traditional colonial system as applied to the Chicanos no longer remains of service, given the decreased need for labor, and the higher form of colonialism--

neo-colonialism--centered on the "new working class" must be established to deal with changed economic conditions.

Because of this working-colass factor, the concept of internal cololialism cannot be divorced from a Marxian analysis. While it may be correct to see Chicanos as a colonized group within the United States, they should also be considered as members of the working class, albeit among the lowest order of this class. Carlos Munos argues that the colonial model can be a transition. Munoz emphasizes the role of what he calls "Chicano revolutionary intellectuals." Their role involves a responsibility to assist in the "de-colonization" of the chicano mind by not only critiquing the system and the ways it oppresses Chicanos, but through challenging the system by offering alternatives. In this process, Munoz insists that Chicano intellectuals should focus on issues that affect the masses of La Raza. They should guard against becoming so inebriated with theoretical arguments that they isolate themselves from the masses who will consider the intellectuals not only irrelevant, but worse, may not even be aware of their existence.

Instead, through the development of what Trotsky called a "transitional program" the Chicano revolutionary intellevtual will be able to raise the political consciousness of Chicanos from a point where they believe in the illusions of American democracy, to a point where they question those illusions, to a point where they understand how and why the capitalist system exploits them and keeps them in a colonized state, to a final point where they will conclude that the Chicano struggle must terminate in the destrudtion of American capitalism and the establishment of an American socialist society.

These four presentations on internal colonialism and the Chicano experience, while still in the are of hypothetical thesis, nevertheless signal the beginning of a new approach to the study of the Chicano in the United States. More studies, especially in  Chicano history, must be done to provide the solid foundations for the colonial model. 
(The above article was written by Mario Garcia, taken from the 11/74 issue of La Luz)

[clenched fist lightly shown in middle of page]

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9 [emblem] iority that emanate from the colonized state of their oppression. One way to combat this "false consciousness" can be to develop an understanding of the colonial nature of the Chicano experience. Thus, the concept of internal colonialism, as Professor Barrera explains began to be used in the 1960's as a response to the liberal interpretation -- cultural pluralism -- about the roles of national minorities within the U.S. As applied to the Chicano, this colonialism can be seen in three periods: 1) the period following the Mexican-American War (1846-48); Yankee colonialism involved the conquest of theSouthwest (Aztlan) and the takeover of the land from the Mexican 2) from the turn of the century to World War II; Yankee colonialism took the form of the exploitation of the labor of thousands of Mexicans who came to the United States to participate in the "economic boom" that characterized parts of the Southwest, especially in agribusiness; 3) Yankee colonialism after World War II has shifted in the exploitations of Mexican workers from rural areas to the urban industrial areas of the Southwest. This third phase, however, may see a process of "neo-colonization" on the part of the ruling class. According to the Barrera, more and more Chicano workers are becoming "marginal" because their unskilled and semi-skilled abilities are less vital to the needs of the new technological industries of the Southwest. The results may be not only a dispersal of many Chicano workers through unemployment, urban renewal, deportations, etc., but an increase in what Barrera calls the "new regulated-working class" of technically skilled labor and professionals. This latter development will further serve to break up Chicano communities and orient this "new Chicano working class" towards having an "interest" in the established system. This trend-if it continues-could represent a realization. (?) the power structure that the traditional colonial system as applied to the Chicanos no longer remains of service, given the decreased need for labor, and the higher form of colonialism-- neo-colonialism--centered on the "new working class" must be established to deal with changed economic conditions. Because of this working-colass factor, the concept of internal cololialism cannot be divorced from a Marxian analysis. While it may be correct to see Chicanos as a colonized group within the United States, they should also be considered as members of the working class, albeit among the lowest order of this class. Carlos Munos argues that the colonial model can be a transition. Munoz emphasizes the role of what he calls "Chicano revolutionary intellectuals." Their role involves a responsibility to assist in the "de-colonization" of the chicano mind by not only critiquing the system and the ways it oppresses Chicanos, but through challenging the system by offering alternatives. In this process, Munoz insists that Chicano intellectuals should focus on issues that affect the masses of La Raza. They should guard against becoming so inebriated with theoretical arguments that they isolate themselves from the masses who will consider the intellectuals not only irrelevant, but worse, may not even be aware of their existence. Instead, through the development of what Trotsky called a "transitional program" the Chicano revolutionary intellevtual will be able to raise the political consciousness of Chicanos from a point where they believe in the illusions of American democracy, to a point where they question those illusions, to a point where they understand how and why the capitalist system exploits them and keeps them in a colonized state, to a final point where they will conclude that the Chicano struggle must terminate in the destrudtion of American capitalism and the establishment of an American socialist society. These four presentations on internal colonialism and the Chicano experience, while still in the are of hypothetical thesis, nevertheless signal the beginning of a new approach to the study of the Chicano in the United States. More studies, especially in Chicano history, must be done to provide the solid foundations for the colonial model. (The above article was written by Mario Garcia, taken from the 11/74 issue of La Luz) [clenched fist lightly shown in middle of page]