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Pamela Oliver

Sociology 220

Hispanics / Latinos in the 20th Century

Review immigration trends slides

Hispanic population is younger.

Hispanic – Latino Population1990 2000 2010

Hispanic-Latino as % of Total US 9% 13% 16%

Ethnicity as % of Hispanic-Latino

Mexican 60 59 63

Puerto Rican 12 10 9

Cuban 5 3 3

Dominican Republic 2 2 3

Central America 5 8

South America 4 5

Other 18 7

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Percent Distribution of Hispanicsby Type: 2006

Source: Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement 2006

Puerto Rican8.6% Cuban

3.7%

Central American8.2%

South American6.0%

Other Hispanic8.0%Mexican

65.5%

“Race” (self-reported) of Hispanics-Latinos

1990 2000 2010

White 51.7 47.9 53.0

Black 3.4 2.0 2.5

Amer. Indian 0.7 1.2 1.4

Asian or Pac Isl 1.4 0.5 0.5

Other 42.7 42.2 36.7

Two or More - 6.3 6.0

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

White Black AmInd As/PI Other 2+

Race of Hispanic Groups, by Ethnicity, 2010 Census

Mexican Central Amer South AmerCuban Dominican Puerto Rican

Locations in US Chicanos, Mexican Americans mostly live in the southwest

(California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado) but also elsewhere, Chicago etc.

Cubans mostly in Florida

Puerto Ricans mostly in New York, New Jersey.

But all are fanning out.

Immigration from other Latin American counties is growing.

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Percent Latino/Hispanic US Counties 2000

Names (part 1) In the US, Latino or Hispanic refers to a person in the

US who is of Latin American origin. Nuances in meanings of words, but referring to same groups. Brazilians are in this group, although they do not speak Spanish.

(Spaniards are Hispanic, but not understood to be part of the group called Hispanic or Latino in the US.)

In Latin America, Latino often refers to a person who is culturally Hispanic rather than culturally Indigenous

Names (part 2) Mexican = a Mexican citizen (in Mexico or US); as

identity, a person from Mexico

Mexican American = a US citizen of Mexican descent; as identity, a US ethnic group

Chicano = a self-identify of SOME Mexican Americans (not all). Origins as radical, racialized identity (indigenous American) Now many Mexican Americans use it because they don’t

identify with Mexico Mexicans from Mexico NEVER identify as Chicano

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Class Origins and Well-Being A major predictor of an immigrant group’s “success” in

US is CLASS CLASS = education, business/professional skills,

financial resources. Pre-WWII, White Catholics less successful than

Protestants. Used to be a lot of talk about how “Catholic culture” held

people back Took 3 generations for immigrant class differences to dissipate,

but they are gone now. Today White Catholics & Protestants are educationally &

economically comparable

Class, Immigrant Status, Well-Being Economic & educational “Success” of immigrants & their

children depends largely (not exclusively) on what they bring with them: education, business & professional skills, money, English

Economic & political factors in “sending” country + immigration factors affect class mix of immigrants to US

Politics & Immigrant Flow Class of refugees motivated by political violence depends on

the regime they are leaving: Are lower class or upper class people being threatened? Refugees from rightist regimes tend to be poor & uneducated +

political leftists Refugees from leftist regimes tend to be from business &

professional classes

US politics influences how refugees from different regimes are treated

Race in the Americas Substantial indigenous population remains in Mexico, Central

America, Andes, interior of Amazon, Alaska & Canada, southwestern US

Substantial African population in northeastern Brazil, southeastern US & US urban areas, Caribbean islands and as part of the mixture throughout Latin America; history of slavery

Substantial post-colonial European migrations to US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, & northeast South America

Significant Asian migration to many South American countries as well as US, Canada, Mexico; but still a minority in all but a few cities

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Skin Color and Class in the Americas Colonialism, conquest by Europeans (white skin) left

their descendents in higher class position (economic, political) throughout the Americas

The indigenous people (the native Americans) were conquered and subordinated. Their descendents are mostly still poor, subjugated

The African people were mostly slaves, their descendents are still poorer than the former masters

Consequences of Colonialism & Politics Latin American migrants who are poorer & less educated

are more likely to be of indigenous or African descent Refugees from leftist regimes are more likely to be light-

skinned, of European descent, well-off & educated, and receive favorable treatment in US immigration policies (Cuba, Nicaragua)

Refugees from rightist regimes are more likely to be poor, indigenous or Black, and treated unfavorably in US immigration policies (Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador)

Cuba and Puerto RicoCaribbean IslandsCentral America

Caribbean

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Cuba Historical After 1492 Spanish, Columbus, largely exterminated the

50,000 Indians.

Sugar plantations: population is mixed European and African descent.

