The Chicano Experience

The past decade has seen a renewed interest in ethnicity by people in search of their own identities, as well as by writers and scholars from every discipline. But despite the contagion of ethnic “fever,†the Chicano culture is neither widely known nor appreciated in the United States. The authors of this book attempt to close the gap in current knowledge. Their purpose is fourfold: (1) to add to the knowledge of Chicano communities; (2) to add to the knowledge and understanding of how Mexican Americans have adapted in various urban areas; (3) to present descriptions and analyses of communities in the Midwest, where the presence of Mexican Americans has been more typically neglected; and (4) to bring an anthropological approach to the understanding of this second-largest minority group in the United States.

The past decade has seen a renewed interest in ethnicity by people in search of their own identities, as well as by writers and scholars from every discipline. But despite the contagion of ethnic “fever,†the Chicano culture is neither widely known nor appreciated in the United States. The authors of this book attempt to close the gap in current knowledge. Their purpose is fourfold: (1) to add to the knowledge of Chicano communities; (2) to add to the knowledge and understanding of how Mexican Americans have adapted in various urban areas; (3) to present descriptions and analyses of communities in the Midwest, where the presence of Mexican Americans has been more typically neglected; and (4) to bring an anthropological approach to the understanding of this second-largest minority group in the United States.