Chicano Involvement in the Communist Party
Lorenzo Torres, a labor organizer and Communist Party leader, discusses some of the problems facing the Chicano Movement and the ways in which the Communist Party is trying to achieve equality and reform. Torres analyzes Chicano political history and explains that the Communist Party was the first to try to organize workers unify them against their common enemy: capitalism. He argues that the Communist Party differs from other organizations like La Raza Unida because the party is working from a Marxist-Leninist framework and the experiences of workers throughout the world to help bring socialism to the United States.
Torres argues that ideas of cultural nationalism can be positive because they begins to address the cultural and language barriers that isolate Chicanos. However, at the same time, chicanismo propagates the belief communities can effect change alone, which he believes is not possible. Torres explains that the issue of affirmative action has inspired people to demand a higher standard of rights, including that to work, health and education. He discusses the political alienation of Chicanos, their receptivity to the Communist party and explains the detrimental effects of tokenism and the two party system on the community. He concludes that Chicanos need to move beyond issues of self-determination to promote equality in the working class and help raise the standard of living for the poor in the United States.
KEYWORDS
Affirmative ActionAgribusiness
American GI Forum
Arizona
ASARCO
Autoworkers Union
Banking
Bilingual Education
Capitalism
Chicanismo
Chicano Political Alienation
Chicano Self Determination
Chicano Voter Turn-out
Chicanos and the Democratic Party
Chicanos in the Labor Force
Cold War
Communism
Communist Party
Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS)
Compensatory Principle
Cultural Barriers to Political Organizing
Cultural Nationalism
Democrats
Douglas Fraser
Ethnic Solidarity
La Raza Unida Party
Language Barriers to Political Organizing
League of United Latin American Citizens
Los Angeles
LULAC
Machinists
Marxist-Leninism
McCarthyism
Mexican American Middle Class
Middle East
Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers’ Union
Mining
National Chicano Commission of the Communist Party
Nationalism
New Mexico
Nuestro Magazine
Philosophy
Political Ideology
Racial Solidarity
Redistribution of Wealth
Republicans
Salt of the Earth
San Antonio
Silver City
Socialism
Socialist Worker Party
Third Party Politics
Tokenism
Trade Union Movement
Two-Party System
Worker Unity
Working Class