Chicanos without Marxism

Tierra Y Libertad - Patria o Muerte

Banners of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin hang from Mexico City’s National Palace during a CNTE May Day protest in 2014.

Introduction

The attempt to prioritize seizing capital as a means of liberation for Chicanos has been idealisticly headed by Chicano petite bourgeois opportunists and Chicano Liberals, alike. A Chicano without Marxism is a Chicano who failed at properly addressing the root cause of the crisis that Chicanos face in the imperial core today. Without Marxism, no doubt Chicanismo will circle back to racialist capitalism as an answer to their problems. The idea that having Chicano imperialist capitalists would be liberating is a result of the birthmarks of bourgeois thought, “We can’t beat them so we join them” sort of revolutionary defeatism. This line of thinking must at all times be stomped out.

If we analyze the Chicano national question through a scientific lens we would encounter that the source of Chicanos oppression is the monopoly capitalist class. Modern revolutionary Chicanos who want an end to national oppression, the working class and their alliances must overthrow the capitalist, replace this imperialist system with Socialism. We will then see, like we did with the USSR, and China— the working class holding the power of a proletarian state in its hands will equally recognize the sovereignty and autonomy of all nationalities, complete self determination and to solve the problems that the birthmarks of bourgeois society left behind.

False Consciousness

Worker vs. capitalist (1910): a clear depiction of exploitation and the illusion of equality under capitalism.

Modern day Chicanos often misinterpret their own material conditions, the line of thought that cultural pride or pursuing petite bourgeois ownership is somehow in relation with liberation is a result of this false consciousness. Understanding Chicanos without Marxism means seeing only the surface of what makes Chicanos, It usually manifests itself in over compensating the appreciation of our mixed heritage and culture, and having the mindset that representation in the media or in politics equals liberation. What modern Americanized Chicanos often miss when analyzing our conditions is missing the material chains that bind us to imperialism. Historical materialism shows those chains, it helps us understand our past and the world we currently live in, false consciousness hides this reality.

In order to strengthen the Chicano national liberation movement, internal criticism will and should be encouraged. The Chicano pride initiative that more often than not, leaves systemic issues untouched with a poisoned well. Do not misunderstand me, I encourage all Chicanos to have a deep sense of pride for who they are and where they come from, but this attempt by opportunists and the petite bourgeois fundamentally lacks a class analysis and understanding of the situation that we face, which is further assimilation to liberalism and the American national identity.

An example of false consciousness, is the messages from certain spiritual purely nationalist organizations that encourage Chicanos to only prioritize Chicano issues, one of the reasons why the Chicano movement was co-opted and neutralized was because the lack of class analysis, and class struggle, which would lead to the discontinuation of the national liberation, self determination rhetoric that would have aided us in achieving that goal. Instead choosing to assimilate, accepting representation as liberation, and organizing community events for profit. These so called community leaders encourage liberalism, with comments like “Our people predate Marx” although that may be true, Marx provided us the scientific method to return to a lifestyle our ancestors would approve of, a collective Socialist society that not only returns to the workers the means of production, but the land and true liberation. We can’t regress as a society, we must strive forward against the current of time.

USSR poster: “Either death to capitalism, or death under the heel of capitalism.” Highlights the stakes of remaining blind to material exploitation 1919

With the rise of Chicano Marxism, will then show a rise of different blocs within the movement, different false consciousness. The Leftwing bloc that more often than not is influenced by western liberal identity politics, some still trapped within this individualist mindset of liberalism. The Right wing bloc who still identifies themselves with the American national identity, promotes further assimilation, and conservatism. The rightwing bloc falls under the line of thinking that the backwards part of the working class is the most revolutionary, focusing and enabling their extremism hoping they will instead side with Marxism to overthrow capitalism. The left wing bloc is also guilty of this, choosing to isolate anyone amongst the bourgeois rightwing culture as backwards reactionaries, this would be an awfully airhead mistake to make. Moderates from amongst both parties should be approached by the advanced section of the vanguard party. At all times we must extinguish all attempts to appeal to the extreme wings of the backward sections of the bourgeois culture war, which will only backfire in the end. Both of these blocs exist only to further both bourgeoisie parties’ culture interests. In its essence, these individuals reek of reactionary remnants of bourgeois colonial society.