‘Chicanos Hit a Nerve in Mexico’
Del Olmo has confessed in a refreshingly candid manner the fact that Chicanos will never be in a position where they can act as intermediaries between two different and mutually contradictory cultures.
Del Olmo does not seem to understand, however, that the reason Mexicans are particularly sensitive to any form of criticism from Chicanos is that Chicanos are already stigmatized in the eyes of many Mexicans--while they may “look” Mexican, “something” seems to have happened to them.
Chicanos have a hard time realizing that an authoritarian society like Mexico’s produced the PRI, and not the other way around.
Mexicans, on the other, are proud (believe it or not) and extremely sensitive to any form of criticism from those who claim to be their brothers. Ironically, these problems could be reduced if both sides saw each other in their relationship to the United States.
RAMON OCEGUERA
San Diego
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