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Modern chican@ history
- 1. Modern Chican@ History LATE 1800’S TO TODAY
- 2. Gregorio Cortez: 1875 to 1916 Mistranslation Clip
- 3. Corridos Also known as a ballad A form of folk song used to tell a story Highly stylized Genre: Mexican Outnumbered Defending his rights El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez
- 4. Juan Cortina: 1824-1894 “Flocks of vampires, in the guise of men, gringos rob Mexicans of their property, incarcerated, chased, murdered, and hunted them like wild beast”
- 5. Joaquin Murrieta: 1829-1853 Robin Hood of El Dorado
- 6. Discussion Questions What effect do you think that these legends had on the lives of Mexican-Americans living in the American southwest at this time? In which ways were these legend, accounts in the Spanish language newspapers and Corridos subversive to the power of Anglo-Americans? How would the Anglo view of these men differ from Mexican-Americans views of these men? Are being unlawful and immoral the same?
- 7. Early 1900’s
- 9. Census Statistics 1900 : 330,000 U.S. born Mexicans 1920’s: Mex. account for 10% of immigration Pre-1910 : Middle-class Post-1910 : Exiles
- 10. Migration Push factors Pull factors Modernization Railroad Drought Work in mines Political tension
- 11. Porfirio Diaz Order followed by Progress Rule: 1876 to 1910 •Porfiriato •Dictator •Promoted industry •Suspended freedoms •Concentration of power •Landless Mexicans
- 12. Mexican revolution MOVEMENTS: •Socialist •Anarchist •Agrarianist •Liberal •Populist
- 13. Soldaderas
- 14. Miners Lives
- 15. Migrant Farm Workers Sugar beets in Colorado, Kansas & California, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Utah and Idaho Cotton & winter vegetables in Texas Oranges, lemons, grapes, cantaloupe & lettuce in California
- 16. Education
- 17. Life during WWI 1919: L.A. 5% Mexican •32% had no lavatories •28% had no sinks •79% had no baths •11% of all deaths 1917 to 1921: Mexicans entering U.S. •72,862 with documents •Hundreds of thousands without documents
- 18. Population Stats: 1940-1960 Mexican-Americans no longer stereotyped as campesinos (farm workers) 1940: 60% live in cities 1950: 70% live in cities 1960: 80% live in cities By 1940, Latinos comprise 5.6% of the population
- 19. WWII Bracero workers reading Pennsylvania Railroad safety manuals, 1944
- 20. The Family
- 21. Zoot Suit Riots
- 23. Pre-1960’s Factors Colonial Empires circa 1900
- 24. Pre-1960 Factors End of World War II brought about a breakup of colonial empires
- 25. Pre-1960’s Factors NAACP LULAC Alianza Hispano-Americano
- 26. Baby Boomers
- 27. Early 1960’s 1950-1960 Spanish surnamed people increased by 51% African Americans outnumbered Mexican Americans by 5 to 1 82% of American Mexicans lived in California and Texas
- 28. Harvest of Shame November 25, 1960 “These are the forgotten people, the underprotected, the undereducated,, the underclothed, the underfed”
- 29. Viva Kennedy
- 30. Magnetization of the Border Population of Mexico increased from 25.8 million in 1950 to 34.9 million in 1960 The end of the Bracero program in 1964 worsened the economic conditions in Mexico Decline of ruralism Heavy migration went largely unnoticed Border Industrialization Program
Notas do Editor
- Born in 1875, Gregorio Cortez was a hero to not only Mexican Americans living in Texas, but throughout the American southwest and Mexico.In 1901, while investigating a horse theft, the Karnes County sherriff, W.T. “Brack” Morris arrived at a ranch, where Gregorio and his brother Romaldo were tenant farmers.The sheriff, hearing that Gregorio had acquired a mare recently, went to speak to him to see how he had acquired the horse.While there, the deputy with Morris acting as translator, mistranslated key factors in the conversation, and inferred that the Cortez brothers were not only being uncooperative, but threatening as well.Morris pulled out his gun and shot Romaldo, and as a result, Gregorio shot and killed Morris.Gregorio, realizing that his life was in danger, escaped on his newly acquired mare and spent 10 days evading authorities, including the notorious Texas Rangers. Hundreds of men were involved in the search for Cortez.While Texas English-language newspapers were highly critical of Cortez, Spanish language newspapers printed the story and highlighted that fact that one poor Mexican farmer was able to escape hundreds of Anglos on a mare. This prompted some to help Cortez in his escape. As a result of eluding authorities and the widespread newspaper accounts, Anglos provoked violence against Mexican communities. Several deaths were a direct result of Anglos growing anger at Cortez not being captured and lynched.Eventually, Cortez was captured, when an acquaintance turned him in. After his arrest, supporters began forming organizations to publicize the case and to raise money for his defense. At his first trial he was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. While appeals were being denied, a lynch mob of 300 attempted to hang him. Eventually, his convictions were overturned, however, in 1904 a trial in Corpus Christi resulting in a life sentence.He was finally issued a pardon by the governor in 1913. While on the lam, his story was popularized not only through Spanish language newspapers, but also through oral stories. That same year, various ballads were written about his evading the Texas Rangers.
