Summary Of Los Vendidos By Luis Condez

There is a South African Proverb that states "Until lions write books, history will always glorify the hunter". In his play "Los Vendidos", Luis Valdez tries to become a lion and let the voice of Chicano history be heard. Luis Valdez does this in a satirical way by presenting the views and stereotypes that many American's have had and continue to have, about Chicano's in the form of a shop where Chicano "model/robots" are sold. By presenting each Chicano as a robot and stereotype, Luis Valdez tries to earse of the "models" of Chicano's that people have in their heads and tries to point out that there is a strong Chicano culture and a rich history that has been ignored by American's for years. "Los Vendidos" is a challenge to all people but
The young pachuco culture was seen as a slap in the face to the patriotic Americans who were going off to war and dying for their country. Large numbers of Chicano men were also going off to war and showing that they loved America and were willing to die for her, where another large part of the Chicano population were protesting against America in their own way. Their protest was expressed by young Chicano men wearing zoot suits. Zoot suits were seen as a slap to the face for America because they were brightly colored and used a lot of material in a time where American's were trying to save material could go to the war effort. This divide within Chicano culture was represented by "the chino shirt that were the uniforms of patriotism, whereas a zoot suit was a deliberate and public way of flouting the regulations of rationing." The hispanophobia that was so prevalent in American culture that characterized the zoot suitors as violent and dangerous led to brutality at the hands of police officers and gangs of Anglo's. Anglo's were acting on the belief that this "violent urge" of all Chicano's was a biological element. The Anglo's believed that " this Mexican element…knows and feels a desire to use a knife or some other weapon. What Anglo's did not take into account is where the blame lies for the anger, which they
They started to organize strikes and form organizations such as LULAC, UFW, AMNA, MALDEF and La Raza Unida. These organizations called for boycotts of companies that did not pay enough and tried to unite against the unfair conditions that had been living in and with for far too many years. The objective of many of these organizations was "to be a group of active crusaders for social justice-Chicano style…." The 1960's saw the creation of Aztlan, or the creation of a new homeland where the Aztecs originated from somewhere in the southwest. The creation of Aztlan gave Chicano's a long awaited homeland and put a positive spin on Chicano identity and nationalism. To outsiders, otherwise known as Anglo's, it looked as though Chicano's were turning their back on America, but for thousands of Chicano's it not only meant they were here, they were home and finally making themselves known. This movement called for young Chicano's to unite and fight for their rights. For the Chicano movement the 1960's represented a coming together amongst Chicano's as well as the beginning of a union with other organizations fighting for equal rights, such as Dr. Martin Luther King and his