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''Cholo'' () was a racial category used in 18th-century
Spanish America Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' Spanish Empire, imperial era between 15th and 19th centur ...
to refer to people who were three-quarters
Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...
by descent and one-quarter
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
. Its origin is a somewhat derogatory term for people of mixed-blood heritage in the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
in
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
and its successor states as part of ''
casta () is a term which means "Lineage (anthropology), 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, the term also refer ...
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
Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
parent and one ''
mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...
'' parent, "gangster" in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, an insult in some
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
n countries (similar to chulo in
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
), 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 reported that the word "cholo" or "xolo" derives from
Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...
and means ''paje, moço, criado o esclavo'' (page, waiter, servant or 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'' by
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (12 April 1539 – 23 April 1616), born Gómez Suárez de Figueroa and known as El Inca, was a chronicler and writer born in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Sailing to Spain at 21, he was educated informally there, where he li ...
. 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 Barlovento Islas ater known as Windward Islands">Windward_Islands.html" ;"title="ater known as Windward Islands">ater known as 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 The Xoloitzcuintle (or Xoloitzquintle, Xoloitzcuintli, or Xolo) is one of several breeds of hairless dog. It is found in standard, intermediate, and miniature sizes. The Xolo also comes in a coated variety, totally covered in fur. Coated and hair ...
" 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 (racial category)">coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...
'' co-existed, indicating mixed mestizo and
Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
ancestry. Under the ''
casta () is a term which means "Lineage (anthropology), 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, the term also refer ...
'' designations of colonial Mexico, the term rarely appears; however, an 18th-century casta painting by Ignacio María Barreda shows the grouping Español, India, with their offspring a mestizo 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 The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...
(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

The terms ''cholos'', ''cholas'', and ''cholitas'' are used as informal slang terms in places like
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
(typically by
Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...
) to refer to people of Mexican, Salvadoran, Colombian, Dominican, Cuban, and others who have significant ancestry in the rest of
Latinoamerica Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
, who are usually of low income and are seen dressed in work wear such as flannels, bandanas, baggy khaki work pants, flannels, jewelry, and heavyweight shirts. This also usually refers to Latin Americans (and in some cases people who currently run operations in their country of origin) who are associated with Latino
street gangs A gang is a group or society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collecti ...
in the United States such as MS13, the
Latin Kings The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN, ALKN, or LKN, also known as simply Latin Kings) is a gang active primarily in the United States. The gang was founded by Puerto Ricans in Chicago, Illinois, in 1954. The Latin Kings are one of t ...
, and the
Sureños ''Sureños'' (; Spanish language, Spanish for ''Southerners'')‍, also known as ''Southern United Raza'', ''Sur 13'' or ''Sureños X3'', are groups of loosely affiliated gangs that pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia while in Incarceration in the U ...
. While all Cholos are Latinos, they are more typically of Salvadoran and Mexican descent as the Cholo culture originated in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, in which the expansive Latinoamerican population is mostly made up of Mexicans and a smaller number of Salvadorans. This influx of
Mexicans Mexicans () are the citizens and nationals of the Mexico, United Mexican States. The Mexican people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish language, Spanish, but many also speak languages from 68 different Languages o ...
and
Salvadorans Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly in the United States, with smalle ...
came due to the
Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War () was a twelve-year civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador, backed by the United States, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition of left-wing guer ...
, which caused over 500,000 Salvadorans to immigrate to the United States and the
Mexican Miracle The Mexican miracle () is a term used to refer to the country's inward-looking development strategy that produced sustained economic growth. It is considered to be a golden age in Mexico's economy in which the Mexican economy grew 6.8% each ye ...
which caused Mexico's explosive economic growth, which rapidly increased Mexico's population, leading to a flood of Mexicans immigrating to the United States due to the economic opportunities that were presented in places like Southern Texas,
SoCal Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
,
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
, and
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. Relatively quickly, gangs formed (such as MS13 mentioned before, which formed in the 1980s), stemming from poor conditions of Los Angeles, causing already crime-riddled neighborhoods to start forming gangs to contest their territory against gangs already in settled Los Angeles, such as the
Bloods The Bloods are a primarily African Americans, African American street gang which was founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for Crips–Bloods gang war, its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn ...
. This term is often regarded similarly to terms such as "thug" and "gangster" in Latinoamerican culture.


