Which of the following was a goal of the Chicano movement?

• A. Want to preserve status of Spanish language in school
• B. Immigration policy
• C. Mexican political participation & civil rights
• D. Union for migrant workers

Answer: (C)

The main force of the Chicano movement was political empowerment and civil rights for Mexican Americans. It aimed to break down discrimination and secure greater political participation—voting rights, fair representation, and equal treatment in schools, workplaces, and public life. This understanding drove community organizing, protests, and demands for reforms in education and governance, all to shift power into the hands of Mexican Americans. While labor organizing for farm workers and efforts to affirm Mexican culture and language were important strands of the movement, they fed into the broader goal of civil rights and political participation rather than standing as the core objective. The other options miss that broader aim: preserving Spanish in schools is a narrower cultural/educational issue, immigration policy is a separate arena, and a union for migrant workers highlights labor concerns rather than the overarching civil-rights/political-participation aim.