Randy J. Ontiveros - In the Spirit of a New People: The Cultural Politics of the Chicano Movement

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IN THE SPIRIT OF A NEW PEOPLE

The Cultural Politics of the Chicano Movement

RANDY J. ONTIVEROS

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

New York and London

www.nyupress.org

2014 by New York University
All rights reserved

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Ontiveros, Randy J.
In the spirit of a new people : the cultural politics of the Chicano movement /
Randy J. Ontiveros.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-3884-9 (hardback : acid-free paper)
ISBN 978-0-8147-3877-1 (paperback : acid-free paper)
1. Chicano movement. 2. United StatesSocial conditions19601980.
3. Mexican AmericansSocial conditions. 4. Mexican AmericansPolitics
and government. 5. Mexican American art. 6. Social movements in art.
I. Title.
E184.M5O58 2013
973.046872dc23

2013017724

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A book in the American Literatures Initiative (ALI), a collaborative publishing project of NYU Press, Fordham University Press, Rutgers University Press, Temple University Press, and the University of Virginia Press. The Initiative is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. For more information, please visit www.americanliteratures.org .

I am grateful beyond measure to the many people who have helped me to write this book and to arrive at the joyful place I am today. To those named below and to the many more unnamed, thank you.

To my teachers: Ms. Borges; Mr. Walton; Mr. Goldstein; Ms. Kemp; Mr. Mikolavich; Tim Caron; Todd Pickett; Lindon Barrett (que en paz descanse); Leo Chavez; Julia Lupton; Steven Mailloux; Jennifer Terry; and Brook Thomas. I owe a lifelong debt to Dr. Virginia Doland, who opened the doors to graduate school. Thank you especially to Inderpal Grewal, Laura Kang, Rafael Prez-Torres, and John Carlos Rowe. Your brilliant writing, practical advice, and engaged teaching are an example I try to emulate in my own career.

To my friends: Jeff Culver and Shari Culver, Jason McMartin and Kelly McMartin, Nancy Felch and Andrew Felch, Brian Thill, Linh Hua, Tad Davies and Rebecca Summerhays, Janet Neary, Jane Griffin, Alex Espinoza, Priya Shah, Naomi Greyser, Amy Parsons, Jane Hseu, Arnold Pan, Larisa Castillo, I-Lien Tsay, Mariam Lam, Johanna Wyers, Cindy I-Fen Cheng, Rachel Howard and Chris Kirages, Tim Hackman, and Mietek Boduszyski.

To those who gave help along the way: Alfredo Arregun; Santa Barraza; Greg Rubio; Modesta and Jos Trevio; Maria Varela; Dionne Espinoza; George Mariscal; Kandice Chuh; Mimi Thi Nguyen; Ricardo Ortiz; Tony Lpez; Joseph Palacios; Laura Halperin; Rodrigo Lazo; Elena Machado Sez; Ricky Rodrguez; Eduardo Daz; Los Blogueros; Marisela Norte; the staff of the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archive; the staff of the Cushing Memorial Library at Texas A&M; the staff and editors of American Quarterly; and the amazing people at NYU Press, including my anonymous reviewers, Tim Roberts, Susan Murray, Ciara McLaughlin, Alicia Nadkarni, and Eric Zinner.

To my students, past and present: Kara Morillo, Elise Auvil, Ana Perez, Maria Vargas, Fernando Benavidez, Allison Abessinio, Seth Horton, Anne-Marie Robinson, Erica Gruenewald, Ana Farach, Kelly Singleton, Rebecca Wise, Toni Sabo, Nina Candia, Kate Richard, Michael Casiano, Anna Steed, and all the students I have had the pleasure to teach.

To my colleagues: At Maryland I have been surrounded by a fantastic staff in the English Department, and by wonderful colleagues across the campus. I owe particular thanks to John Auchard, Sharada Balachandran Orihuela, Ralph Bauer, Jackson Bryer, Charles Caramello, Kent Cartwright, Sandra Cypess, Bill Cohen, Theresa Coletti, Perla Guerrero, Christina Hanhardt, Sheila Jelen, Linda Kauffman, Bob Levine, Marilee Lindemann, Peter Mallios, Zita Nunes, Carla Peterson, Sangeeta Ray, Ana Patricia Rodrguez, Laura Rosenthal, Jason Rudy, Martha Nell Smith, Nancy Struna, Bonnie Thornton Dill, Mary Helen Washington, Edlie Wong, and David Wyatt.

To my family: Thank you to my familia near and far, and above all to Steve and Julie Ontiveros, to Max and Angel and Aubrey, to John and Suzanne Sellars, to Francie Koehler (M2!), to Randy Ontiveros, for always being there, and to Patricia Garrett, for guiding my steps.

To Danny and Annelise: Since you came into my life, not a single day has passed without me feeling overwhelmed by joy and gratitude for the privilege of being your Dad. I hope you will tuck this book away on a shelf somewhere, and when you see its spine, remember that my heart makes its home where you are, now and always. I love you.

To Jennifer Cay: Your fierce love, goofy humor, sharp mind, and deep reservoirs of wisdom are my lifes great treasure. Every word of every sentence of every paragraph of every page of this book owes a debt to you.

What significance does the Chicano movement have today? This question is at the heart of the book you hold in your hands, but it is not an easy one to ask, let alone to answer. Many people have never heard of the Chicano movement, a nationwide campaign during the 1960s and after for the civil rights of Mexican Americans. Some individuals faintly recall the movement from brief mention of it in the pages of their high school or college textbooks, while others know of the movement, but dont believe it holds any relevance in their lives. Progressives often celebrate the Chicano movement as an important part of the American Left, though they are sometimes critical of the direction it took. Conservatives, on the other hand, are generally ignorant of this history. Those few who do know a little about the movement are scornful. When Jorge Bustamante ran for governor in Californias 1999 recall election, right-wing activists accused the one-time movement leader of being party to an elaborate Reconquista (Reconquest) plot to take over the American Southwest and return it to Mexico. Theirs was a fringe view, but its coverage in the press prompted one of the more sustained public discussions of the Chicano movement in recent years.