- A corrido, or ballad, is a form of folk song used to tell a story. Typically, corridos are highly stylized and often romantic ballads that celebrate Hispanic history and culture along the Texas–Mexico border. Corridos, a form of song which tells stories, allowed people to spread legends, news and stories along the border and to the north and south. El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez is among the most famous of all corridos.The earliest border corrido can be traced to Juan NepomucenoCortina.qv It was during the time of Cortina's revolt that the first such ballads were heard, thereby setting the general pattern of the border corrido. The subject matter of this genre ordinary involved a Mexican, usually outnumbered, defending his right with a pistol in hand against the evil rinches (Texas Rangersqv).
- Born to an aristocratic mother, she was one of the heirs of a large land grant in the lower Rio Grande valley, including the area that surrounded Brownsville.In the Mexican-American War, Cortina served as part of an irregular calvary. After the war, he return to his family home, where he enjoyed political influence. In the decade after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe, Cortina came to hate the Texas legal system, who took land from Mexican-Texans, who were unfamiliar with the American judicial system. He became a leader among many of the poorer Mexicans who lived along the banks of the river.In 1859, Cortina witnessed the Brownsville city marshal, Robert Shears, brutally arrest a Mexican American who had once been employed by the Cortina family. Cortina shot the marshall during the confrontation and escaped with the prisoner. He later returned to Brownsville, with 40 to 80 men and seized control of the town. Five anglo men were shot, including the city jailer. Several of the town leaders appealed to Mexican authorities, who crossed the river and negotiated with Cortina. He agreed to retreat to his family ranch, where he issued a proclamation asserting the rights of Mexican Texans and demanded the punishment of anyone violating these rights.He was revered by Mexicans on both sides of the river. Many men joined and supported his cause. He and his men were harassed by Texas Rangers and several were lynched. Over the remainder of this life, he moved between Mexico and his family home in Texas. In 1875 he was arrested and sent to Mexico City, where he lived until his death in 1894.
- During the California gold rush, Joaquin Murrieta became a legendary figure in California.Some believe that he came to California to seek his fortune, but instead encountered racism and discrimination. While mining for gold, he and his wife were attacked by a band of Anglo-Americans who were upset by his success at finding gold. His wife was raped and he was lashed. He attempted to seek justice through the legal system, but instead found that there was no way to prosecute the crime, as California law prohibited Mexicans from testifying against a white man.Thus, seeking to exact justice himself, Murrieta gathered together family and friends to find the men who attacked his family. The found and killed six men and were then seen by authorities as outlaws. He became the leader of a band of men known as “The Five Joaquins”. The group has been credited with stealing more than $100,000 in gold and 100 horses and killing dozens of people, including three lawmen.In response, the governor of California created the California State Rangers, led by a former Texas Ranger, whose mission it was to capture and arrest the five Joaquins. In 1853, a group of rangers claimed to have killed Murrieta and his right-hand man, Manuel Garcia (known as Three Finger Jack). The rangers took Garcia’s hand and Murrieta’s head as evidence of their death and displayed them in a jar, preserved in bandy.The body parts were displayed throughout California and spectators paid $1 to see the remains.After his death, dozens claimed to see Murrieta still alive, including his sister who saw the head in the jar and claimed that it was not him. Eventually, the head was lost in 1906 during the San Francisco earthquake.The fictional character is in part inspired by the stories of Murrieta.
