"I call myself a Chicana writer. Not a Mexican-American writer, not an Hispanic writer, not a half-breed writer. To be a Chicana is not merely to name one's racial/cultural identity, but also to name a politic, a politic that refuses assimilation into the U.S. mainstream. It acknowledges our mestizaje — Indian, Spanish, and Africano.

After a decade of 'hispanicization' (a term superimposed upon us by Reagan-era bureaucrats), the term Chicano assumes even greater radicalism. With the misnomer 'Hispanic,' Anglo America proffers the Spanish-surnamed the illusion of blending into the 'melting pot' like any other white immigrant group. But the Latino is neither wholly immigrant nor wholly white; and here in this country, 'Indian' and 'dark' don't melt."