Mexican Intellectuals’ Perceptions of Mexican Americans and Chicanos, 1920-present

A historical analysis of academic and popular ideas about Mexican immigrants and their children by members of the Mexican intelligentsia reveals a changing understanding of the meaning of immigration and ethnicity. Starting with a widespread view of Mexican immigrants to the United States as “cultural traitors”, Mexican public opinion about this group gradually changed due to both the political evolution of Mexican intellectuals and the growing economic and political power of Latinos in the United States. The Mexican government has increasingly come to see Chicano political leaders as important to Mexico's relationship with the United States, while Mexican intellectuals increasingly regard Chicano academics as their allies in a struggle against North American hegemony.