Rodolfo Acuña

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Rodolfo Acuña

Born May 18, 1932
Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California
Other names "Rudy" Acuña
Occupation Historian, Professor
Known for Occupied America

Rodolfo Francisco Acuña, Ph.D., (born May 18, 1932) is an historian, professor, and perhaps the foremost scholar of Chicano studies, which he teaches at California State University, Northridge. He is the author of the seminal work of Chicano history, Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, which approaches the history of the Southwestern United States from the point of view of Mexican Americans. It has been reprinted five times since its 1972 debut. The sixth edition was published Dec. 1, 2006. [1] He has also written for the Los Angeles Times. His work emphasizes the activism of the Mexican American people, and he has supported the numerous causes of the Chicano Movement. He founded the California State University, Northridge CSUN's Chicano/a Studies department, his teachings began there in 1969.

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[edit] "Is Antonio Banderas Latino?"

During a lecture entitled "Is Antonio Banderas Latino?" at Swarthmore College his studies of the race, age, history and class of the Chicano identity were compared and contrasted to the definition of a Latino identity of U.S.A. His question "should a Spaniard get affirmative action for Latinos without the life experience?" where life experience meant that one needed to suffer discrimination was answered no as he is quoted "Often activists, like me, are elitists". [2]

[edit] U.S. Latino issues

At a lecture celebrating the release of his book U.S. Latino Issues in 2003, he addressed U.S. Latino Issues and the Latino label or identity. He delves deeply into what exactly defines nation or culture; their similarities and differences; and what life experiences are necessary to differentiate one ethnocultural group from another. [3]

[edit] Discrimination

In the 1980s Acuña sued the University of California, Santa Barbara for racial discrimination, a cause of action the judge in the case refused to hear and changed the lawsuit to deal with the issue of discrimination based on age and Acuña's relevancy. A jury found for Acuña, but refused to compel the University to hire him, instead awarding him a monetary compensation of $325,000, which Acuña used to pay his legal fees and then donated. [4]

[edit] Awards

Rodolfo Acuña received the Distinguished Scholar Award granted by the National Association for Chicano Studies. [5] In 1998, he was awarded the Gustavus Myers Award by the Study of Human Rights in North America, an institution at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville for his book Anything But Mexican: Chicanos in Contemporary Los Angeles.[6]

[edit] Mexican American historian

He began his career with an interest in teaching history, but when his academic counselor advised him to teach "Spanish" or "Physical Education" because "Mexicans don't have a history" he felt compelled to begin Chicano studies, giving a voice to representing Mexican Americans in education and history. From there, he fully evolved into a Mexican American historian. He has always sought to fulfill his lifelong query as to "how accurate were the interpretations of historians of the past", their reliability and objectivity. His books and lectures analyze and cross examine this query from his personal history and life experiences as Mexican American. [7]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Chicano History And Identity Explored in Best-selling Book New Edition of Pearson Longman's Occupied America: A History of Chicanos , by Rodolfo F. Acuña, To Be Published in December 2006URL accessed January 15, 2007
  2. ^ The Daily Gazette Swarthmore College Friday, September 19, 2003 Volume 8, Number 15URL accessed January 15, 2007
  3. ^ News Release Rodolfo Acuna's New Book Focuses on Issues Facing Today's Latinos -California State University, NorthridgeURL accessed January 15, 2007
  4. ^ Quiñones, Ben. "A Liberated Chicano", L.A. Weekly, 2006-04-19. Retrieved on 2006-04-20. 
  5. ^ Speakers Lectures Entertainment Special Events Comedians Motivational Celebrities -Speaker-Rodolfo AcuñaURL accessed January 15, 2007
  6. ^ California State University, Northridge (1998-02-25). "Rodolfo Acuna Wins Gustavus Myers Book Award". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-10-05.
  7. ^ American Historical Association Why Become a Historian? Rodolfo F. AcuñaURL accessed January 15, 2007

[edit] Bibliography

  • 2008 Voices of the U.S. Latino Experience [Three Volumes]. Greenwood Press, Forthcoming.
  • 2007 Corridors of Migration: Odyssey of Mexican Laborers, 1600-1933. University of Arizona Press.
  • 2007 Occupied America: A History of Chicanos. 6th edition. New York: Longman . ISBN 0321427386
  • 2004 US Latinos Issues. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313322112
  • 2004 Occupied America: A History of Chicanos. 5th edition. New York: Longman. ISBN 0321103300
  • 2000 Occupied America: A History of Chicanos. 4th edition. New York: Addison, Wesley & Longman.
  • 1998 Sometimes There is No Other Side: Essays on Truth and Objectivity. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press. 291 pp. Honorable Mention for Gustavus Myers Award for an Outstanding Book on Race Relations in North America. ISBN 0268017638
  • 1997 Truth and Objectivity and Chicano history. East Lansing: Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University. ISBN 0816503702
  • 1996 Anything But Mexican: Chicanos in Contemporary Los Angeles. London: Verso Press, 1996. 320 pp. Recipient of the Gustavus Myers Award for an Outstanding Book on Race Relations in North America. ISBN 1859849369
  • 1988 Occupied America: A History of Chicano. 3d Edition. New York: Harper and Row. 475 pp. Recipient of the Gustavus Myers Award for an Outstanding Book on Race Relations in North America.
  • 1988 Sound Recording: Occupied America a history of Chicanos. Publication: Salt Lake City, Utah : Utah State Library Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Cassette tape.
  • 1984 Community Under Siege: A Chronicle of Chicanos East of the Los Angeles River, 1945-1975. UCLA. 560pp. ISBN 0895510669
  • 1981 El Caudillo Sonorense: Ignacio Pesqueira y sus tiempos. Mexico D.F.: ERA. 191 pp.
  • 1980 Occupied America: A History of Chicanos. 2nd Edition. New York: Harper & Row. 437 pp.
  • 1976 America Ocupada. Ediciones ERA. 342 pp.
  • 1974 Sonoran Strongman: The Times of Ignacio Pesqueira. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. 179 pp. ISBN 0816503702
  • 1972 Occupied America: The Chicano Struggle Toward Liberation. New York: Harper & Ro., 282 pp.
  • 1971 The story of the Mexican Americans; the men and the land. Sacramento: California State Dept. of Education. ISBN 0816503702
  • 1970 Cultures in Conflict: Case Studies of the Mexican American. Los Angeles: Charter Books. 140 pp.
  • 1970 A Mexican American Chronicle. New York: American Book Co. 210 pp.
  • 1969 The Story of the Mexican American. New York: American Book Co. 140 pp.

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