I remember the Chicano movement, it was popular during the hippie era. There were several young adult books about the movement. I seem to recall one title being "Viva Chicano". One of the biggest shows on tv was Chico and the Man. Chico was regarded as a hottie. In my neck of the woods, the farm families would handle the orchards themselves throughout most of the year, then hire migrant workers, Native Americans from the res, and high school kids during the brief harvest seasons. Because it was the custom to be mannerly, and because everyone grew up in the orchards, Mexicans were appreciated and necessary to the local economy, as it had been for generations. My husband was on a military base in California in the early 50s, however, when the zoot suit riots were still a fairly recent memory, and in that setting things were still edgy. The guys from the base liked a little excitement when they went to town. The most popular thing was having big epic gang fights with the local white boys, who didn't like the servicemen spending their time and money dating the local girls, but to a smaller extent, they would also mix it up with the Hispanic guys, who were often good for a fight as well. I think there were a lot of James Dean and Marlon Brando wannabes at the time.