Hybridity and Aztlán

From the introduction of Becoming Mexican American, Sanchez implicitly establishes the fact that Mexican immigrants had already been dealing with the concept of “hybridity.” Sanchez writes, “Mexicans, long accustomed to cultural blending and creation, continue this custom in the United States, now incorporating aspects of the ‘others’ they find in a multicultural setting like Los Angeles” (9). Being a “hybrid” people, Sanchez discusses how the vast majority of Mexicans are mestizo, which is a term referring to mixed European and Indigenous ancestry. From the text, it’s plausible to argue that the Mexican-American experience is all about hybridity, which Sanchez describes as a constant attempt “to take a middle ground – searching for new ways to reconcile their Mexican heritage with a new role as citizens in the United States” (273).

Sanchez highlights how the intersectionality of identities that come with being Mexican American came with a lot of cultural adaptations. Earlier in the text, Sanchez mentions Gloria Anzaldúa who wrote Borderlands. As a female, Anzaldúa writes about what it means to be a Chicana, which is an inclusive term that refers not only to her ethnic background and US citizenship, but also to her sociolinguistic and gender identities. While Sanchez briefly discusses the latter identities in his text when describing the experiences of Mexican immigrants in the US, Anzaldúa conveys how complex and hybrid one’s identity can be through the experience of a Mexican American woman. Anzaldúa also talks in great length about the hybrid form of Spanish that came out of Mexican immigration to the United States. 

Below is a picture of Aztlán, which refers to the Southwest region that was once Northern Mexico. Gloria Anzaldúa references Aztlán as a piece of hybrid land that once belonged to her indigenous ancestors and that not only was this land initially taken from them by Spanish conquistadors, but then from Anglo Americans. I found this poster from Anglo Americans who are fearful of Mexican immigrants crossing the Mexican border particularly interesting.