Chicano studies
[4] Today, most major universities in areas of high Chicano concentration have a formal Chicano/a studies department or interdisciplinary program.
[6] Specifically, one of the issues that led to the establishment of Chicano studies was how Mexican-Americans, and in turn the greater Latino community, were represented negatively in American history.
[9][8] Therefore, many Chicano scholars feel the need to have necessary programming that restructures the way in which Mexican-Americans are perceived in American education.
[8][10] For that reason, Chicano studies was created to combat traditional education that excludes Mexican-American history and furthers harmful stereotypes about Mexican Americans.
[5] The major push for universities and colleges to include Chicano studies came within the context of the African-American civil rights struggle.
[14] Scholar Rodolfo Acuña noted that this was especially important because Mexican American student populations grew significantly in the 1960s.
[17] As students became more organized, they began to develop "experimental colleges" where informal classes on topics important to the Chicano movement were taught.
[16] In addition, many Mexican American students were put at a disadvantage because speaking Spanish (even outside of class) was considered "degrading" or "un-American.
[17] Both Mexican American and Black Student Unions pressed CSCLA to have ethnic studies classes at this time.
[23] In 1970, the first volume of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies was published by students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
[18] These papers addressed topics such as Chicano curriculum, goals of the educational program and how to achieve academic recognition.
[18] It was also important to find ways to recruit Chicano teachers and administration within the schools to support students and research.
[28] The NACCS allows scholars in Chicano studies to exchange ideas, share research, communicate, and it also has an annual conference.
[29] In 2009, MASRC became a department and continued public policy research and addressing issues of concern to Mexican American communities.
[21] In addition, Chicano studies programs helped universities and colleges fulfill affirmative action requirements.
"[14] In 2017, scholar S. M. Contreras noted a change in the language surrounding Chicano people, as they have begun to add an "X" or an "@" in place of the "o" or "a/o".
[21] Adherents to this approach believe it is the community's job to insert themselves into the workings of the current educational system to demand formal recognition of Chicano studies as a discipline.
[35] Rafael Pérez-Torres, author of "Chicana/o Studies's Two Paths", highlights that this approach has faced criticism due to its tendency to allow for the over politicization of Chicano issues.
[21] He identifies the argument that it creates a forum focused on "separatist politics" and neglects the furtherance of the institutionalization of the field of study.
[21] In other words, the ideology fails to fulfill the aim of integrating Chicano studies into the US educational system and, instead, places exclusive focus on the political issues surrounding ethnicity.
They contend that Chicano political advocacy should emphasize the lobbying of government officials for pro-Chicano studies policies.
[37] Additionally, the creation of intellectual communities, research centers, and other forums for academe further validate the field of Chicano studies.
[33] Responses to Chicano studies and its impact on the greater American educational system can be separated into two categories, positive and negative.
[11] In addition, opposers believe that Chicano studies allow Mexican-American students to feel as if they are victims or sufferers of Anglo-America.
[39] Subsequently, the Mexican-American studies program taught in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) was found to be in violation of House Bill 2281 by the former Arizona Superintendent, Tom Horne.
[40] Thus, in January 2012, the TUSD school board came to a 4-1 decision that the program was to be disbanded as to not lose state funding for the district.
