'¡Mi Raza Primero!'' (My People First!): Nationalism, Identity, and Insurgency in the Chicano Movement in Los Angeles, 1966-1978

185 Pages·2002·2.52 MB·English

by  Ernesto Chávez

“¡Mi Raza Primero!”
(My People First!)

“¡Mi Raza Primero!”
(My People First!)
Nationalism, Identity, and Insurgency in
the Chicano Movement in Los Angeles,
1966–1978
Ernesto Chávez
UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIAPRESS
Berkeley / Los Angeles / London
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2002 by the Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chávez, Ernesto, 1962–
“¡Mi Raza Primero!”(My People First!) : nationalism, identity, and
insurgency in the Chicano movement in Los Angeles, 1966–1978 / by
Ernesto Chávez.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0-520-23017-5 (cloth : alk. paper).—
isbn0-520-23018-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Mexican Americans—California—Los Angeles—Politics and
government—20th century. 2. Mexican Americans—California—
LosAngeles—Ethnic identity. 3. Mexican Americans—Civil rights—
California—Los Angeles—History—20th Century. 4. Civil rights move-
ments—California—Los Angeles—History—20th Century. 6. Los
Angeles (Calif.)—Ethnic relations. I. Title.
f869.l89 m514 2002
979.4'940046872—dc21 2002018880
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication is both acid-free and totally chlorine-free
(tcf). The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of ansi/nisoz39.48–1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper). 8
This book is dedicated to my parents,
Bertha González Chávez and Alberto Rodríguez Chávez

While many seem to the undiscerning eye to be alike it is
only because collectively they are referred to as chicanos.
W
But likecapirotada, xed in a thousand ways and served
on a thousand tables, which can only be evaluated by
individual taste, the chicanosmust be so distinguished.
Mario Suárez, “El Hoyo”

Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: “Those Times of Revolution” 1
1. “AMovable Object Meeting an Irresistible Force”: 9
Los Angeles’s Ethnic Mexican Community in the 1950s
and Early 1960s
2. “Birth of ANew Symbol”: The Brown Berets 42
3. “Chale No, We Won’t Go!”: The Chicano Moratorium 61
Committee
4. “The Voice of the Chicano People”: La Raza Unida Party 80
5. “Un Pueblo Sin Fronteras”: The Centro de Acción Social 98
Autónomo (CASA)
Afterword: “Why Are We Not Marching Like in the ’70s?” 117
Notes 121
Bibliography 149
Index 159