Aztlán in the Pacific Northwest

Abstract

This article examines the multiracial politics of the Mexican American diaspora in the Pacific Northwest during the 1970s. In Seattle, Washington, Chicanos countered their small demographic presence and the city’s lack of a barrio through cross-racial solidarity. Activists built alliances with African Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans and used the political power of multiracial unity to mitigate the struggles of ethnic Mexican farmworkers who relocated to Seattle. Facilitating this process, Seattleites of Mexican descent redefined “la raza” (the people or the race) to mean “all the people,” merging aspects of cultural nationalism with interracial politics. In turn, Seattle’s Chicano Movement helped bring community-led social services to numerous communities of color in the white-dominated city.