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Theses are notes for the introduces to Chicanosn Studies
Typology: Summaries
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Lexi Keller Intro to Chicano Studies 15 September 2022 Critical Response # 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
and fellow bandits were killed and had their heads removed and placed in a jar. He continues with explaining how the head(s) were taking around on display, and ended up in Dr. Jordan’s Museum of Anatomy and Natural Science in San Francisco until 1906 ‘s earthquake (Vargas 122). Adding this amount of detail emphasis his position as an author is to inform what Mexican-Americans had gone through as a people as whole from the time of the Spanish Frontier to now. As Vargas explains about the Tejanos, Texas Mexicans, who aided Anglos in the annexation of Texas, solely for self-benefit, through economic reasons, he successful won against Mexico for their freedom. What I found interesting is how he uses so much detail in explaining the violence of the events, Anglo oppressors, the mission of the bandits but skims over the rico’s who selfishly supported the Anglo Americans for their trade. This selfishness affected all Mexicans of the newfound state and opened the door for them to be discriminated against by Anglo Americans. Tejanos, rich and poor, were then subjected to the will of the ‘white man’ who ended up pushing many of their land or killing those who had refused. The exclusion and lack of details about these characters shows another bias that they author has in regards of the Mexican History he is writing about. Overall, this author Zaragosa Vargas does complete the important job of explaining the story of events about Mexican-American history. What makes me disturbed about all of this information is not that with anything where he events that he describes reveal history that happened close to home; I was never aware of, even of the events that happened in Arizona, the state where I graduated high school and took their state history. The amount of time it took for Arizona to become a state was described, but within the state history they left out the why. So why did it take so long for Arizona and its neighbor New Mexico to become a state? Because the territories were deemed to be “too Mexican.” That the rejection was based on the condition of the Spanish-speaking resident and their elements that made them unfavorable
Works Cited Vargas, Z. (2017). Crucible of Struggle: A History of Mexican Americans from colonial times to the present era. Oxford University Press.