Carlos Munoz, Chicano studies professor at the University of California-Berkeley, says the relatively large influx of Chicano students into universities unleashed a political movement focused on civil and human rights and an intellectual movement that both challenged historical knowledge and created the discipline of Chicano studies.
Books such as “Occupied America.” by California State University-Northridge professor Rodolfo Acuna, which is widely used in Chicano studies classes, created the intellectual underpinnings that rejected the notions — accepted by previous generations — that Chicanos were immigrants or foreigners, that they wanted to assimilate and that they were docile.
Prior to the development of Chicano studies as a discipline in the mid-1960s, very little knowledge existed about the Chicano, says Refugio Rochin, director of the Julian Samora Research Institute at Michigan State University. In addition, there were very few Chicano professors.
With the advent of Chicano studies programs. Chicano and Chicana scholars began to produce knowledge about their own community for the first time.
“Chicano studies changed the way we viewed the land we lived on.” by allowing Chicanos to see U.S. imperialism for what it was, says Rochin. It also connected Chicanos to their indigenous roots, he says.
The movement was also responsible for the articulation of “sin fronteras” — the concept of no borders,” says Rochin.
Rochin notes that while there are a few Chicano research centers or departments throughout the Midwest, most were developed in California where Chicanos were numerous but a minority in the general population. This contrasts with a general lack of Chicano studies programs along the U.S./Mexico border, where Chicanos are in the majority.
