Onda Latina

The KUT Longhorn Radio Network Presents: Mexican American Experience Collection

Audio recordings including interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns in the series "The Mexican American Experience" and "A esta hora conversamos" from the Longhorn Radio Network, 1976-1982.

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PROGRAM INFO

Title:
Chicana/O Myths, Legends And Histories
Program #
1979-43
Theme:
Identity

Series:
History
Host:
Richard Goodman
Guest:
Richard Goodman
Date:
Nov 5, 1977

Chicana/o Myths, Legends and Histories

Host Richard Goodman first discusses the lives of two famous Chicano Bandits, Juan Nepomuceno Cortina and Tiburcio Vazquez, as examples of two Mexicans who impacted United States history. Referring to Rodolfo Acuña’s study Occupied America, Goodman explains how many Mexican-Americans in the 1850s were very poor and oppressed by Anglo society. Consequently, they revered bandits who broke Anglo laws because they attacked the same law enforcement structures that oppressed them. While Anglo historians have tried to discredit these figures, many Mexicans recognize them as the precursors of the Chicano Movement. Juan Nepomuceno Cortina was an upper class Mexican living near Brownsville, Texas when one day he shot a marshal who was pistol-whipping a Mexican. From then on, he was committed to defending Mexicans against Anglo abuses. Tiburcio Vazquez operated in California in the 1850, raiding towns and robbing hotels and stores. Mexicans admired him for anti-establishment activities. He was eventually captured and hung, but before he died he explained that his activities were driven by the hatred and anger he felt towards the Anglos who deprived Mexicans of their rights.

Goodman then discusses the role of Chicanas in Chicano culture and society. He explores the role of women during Pre-Colombian times, and the gender parity that characterized Aztec society. During the conquest, however, the role of women changed as the conquistadors introduced Spanish gender norms that valued women only as child bearers. He then discusses the various ways women participated during the Mexican struggle for independence, serving as soldiers, financiers and in other roles. After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the U.S. incorporated vast areas of Mexico, and Chicanas found themselves constrained by Anglo cultural norms. However, they continued their active participation in politics, especially around the turn of the century and into the 1920s, when they helped organize Mutual Aid Societies and defend civil rights. In the post World War II era, Chicanas have continued to work and organize, especially in agribusiness and the garment industry and then later the Chicano Movement. Goodman concludes that they have continued to positively affect society through their participation in local politics and their work in schools and women’s organizations.

KEYWORDS

Agribusiness
American GI Forum
Ana Nieto Gomez
Anglo hostility
Aztecs
Aztlan
Banditry
Border Violence
Brownsville
California
Chicana Feminism
Chicano Movement
Chihuacoatl
Civil Rights Movement
Colonial Mexico
Crystal City
Diosa y Hembra
Divorce
Doña Marina
El Grito del Norte
Feminist Movement
Garment industry
George Beers
Hanging
Hernan Cortes
Independence
Intermarriage
Jovita Gonzalez
Juan Nepomuceno Cortina
La Malinche
La Raza Unida
Las Aguilas Negras
Los Angeles
Los Fieles de Cortina
LULAC
Lynching
Maria Hernandez
Martha Cotera
McCarran-Walters Act
McCarthyism
Mexican Anglo Relations
Monterrey
Nahuatl goddesses
Occupied America
Partido Liberal Mexicano
Rangers
Red Robber of the Rio Grande
Regeneración
Robert E. Lee
Rodolfo Acuña
Secret Societies
Spanish-Mexican
Stereotypes
Tamaulipas
Teteoinnan
Texas
Third Party Politics
TiburcioVazquez
Toci
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Virginia Múzquiz
 

Center for Mexican American Studies | Department of History | The Benson Latin American Collection

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