CHICANO XICANO
The most popular explanation of the origins of the term Chicano is the Nahuatl or Aztec pronunciation of the word describing the people living in Mexico as "Mexicano," pronounced by the Aztecs as "Mechicano (probably a Spanish pronuciation because their is no "sh" pronunciation in Spanish) or Meshicano"(Aztec or Nahuatl pronuciation). Thus the term "Mechicano" eventually is truncated or shortened to "Chicano."

In modern times, however, "Americans of Mexican descent" used the word pejoratively (negatively) to identify lower-class, less educated Mexican Americans. Some used the term Chicano as a form of self-identification.

During the 1960s, the term Chicano began to be applied to all Spanish-surnamed people of the Southwest who had previously been labeled Mexican American, Spanish American, Latin American or Americans of Mexican or Spanish descent.

In its contemporary usage, Chicano has ideological and cultural connotations. Chicano is used as a term of self-identification, especially by those persons who are actively challenging the subordinate position of the Mexican American people in the United States. The term is also associated with all Mexican American militant and nationalist groups.

The term is being increasingly used by "Americans of Mexican descent" who are proud of their cultural heritage (which connects them to the indigenous peoples of Mexico) and wish to retain it. Today all Mexican Americans who are working to change the inferior