Fighting for Mexican American Studies

Mexican American Studies



Self Preservation & the Right to Exist:


by Mexican Americans born and raised in the US

Julian Camacho: (US Birth Certificate states Caucasian and Tomato Packer for father)

Ruben Lopez: (US birth certificate states Caucasian and Unknown for father)



1. Chicano refers only to Mexican American, meaning US born

2. Mexican American refers to people of both parents and or 3 grandparents of Mexican American origin

3. Mexican American does not include mix people

4. Mexican Americans are racialized as White on birth certificates and student enrollment purposes but treated as non-White

5. Mexican Americans do not immigrate to the US therefore immigration is a non-issue

6. Mexico does not recognize Mexican Americans as citizens but as foreigners

7. Mexican Americans are a National Minority because of US conquest

8. Mexican Americans are desert US people distinct from Puerto Ricans and Cubans who are Caribbean Island people, Chicanos are mainlanders not islanders

9. Mexican American identity is rooted in US history from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to the many Mexican American Civil Rights Movements

10. US Commerce Department on Birth Certificate forms classify Mexican Americans as a distinct category independent of people born in Mexico and from Centro and South America

11. Mexican Americans because they are arid people of Aztlan (Deserts of the US) according to Dr. Daniel Potter, MD, their DNA is unique, separate, distinct from people in Southern Mexico and no relationship to Centro Americans who are tropical people

12. Mexican American culture is defined by birth, upbringing, tradition and folklore

13. Mexican Americans are defined by the 14th Amendment as US born and various Supreme Court Cases such as Cisneros, Hernandez and Miranda Cases

14. Mexican Americans according to the US 2000 Census earn the least of all groups in the US at $9400.00 of annual earnings

15. Mexican American comprise 9 out of every 10 Spanish Surnames in California

16. Mexican American US population is 30 million whereas Puerto Ricans in the US are 4 million which is the next closes group

17. Mexican Americans account for 1 out every 14 US person

18. Mexican Americans are the only native people from California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado because of their pre USA existence

19. Mexican American literature works reference only Mexican Americans not Salvadorians or Shakespeare

20. Mexican Americans are a recognized US culture through language: Spanglish; food; art; identity; accent and blood

21. Mexican Americans cannot be deported nor can their citizenship be revoked

22. In Black Studies, non Blacks are not allowed to teach therefore why are non Chicanos allowed in Mexican American Studies

23. In Women Studies, males are not allowed to teach then why are non Mexican Americans allowed in Mexican American Studies

24. Due to the fact that there are no Mexican American PhD programs, how relevant is a PhD only candidate for Mexican American Studies?

25. The CSU allows for expertise qualification then why does the same standard not apply to CSULA Chicano Studies

26. MA Terminal degrees in Theater, Fine Arts and creative writing is permitted why is it not for Chicano Studies or other relevant MA programs including publications

27. Hiring of non Mexican Americans purposely undercuts Mexican Americans of employment opportunities at CSULA, which is an indication of the highest unemployment rates in the state of California

28. Mexican American cultural distinctions set them apart from Mexico and Latin American born by: identity, accent, culture, race, psychology, experience and poverty

29. Mexican Americans have been in the US longer than any other “Latino” in particular to California

30. By merging Mexican American history with other Latinos, the assumption is that Mexican Americans do not have their own history, then what does Tex Mex, burrito, Zoot Suit, lowriders, Serrano vs Priest, Mendez vs. Westminster, Californian, Apache, Pueblo mean? Does that refer to people from El Salvador and Cuba?

31. What relevance do California Mexican American historical sites have? Such as the San Pascual Pass Museum in San Diego, Cahuenga Signing House, Pio Pico House, Rancho de Cerritos Adobe, The Centinela Adobe, the San Fernando Mission, The Avila Adobe in Montebello. Does this refer to Latinos from Central America, people from the Caribbean and the Philippines Islands because they have Spanish surnames?

32. Would the word Chicano also apply to Phillipinos or Spaniards because they have Spanish surnames? Where does one draw the fine line?

33. Did Latinos from Central and South America face segregation-legal or have their property eminent domained?

34. Did the voting rights act apply to people from Centro and South America?

35. The exclusion of Mexican Americans in the current curriculum development has interrupted the academic understanding of those born in the US and of multiple generations

36. Latinos do not have a comprehension, command, grasp of Mexican Americans therefore how can they teach about them, if even Mexico born do not understand them and they are closer by geography

37. Latinos incorporate US societal bigotry of Mexican Americans into the teaching realm

38. In the current era, Mexican American males face higher unemployment rates then their female counterparts and there is no educational awareness of the impact on the Mexican American community, whereas Columbia University is being sued by a male student because they do not have a male center versus a women’s center.

39. Chicano male needs are not being addressed, whereas Chicana feminist issues are openly welcomed and encouraged through White feminist ideology because White females have been the largest recipients of affirmative action and Title IX at the expense of Mexican American males visible in the low graduation rates of the men

40. The current hiring practice discriminates against Mexican Americans who have published books on Mexican Americans

41. The name change from Chicano Studies at other CSU to Chicano/Chicana Studies or Chicano/Latinos Studies set a bad precedent because it allowed for the name change to include non Mexican Americans, including the hiring of non Mexican Americans such as Puerto Ricans, Spaniards or Mexico born (including the current chair at CSULB or at CSULA)

42. CSULA Chair admitted and stated that just as the word “n” was redefined by Blacks to mean a term of endearment, we can change the meaning of Mexican American

43. CSULA chair was asked what was his definition of Mexican American and he did not answer, meaning the chairs own admission to want to name of the department and simultaneously had no clear answer to what Mexican American was


The ideal of lumping an American minority group with a foreign population is both racist and incomprehensible. This is racist because CSULA and many other governmental institutions want to artificially piece everybody in the same category without respect to Mexican American citizenry and history of which many are multi-generational, meaning from 3rd to 6th generations.


By merging Mexican Americans with others, Chicanos stand to lose more because scarce resources in academic teaching positions, student slots or job development programs are then diminished and allocated to non Mexican Americans. Which in turn as in the case of the name change for Chicano Studies, these outsiders have changed the curriculum or the departmental degree name into something non Chicano. For example, when current chair of CSULA was asked where was he at in the early 1970’s during the Mexican American Civil Rights movement by Agustin Cebada, a participant and a Mexican American born in New Mexico of Pueblo ancestry, the chair responded that he was in Mexico. Which is precisely the point that the Mexican American fight for equal US citizenry is in the US not in Mexico or in any other country of Latin America.