Spanish-American War 1898, independent but US dominated

US troops leave 1902 but retain control of Guantanamo Bay as naval base in 1903 treaty, dominate economy

1959 Cuban revolution, Castro overthrows Batista (harsh dictator); originally supported by US, but then opposed when in 1960 Castro declares the country communist. US embargo still in effect

Guantanamo Bay

Cubans in US Upper & middle class Cubans flee Castro. 1 million

immigrate between 1960 and 1980. (Current Cuban population is about 10 million.)

Early refugees are educated, White; create "little Havana" in Florida, militantly anti-communist, 2/3 vote Republican. Despite initial hardships, most are doing well economically in US.

Later refugees are less educated, darker, having more problems, but obscured by statistics. Cuban connections help.

Puerto Rico Spanish colony, plantations, mixed European & African. (Indians mostly

killed, but today many Puerto Ricans have some Indian ancestry) Becomes US colony 1898, Spanish-American War. English required in schools. US under-develops, as a colony 1917 Jones Act, Puerto Ricans are citizens of US. 1948 PR made a Commonwealth, Associated Free State. Part of US, but

not a state, less subordinate than a colony. Ultimately controlled by Congress. Definition of Commonwealth unclear.

Status a continuing issue: stay commonwealth, become US state, become independent? Per US Supreme Court an “unincorporated territory” “belonging to the US but not part of the US” A big debate about status.

2006, 2009, 2011 UN calls for self-determination of PR. Generally considered a separate nation internationally. Own Olympic team.

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Puerto Ricans All Puerto Ricans are US citizens

In 2000 3.4 million Puerto Ricans in US mainland; 3.8 million in PR.

99% of those in PR consider themselves Hispanic.

80% in PR say they are White, 8% Black, 7% “other,” 4% 2+ races.

On the mainland, many who are “White” in PR are considered “Black” (see Bonilla-Silva picture)

Easy migration between Puerto Rico & mainland (all part of US)

“New Yoricans” & other identity issues

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva

Other Caribbean Islanders Dominicans (Dominican Republic) Spanish

Haitians (French)

Jamaicans (English)

US Virgin Islands (US)

Smaller islands (varies)

Population mostly African-European descent, some Asian (Indian especially): colonial mix

To Whites, those not White blend in to the “Black” population, but cultural/ethnic differences are significant

Caribbean Map

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Central Americans Nicaraguans – fled Sandanistas (Communists). Largely

white, largely well-educated.

Guatemalans, Salvadorans, Hondurans. Indigenous peasants violently forced off the land. To US-ians, blend in to “Mexican” population, but may not speak Spanish, are culturally & ethnically distinct. Typically very poor.

Refugees travel through Mexico, enter US as part of “Mexican” illegal immigration. Border issues in Southern Mexico.

Conflicts between Central Americans and Mexicans, especially in Southern California

O1

Central America

Mexican Americans & Mexicans Mexican Americans = born in US, identify as Americans of

Mexican descent. Many speak only English. Others are partly or fully bilingual.

Others, especially migrant workers in southern Texas, grow up speaking mostly Spanish (or Spanglish)

(Chicano a political self-identity of a subgroup of Mexican Americans, more oriented to US)

Mexicans = migrants from Mexico. Some are settlers, bring families, plan to stay Many are sojourners, working here, sending money home, no

interest in staying Many are indigenous people for whom Spanish is a second

language

Mexico Little migration into US until 20th century. Population

depletion from colonialism

Political instability: 1876 Portofio Diaz reactionary coup, 1910-1922 Mexican Revolution. Some political refugees.

Population less than 10% European, about 60% mestizo, 30% indigenous (Mayans etc. who do not speak Spanish, not culturally Mexican)

Creation of mestizo identity in the Mexican revolution. La Raza.

Slide 29

O1 ended here april 3 2014Oliver, 4/3/2014

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1910s - 1920s European immigration shut off, Mexican migrants

encouraged as a source of cheap labor;

No immigration quotas, no "papers" required, no real distinction between legal and illegal.

Varied experiences in different places Texas Ranger Farm labor Manufacturing labor

Class & Race: early 20th Century

New Mexico, southern California, parts of Texas: some Spanish (White Mexicans) are landowners, parts of the upper class. Indigenous/Native/Indian Mexicans often not considered White.

Other parts of Texas, Arizona, central valley of California, Mexicans are lower class, landless, treated as a separate race, segregated

Lawsuits and court cases decide that generally Mexicans are White for purposes of segregation laws, but they are often discriminated against with language as the rationale

1930s Depression, economic collapse, high unemployment: "get rid

of foreigners."

Forced deportation of “Mexicans”. Majority are US-born citizens unable to prove citizenship, or children.

Social Security provisions enacted in 1930s exempt agricultural and domestic work; explicitly meant to exempt Mexicans and African Americans. (1950s changes to Social Security add them)

LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), English-oriented, civil rights: the "Mexican American Generation." Not Spanish, full rights as US citizens.

