Examines Chicano antiwar mobilization. This book demonstrates how the pivotal experience of activism during the Vietnam War era played itself out among Mexican Americans. It presents a portrait of Chicano protest and patriotism. It considers larger themes of American nationalism and citizenship and the role of minorities in the military service.

This incisive and elegantly written examination of Chicano antiwar mobilization demonstrates how the pivotal experience of activism during the Vietnam War era played itself out among Mexican Americans. "Raza Si! Guerra No!" presents an engaging portrait of Chicano protest and patriotism. On a deeper level, the book considers larger themes of American nationalism and citizenship and the role of minorities in the military service, themes that remain pertinent today. Lorena Oropeza's exploration of the evolution, political trajectory, and eventual implosion of the Chicano campaign against the war in Vietnam encompasses a fascinating meditation on Mexican Americans' political and cultural orientations, loyalties, and sense of status and place in American society.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Note on Terminology
Introduction 1. "To Be Better and More Loyal Citizens": A Tradition of Mexican American Activism 2. "New Wind from the Southwest": Questioning a Political Tradition 3. "Branches of the Same Tree": Aztlan and Viet Nam 4. "I'd Rather Have My Sons Die for La Raza ... than in Vietnam": The Making of a Moratorium 5. "A Common Goal": The Chicano Moratorium March of August 1970 Epilogue
Notes Bibliography Index