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John Doe
Professor
Chicano Studies 002
November 18, 2024
Community Cultural Wealth and Chicano Resistance in Education
Community Cultural Wealth is introduced by Tara J. Yosso where in her journal article
“‘Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth” she
critiques Pierre Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital and touches upon six different capitals.
Each capital explains the different cultural wealth students can acquire which breaks apart from
the norm Bourdieu describes, that only white, middle- and upper-class values count as legitimate
capital. Institutions like schools devalue students and their ability to succeed in school because
their strengths and cultural wealth comes from different experiences, which causes them to be
resistant against these institutions in order to spark change.
Yosso’s main argument is that deficit thinking is what schools use to portray minority
students, such as Chicanos, for being at fault for not being prepared to learn and pushing the
blame onto parents who don’t support their kids' education. She also criticizes Bourdieu’s theory
of cultural capitals, which states that “communities are culturally wealthy while others are
culturally poor”, she counters this by saying that there are actually six different capitals that
make up an individual's cultural capital.
Aspirational capital is the ability to still have dreams for the future even when it isn’t in
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reach or there are potential barriers, this occurs when parents encourage their kids to dream and
hope despite their current circumstance and inability to achieve those goals yet. Linguistic capital
is the skills that are gained from speaking multiple languages, leading to different
communication skills such as communicating through art and music. Familial capital is the
cultural knowledge and sense of community and kinship. Social capital is being a part of a group
of people who are going through the same struggles or journey as you. Navigational capital are
the skills that are acquired when a minority is managing institutions and situations where
minorities aren’t taken into consideration. Resistant capital are the skills and behavior that are
built by going against and speaking up against inequalities. These six capitals are useful because
they define the skills, strength, and knowledge that Chicanos have and that was overlooked by
institutions who used deficit thinking to create their framework of learning. It also shows that
Chicanos have skills that are specifically acquired through being a minority that the majority,
white middle class, might not have. So catering institutions to the majority overlooks the
different skills and experiences that minorities such as Chicanos have.
Institutions such as schools impact individuals through their daily lives by targeting
specific students to stigmatize and shame. For example, in the lecture “Chicanas/os and the
American Educational System” it talks about how counselors assumed that Chicano students
weren’t “college material” and would purposefully put them in classes such as auto shop rather
than academic classes such as math or literature. This can lead to Chicano students feeling like
they are not represented or they do not get a say in their future because it gets perceived and
shaped by the school system. So they instead spoke Spanish enunciating their accents,
participating in school walkouts, and having Chicano teachers.
Institutions not only impact individuals but also their families. In the film “Chicano:
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Taking Back the Schools” many of the individuals who participated in the East La Walkouts
were students who were fighting for a voice in their education. During these walkouts there were
many arrests and police brutality, due to the concern of the students safety, many parents also
participated in these walkouts. This supports resistant, social, and aspirational capital. Because
these Chicanos were aiming to achieve a louder voice regarding their education system which is
difficult when these students have to go against a whole board of education, showing a very high
hope to attain because they need to also build up their social skills. These students were going
against the norm of what they were being taught and were resisting the education system that
was put into place for them by walking out.
Institutions impact Chicano communities through property tax school funding. For
example in the lecture “Chicanas/os and the American Educational System” it talks about how
schools are funded by property taxes so schools that are located in low income neighborhoods
are underfunded and receive less resources compared to schools that are in wealthier
neighborhoods. Many of these families that lived in these low income neighborhoods are
Chicanos, this creates a wealth gap between Chicanos and the wealthy. This is not due to the lack
of community but rather the already in place “economic design choices” stated by the lecture.
Chicanos combated this by not changing the property tax fund directly but rather implementing
their culture into schools and making sure their children receive a higher level of education. They
did this by overturning an Arizona ban on Mexican American Studies program, which in turn
allowed more kids to take ethnic study classes, raising their GPA and graduation rate.
Institutions impact subculture by targeting students who speak another language besides
English. For example, Yosso talks about linguistic capital that addresses the multilingual skills of
Chicanos and how their ability to translate and story tell is a disadvantage and doesn’t contribute
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to the school's learning environment. Many Chicano students were shamed and ostracized by
teachers for speaking Spanish, so they were targeted because of their sub-culture. They resisted
and changed the institution by requiring another language to be learned by students as well and
including Mexican-American courses. Leading to overturning the Ethnic Studies ban in Tucson
stated before.
In conclusion, Community Cultural Wealth reveals that Chicanos never lacked the ability
or skill to succeed in schools. Chicanos and many other minorities have different skills and
experiences that can be categorized into the six different capitals, schools just failed to recognize
them. Students were ostracized in class for speaking Spanish, families had to stand up for their
children during school walkouts, communities faced unfair property taxing on schools, and many
Chicanos were targeted because their culture wasn’t considered the norm. Chicano activism is
spanned over a large field such as jobs, education, and ethics. They have made an incredibly
large amount of progress and have shown their accomplishments and aspirations. However, we
are still facing Chicano targeting and racism. There are more ways that we can improve the lives
of Chicanos in different aspects throughout society.
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Works Cited
Chicano!: History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. "Taking Back the Schools,"
episode segment, Facing History and Ourselves, facinghistory.org.
Yosso, Tara J. "Whose Culture Has Capital? A Critical Race Theory Discussion of Community
Cultural Wealth." Race Ethnicity and Education, vol. 8, no. 1, 2005, pp. 69–91,
doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006.
Moctezuma, Rosalinda. “Education: Chicanas/os and the American Educational System.”
Canvas, uploaded by Rosalinda Moctezuma