i wanted to go check out the ancient ruins of palenque and chiapas. i was looking for the bus station, and i asked this older gentleman in the street for directions. he asked me where i'm from. i say, "los angeles." he lks at me like i'm some kind of lowlife and says, "oh, you're one of those american pochos." i tell him, "no, i'm chicano." he says, "even worse. chicanos don't have a culture. they're mongre." i was so shocked. i didn't know what to say. [dog whimpers] ♪ valdez: there's always been mixed descriptions about the origins of the word "chicano." there's always been mixed opinions about what it really means. when i was a kid, the term "chicano" was t very favorable. it's not that your mother would say, "ah, you dirty chicano." it's just--it was just a word that didn't come into the culture. martinez: ruben guevara comes into chicano, chicana art history making in the middle of the movement, the chicano, chicana movement, and one of the main points of tension at that time was between what we call cultural nationalism and a more anti-nationa