Cholo (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈtʃolo]) was a racial category used in 18th-centurySpanish America to refer to people who were three-quartersAmerindian by descent and one-quarterSpanish. Its origin is a somewhat derogatory term forpeople of mixed-blood heritage in theSpanish Empire inLatin America and its successor states as part ofcastas, 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 oneIndigenous parent and onemestizo parent, "gangster" inMexico, an insult in someSouth American countries (similar tochulo inSpain), or a "person who dresses in the manner of a certain subculture" in the United States as part of thecholo subculture.[1][2]
In his workVocabulario en Lengua Castellana y Mexicana (1571), Fray Alonso de Molina reported that the word "cholo" or "xolo" derives fromNahuatl and meanspaje, moço, criado o esclavo (page, waiter, servant or slave).[3]
The term's use to describe a caste is first recorded in a Peruvian book published in 1609 and 1616, theComentarios Reales de los Incas byInca 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 callmulato andmulata. The children of these they callcholos. Cholo is a word from the Barlovento Islas [later known asWindward Islands]; it means "dog", not of the purebred variety, but of very disreputable origin; and the Spaniards use it for insult and vituperation".[4] Interestingly, the Mexican hairless dog is known as "xoloitzcuintli" or "xolo" in Nahuatl.
In Ecuador, mestizas wearing Indigenous attire in Ecuador were termedcholas. "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."[5][6]
InImperial Mexico, the termscholo andcoyote co-existed,[citation needed] indicating mixed mestizo andIndigenous ancestry. Under thecasta 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 orcholo[7]
Cholo as an English-language term dates at least to 1851, when it was used byHerman Melville in his novelMoby-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.[8]
During theWar of the Pacific (1879–1883), Peruvians were contemptuously referred to as "cholos" by Chilean officers.[9]
An article in theLos Angeles Express of April 2, 1907, headlined "Cleaning Up the Filthy Cholo Courts Has Begun in Earnest", uses the terms "cholos" and "Mexicans" interchangeably.[10] The term "cholo courts" was defined inThe 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."[11]
The termscholos,cholas, andcholitas are used as informal slang terms in places likeSouthern California (typically byLatinos) to refer to people of Mexican, Salvadoran, Colombian, Dominican, Cuban, and others who have significant ancestry in the rest ofLatinoamerica, who are usually of low income and are seen dressed in work wear such as flannels, bandanas, baggy khaki work pants, 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 Latinostreet gangs in the United States[12] such asMS13, theLatin Kings, and theSureños. While all Cholos are Latinos, they are more typically of Salvadoran and Mexican descent as theCholo culture originated inLos Angeles, in which the expansive Latinoamerican population is mostly made up of Mexicans and a smaller number of Salvadorans. This influx ofMexicans andSalvadorans came due to theSalvadoran Civil War, which caused over 500,000 Salvadorans[13] to immigrate to the United States[14] and theMexican Miracle, which caused Mexico's explosive economic growth, rapidly increasing Mexico's population. This led to a flood of Mexicans immigrating to the United States due to economic opportunities that were presented in places likeSouthern Texas,SoCal,Arizona, andNew Mexico.[15] Relatively quickly, gangs formed (such as MS13 in the 1980s), stemming from poor conditions of Los Angeles, causing already crime-riddled neighborhoods to contest their territory against gangs already in settled Los Angeles, such as theBloods.[citation needed] This term is often regarded similarly to terms such as "thug" and "gangster" inLatinoamerican culture.
InBolivia, "cholo" refers to people with various degrees of Indigenous ancestry.[2] 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, thefighting cholitas, and mountaineering, thecholita climbers. Cholitas, with their Indigenous costumes of bowler hats, shawls, andpollera are now seen as fashion icons.[2] Cholitas are now moving into many other fields at a high level.[16] A "cholo" in Bolivia is the name given to acampesino (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".[17]
Cholos pescadores are a group of traditional fishermen along the coasts of Ecuador.[citation needed]
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".[18] 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.
The cholo gangs started from the US in the mid- to late 1920s.[19] Cholo groups in Mexico were well established at least by the mid-1970s along the US-Mexico border, and in Central Mexico.[20] These were called by various names, such as "barrios", "clickas", and "gangas". They were typically seen asAmerican 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.[21][19] These groups mimic the organization ofgangs in the United States, especiallyCalifornia, Texas, andChicago. 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.[21] Well-established Latino gangs from the United States (such asNorteños,Sureños,Latin Kings,18th Street Gang, andMS-13) have made a strong presence in Mexico through making alliances with local drug cartels based on particular regions or cities.
Aqui el escribe 'Al hijo de negro y de india, o de indio y de negra, dicen mulato y mulata. A los hijos de éstos llaman cholo; es vocablo de la isla de Barlovento; quiere decir perro, no de los castizos (raza pura), sino de los muy bellacos gozcones; y los españoles usan de él por infamia y vituperio.'
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