For many groups, such as racial minorities, women, gays, the disabled, and others, the struggle for full citizenship and full membership in U.S. society has involved demands that extend beyond those of traditional white males. Each group has had its own particular needs and struggled for specific sets of rights that have expanded the rights of the entire society. Thus, African-Americans have fought racial discrimination in the workplace and the poll taxes and dual ballots that effectively negated their right to vote. Women continue to demand educational and workplace environments that are free of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Similarly, the demand for bilingual ballots to ensure that voters fully understand ballot measures and the election process has emerged as a central theme in the struggle for Latino empowerment (Flores, 1992). These new rights not only extend participation but reframe the context of that participation in terms of the needs of the new citizen groups. This essay explores the concept of citizenship from the perspective of citizens as social actors struggling not only to gain full membership in society but also to reshape it. Drawing on my fieldwork on the Chicano community of San Jose, California, I present three cases illustrating how Latinos forge community, claim space, and claim rights-all of which are essential elements of cultural citizenship. The cases also demonstrate how Chicano efforts to support immigrants have, in certain instances, created space for the political participation of undocumented and legal-resident immigrants and their emergence as new citizens.

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cultural identity Latino people citizenship United States immigrant population