Rodolfo Acuña

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Rodolfo Francisco Acuña, Ph.D., (born May 18, 1932) in Boyle Heights was was raised in Los Angeles. He is an historian, professor, and perhaps the foremost scholar of Chicano Studies, which he teaches at California State University, Northridge. He is the author of the seminal work of Chicano history, Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, which approaches the history of the Southwestern United States from the point of view of Mexican Americans. It has been reprinted five times since its 1972 debut. The sixth edition was published Dec. 1, 2006. ^[1] He has also written for the Los Angeles Times. His work emphasizes the activism of the Mexican American people, and he has supported the numerous causes of the Chicano Movement. He founded the California State University, Northridge CSUN's Chicano/a Studies department, his teachings began there in 1969.

1 "Is Antonio Banderas Latino?"
2 U.S. Latino Issues
3 Discrimination
4 Awards
5 Mexican American historian
6 Bibliography
7 References
8 External links
9 Articles

[edit] "Is Antonio Banderas Latino?"

During a lecture entitled "Is Antonio Banderas Latino?" at Swarthmore College his studies of the race, age, history and class of the Chicano identity were compared and contrasted to the defintion of a Latino identity of U.S.A. His question "should a Spaniard get affirmative action for Latinos without the life experience?" where life experience meant that one needed to suffer discrimination was answered no as he is quoted "Often activists, like me, are elitists". ^[2]

[edit] U.S. Latino Issues

At a lecture celebrating the release of his book U.S. Latino Issues in 2003, he addressed U.S. Latino Issues and the Latino label or identity. He delves deeply into what exactly defines nation or culture; their similarities and differences; and what life experiences are necessary to differentiate one ehnocultural group from another. ^[3]

[edit] Discrimination

In the 1980s Acuña sued the University of California, Santa Barbara for age and race discrimination. A jury found for Acuña, but refused to compel the University to hire him, instead awarding him a monetary compensation of $325,000.^[4] The three-year struggle led to a rift in the Chicano intellectual community which has yet to heal.

[edit] Awards

Rudolph Acuna received the Distinguished Scholar Award granted by the National Association for Chicano Studies. ^[5] In 1998, he was awarded the Gustavus Myers Award by the Study of Human Rights in North America, an institution at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville for his book Anything But Mexican: Chicanos in Contemporary Los Angeles.^[6]

[edit] Mexican American historian

He began his career with an interest in history, but felt compelled to begin Chicano studies giving a voice representing Mexican Americans in education and history. From here he fully evolved into a Mexican American historian. He was always needing to fulfill his lifelong query "how accurate were the interpretations of historians of the past", their reliability and objectivity. His books and lectures analyzing and cross examining this query from his personal history and life experiences as Mexican American. ^[7]

[edit] Bibliography

Acuña, Rodolfo F. (1996). Anything but Mexican : Chicanos in contemporary Los Angeles. New York: Verso. ISBN 1859849369.
Acuña, Rodolfo F. (1984). A community under siege : a chronicle of Chicanos east of the Los Angeles River, 1945-1975. Los Angeles: Chicano Studies Research Center Publications, University of California at Los Angeles. ISBN 0895510669.
Acuña, Rodolfo F. (1971). A Mexican American chronicle. New York: American Book Co.. LCCN E184.M5 A627.
Acuña, Rodolfo F. (1998). Sometimes there is no other side : Chicanos and the myth of equality. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN 0268017638.
Acuña, Rodolfo F. (2004). Occupied America : a history of Chicanos. New York: Pearson Longman. ISBN 0321103300.
Acuña, Rodolfo F. (1974). Sonoran strongman: Ignacio Pesqueira and his times. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0816503702.
Acuña, Rodolfo F.; Julian Samora Research Institute (1997). Truth and objectivity and Chicano history. East Lansing, Michigan: Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University. ISBN 0816503702.
Acuña, Rodolfo F. (1971). The story of the Mexican Americans; the men and the land. Sacramento: California State Dept. of Education. ISBN 0816503702.
Acuña, Rodolfo F. (2003). U.S. Latino issues. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313322112.