Ana Murguia, Debra Rojas, and Delores Huerta coming foward about Cesar Chavez being abusive and predatory come at no surprise to many Mexican American women and women of color as a whole who have faced misogyny and abuse in movement spaces.
These allegations have also been rippling through Latine spaces across the country this week, with local communities realizing that the issue of patriarchal violence and abuse isn’t separate from their own community spaces and activist movements.
This morning, Dr. Irene M. Sanchez came forward to speak out against men who were abusive and violent towards her, one of them being local Chicano poet, Matt Sedillo who has gained a lot of recognition and acclaim for his poetry centered on Mexican and Chicano identity. He’s made himself the center of Chicano poetry, calling himself “The best political poet in America” lmao.
Reading Dr. Sanchez’s blog post made me reflect on the term Chicano as a whole, and what it really stands for. One of the biggest reasons I don’t identify or label myself as Chicana / Chicane, (and haven’t in almost a decade) is because it is an identity that feels so rooted in patriarchy?
I’m totally comfortable with being Mexican American but Chicano/e identity just feels so rooted in upholding harmful systems?
It tends to gloss over the violent history of Mexico which yes is rooted in European colonialism and the continuation of US imperialism but that doesn’t mean Mexico is blameless or that it is this beautiful nation that needs to be celebrated without nuance.
I remember being in Chicano studies classes when I was like 18/19 being told by male professors to be proud of Chicano solders and that feminism / addressing misogyny and abuse in Chicano movements was bad for the unity of the movement loll
I had male Chicano studies professors that openly said slurs in class and others that tried to humble me and make me feel small in a field that is supposedly about empowerment and community?
Not to mention Chicano identity glosses over the actual racial tensions / and violence of Latin America. Not all of us are indigenous or face anti-indigenous discrimination and I don’t believe having indigenous heritage somewhere in your family means you can claim that experience as your own! Chicano movements also don’t do enough to address antiblack racism and xenophobia towards other cultures in Mexican spaces! (Not to mention discrimination against Central and South Americans!)
I think Chicano culture lends itself to people who abuse their platforms very easily because Chicano identity isn’t really fully based in challenging systems of oppression.
I think it’s meant to make Mexican Americans feel better about their place in the racial hierarchy, by putting down other communities of color and also by this whole ‘échale ganas’ ‘educated Latina’ culture which is about being successful under capitalism and trying to prove that not all of us are uneducated or lazy as dominant culture expects. It’s become really individualistic and classist!
And it doesn’t do very much for people who don’t have access to education and people who will always be looked down upon under racial capitalism.
Chicano identity also isn’t very rooted in anti imperialism or anti capitalism. We tend to romanticize and praise farm workers but we don’t do enough to show up for them and their labor movements. Or undocumented people as a whole!
I think Chicano movements overlap with anti capitalist movements but it’s not a center of the movement the same way it is for the Black Panthers or even Filipino/x movements that work towards ending US imperialism / racial capitalism (though these movements have their own histories of patriarchal violence).
It’s very easy to get a name for yourself by writing pro- Mexican / Chicano work and I love so many poets that write this type of work I don’t think it’s inherently bad or that it doesn’t have its place!
But we have to go beyond that and make women and children and the most marginalized the center of Latine movements, because they have never really been valued or seen in these movements they’ve always been pushed aside so a Chicano man can get his 5 minutes of fame at their expense!
Conversations about how men are impacted by patriarchy, racism etc. are never fully accurate until you address how they take out their frustration and pain out on women, children and other marginalized groups!
Don’t get me started on chancla jokes and the normalization of abuse and family violence in our spaces either! Also homophobia / transphobia which are also rooted in misogyny but that’s a whole another essay loll!
I also really want to shout out the work of people like
Ariana Brown @arianathepoet
Alan Peleaz Lopez @migrantscribble
Cassandra @biwaves
Ruben @xoxorubenangel @bitterbrownfemmes
They taught me about these issues when I was a brand new college student / sociology major learning about racial capitalism and social justice movements! Their work influences everything I write! <3
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