Learning Loss for Generations: Segregated Mexican Schools and the 1918 Flu Pandemic

“With so many Mexicans in the grammar schools this would greatly interfere with class work, as the excluded students, who are always the slowest in the classes, would fall still farther behind, making the present task of completing a year’s work before next summer nearly impossible”. This denial of education for Mexican students during the 1918 flu pandemic, which was the same “logic” that established separate Mexican schools, was rooted in white supremacy and racism in the ideas that Mexican students were dirty, unclean, inferior in intelligence, and likely wouldn’t catch up with school work anyway.

Through My Father’s Tears: Remembering the Chicano Moratorium and My First Lessons in Chicano History

When my father told me about the events on August 29th, 1970, it was one of the few times I have seen my father cry. I was in middle school when he began to tell stories about growing up in East LA. I know it had something to do with the release of the PBS … Continue reading Through My Father’s Tears: Remembering the Chicano Moratorium and My First Lessons in Chicano History

The Real American Dirt: How Targeting Mexicans Led to Banned Chicano/Latino Books and Classes

By Irene Sanchez Xicana Ph.D. The most recent discussion on NPR surrounding the novel American Dirt featuring Myriam Gurba- the Chicana author who was the first to critique the book, author Luis Alberto Urrea, author Sandra Cisneros and author of American Dirt-Jeanine Cummins, has reminded me about the injustices that Chicano/Latino communities still face in … Continue reading The Real American Dirt: How Targeting Mexicans Led to Banned Chicano/Latino Books and Classes

Connecting Wilson and Trump: How anti-immigrant hate has spread since Prop 187

Connecting Wilson and Trump: How anti-immigrant hate has spread since Prop 187By: Irene Sanchez It has almost been a year since Trump released a political ad on Twitter that demonizes Mexican/Latina/o/x people, yet we must remember he is not the first to use political ads to invoke fear of these particular groups. While many news … Continue reading Connecting Wilson and Trump: How anti-immigrant hate has spread since Prop 187

Protests, Movement, and Memory: The Chicano Moratorium

Protests, Movement, and Memory: The Chicano Moratorium By Irene Sanchez Xicana Ph.D Originally published on The Southwest Political Report August 29, 2018 Protests have been used to challenge injustice in society. The freedom to peacefully assemble is part of the first amendment rights of the U.S. constitution. Time and time again these so-called guaranteed rights … Continue reading Protests, Movement, and Memory: The Chicano Moratorium