CRP #1 | Lexi Keller
Lexi Keller
Intro to Chicano Studies
15 September 2022
Critical Response #1
The introduction of Chicano studies into school systems was a trying one that has not
been successful in reaching its true goal. Zaragosa Vargas takes us on the journey to the trials
of the Mexican-American with in his book Crucible of Struggle. The first few chapters
address how the Mexican came to be. The Spanish conquest of South America and the
troubles and constraints that were placed on to the natives of the land. Using multiple tools
like photos, historical text from the time, along with articles written by other historians. The
author writes all of this material from a historical standpoint, the text seems to favor the
Mexican side of the story, primarily because he is explaining their untold history. Vargas
does not hide the horrible, blood details from the persecution of Mexicans and Natives by
Anglo Americans.
Vargas’s style of writing as he explains the events of history losses some to deeper
messages of trials of the Mexican-American. Through his subtopics Vargas jumps around
between dates and events which ends up losing some of the historical value from the events
he is explaining. While his repletion of events, emphasizes their importance his continuous
jumping around makes it hard to follow. The history that he is explaining is important, not
only to the Chicano community but for any American citizen, and if he has described the
events in more chronologically with in the chapters, it would be an easier read and would
further aid his readers in absorbing the details of these important events.
Where Vargas is successful in translating the message through the details he chooses
to share. His description of the violence suffered by Mexican at the time translated the
horrors that they must have felt. Vargas describes how California Bandit Joaquin Valenzuela
