The Chicana/O in the U.S. Political System

As an emerging and growing demographic group, Latina/os are becoming an increasingly important political factor as their political representation continues to dramatically increase in the United States. The Chicana/o in the U.S. Political System serves as a guide to a historical and foundational survey of the Mexican American and Chicana/o people in the United States. This book highlights the political history and vital developments of the Mexican American and Chicana/o people and their relationship to the American political system. It also discusses the growing political influence and trends emerging in California and nationwide. The Chicana/o in the U.S. Political System offers a political strategy of empowerment and helps focus on the importance of political participation in creating a more vibrant political voice in our society and nation.

The selections in The Chicana/o in the U.S. Political System provide the reader with a broad framework to trace the early Meso-American societies, the history and political evolution of Mexico, and the historical interactions of Mexico and the United States. The text emphasize the cultural and historical roots of the pre-Columbian times through the Spanish conquest, and examines the subsequent cultural and racial mix, and it highlights important contributions of the Mexican American people in the United States.

John E. Valdez teaches Chicano Studies at Palomar College. A member of the Oxford Round Table, Professor Valdez has presented on topics of multiculturalism in America, American foreign policy, the oral history of the Mexican-American community from the Mexican Revolution to World War II in Lemon Grove, California, and the life of Cesar Chavez as well as his struggle for social justice.