Rating: 
Summary: Mexico enforces Spanish, keeps troops on border
Review: Every view that we will ever see about history is a view that is skewed by personal feelings. As historians, it is our job to figure out what is fact and what is feeling. This book may not be the most objective book about the history of the Xicano people, but it spoke to me in the same way that the Anglo child finds solace in the played out text books found in school. I relate to the stories that Acuna tells, and I enjoy his point of view. He is a wonderful historian, and worthy of being put in the same class as Zinn (A people's history of the U.S.) I hope you enjoy this book, and listen to the frustration in the writing. It is the key to the Chicano's history in a society where Anglo paradigms edit the truth.
Rating: 
Summary: Occupied America
Review: Every view that we will ever see about history is a view that is skewed by personal feelings. As historians, it is our job to figure out what is fact and what is feeling. This book may not be the most objective book about the history of the Xicano people, but it spoke to me in the same way that the Anglo child finds solace in the played out text books found in school. I relate to the stories that Acuna tells, and I enjoy his point of view. He is a wonderful historian, and worthy of being put in the same class as Zinn (A people's history of the U.S.) I hope you enjoy this book, and listen to the frustration in the writing. It is the key to the Chicano's history in a society where Anglo paradigms edit the truth.
Rating: 
Summary: You realize you've been lied to, don't you?
Review: For all of you that got a little queasy during middle school history lessons, this book pinpoints the source of your nausea. By now, most of us realize the true nature of white Americans push westward from the 18th century onward. It was a cruel, intrusive robbery that stole, raped and destroyed the dynamic culture and societies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. However, little is ever discussed about the entirely different and much older paradigm of U.S. history: the push from the south to the north. Acuna examines the nature of the Spanish and Indian cultures that amalgamated and moved forward, only to collide with the U.S. expansion in the Mexican War. He also looks at the many levels of exploitation the mexican-american people have faced over the centuries and current movements to stop or reverse these practices. A fascinating book and an enlightening adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Mexico enforces Spanish, keeps troops on border
Review: Hmmmm, on this side of the line, the United States, Chicanos are oppressed. They are supposedly oppressed by those who oppose multi-lingual institutions and programs, and those who oppose open borders.
Hmmm, on the other side of the line, Mexico, the government strictly enforces Spanish as the official language of Mexico and keeps Mexican troops at the border with Guatemala to keep out immigrants to Mexico.
Maybe people should decide whether they want to be Americans or not.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, Scholarly, Objective
Review: I am a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the Claremont Graduate University and found this book by Dr. Rodolfo Acuña excellent, objective and well researched. The only persons who would not like this book would be from the extreme right wing who do not like true history to be written.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, Scholarly, Objective
Review: I am a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the Claremont Graduate University and found this book by Dr. Rodolfo Acuña excellent, objective and well researched. The only persons who would not like this book would be from the extreme right wing who do not like true history to be written.
Rating:
Summary: More politically correct, multicultural group-think...
Review: It's amazing that a book so biased, and based on multicultural group-think name-calling, can be taken seriously at all. From the comfort of a tenured chair (how terribly "oppressed" the author is), the author dribbles out subjective drivel that aims to build the self esteem of his own group-think coterie--not to encourage rational, objective scholarship. The "we are good, you are evil" theme is getting very boring and tiresome for many people. Get over it.
Rating:
Summary: Unscholarly
Review: It's unfortunate that this book is considered the "Bible" of Chicano Studies. I was immediately turned off not only by Acuna's cynicism and emotionalism, but by his utter lack of any semblance of objectivity. His approach to the subject is based on assumptions that he considers beyond question. Community, race, ethnicity are primary in Acuna's view; individuality, independent thinking, rational analysis hardly exist. It's your basic collectivism. The result is a severely skewed discussion of the 20th century Chicano experience. Affirmative action is *obviously* desirable; a Chicano's sense of identity will *obviously* be based on ethnicity; the worker is *obviously* more moral than those ever-exploitative capitalist employers. Throw in Acuna's almost defiant rejection of all economic/free-market theory, and his ignorance of the philosophical issues underpinning Chicano studies, and you've got the "Bible" of the field. Studying the history of Chicanos is certainly an important undertaking, but emotionalism and blind collectivism accomplish nothing. If you feel like wading through Acuna's unscholarly, subjective approach, "Occcupied America" might be of some value as an historical reference. It does touch on a LOT of material. But as to objective analysis of issues, it is a glaring failure. Those interested in Chicano studies should hope for a vastly different "Bible", one that might move beyond Leftist rantings.
Rating:
Summary: Great Basic Review of Chicana/o History
Review: Mexicans, and for that matter People of Color in general, have occupied an important space/place in the labor force. Historical documents and current trends only serve to demonstrate that without Mexican labor, the development of agriculture, mining, construction (universities), railroads, and highways would have been considerably slowed to a crawl in the Southwest. Even if Mexicans are to be regarded as important or at least acknowledged to have had a presence in the Southwest, it has not been until the recent fifty years in which we have begun to see in depth scholarly work focused on the working classes--including Chicana/os. Professor Acuña is able to provide some of the most basic underpinnings of Chicana/o History. This book provides basic information that can be used to supplement a teacher in providing a more thorough history of the United States in a strict standard based High School Course. Knowingly, if one is using this book at a level higher than high school or if it is the base of an ethnic studies, its use becomes of central importance due to its demonstration of injustices, experiences, and mediatory experiences of the Chicana/o community. Although Acuña has received criticisms for his usage of words/depictions in the trajectory of the Chicana/o experience, they are unfounded. The book tries to present experiences--experiences that decimated, raped, and destroyed Chicana/os as a community. Additionally, take a look at the sources as a form of guidance towards more books and articles that can only serve to further knowledge and teaching material. Furthermore, the amount of existing work and the topics that are being written about remains limited.
Rating:
Summary: Great Basic Review of Chicana/o History
Review: Mexicans, and for that matter People of Color in general, have occupied an important space/place in the labor force. Historical documents and current trends only serve to demonstrate that without Mexican labor, the development of agriculture, mining, construction (universities), railroads, and highways would have been considerably slowed to a crawl in the Southwest. Even if Mexicans are to be regarded as important or at least acknowledged to have had a presence in the Southwest, it has not been until the recent fifty years in which we have begun to see in depth scholarly work focused on the working classes--including Chicana/os. Professor Acuña is able to provide some of the most basic underpinnings of Chicana/o History. This book provides basic information that can be used to supplement a teacher in providing a more thorough history of the United States in a strict standard based High School Course. Knowingly, if one is using this book at a level higher than high school or if it is the base of an ethnic studies, its use becomes of central importance due to its demonstration of injustices, experiences, and mediatory experiences of the Chicana/o community. Although Acuña has received criticisms for his usage of words/depictions in the trajectory of the Chicana/o experience, they are unfounded. The book tries to present experiences--experiences that decimated, raped, and destroyed Chicana/os as a community. Additionally, take a look at the sources as a form of guidance towards more books and articles that can only serve to further knowledge and teaching material. Furthermore, the amount of existing work and the topics that are being written about remains limited.
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