of Chicano nationalism. These key elements will provide the reader with a greater understanding of how writers in this period exemplified Chicano nationalism.Cervantes begins her poem with the lines, In my land, there are no distinctions. The barbed wire politics of oppression have been torn down long ago. The only reminder of past battles, lost or won, is a slight rutting in the fertile lands. This first stanza sets the tone for the poem as Cervantes chooses to take a stand by trumpeting the virtues of her own homeland, rather than downplay the misgivings present in our society. The line In my land, there are no distinctions is an obvious reference to the class structure that is prevalent in our (United States) society. It is this class structure, or modernized caste system, that divides people and puts them in a position to oppress or be oppressed. Hence we have an example of Chicano nationalism in that invariably the Anglos have always risen to power and oppressed those that are on the lower rungs of the caste system, with Chicanos being a prominent member of that group.To further exemplify this inference of exclusion, we look to Hector Calderon in his essay Chicano Literary Studies Past, Present and Future , where he states, the disparity between the privileged and underprivileged in this countryincluding Chicanos, Mexican-Americans (the term is resurfacing) and millions of other Mexicans and other Latino groupshas never been greater. He further states that There exists, however, the real possibility that some regions of this country, especially in the case of California.will be composed of a ruling minority and an underprivileged majority. Calderon is stating that Anglo oppression, though not nearly as blatant as it was in the mid to late 1900s is just as prevalent, if not more prevalent today. As the Chicano population increases in California, by all rights, so too should the political clout of the Chicano, and that is just not th...
