"Chicano" was a bad word when I was coming up. At least that's what the elders said. The word referred to a Mexican born in the U.S., so by that definition, I'm not Chicano. I was born in Tijuana, but the Mexicans didn't see me as Mexican and the Americans didn't see me as American. I'm a man without a flag. When I started working among Chicanos as an adult, some accepted me, but some didn't. On either side [of the border] I was the "other"; I've always been the other. Later on when I had a bit of success, people on both sides were much more enthusiastic about embracing me. The word "Latino" seems meaningless to me, and "Hispanic" is just wrong. These days, I just tell people my nationality is "Writer."
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Novelists from the United StatesEssayists from the United StatesShort story writers from the United StatesPoets from the United StatesHispanic Americans
Original Language: English
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Sources
On finding his niche as a writer in “AN INTERVIEW WITH LUIS ALBERTO URREA” in Bookslut (December 2011)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Luis_Alberto_Urrea
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Luis Alberto Urrea
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