1940s WWII, workers needed, joint programs with Mexico to import workers, bracero

program; Mexican supervision means that Mexican workers often treated

better than US citizens of Mexican descent. Temporary workers, leave families in Mexico.

“Zoot Suit” riots of 1943 in Los Angeles Anglo sailors vs. Mexican Americans; 10 days of attacks, riots;

climate of hostility & fear (Zoot suit was a style worn by Mexican youth) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/index.html

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1950s, 1960s Operation Wetback: attack on Mexican workers, less than

2% have formal proceedings before expulsion.

Urban renewal tears up MexAm settlements, creates crowding; migration increases.

GI Forum, LULAC, MAPA (Mexican American Political Association): emphasis on citizenship, full civil rights, integration.

“Mexican American generation” de-emphasis on Spanish.

Mexican Americans

Dennis DeLeon Becky Dominguez

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Carlos Muñoz Rodolfo Acuña. (Occupied America: Banned in Arizona!

Education in Texas (1) Source: “Let all of them Take Heed” (Guadalupe San Miguel)

Segregation of Mexican children: language as justification, but really racial. Effectively, children are learning no language

MexAms support English instruction, struggle for equality and real education

“Other White” strategy through 1960s.

Education in Texas (2) Lawsuits for bilingual instruction a consequence of past

failures with English-only

Shift to “racial” self-designation in wake of integration (whites want to “integrate” by mixing Mexicans and Blacks)

Source: Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr. "Let All of them Take Heed": Mexican Americans and the Campaign for Educational Equality in Texas, 1910-1981.

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Late 1960s-1970s Chicanos become defined as distinct racial group for

purposes of desegregation, a response to White actions (Texas “integrates” by mixing Blacks & Mexicans)

1965 change in immigration law effectively lowers “legal” quotas from Mexico.

Militant confrontation Reies López Tijerina, Alianza de Pueblos Libres, to win back land

grants in New Mexico, occupies areas in national forests, violent confrontations with authorities in 1967, imprisoned in the 1970s. After prison, continued to speak out, still living in New Mexico.

.Link to summary & pictures

Farm Workers Movements Mexicans and Mexican Americans are

major pool of migrant farm workers

Long history of labor struggle, especially in California and Texas

California struggles involved Mexicans & Asians; racial divisions as well as alliances

Cesar Chavez, United Farm Workers 1960s-1970s. Ethnic images.

Outside allies: Grape, lettuce boycotts.

Chicano Movements Increasing militancy and nationalist pride among MexAms,

inspired by Black movement: “Brown Power”

MAYO (Mexican American Youth Organization), La Raza Unida party, Brown Berets

"Chicano" identity created; myth of Atzlan (Radical connotations)

El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA)

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La Raza Unida Part of Chicano movement. Reject prior assimiliationist,

civil rights approaches

Identify with Mexican culture. Chicano, myth of Aztlan. Radical, militant

Crystal City (Cristal): garden area of Texas. Home of migrant workers.

MAYO: School walkouts. Prom, education

La Raza Unida: a Mexican American party. Political strategy. Third party politics

Source: Ignacio M García,. United We Win: The Rise and Fall of La Raza Unida Party.

Raza Unida Jose Angel Gutiérrez, La Raza Unida Party, son of Mexican

nationalist, separatist political strategies. “Kill the gringo” speech.

Raza Unida wins in some predominantly-Mexican American areas

Governor election in Texas, substantial loss

Lessons of ethnic parties, third parties

Nationalist militancy

I Am Joaquin Rodolfo (Corky) Gonzales

Charismatic urban politico from Denver. Represented the barrio youth punished for speaking Spanish, confusion of identity.

Epic poem I am Joaquín published 1967 in English and Spanish.

Speaks to the urban Chicano (Mexican American) who does not know his history, faces the challenges of discrimination and assimilation

Interweaves a retelling of Mexican history and identity with current conditions & issues. Indigenous racial identity.

Fragments from the much longer epic give a flavor of it

Yo soy Joaquín, perdido en un mundo de confusión:

I am Joaquín, lost in a world of confusion, caught up in the whirl of a gringo society,

confused by the rules, scorned by attitudes, suppressed by manipulation, and destroyed by modern society.

My fathers have lost the economic battle and won the struggle of cultural survival.

And now! I must choose between the paradox of victory of the spirit, despite physical hunger,

or to exist in the grasp of American social neurosis, sterilization of the soul and a full stomach.

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. . . .I am Cuauhtémoc, proud and noble, leader of men, king of an empire civilized beyond the dreams of the gachupín Cortés, who also is the blood, the image of myself. I am the Maya prince. I am Neza-hual-cóy-otl, great leader of the Chichimecas. I am the sword and flame of Cortes the despot And I am the eagle and serpent of the Aztec civilization. . . . .