- This period will primarily cover the American Southwest and the Chicano Experience
- It is important to know which states, on both sides of the border, are the primary focus of this discussion.Early immigration, before 1900, between U.S. and Mexico, occurred primarily between these states.SON = SonoraCHI = ChihuahuaNL = Nuevo LeonTAM = TamaulipasCOA = Coahuila
- During the period of 1900 to 1920, there was a substantial number of Mexicans who migrated to the United States.During this 20 year period of time, more than 1 million Mexicans arrived in the U.S.Whereas early immigrants had been from the border states, by the turn of the century, larger numbers came from the interior of Mexico.In 1900, the census showed an estimated 330,000 U.S. born Mexicans, more than 3X’s as large as the Mexican-born population. Before 1908 60,000 Mexicans entered the U.S. annually. Differences can be found among Mexican immigrants. There is no “one story” which can truly encompass the experience of arriving Mexicans.The type of work they performed and place they settled, shaped their experience as immigrants.For example, prior to the Mexican Revolution, many middle-class Mexicans migrated north to the U.S. After the war, exiled people began to arrive, along with those seeking to escape the ravages of the 1907 and 1913 depressions.There were also variations from generation to generation. Rural migrants continued to speak Spanish as their primary language, whereas migrants to urban areas tended to adopt English more quickly.
- When looking at the influx of immigrants coming into the U.S., you have to examine the factors “pushing” Mexicans out of Mexico and the “pulling” factors bringing migrants to the U.S.Push factors impel people to leave their home countries and pull factor attract them to receiving countries. Push factors include demographic growth, low living standards, lack of economic opportunities and political repression. Pull factors included a demand for labor, availability of land, good economic opportunities and political freedoms.Railways employed the largest number of Mexicans in the U.S. during the early 1900s. As the railroad spread from Mexico City to Chicago, Mexicans traveled to places such as Los Angeles, San Antonio, El Paso and Kansas City which became centers where Industry found Mexican workers. Mexican railway workers set up colonias (settlements) near their work. As colonias grew, they became enclaves where farmers and ranchers would recruit labor.With the Chinese exclusions acts of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, California could not find enough workers to work on railroads and farms and thus turned to Mexicans to fill these jobs.The border became a revolving door, with mexican labor developing the American Southwest. The Southwest would not have become the major economic power it is today without Mexican labor, much in the same way that early America built it’s wealth on the labor of slaves.
- The era of Diaz/s government from 1876 to 1910 is know as the Porfiriato (poor-fie-er-ee-a-tho). He maintained a strict “No Re-election” policy, in which presidents could not serve consecutive terms in office. When he stepped down after his first term, he was succeeded by Manuel Gonzalez, one of his underlings.Gonzalez’s term was marked by corruption and incompetence. Diaz ran again in the next election and won. He then put aside his “no re-election” slogan and ran for president in every subsequent election until his defeat in 1910.He became a dictator and through his rule of the army (as well as gangs of thugs) frightened people into voting for him. In addition, he rigged the votes in his favor, thus he stayed in his office through force. He justified his actions by claiming that Mexico was not ready to govern itself and that only he knew what was best for the country.His presidency was characterized by promotion of industry and the pacification of the country. Those who suffered the most under his rule were the working class, farmers and peasants, who suffered extreme exploitation.The economy took a great leap under his rule, with the construction of factories, road, dams and industry. There was an influx of foreign capital (primarily from the US).This progress came at a price, including civil liberties such as freedom of the press, the growing influence of the U.S. and wealth, political power and access to education were concentrated among primarily those of European descent, who controlled much of the property in large estates.Most of the people of Mexico were landless.
