Shifra Goldman & Yolanda Lopez

In "The Iconography of Chicano Self-Determination: Race, Ethnicity, and Class" Shifra M. Goldman explains how Chicana/o art is a proclamation of their experiences with attempting to counter oppression and determine their own life and future. In the process of this, artists make sure to celebrate their race, class, and ethnicity. In the essay, Antonio Bernal's untitled mural is used to demonstrate racial pride. The dark-skinned figures in the mural are emphasized to demonstrate a pride in the indigenous race. Goldman defines ethnicity as "not an individual construct but residue of societal processes that may have taken many years to evolve" (169). Some of these societal process include the establishment of traits, customs, rituals, relationships shared by members of the same ethnic croup. Goldman states how it is important to try to maintain this establishment of ethnicity although sometimes it is extremely difficult to achieve in a society where only assimilated members are deemed acceptable. The persistence of class division aims to keep Chicano/as subordinate to the Anglo members of society. Mexican-Americans and Chicano/as are mostly part of the middle class and are in a constant battle to move up or maintain their positions in a population.

Yolanda Lopez's series "Guadalupe Triptych" is a prime example of Chicana artists trying to establish their own self-determintation. In this series, she addresses race and ethnicity in the sense that throughout three generations, she is able to maintain her bonds to her roots. She is also able to address the oppressions that exist within the Chicano culture, including expectations of how women should look like. She counters this by portraying every-day women.