Bolivia

In
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
, "cholo" refers to people with various degrees of Indigenous ancestry. The term "cholita" has, traditionally, been used to refer in a derogatory way to Aymara women. These women are now combatting this pejorative use by associating it with, for example, extreme sports such as wrestling, the fighting cholitas, and mountaineering, the cholita climbers. Cholitas, with their Indigenous costumes of bowler hats, shawls, and ''
pollera A is a Spanish term for a large one-piece skirt used mostly in traditional festivities and folklore throughout Spanish-speaking Latin America. are made from different materials, such as cotton or wool and tend to have colorful decorations. M ...
'' are now seen as fashion icons. Cholitas are now moving into many other fields at a high level. A "cholo" in Bolivia is the name given to a ''campesino'' (peasant, farmer) who moved to the city, and though the term was also originally derogatory, it has now 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 ''Cholos pescadores'' ('cholo fishermen', ''cholo pescador'') are a social group that live in Ecuador's Guayas Province, Guayas and Manabí Province, Manabí provinces. They are descended from Hispanicized indigenous coastal peoples, which were wi ...
'' are a group of traditional fishermen along the coasts of Ecuador.


Peru

In Peru, mestizos with greater Indigenous contributions are 27.7%: Those that would be in the range of 60% to 75% of Indigenous contributions, characterized by presenting a tonality of tan, brown, and brunette skin with major features of Indigenous 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 subgroup around half are in the mountains, an important part of this segment due to migration are on the coast, usually in Lima, major urban centers and finally around a quarter (1/4) in the jungle. They are also called "cholos". The term has been used as a racial slur towards people of Indigenous origin. It has also been used as a cultural slur towards people of a lower social class or simply someone perceived to be crass, unsophisticated, or ignorant.


Mexico

The cholo gangs started from the US 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 was not traditionally worn in 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 US street life. These groups mimic the organization of
gangs in the United States Approximately 1.4 million people in the United States were part of gangs as of 2011, and more than 33,000 gangs were active in the country.. These include national street gangs, local street gangs, prison gangs, outlaw motorcycle clubs, and e ...
, especially
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, Texas, and
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. 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 Norteños (, ; ''Norteñas'' for females) are the various affiliated gangs that pay tribute to Nuestra Familia while in California Incarceration in the United States, state and federal correctional facilities. Norteños may refer to Northern ...
,
Sureños ''Sureños'' (; Spanish language, Spanish for ''Southerners'')‍, also known as ''Southern United Raza'', ''Sur 13'' or ''Sureños X3'', are groups of loosely affiliated gangs that pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia while in Incarceration in the U ...
,
Latin Kings The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN, ALKN, or LKN, also known as simply Latin Kings) is a gang active primarily in the United States. The gang was founded by Puerto Ricans in Chicago, Illinois, in 1954. The Latin Kings are one of t ...
,
18th Street Gang The 18th Street Gang, also known as , , , or simply in North America, is a multi-ethnic (largely Central American and Culture of Mexico, Mexican) street gang in Los Angeles. It is one of the largest street gangs in Los Angeles, with around 30 ...
, and
MS-13 Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area ...
) 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 The Aymara or Aimara (, ) people are an Indigenous people in the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America. Approximately 2.3 million Aymara live in northwest Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. The ancestors of the Aymara lived in the reg ...
*
Caboclo A caboclo () is a person of mixed Indigenous Brazilian and European ancestry, or, less commonly, a culturally assimilated or detribalized person of full Amerindian descent. In Brazil, a ''caboclo'' generally refers to this specific type of ' ...
*
Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...
*
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" (song), by Bad Gyal {{Disambiguation ...
*
Coyote (racial category) ''Coyote'' (fem. ''Coyota'') (from the Nahuatl word ''coyotl'', coyote) is a colonial Spanish American racial term for a mixed-race person casta that usually refers to a person born of parents, one of whom a Mestizo (mixed Spanish + Indigenou ...
*
Mixed Race Day In Brazil, "Mixed Race Day" (''Dia do Mestiço'') is observed annually on June 27, three days after the Day of the Caboclo, in celebration of all mixed-race Brazilians, including the caboclos. The date is an official public holiday in three Braz ...
*
Naco (slang) ''Naco'' (fem. ''naca'') is a pejorative word often used in Mexican Spanish that may be translated into English as "low-class", "uncultured", "vulgar" or "uncivilized ". A ''naco'' () is usually associated with lower socio-economic classes. Alth ...
* Pachuco *
Zambo Zambo ( or ) or Sambu is a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Amerindian, Indigenous Amerindian and West African people, African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the ...


References


External links

*
The Folk Feminist Struggle Behind the Chola Fashion Trend
, an article describing Chola history from ''
Vice Magazine ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company V ...
'' {{Hispanic and Latino Americans navbox Anti-Indigenous racism in the Americas Ethnic and religious slurs Hispanic and Latino American culture Hispanic and Latino American portrayals in media Latin American caste system Mestizo Mexican slang Multiracial affairs in the Americas Social class subcultures Spanish words and phrases Subcultures