- The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started with an uprising led by Francisco Madero against longtime dictator Porfirio Diaz.Madero had decided to run against Diaz in 1910. Diaz believed that he could control the election as he had in the previous 7 elections. Diaz did not approve of Madero and jailed him on election day in 1910. Diaz was announced the winner of the election by a landslide, providing the stage for an uprising and the outbreak of the Revolution.The revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist and agrarianist movements.The outcome of the war was the enactment of the Mexican Constitution of 1917.The revolution triggered the creation of the National Revolutionary Party (popularity known as the PRI) which held power and led the country until the general election of 2000.The major result for the U.S. of the Mexican Revolution was one of the largest shifts of population between two countries, which increased the presence of brown-skinned people in the U.S. which encouraged exaggerated stereotypes.
- Prior to the revolution, mexican civil code imposed many restrictions on women. While the code granted single women many of the same rights as males, single women had to reside with their parents until age 30.One the other hand, married women had no rights. She could not divorce, vote, enter into a contract, engage in lawsuits. They could not make decisions regarding their childrens education and could not even act as a tutor. Thus, female teachers who enjoyed their work did not marry.The Mexican Revolution was in part a revolt against the constraints of the Catholic Church. Many revolutionaries saw the stranglehold of the church on government as a problem, one which upheld racism and inequality. Thus, women seeing how their lives were dictated by husbands and the church, saw the revolution as a means to gain more freedoms and independence. Soldaderas were female soldiers who went into combat along with men during the Mexican Revolution. Prior to the war, these women lived ordinary lives, but took up arms to fight for better conditions and rights.The term soldaderas is also used to label the many women who took roles as nurses and aides to the male soldiers. As caregivers, they traveled with the revolutionary armies to find food, cook meals, nurse the wounded, wash clothes and other services not provided by the military.Some women had no choice but to become a, when soldiers raped and kidnapped them from their homes and villages. In 1913, the Mexican Herald noted that entire villages were left without women because soldiers had carried them off.These women, in addition to caring for the soldiers, buried the dead and scavenged battle sites for useful objects. They also became messengers, spies, arms and munitions runners and journalists.Soldaderas endured miserable living conditions, malnutrition and even childbearing. Soldaderas whose husbands died in battle often continued in their role, assisting other soldiers. When traveling by train, the women and children rode outside or on top. They carried the provisions, cooking equipment and guns during vast miles of foot travel. When troops had access to horses, only the men rode them.
- Steady work in the mines brought Mexicans north to Northern Mexico, as well as Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.Employers saw Mexicans as docile and would work for small wages. They were also seen as physically weak, undependable and disposable, with many other Mexicans willing to take their place.A dual wage system existed, with lower wages for persons of Mexican descent, earning a wage ½ of that of Euroamericans.Euroamerican miners workers worked an average of 8 hours a day, while Mexicans worked 10-12 hours a day.A virtual war raged between Mexican and Euroamerican miners, usually spurred on by the mine owners. By keeping workers at odds with one another, uniting and organizing was undermined.While labor organization was rare in rural areas, it was far more common in urban settings and in mining camps. When miners would strike, often mine owners would hire thugs to hunt down leaders and kill them.One example is the Ludlow Massacre of 1913 in Ludlow, Colorado. The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, owned by the Rockefellers, evicted miner from company housing.As the winter approached, tensions grew and the governor order the Nation Guard into the area. The mining company hired a detective agency to find and kill strike leaders.The national guard occupied a hill overlooking the camp, mounted a machine gun and exploded two bombs.The miners armed themselves and the guard attacked the tent colony. In all, 50 workers were killed, along with their family members, including children.
