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Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974

1974-04-13 Opening Remarks Page 2

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Within the migrants, the Migrant Action Station in Mason City is responsible for the migrant population in the whole state. Muscatine Migrant Center concerns itself with the health problems of the migrant estado de Iowa. The Migrant Board in Davenport and the Quad-Cities handle political lobbying for the migrant legislation in the state as well as job placement and helping the Chicano population in the Quad-City area in general. Also, last year in Des Moines a coordinator for the Spanish Speaking Diocese of Des Moines was established. We have these four major groups that are involved daily in working with the Chicano both permanent and migrant level.
We also have La Raza Unida Party in the state. We have La RAza Unida in various cities. LULAC Club is one of the oldest organizations, and it functions at times. Of course, there are many local organizations which deal with action as well as even to the extent of recreation clubs and so forth. So there is a Chicano population in Iowa. But, this comment we constantly hear when I leave the state that hay Chicanos in Iowa is something I think is reflected of the general attitude. Of course, anglos, they have this insensitive and uniformed view of the Chicano. We also have many Southwestern Chicanos who really do not know what's going on in the Midwest, who really do not realize there is a sizable Chicano population in the Midwest.
According to the census of 1970, I am sure all of you are aware that there are over a million Chicanos in the Midwest, probably close to two million. The population in Illinois by itself over 600,000 Raza people include some Chicanos y Puerto Ricanos, Cubanos and others in more than any population of New Mexico, Arizona or Colorado. Even combined some of those states don't have the population we have in the Midwest. There is a general lack of concern by many of us in the Midwest I think. We are all involved with movimiento Chicano. We think in terms of La Raza in the Southwest. We think in terms of Atzlan in the Southwest. Many times we forget we are here also in the Midwest and that we have to begin to look at ourselves to find out exactly what our situation os and to develop some kind of historical interpretation for the Chicano in the Midwest. We cannot continue to think in terms of the Chicano only in the Southwest. We are here, and we have been here for along time as I will try to explain in a moment. What appalls me as I began to think what I was going to say tonight. It really appalled me to find that there is so little written on the Chicano in the Midwest. There is not a single history of the Chicano in the Midwest. There is not a single history of the Chicano in any state of the Midwest. There are some very elementary histories of the Chicano in East Chicago.
I understand they use it at the public schools in East Chicago as a history of the Chicano in thar area. Aside from

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2 Within the migrants, the Migrant Action Station in Mason City is responsible for the migrant population in the whole state. Muscatine Migrant Center concerns itself with the health problems of the migrant estado de Iowa. The Migrant Board in Davenport and the Quad-Cities handle political lobbying for the migrant legislation in the state as well as job placement and helping the Chicano population in the Quad-City area in general. Also, last year in Des Moines a coordinator for the Spanish Speaking Diocese of Des Moines was established. We have these four major groups that are involved daily in working with the Chicano both permanent and migrant level. We also have La Raza Unida Party in the state. We have La RAza Unida in various cities. LULAC Club is one of the oldest organizations, and it functions at times. Of course, there are many local organizations which deal with action as well as even to the extent of recreation clubs and so forth. So there is a Chicano population in Iowa. But, this comment we constantly hear when I leave the state that hay Chicanos in Iowa is something I think is reflected of the general attitude. Of course, anglos, they have this insensitive and uniformed view of the Chicano. We also have many Southwestern Chicanos who really do not know what's going on in the Midwest, who really do not realize there is a sizable Chicano population in the Midwest. According to the census of 1970, I am sure all of you are aware that there are over a million Chicanos in the Midwest, probably close to two million. The population in Illinois by itself over 600,000 Raza people include some Chicanos y Puerto Ricanos, Cubanos and others in more than any population of New Mexico, Arizona or Colorado. Even combined some of those states don't have the population we have in the Midwest. There is a general lack of concern by many of us in the Midwest I think. We are all involved with movimiento Chicano. We think in terms of La Raza in the Southwest. We think in terms of Atzlan in the Southwest. Many times we forget we are here also in the Midwest and that we have to begin to look at ourselves to find out exactly what our situation os and to develop some kind of historical interpretation for the Chicano in the Midwest. We cannot continue to think in terms of the Chicano only in the Southwest. We are here, and we have been here for along time as I will try to explain in a moment. What appalls me as I began to think what I was going to say tonight. It really appalled me to find that there is so little written on the Chicano in the Midwest. There is not a single history of the Chicano in the Midwest. There is not a single history of the Chicano in any state of the Midwest. There are some very elementary histories of the Chicano in East Chicago. I understand they use it at the public schools in East Chicago as a history of the Chicano in thar area. Aside from