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Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974

1974-04-13 Opening Remarks Page 3

that, there are some studies of the Chicano migrant stream in Michigan, some studies in Chicago that were written in 1930. There is nothing anything newer than that. You find many articles in newspapers that state, "here is our Latins in the barrio, over here in la colonia, the real quaint foreigners who held all these fiestas, are all poor and have a lot of children." There is not enough and many of us have not sat down to think in terms of the Midwest, in therms of here. Tonight I would like to talk in terms of the Chicano in the Midwest with particular reference to Iowa. What I would like to concentrate more is on some kind of historical perspectives. When I began to think, tenemos que hacer also importante in este confrendencia, establish some type of important interpretation.

I started to work on all kinds of materials and all of a sudden I found that it was simply too much. I decided to limit it to historical interpretation and limit it to this area that we are all recent immigrants to the Midwest. We can all think in terms of Atzlan as being our land; Atzlan being our land that was stolen by the gringo. But what do we say in the Midwest? We did come up here. The gringo mentality simply argues, well, they are just like any other foreigners, they are just like any other immigrant that has come up from the Midwest. There is nothing different about them, from the Polish, Czechoslovakian, Irish or Whoever else come to the Midwest they will say, they are all alike. Their immigrants came up here looking for a better life and they should not be complaining We did not conquer them. They came up here. We are the host area. We get a lot of that type of idea. I think that we have to begin to deal with that. We have to begin to ask what exactly is our interpretation of our history in the Midwest. What is our history of the Midwest?

The first history of the Chicano in this country was written by Carry McWilliams in 1948. McWilliams personally did a very good job as far as a beginning history of the Chicanos. He made a lot of interpretations; a lot of us are beginning to reinterpret. I think he did much of the basic research that was very important. He said about the Midwest that the Chicano in the Midwest was an immigrant just like any immigrants to the Midwest. He felt that in one generation, this was in 1948, that he felt that in one generation we would vanish. He says the Chicano is indigenous to the Southwest; but in the Midwest, he is going up there and is going to assimilate. He is going to acculturate, and he is going to vanish. "Pero sabemos ya que aqui estamos in 1973". And we have not vanished, verdad!" Maybe the Mexican-American has began to vanish but the Chicano is here.

Every other historian that has talked in general about the history of the Chicano always has followed McWilliams' interpretation that we are foreigners to the Midwest, we are immigrants to the Midwest and that we will melt.

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that, there are some studies of the Chicano migrant stream in Michigan, some studies in Chicago that were written in 1930. There is nothing anything newer than that. You find many articles in newspapers that state, "here is our Latins in the barrio, over here in la colonia, the real quaint foreigners who held all these fiestas, are all poor and have a lot of children." There is not enough and many of us have not sat down to think in terms of the Midwest, in therms of here. Tonight I would like to talk in terms of the Chicano in the Midwest with particular reference to Iowa. What I would like to concentrate more is on some kind of historical perspectives. When I began to think, tenemos que hacer also importante in este confrendencia, establish some type of important interpretation. I started to work on all kinds of materials and all of a sudden I found that it was simply too much. I decided to limit it to historical interpretation and limit it to this area that we are all recent immigrants to the Midwest. We can all think in terms of Atzlan as being our land; Atzlan being our land that was stolen by the gringo. But what do we say in the Midwest? We did come up here. The gringo mentality simply argues, well, they are just like any other foreigners, they are just like any other immigrant that has come up from the Midwest. There is nothing different about them, from the Polish, Czechoslovakian, Irish or Whoever else come to the Midwest they will say, they are all alike. Their immigrants came up here looking for a better life and they should not be complaining We did not conquer them. They came up here. We are the host area. We get a lot of that type of idea. I think that we have to begin to deal with that. We have to begin to ask what exactly is our interpretation of our history in the Midwest. What is our history of the Midwest? The first history of the Chicano in this country was written by Carry McWilliams in 1948. McWilliams personally did a very good job as far as a beginning history of the Chicanos. He made a lot of interpretations; a lot of us are beginning to reinterpret. I think he did much of the basic research that was very important. He said about the Midwest that the Chicano in the Midwest was an immigrant just like any immigrants to the Midwest. He felt that in one generation, this was in 1948, that he felt that in one generation we would vanish. He says the Chicano is indigenous to the Southwest; but in the Midwest, he is going up there and is going to assimilate. He is going to acculturate, and he is going to vanish. "Pero sabemos ya que aqui estamos in 1973". And we have not vanished, verdad!" Maybe the Mexican-American has began to vanish but the Chicano is here. Every other historian that has talked in general about the history of the Chicano always has followed McWilliams' interpretation that we are foreigners to the Midwest, we are immigrants to the Midwest and that we will melt.