- An 1897 increase of the sugar tax on imported sugar, expanded the growth of sugar beets in the Southwest and Midwest, increasing the need for migrant workers. Between 1900 and 1907, the number of sugar beet companies in Colorado, Kansas and California quadrupled. By 1919, 98 U.S. factories produced almost 1 million tons of sugar annually.As a result, Mexican farm workers were recruited and transported throughout the southwest, northwest and midwest.Growers in Texas utilized the heavy migration of Mexicans, knowing that the development of the area depended on Mexican labor. In the Rio Grande Valley, Mexicans were employed to clear brush, plant cotton and grow winter vegetables.Between 1918 and 1921, the Arizona Cotton Growers imported more than 30,000 Mexicans workers. The production of cotton in the Imperial Valley expanded and spread to the San Joaquin Valley. This formed a land bridge to Los Angeles, where Mexican workers followed the crops north, south, east and west. Similar patterns occurred for Mexicans in San Antonio, as a distribution center for Mexican labor.Cotton was the main money crop until the late 1920’s, followed by spinach and other vegetables.Mexicans began to move from ranchos to colonias, from which contracters recruited them to work as farm workers in California, Colorado and Michigan.Stereotypes about Mexicans made them appealing workers. In an article in a fruit grower magazine, it was noted that Mexicans were “plentiful, generally peaceable and are satisfied with very low social conditions”From 1907 to 1920 in California, orange and lemon production quadrupled; and between 1917 and 1922 cantaloupe production doubled, grapes tripled and lettuce quadrupled.
- In Mexico, there was a high level of illiteracy. In Michoacan, only 14% of children were enrolled in primary school. Most schools lacked books, pencils and basic supplies.Mexican American children were assimilated through the school system, with a focus on literacy, teaching the writing of English, mathematics, geography and physiology. However, most schools were segregated.By segregating schools, whites were able to maintain control of the school system, as well as certain elements of society, such as children engaging in inter-racial relationships.The reasons that whites gave for segregating schools, was that Mexicans were ill-clad, unclean, immoral and learned more slowly than white children.The main reason for segregation, was the fear that white and Mexican children would intermix and perhaps intermarry. Mexican children were schooled in run down buildings and were taught by ill-prepared white teachers. Even Catholic schools refused to integrate.A major problem for many children was that their schooling was often interrupted. Many times farm workers would have to follow the crops to rural areas, resulting in the prolonged absence of children from school. Because of these disruptions, most Mexican American children never progressed beyond middle school.
- At the start of WW I, there was intensified industrialization and urbanization in California.The war caused a labor shortage, increasing the need for Mexican labor. The U.S. government used Catholic bishops to assure Mexicans that they would not be drafted, in order to attract Mexicans to stay and work. However, some Tejanos and Mexicans were drafted into the war.Thus, the war resulted in relaxed control of immigration and during the four years of war (from 1917 to 1921) thousands upon thousands of Mexicans entered the U.S.In 1900 most Mexicans worked in agriculture and were the least urbanized immigrant group in the U.S. By 1920, 47% of Mexicans born in Mexico lived in urban areas.Many second generation Mexicans, along with political refugees escaping the Mexican Revolution, became merchants and took middle-level jobs.Also, differences were seen among generations, including the choice of where to live and how they were treated according to their skin color.Racism was always more severe in Texas than in other Southwestern states.During this time of influx of Mexican labor, marijuana was being introduced to American culture. The drug became associated with Mexican immigrants and that fear, coupled with prejudice soon became associated with marijuana. Anti-drug campaigners warned against the encroaching “marijuana menace” and terrible crimes were attributed to marijuana and the Mexicans who used it.
- During the war years, there was a significant decline in ruralism and a push towards working and living in the city.There were now 2nd and 3rd generation Americans of Mexican descent.WWII accellerated the reformation of the Mexican family, as more and more women worked outside the home.
