Chicano Control of Chicano History: A Review of Selected Literature

Abstract

History, to paraphrase Karl Marx, is written and rewritten by those who control the instruments of writing and production. It is the dominion, we might add, of those who have the skills to manipulate the scholarly industry. The validity of this proposition is reflected in the conscious or unconscious efforts of established nations to protect their positions in world history and to sustain the senses of nationality that ensures and justifies the transmission of national character to each succeeding generation. The proposition applies to emerging nations, too, in which distinctive racial and ethnic minorities struggle with equal passion to preserve their own interpretations of history and cultural distinctiveness. In new nations, in fact, minority groups may be even more removed from control of the instruments of writ ing and production than in older nations. The Indian populations of Mexico, Guate mala, and Peru are notable New World examples. Asia and Africa offer countless oth ers. Minority groups living in Western nations such as the United States may be close to achieving control of their own histories, and, through them, we may be able to un derstand how groups acquire the means for the writing and rewriting of history. The United States has a large number of minority groups. Each is in a different state of real or imagined social alienation. This essay considers how one of these groups, the Chicanos, is progressing in its struggle for opportunities to rewrite history ?to state its own special case to the Anglos who control their society and to the rest of the world.