the United States, was set forth by a small group of upper class Anglo men over two hundred years ago with principles and rules that protected their best interest. Their laws (as well as their riches) have been passed down from generation to generation, all the while alienating an increasingly growing population of foreigners, who did not fit the description of what a United States citizen should be. The social neurosis that Gonzales speaks of is what we live in day to day; its that woman holding her purse a little closer when the African American man gets on the elevator, its the businessmen gawking at the businesswomen as if they were pieces of meat, its the man on the subway pretending to read the newspaper so he does not have to make eye contact with the Chicano directly across from him. This social neurosis is not only a loss of ones culture, but also a loss of basic human morals. Gonzales is pointing out that to succeed in the United States is to forget everything that you have been taught as it pertains to culture and heritage, and to adopt the persona of that man on the subway, or the woman on the elevator. Sterilization of the soul and a full stomach, meaning assimilate into a society whose credo is All men are created equal (but some more equal than others) and you will succeed, but at what price? How can the Chicano men and women revel in their own culture while at the same time downplay the oppression and political marginalization prevalent in our society? Gloria Anzaldua answers this question in her essay Towards a New Consciousness from Boderlands/La Frontera , We need to say to white society: we need you to accept the fact that Chicanos are different, to acknowledge your rejection and negation of us. We need you to own to the fact that you looked upon us as less than human, that you stole our lands, our personhood, our self-respect. She is saying that Chicanos need to make known to their Anglo oppressors, that they have...