- World War II had an enormous impact on Latinos in the United States, including Mexican Americans. Mexican Americans were drafted into or volunteered for the U.S. armed services, where they had the highest percentage of Congressional Medal of Honor winners of any minority in the United States. The war also fueled Latino migration to the United States. As defense industries grew and many workers went off to war, industries experienced acute labor shortages. Women and African Americans entered industry in large numbers to help address these shortages, and temporary workers from Puerto Rico and Mexico, or braceros, were through the Bracero Program, a 1942 labor agreement between the United States and Mexico. Although the Bracero Program brought Mexicans to the United States to work primarily in agriculture, some workers were also employed in various industries. Over 100,000 contracts were signed between 1943 and 1945 to recruit and transport Mexican workers to the United States for employment on the railroads. By early 1945, thebracero population in the Philadelphia area numbered approximately 1,000, most of whom worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Living in substandard conditions in “box car camps,” the laborers had little contact with the general population and limited access to healthcare, recreation, translators, or legal aid. Since most war-related job opportunities existed in urban centers, there was considerable migration of Mexican Americans to the cities in the decades of the 1940s and 1950s. In Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona there was a large exodus of the population to the urban centers. California had the largest population increase, giving it a Mexican-American population equal to that of Texas.
- Many Mexican-American men joined the armed services and the departure of fathers from the home created great changes in the family.Mothers working and fathers away from home, coupled with poverty, encouraged youth distancing themselves with Mexican traditional values.The gangs begin to increase in size and visibility.
- Sleepy Lagoon: 1942Hysteria and prejudice was building in the local California papers. Soon turned attention to youths who were dressing like gang members21 young men stood trial for the murder of Jose Diaz in L.A.Convicted: 12 total but in 1944 all the convictions were overturnedExpert witness: Those of Mexican race cannot control their rage and violent nature in their DNAThe Zoot-Suit Riots of Los Angeles. The incident received its name from the type of clothing, known as a “zoot suit,” worn by many young Mexican Americans of the early 1940s. In the summer of 1943, a dispute between a Mexican American and an Anglo erupted into widespread rioting. Anglo members of the armed forces were soon joined by civilians in a spree of attacking and beating Mexican Americans wherever they were found.
- The turnaround from the labor surplus of the 1930s to the labor shortage of the 1940s had a special impact on agriculture and transportation. For help, the United States turned to Mexico, and in 1942 the two nations formulated the Bracero Program. From then until 1964, Mexican braceros were a regular part of the U.S. labor scene, reaching a peak of 450,000 workers in 1959. Most engaged in agriculture; they formed 26 percent of the nation's seasonal agricultural labor force in 1960.With the end of the war and the return of troops from overseas, the railroad workers were required to return to Mexico (many Puerto Ricans, who were citizens, decided to remain). Serving or working abroad, or moving to a large city expanded the horizons of a generation of Mexican Americans. Like many African Americans, they had sacrificed for their adopted country, they began to want more of the American Dream: better education, better jobs, and an end to racism and discrimination. They considered themselves as Americans and wanted their full civil rights. Many decided to change the system in which they were reared. The termination of the war also brought into being the "G.I. Bill." This act provided veterans with opportunities for employment, high school and college education, job training, and resources for purchasing homes and life insurance. Many Mexican Americans took advantage of the G.I Bill. For the first time, they entered college in large numbers. Within a few years after the war, their slightly higher educational achievements would lead to greater opportunities. In 1949 and 1950, the American G.I. Forum initiated local “pay your poll tax” drives to register Mexican American voters. Although they were unable to repeal the poll tax, their efforts did bring in new Hispanic voters who would begin to elect Latino representatives to the Texas House of Representatives and to Congress during the late 1950s and early 1960s.[9]In California, a similar phenomenon took place. When World War II veteran Edward R. Roybal ran for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council, community activists established the Community Service Organization (CSO). The CSO was effective in registering 15,000 new voters in Latino neighborhoods. With this newfound support, Roybal was able to win the 1949 election race against the incumbent councilman and become the first Mexican American since 1886 to win a seat on the Los Angeles City Council.[10]The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), founded in Fresno, California came into being in 1959 and drew up a plan for direct electoral politics. MAPA soon became the primary political voice for the Mexican-American community of California.[11]
- Western countries had colonized much of the world.
