A Chicano is a person of Mexican descent born in the United States. Chicana is the female form of the word; it often also has feminist connotations. The term Chicano is believed to be offensive by some Mexican-Americans, who prefer other terms such as Mexican, Hispanic, Latino, or even Spanish. In Mexico, the term can connote a person of low class and poor morals, while in the U.S. it carries multiple meanings. Sabine Ulibarri, a famous author from Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, notes that Chicano is a politically loaded term, though it is considered a positive term of honor by some. For Chicanos, the term can imply being neither from the United States, nor from Mexico. As a mixture of cultures from both countries, being Chicano represents the struggle of fitting into the world of Americans while still maintaining the cultural sense that you learned as a child of Mexicans. Bruce Novoa , a famous Chicano author, once wrote that Chicanos exist in the space created by the hyphen in Mexican-American.
Many Chicanos refer to themselves as la raza (literally, the race). Some use the phrase la raza de bronce; seeing themselves as "brown" or "bronze" because of their aboriginal American ancestry (as opposed to white and black people). Most refer to themselves as la raza cosmica, which means the cosmic race.
Before Spanish colonization, the Aztec empire was the dominant nation in Mesoamerica and its predominant language was Nahuatl. Huitzolopochtli is the Aztec god of fire, war, and the sun. Mexi was another name for Huitzilopochtli. There was a split in the Aztec community, and the group who considered themselves the sons of Huitzilopochtli called themselves Mexica, whence the name Mexico is derived. The word Chicana/o may be derived from Xica (Chica), from Mexica (Mechica). Many individuals of Mexican descent view the use of the words Chicana or Chicano as a reclaiming and regeneration of a culture destroyed through colonialism, although these are only opinions and may not reflect the view of all Chicanos.
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