Becoming Mexican American

A narrative song similar to a ballad but containing a socially relevant message, the corrido was one of the most celebrated musical styles that Mexican musicians transformed in Los Angeles, allowing Mexican immigrants to express the realities and frustrations of the working class without fear of retaliation. This perceived freedom of expression helped create a booming Mexican American music industry that echoed the experiences of the Mexican immigrant community.

Used to describe the entire population of immigrants from Latin America and their descendants.

These terms are used throughout the text as a classification for a person or people born in Mexico and residing temporarily in the United States.

Sánchez uses these umbrella terms to denote those born in the United States and those who changed their citizenship status from Mexican to American.

A Chicano student youth organization formed in 1934, MAM insisted that Mexican Americans could only improve their economic and social position through education, despite the dismal educational conditions and high drop-out rate for Chicano students. Sánchez’s discussion of MAM highlights the naïve optimism held by some Chicano students, who believed that any individual could overcome discrimination through hard work and perseverance, and contrasts the optimism and confidence of MAM’s members with the public portrayal of Chicano youth at the time.

With the Mexican government’s policy of Mexicanization during the 1920s came increasing involvement in the cultural life of “Mexicanos de afuera,” or Mexicans abroad. The Mexican government’s new interest in the emigrant population inspired the creation of a number of programs and institutions under the auspices of the Mexican consulate in the United States to “foster patriotism” and to preserve the “cultural integrity” of these “Mexicanos de afuera” with the goal of future repatriation.

Beginning in the 1880s, a period of sustained growth in California drew settlers. In the process of urbanizing Los Angeles, Anglo Americans sought to reshape parts of the city’s history and culture to fit what is known as the “mission myth.” This myth depicted “the city’s Latino heritage as a quaint, but altogether disappearing element in Los Angeles culture” (71); through this process, landmarks like LA’s central plaza became historical symbols of the romanticized “lost civilization” of LA’s Spanish and Mexican past.

This term describes the period between 1876 and 1911 in Mexican history when General Porfirio Díaz held power, first as president before becoming a de facto dictator. Díaz initiated policies of liberal economic reform, based on rapid urbanization and industrialization, while maintaining strict social and political order. The phrase most associated with Díaz’s administration is “order and progress.”