BY STUDENT
After the Mexican Revolution, Mexicans were brought into the United States to be part of the Bracero Program. After working a cheap labor job, they would be sent back to Mexico. However, more and more began staying in America. In the early to mid-20th century, boosters proclaimed that the City of Los Angeles would become the next best US city. This entailed, though, that the city would need to be “de-Mexaicanized,” according to the boosters, while retaining some of the Mexican culture. Mexicans were to be assigned a place in the allegorical part of Los Angeles, where they could be controlled to a quaint section of a city made for the enjoyment of tourists and antiquarians. Real Mexicans, and their culture, were out of sight and out of mind, yet still close enough to provide the cheap labor necessary for industry and agriculture. They were put in barrios occupying the least amount of space possible using tactics such as urban renewal and eminent domain by city elites who wanted to make LA a successful tourist town. Areas formed, such as Olvera Street, where true Mexicans are not seen but their culture is used to bring in tourists, which still remains a popular attraction today. It came to be known as “A Mexican Street of Yesterday in a City of Today (Bender).” If you look at pictures of Olvera Street, you can see tons of people walking the street looking at beautiful little shops filled with objects resembling Mexican culture (Chapman). There are many other places like Olvera Street throughout California where Latino people have been pushed away but still used for their culture. If people knew what happened to Mexicans and other Latinos for this California tourist places to arise, would they still be popular?
Latinos in Los Angeles, as well as San Diego, did not have it easy. The Chicano Movement of the 1960s was a civil rights movement extending the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement with the goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment. Artists and activists worked together to build a better community. Women especially felt as if they were a minority in their own land, and often felt characterized by poverty, racism, and sexism within their own culture. This led to a group of Chicana women painting murals of women in Chicano Park. “We wanted to do something about consciousness and women’s part in the revolution and movement,” one of the women said (Perez). The Chicanos were being driven out of the area as industrialization began to occur, and were being moved to smaller areas in barrios. As San Diego continued to expand, the barrios were getting smaller and smaller. Chicano Park was a symbol of empowerment, and through dedication the Chicanos did, however, win a victory, as Chicano Park was extended 3 acres to the waterfront (Barrera & Mulford).
Overall, as the Mexican and Latino population grew in California, they quickly became unwanted and became targets of discrimination and relocations that uprooted their families from their homes in certain parts of California. They were forced to live in polluted areas and crowded homes that often didn’t even have a toilet inside of it. In addition, they have been discriminated against and categorized by their race and culture for years and years, yet we still use their culture to attract tourists to areas in California. In my opinion, knowing what Mexicans have suffered through makes places like Olvera Street, where I would have once loved to visit, much less appealing now knowing the hardships Mexicans faced for that place to be what it is today. I am now much more likely to visit a place like Chicano Park, where the murals and paintings have so much meaning and life behind them, especially after the recent restoration (Perez). So much has been done to drive Latinos out of the country- but through strong will, perseverance, banding together, and standing up for themselves, and while still facing discrimination now, they still take up over a third of the population of California today.
Works Cited
Barrera, M., & Mulford, M. (2013, December 19). Chicano Park Documentary. Retrieved February 14, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXwZLo8hrp4
Bender, S. (2010). Tierra y Libertad: Land, Liberty, and Latino Housing. New York: New York University Press.
Chapman University Program Board | Tags: Activities, Diversity & Equity, Experiences. (n.d.). UPB Goes to Olvera Street! Retrieved February 14, 2017, from https://blogs.chapman.edu/students/event-story/upb-goes-to-olvera-street/
Perez, G. (2012, July 27). Women Hold Up Half of Chicano Park. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from http://laprensa-sandiego.org/featured/women-hold-up-half-of-chicano-park/
I think you described how the Mexican population came to be in California as it was seen as the "next best US city" and how their struggles came to the forefront of their lives while being pushed into small crowded spaces. The references to Olvera Street and how the Mexican people were pushed away only for their culture to be used to draw in tourists. I really liked how you talked about how Chicano Park with the artwork having meaning and heart behind it would be a much better place to visit rather than Olvera Street.
ReplyDeleteI like how your intro began with history, including the Mexican Revolution and the start of their migration to the United States. When you mention pictures of Olvera Street, I really got a sense of what it was like to live their and how it looked but it's saddening to know how a cultures home became an area and looking site for tourists. I also really like how you gave your point of view and I agree with you as well. I'm less inclined to visit the area of Olvera Steet because I don't like the history behind it. On the other hand, Chicano Park is much more appealing due to the meaning behind the area.
ReplyDeleteIts crazy how cities back then needed to de-mexicanize to be better. I am very surprised though that many of the mexicans actually went barrios, but I assume if they needed to move to make money they would do it especially for their families. Also after reading this post I am much more likely to also visit chicano park with my family if I ever do go. I think its great though that even though these barrios were getting smaller that today they make up for third of California's population.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this blog, and being part of this class, I also agree with you about finding places like Olvera Street less appealing. It is sad to think how most people that visit those tourist locations, looking for a sense of culture and diversity, are actually unaware of it's hypocrisy. A place that is supposed to "embrace" Mexican culture, but has only displaced, dehumanized, and also "de-Mexicanized" the Mexican and Latino community. Even though we have come a long way as a country, we still have a lot of work to do to fix the damage done to Latino communities, as well as other minority areas. It makes me wonder if people were educated about Mexican immigration in the early 20th century, and the struggles that were faced even after citizenship, would people still support places like Olvera street?
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