Whose Country to Defend?: The Chicano Soldier on Stage

Abstract

As the debate on the role of Mexicans in the US persists, and while the number of Chicanos serving and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan escalates, Chicana/os must expose the hegemonic erasure of their role in defining and defending “America.” Chicanos/as have a long history of sacrificing their lives in service to the US only to suffer their contribution erased from the historical narrative. However, five Chicano plays, Luis Valdez’s The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa and Dark Root of a Scream, El Teatro Campesino’s Vietnam Campesino and Soldado razo, and Culture Clash’s Chavez Ravine, foreground the figure of the soldier to dramatize the hypocrisy wherein “America” is defined against Chicanos who in turn are rejected as only Mexican-American. (ZWG, Article in English)