Many believe Mexican-Americans to be the new wave of immigrants invading the United States when in reality, that is far from the truth! As Luis Angel Toro’s article “Chicanos as a Racialized Minority” explains, Mexicans have actually lived here as far back as 1848, some of them even earlier than that! The Chicano population has undoubtedly changed since then, but that truly only makes the Chicano race more distinct. Like the article states, Chicanos, Blacks, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and even American Indians “have been defined as alien to the mainstream white society whose members viewed themselves as the bearers of a superior European civilization in America” (Toro). What makes Chicanos distinct from the rest of these ethnic groups, though, is the fact that it is mixed with people that have immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. and with people that already lived here when the U.S. took this territory from Mexico back in 1848.
Like many that dealt with territorial conquest, about 60,000 Mexican citizens were left alone at the border after the U.S. conquered them. This war is believed to be the beginning of a “long lasting bitterness towards the U.S.” (Toro) as many horrible acts were done to Mexicans in order to take their land. Although, now, Anglo historians admit to this war being unfair, it doesn't take away the fact that Europeans before created this sense that Mexicans were inferior to them due to the Manifest Destiny that claimed that “God wanted Europeans to drive others out of North America and establish for themselves a democratic republic” (Toro).
Perhaps this would not have been that bad if this belief that Mexicans are inferior had ended there, but sadly, it is something that has continued to be expressed to this day. During the African-American slave trade here in the U.S. Mexicans became huge targets for beating and lynching. It was such a common thing that many whites openly agreed to continue doing this until there were no more Mexicans in their territory as if it didn't belong to Mexico first! By the twentieth century, Latin Americans were now said to be inferior due to the fact that they had Indian blood while a Congressman went as far as to say Mexicans were nothing more than a "blend of low-grade Spaniard, peonized Indian, and negro slave" (Toro). These type of comments led to a mass deportation of about 50,000 Chicanos and Mexicans in Los Angeles alone, a state that originally was part of Mexican territory, not European.
As one of the many Chicano movements, LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) was created. The entire emphasis emphasis of this organization was simply to get the respect and acceptance they deserved from their white counterparts while still saying they agreed to give loyalty to the U.S., assimilate to American culture, and have equal opportunity in this country. Once their organization arrived to states like Texas, though, it was shut down and faced extreme resistance. The only thing Chicanos want is “sincere and respectful reverence for our racial origin, of which we are proud" (Toro) as the article stated, but as long as there are people who continue to believe we are inferior in a country that belonged to us in the first place, this simple thing may not happen. It is truly up to us, up to the Chicanos, the Mexicans in this country to teach others that we are far from being the "inferior race" (Toro).
Reference:
Toro, Luis Angel "Chicanos as a Specialized Minorities" https://racism.org/index.php/articles/race/65-defining-racial-groups/hispaniclatino-americans/318-latinos06a