- This meant that 3rd world countries hoped that their dependence on industrialized nations would end.Western powers feared that communist governments would move in and take hold of vulnerable new nations.Western powers opposed the “liberation” of non-white people.Thus Western countries meddled in the foreign affairs of the Third World.The U.S. was involved in a series of wars, including having troops in Chican, Palestine, Berlin, Korea and Gutemala.In 1959 Eisenhower worked to destabilize Castro in Cuba.Thus, world opinion was critical of the U.S.’s foreign policy and this criticism spilled into the 1960’s.(much like today)
- WWII heightened an awareness of civil rights and liberties among minorities.The basis of social movements are inequality and a moral outrage at the lack of fairness in the system.Each of these organizations have been formed prior to WWII, but their message of civil rights took on a new meaning with the wars of liberation in foreign countries.
- Between 1946 (the end of WWII) and 1964 the U.S. experienced an exceptionally high birth rate, the came to be known as the baby boom.The sheer number of this group profoundly affected the economy, politics, fashion, and music of the 1960’s.This generation for the most part, supported integration and held views toward leveling society.As a result, this generation founded a number of organizations aimed at creating equality and justice, as well as many movements (civil rights movement, women’s movement, anti war movement, etc)
- 1960 US Census counted 3,464,999 Spanish surnamed people in the SouthwestPer capita for Latinos: $968Whites: $2047Latino: 27% lived in deteriorated housingWhite: 7.5% lived in deteriorated housingFamily sizeLatino: 4.77White: 3.39Schooling average:Latino: 8.1White: 12
- The night after Thanksgiving, Edward R. Murrow narrated a one hour documentary.It showed the miserable plight of migrant workers, showing families working in blistering heat and living in rundown housing, enduring misery so that an affluent nation could eat.It brought into American households an awareness of how farm workers lived.The documentary described how Anglos workers were paid to pick tree crops, whereas Mexicans endured stoop labor.Single migrant workers earned about $781 per year, and a family of workers earned $2240 per year.Migrant workers did not get paid for holidays, sick days or overtime. There was no retirement or disability plans, or medical coverage.
- Widespread support for KennedyLatinos help to secure Kennedy’s narrow winMexican Americans were very optimistic that Kennedy would close the gaps in the socioeconomic and political inequalityHe was a Catholic, like themSoon after John Kennedy was nominated for President, Bobby Kennedy met with Dr. Hector Garcia to discuss how to get Mexican Americans to support JFK in the upcoming election.The result was the formation of Viva Kennedy clubsThe clubs were established across the country and rallies were held to encourage Mexican Americans to vote85% of Mexican Americans voted for JFK over Nixon and were very important to JFK’s win in the 1960 electionDuring the campaign, JFK promised Mex. Americans action on a number of civil rights issues and appointments to high-level government positions.However, nothing happened right away after he was elected.Eventually, Dr. Garcia was appointed by kennedy to help forge a mutual defense treat with the West Indies Islands.Dr. Garcia became the first mexamer. To represent a president of the US.
- By the end of the 1960’s the population was near 50 millionThe bracero program had brought money into the country, with monies being sent back home by workers.Ending the program caused widespread financial hardship on families.Mexico’s economy could not absorb it’s new populationThe decline in ruralism, cause by the production of machinery and mechanization, along with the commercialization of Mexican farms, displaced small farmers.The US was undergoing good economic times and attracted many workersWith the war (Vietnam), civil rights movement and youth culture distracting Euroamericans, migration went largely unnoticedIn the US, farm growers pressured the border patrol to the border pourous, to ensure a steady flow of workersMexico, in order to deal with the loss of income, began to give the US special privileges to North American multinational businessesA customs act of 1956 and 1963 allow the processing abroad of goods, to be returned to the US for finishingMexico agreed to the Border Industrialization Program, waiving duties and regulations within 12.5 miles of the border (which has continuously expanded in the years since)Like the bracero program, this new border program increased Mexican dependence on the United States.