Yo Soy Tejana! But what does that mean?
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month 2023!
While I celebrate my culture everyday, this month, in particular, is a great opportunity to celebrate my culture with others, highlight important parts of my cultural history, traditions, and ways to empower my community, and educate as well as learn about all of the various Hispanic and/or Latine folks out there. In this first blog post of Hispanic Heritage Month 2023, I am going to break down some terms that Hispanic or Latine folks may use as a way to identify themselves and signify something specific about their background.
When I introduce myself, if I’m including my ethnic background, I most commonly say “I am Elaina Rodriguez Garza and I am a proud Tejana.” But what does that mean?
If you look up the term “Tejana,” especially on Amazon, you might see a bunch of cowboy hats (kind of like the one in my photo here, hehe). While the term Tejana does mean cowboy hat, when referring to identity, it means a Texan of Mexican descent. Because I am a cisgender woman, I use the -a at the end to identify myself as such while traditionally, “Tejano” has been all encompassing for any person who is Texan of Mexican descent. Let’s explore some more terms below that you might hear Mexican Americans use when self-identifying their ethnicity.
Here are some of the terms that may be used in reference to identify for some Mexican American folks and what they mean technically as well as some of the charged meanings behind them and why some people use one versus the other.
Hispanic - from or connected with Spanish-speaking countries, especially those in Latin America¹
While this is a very common term used, some folks will not use this term as it associated with the Spanish colonization period and some sentiments about this term reflect that it rejects many Mexican American individual’s indigenous ancestry³
Latino - someone who lives in the U.S. and who comes from, or whose family comes from, Latin America¹
This term was meant to be more inclusive of individuals with Latin background but maybe not be from Spanish speaking countries, ex. Brazil.³
Latinx - from Latin America, or having a family from Latin America; used when you do not want to say if the person is a man or a woman¹
This term is meant to be gender inclusive and represent nonbinary folks as well³
Mexican American - a wide category of people who live in the United States and who have a familial link to Mexico or Mexican culture²
Chicano - someone, especially a man or boy, who was born in the U.S. and whose family comes from Mexico¹
This term for some generations is associated with some Chicano movements here in the U.S. for equal rights. It was meant to be a reclamation of our brown and Indigenous heritage. Some historians say that the origin of this word is derived from “mexicano (pronounced meshicano), a word that some ‘groups of Nahuas (Indigenous speakers of Nahuatl) began calling their language.’ ”⁴
Tejano - a Texan of Mexican descent, thus a Mexican Texan or a Texas Mexican²
This term is very specific to natives of Texas with Mexican descent and some english versions are used in a variety of ways: Tex-Mex, Texas Mexican, Mexican Texan. Especially with the specific history of Texas previously being Mexico then transitioning to being apart of the “South” and experiencing a large part of the Mexican-American war, Texas Annexation, segregation, and more, this term, for me personally, speaks most directly to who I am, where I come from, and the lives my ancestors have lived.⁵, ⁶
Because I most identify with my background of being born and raised mostly in Texas and deciding to return to home in my adulthood to settle down, Tejana is always going to be my most preferred way to identify. Stay tuned soon for a video inspired by Hispanic Heritage Month where I speak more on this topic in addition to ways that I celebrate my culture in my daily work as an occupational therapist / health provider! Comment below how you identify and/or your biggest takeaway from this blog post. Happy Hispanic Heritage Month, happy learning and happy celebrating!
References:
Mural located in Dallas, Texas commissioned to commemorate Cinco de Mayo in 2018.
