Cholita wrestling bolivia3 Joel Alvarez.jpg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Cholo'' () is a loosely defined Spanish term that has had various meanings. Its origin is a somewhat derogatory term for people of mixed-blood heritage in the Spanish Empire in Latin America and its successor states as part of ''
casta () is a term which means "lineage" in Spanish and Portuguese and has historically been used as a racial and social identifier. In the context of the Spanish America, Spanish Empire in the Americas it also refers to a now-discredited 20th-centu ...
s'', the informal ranking of society by heritage. ''Cholo'' no longer necessarily refers only to ethnic heritage, and is not always meant negatively. ''Cholo'' can signify anything from its original sense as a person with one Amerindian parent and one ''
Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...
'' parent, "gangster" in Mexico, an insult in some South American countries (similar to chulo in Spain), or a "person who dresses in the manner of a certain subculture" in the United States as part of the cholo subculture.


Historical usage

In his work ''Vocabulario en Lengua Castellana y Mexicana'' (1571), Fray Alonso de Molina reports that the word "cholo" or "xolo" derives from Nahuatl and means "paje, moço, criado o esclavo" ("page, waiter, servant o slave"). The term's use to describe a caste is first recorded in a Peruvian book published in 1609 and 1616, the ''
Comentarios Reales de los Incas The ''Comentarios Reales de los Incas'' is a book written by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the first published mestizo writer of Colonialism, colonial Andean South America. The ''Comentarios Reales de los Incas'' is considered by most to be the unqu ...
'' by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. He writes (in Spanish) "The child of a Black male and an Indian female, or of an Indian male and Black female, they call ''mulato'' and ''mulata''. The children of these they call ''cholos.'' Cholo is a word from the Windward Islands; it means ''dog,'' not of the purebred variety, but of very disreputable origin; and the Spaniards use it for insult and vituperation". Interestingly, the Mexican hairless dog is known as " xoloitzcuintli" or "xolo" in Nahuatl. In Ecuador, mestizas wearing indigenous attire in Ecuador were termed ''cholas''. "Chola appears to have been a designation largely reserved for women and which, according to Jacques Poloni-Simard, was used to indicate mestiza women who had achieved an incipient degree of hispanization that was beyond the grasp of men, who were more firmly bound to their native communities by tribute obligations." In Imperial Mexico, the terms ''cholo'' and ''
coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
'' co-existed, indicating mixed
Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...
and Amerindian ancestry. Under the ''
casta () is a term which means "lineage" in Spanish and Portuguese and has historically been used as a racial and social identifier. In the context of the Spanish America, Spanish Empire in the Americas it also refers to a now-discredited 20th-centu ...
'' designations of colonial Mexico, the term rarely appears; however, an eighteenth-century casta painting by Ignacio María Barreda shows the grouping Español, India, with their offspring a
Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...
or ''Cholo'' ''Cholo'' as an English-language term dates at least to 1851 when it was used by Herman Melville in his novel '' Moby-Dick'', referring to a Spanish speaking sailor, possibly derived from the Windward Islands reference mentioned above. Isela Alexsandra Garcia of the University of California at Berkeley writes that the term can be traced to Mexico, where in the early part of the last century it referred to "culturally marginal" mestizos and Native American origin. During the War of the Pacific (1879–1883) Peruvians were contemptuously referred to as "cholos" by Chilean officers. An article in the ''Los Angeles Express'' of April 2, 1907, headlined "Cleaning Up the Filthy Cholo Courts Has Begun in Earnest", uses the terms ''cholos'' and ''Mexicans'' interchangeably. The term ''cholo courts'' was defined in ''The Journal of San Diego History'' as "sometimes little more than instant slums as shanties were strewn almost randomly around city lots in order to create cheap horizontal tenements."


Modern usage


United States

Cholos, cholas and cholitas are used as informal slang terms in parts of the US, to refer to people of Peruvian, Mexican, and many others of descent, who usually are low-income and "tough", and may wear stereotypical clothes. This is usually used to refer to people who are born in different places.


Bolivia

In
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, "cholo" refers to people with various degrees of Amerindian racial ancestry. In Bolivia, the term "cholita" has overcome former prejudice and discrimination, and cholitas are now seen as fashion icons. A "cholo" in Bolivia is a campesino who moved to the city, and though the term was originally derogatory, has become more of a symbol of indigenous power. The word "cholo/a" is considered a common and/or official enough term in Bolivia such that "cholo" has been included as its own ethnic group option in demographic surveys conducted in the country. In these same surveys, the term had on occasion been used interchangeably with the term "mestizo." Nevertheless, some locals still use cholo as a derogatory term.


Ecuador

Cholos pescadores are a group of traditional fishermen along the coasts of Ecuador.


Peru

In Peru, Mestizos with greater Amerindian contributions (Indo-mestizo), are 27.7%: Those that would be in the range of 75% to 60% of Amerindian contributions, characterized by presenting a tonality of tan, brown, and brunette skin with major features of Amerindian ethnic groups. They are mostly descendants of Quechua peoples at around 23.7%; of other ethnic groups originating from the coast in 2%; of the Aymaras by 1.5%; of native ethnic groups of the jungle at 0.5%. Of the total of this sub-group around half are in the mountains, an important part of this segment due to migration are on the coast, preferably in Lima, major urban centers and finally around a quarter (1/4 ) in the jungle, they could also be called Indo-mestizos or the so-called "Peruvian cholo".


Mexico

The cholo gangs started from the U.S. in the mid to late 1920s. Cholo groups in Mexico were well established at least by the mid 1970s along the US-Mexico border, and in Central Mexico. These were called by various names, such as "barrios", "clickas" and "gangas". They were typically seen as American Hispanics and not as Mexicans because of their dress and appearance, which has never been traditional to Mexico. Many of these groups were formed by youths who had spent time in the United States and who returned with a different identity picked up in U.S. street life. These groups mimic the organization of gangs in the United States, especially California, Texas and Chicago. Cholos have their own style of dress and speech. They are known for hand signals, tattoos and graffiti. Groups of cholos control various territories in the city. Most of the violence among these groups is over territory. Well established Latino gangs from the United States (such as Norteños, Sureños, Latin Kings,
18th Street Gang 18th Street, also known as , , , or simply in Central America, is a multi-ethnic (largely Central American and Mexican) transnational criminal organization that started as a street gang in Los Angeles. It is one of the largest transnational ...
and MS-13) have made a strong presence in Mexico through making alliances with local drug cartels based on particular regions or cities.


See also

* Aymara ethnic group * Caboclo * Chicano *
Chulo (disambiguation) Chulo may refer to: *''Majo'', the male version of ''Maja'' in traditional Madrid *Tsulosan or Chu-lô-san, former name of Chiayi, Taiwan *"Chulo", a song by Bad Gyal Alba Farelo i Solé (born 7 March 1997), known professionally as Bad Gyal, ...
* Coyote (racial category) * Mixed Race Day * Naco (slang) * Pachuco * Zambo


References


External links


The Folk Feminist Struggle Behind the Chola Fashion Trend
' an article describing Chola history from Vice Magazine {{Hispanic and Latino Americans navbox Ethnic and religious slurs Mexican slang Spanish words and phrases Latin American caste system Multiracial affairs in the Americas Social class subcultures Hispanic and Latino American culture Hispanic and Latino American portrayals in media Anti-indigenous racism in the Americas Motorcycling subculture in the United States Mestizo