I fought and died for Don Benito Juarez, guardian of the Constitution. I was he on dusty roads on barren land as he protected his archives as Moses did his sacraments. He held his Mexico in his hand on the most desolate and remote ground which was his country. And this giant little Zapotec gave not one palm's breadth of his country's land to kings or monarchs or presidents of foreign powers. I am Joaquin. I rode with Pancho Villa, crude and warm, a tornado at full strength, nourished and inspired by the passion and the fire of all his earthy people. ….

My knees are caked with mud. My hands calloused from the hoe. I have made the Anglo rich, Yet Equality is but a word–The Treaty of Hidalgo has been broken And is but another treacherous promise. My land is lost And stolen, My culture has been raped. I lengthen the line at the welfare door And fill the jails with crime.

These then are the rewards This society has For sons of chiefs And kings And bloody revolutionists, Who gave a foreign people All their skills and ingenuity To pave the way with brains and blood For those hordes of gold-starved strangers, Who Changed our language And plagiarized our deeds As feats of valor Of their own. They frowned upon our way of life and took what they could use.

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And in all the fertile farmlands, the barren plains, the mountain villages, smoke-smeared cities, we start to MOVE. La raza! Méjicano! Español! Latino! Chicano! Or whatever I call myself, I look the same I feel the same I cry And Sing the same.

I am the masses of my people and I refuse to be absorbed. I am Joaquín. The odds are great But my spirit is strong, My faith unbreakable, My blood is pure. I am Aztec prince and Christian Christ. I SHALL ENDURE! I WILL ENDURE!

Critical review of film “Chicano”http://www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol3/chicano

/chicano.html

PO6

1970s Economic crisis in Mexico forces many north to look for

work.

New immigration laws reduce Mexican quotas, force more migrants into "illegal" status.

Civil wars in Central American create refugees, often seen as Mexican in US, but don’t speak Spanish, poor

Bilingual education in response to past discrimination, neglect: lawsuits, laws require “appropriate” education for all children.

O3

Slide 59

PO6 pick up here April 11 2013Pamela Oliver, 4/4/2013

Slide 60

O3 left off here on april 8 2014Oliver, 4/8/2014

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1980s - 1990s Continuing poverty, turmoil in Mexico, Central American

lead to continuing “push” for immigration north.

Late 1990s-2000, low unemployment in US -> high need for low wage labor from Mexico, widespread employer violation of immigration rules. Increased enforcement raises costs of border crossing

Growing Latino/ Mexican /Central American population in US Southwest (former northern Mexico).

Congressional relief on immigration quotas for technical workers (mostly Asian), but no action on low wage workers.

Late 1990s Political movements to require English, to suppress

bilingualism (supported by some Hispanics)

Political movements to bar welfare to legal immigrants

Amnesty for existing illegal immigrants coupled with greater enforcement against new illegal immigrants.

Conflicts between Hispanic/Mexican-Americans and immigrants from Mexico or Central America.

NAFTA: moving industry from US into Mexico

2000s Vicente Fox elected 2000, ends PRI rule. Proposes open

migration of workers. GW Bush has positive response prior to 9/11, which shuts down discussions. 2006 Felipe Calderon becomes president in a disputed election. 2011 Enrique Peña Nieto, back to PRI

Immigration to US, relations with US, treatment of Mexicans in US are big issues in Mexico

O2

Language Issues Most Mexican immigrants with children want them to

learn English. Many who want English also want to retain Spanish (bilingual)

Past record of high drop-out rates, poor education in “English immersion” led to bilingual movement

English Only: kid’s responsibility to show up speaking English. Not the schools problem.

English immersion does not work well where only the teacher speaks English

Mother tongue

Slide 63

O2 current issuesOliver, 11/7/2013

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Immigration Issues Sojourners a major part of the Mexican migrant flow.

Families in Mexico, no desire to immigrate permanently. Wage differentials. Need for Mexican labor in the US economy. “Surplus labor

force” Illegal immigration largely a product of laws reducing legal

immigration “The Wall” May 1, 2006 “A Day Without Immigrants.” Marches &

Protests Dream Act: Young people who have grown up in the US

Collective Identity Issues Race: white or other? White Hispanics blend Indigenous & African ancestry do not Effects of physical appearance, accent, cultural choices Ongoing political consequences of “other white” strategy

Nationality/ethnicity: Country of origin: esp. Mexican vs. others US minority vs. immigrant Language

Cultural self-definition: respectful, quiet, hard-working, endure vs. militant, stand up

Current debates Arizona Ethnic studies ban “possibly being illegal immigrant” as primary basis for police

stop Dominguez quip & my sister’s response

Mexican Americans (Chicanos) + Puerto Ricans and other non-immigrant groups (“the border crossed us”) vs. immigrant groups.

Dream Act, Deferred Action.