Young people of Latino heritage decreasingly see themselves as “Chicano,” according to an interesting story from KPBS.
Chicanos were—are?—underdogs fighting for first-class citizenship. Young Latinos are more enfranchised, and about to become the largest ethnic group in California.
“I don’t know, when I think of a Chicano I think of somebody who grew up in the streets of East LA,” shrugged one Latino undergrad at San Diego State.
Latino identity in California is evolving. It is less defined by a struggle against a dominant culture, and more by belonging to the mainstream. Or, more likely, it’s a spectrum of people with incrementally different conceptions of identity. Sounds like a great subject for the Mexican Heritage Center.
