Many Mexican parents, in an attempt to protect their children, had not encouraged them to learn Spanish. These young people rejected earlier generations’ attempts to assimilate and be accepted as white.89 Instead, they proudly embraced their mestizo ancestry and promoted the Spanish language. They called for community control of institutions and self-determination, indeed revolution. They identified with the working class and poor people, the farmworkers movement, and with Emiliano Zapata and the women soldiers of the Mexican Revolution.
