“We are a Distinct People”

The Chicano Movement in Michigan sought bilingual/bicultural education because it contributed to building La Raza as a national construct and rejected assimilation they associated with whiteness. Chicanos challenged meritocracy, a key component of American Exceptionalism, that is the assumption that upward mobility awaited those who assimilated and worked hard in school. Instead, they focused on building a distinct cultural identity. Taken together, Chicano activists’ criticism of the schooling they received as rooted in white supremacy and their focus on combatting erasure by reinforcing their difference constituted a fundamental part of Chicano anti-colonial thought.