What's in a Name?
Dear George Sanchez,
From the start of reading your book, I was immediately drawn to the juxtaposition of the terms "Chicano" and "Mexican American" on the front cover. Despite the near synonymous definitions of these two terms, the way we use language can matter in shaping our thinking according to the linguistic relativity hypothesis, and I believe the fact that most people do not understand what "Chicano" means besides a vague connection to Mexico contributed to your choice of titling your book Becoming Mexican American rather than, perhaps, Becoming Chicano. Yet, for me, this raises an interesting question: whereas most minorities of dual identities in the United States have their original nationality with an appended suffix of "American," such as Asian-American, African-American, or even more specifically terms like Polish-America, etc., those originally from South America or Mexico are lumped together under the term Latinx. After doing some research, I realized that both Latinx and Chicanx are words that apply specifically to members of those populations that live in the United States, but I worry that in the minds of those who are not familiar with this distinction, Latinos begin to lose their "Americanness" and are viewed as more foreign. I wonder if this factors into your choice of using "Mexican American" front and center as the title?
-Dana
From the start of reading your book, I was immediately drawn to the juxtaposition of the terms "Chicano" and "Mexican American" on the front cover. Despite the near synonymous definitions of these two terms, the way we use language can matter in shaping our thinking according to the linguistic relativity hypothesis, and I believe the fact that most people do not understand what "Chicano" means besides a vague connection to Mexico contributed to your choice of titling your book Becoming Mexican American rather than, perhaps, Becoming Chicano. Yet, for me, this raises an interesting question: whereas most minorities of dual identities in the United States have their original nationality with an appended suffix of "American," such as Asian-American, African-American, or even more specifically terms like Polish-America, etc., those originally from South America or Mexico are lumped together under the term Latinx. After doing some research, I realized that both Latinx and Chicanx are words that apply specifically to members of those populations that live in the United States, but I worry that in the minds of those who are not familiar with this distinction, Latinos begin to lose their "Americanness" and are viewed as more foreign. I wonder if this factors into your choice of using "Mexican American" front and center as the title?
-Dana
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