BY STUDENT
How does Mexican migration in the early 20th century play a massive role in the United States’ ongoing manipulation of ethnic people? In this blogpost, I will illustrate the way America continues to use and abuse their immigrants whilst depending on them for the well-being of the country. In the early 20th century, Los Angeles, California had a high population of Mexicans living there. This is in part because of the United States conquest of Mexican land. Another reason for this is the Bracero Program in the years of 1942-1964. The Bracero Program was created in order to bring Mexicans to America to work in the agriculture business. This gave America an opportunity at mass production at a cheap cost and an opportunity for Mexicans to come to the United States and potentially stay. This showcases America’s manipulation because they treated their migrated workers as guest workers. This means that immigrants working in the states does not guarantee them citizenship, which was a goal for a lot of people. They were also paid significantly less than American born workers. American businesses had full intention of doing so because they are aware that a lot of immigrants would not protest it. Another example of the dismissal of Mexicans in the U.S is the tighter restrictions and border patrol in 1924. Americans aimed to push out immigrants and label them as suspicious. History seems to repeat itself. Now in 2019, we are seeing parallels between the way immigrants are being viewed and treated especially due to the presidency of Donald Trump.
This can be compared to the increase of the Puerto Rican population in New York City. There were so many people coming to the city that it was referred to as the “Puerto Rican Problem”. Many Americans began to claim that Puerto Ricans were bringing illnesses and that they do not know how to civilly live in the city. These accusations are all ironic because of the fact that American companies truly relied on their laborers for the fruition of the nation. If these people are so bad then why are they continuously hired? How could businesses thrive if so many of the people working there brought illnesses with them? In class, we watched a clip from the West Side Story demonstrating the desire some Puerto Ricans have to move to New York City. It was clear that a lot people saw America as a place where they can thrive and live a lot better than their homeland while there were some that knew what came with the territory- racism, excessive labor and more. Amerian businesses took advantage of their eager and treated them unfairly. “Young Lords Party: 13 Point Program and Platform” expresses the Puerto Rican fight for a socialist society. They began to voice their wants (and rights) to liberation, free food, education, and employment. It is important to note that their desire was not just for themselves but for every minority living in America.
America continued to perpetuate its ungrateful and racist attitudes through its living conditions. This can be seen through the subconscious creation of barrios. A barrio can generally be described as a low income neighborhood. In some places of the world, they are often referred to as “the ghetto” or “the projects”. As it pertains to Puerto Ricans in New York City, suburbanization became very popular after 1945 and the quest for The American Dream commenced. However, the typical white picket fence and perfect family was only attainable for veterans and the wealthy. All the while needing immigrants to enhance the country, America did its very best to make it as difficult as possible to succeed. While immigrants were living in barrios, Los Angeles realized they needed latin culture to spunk up the towns. They took bits and pieces of Latinx culture while pushing away the people it belongs to. The government also used eminent domain to reclaim spaces and ostracize immigrants for economic benefit. This can be seen today in areas like Little Italy, ChinaTown and more. Cities monopolize on cultures to attract tourists as well as be perceived as an inclusive space while there is an imminent threat of immigrants outnumbering American born citizens.
How does Mexican migration in the early 20th century play a massive role in the United States’ ongoing manipulation of ethnic people? In this blogpost, I will illustrate the way America continues to use and abuse their immigrants whilst depending on them for the well-being of the country. In the early 20th century, Los Angeles, California had a high population of Mexicans living there. This is in part because of the United States conquest of Mexican land. Another reason for this is the Bracero Program in the years of 1942-1964. The Bracero Program was created in order to bring Mexicans to America to work in the agriculture business. This gave America an opportunity at mass production at a cheap cost and an opportunity for Mexicans to come to the United States and potentially stay. This showcases America’s manipulation because they treated their migrated workers as guest workers. This means that immigrants working in the states does not guarantee them citizenship, which was a goal for a lot of people. They were also paid significantly less than American born workers. American businesses had full intention of doing so because they are aware that a lot of immigrants would not protest it. Another example of the dismissal of Mexicans in the U.S is the tighter restrictions and border patrol in 1924. Americans aimed to push out immigrants and label them as suspicious. History seems to repeat itself. Now in 2019, we are seeing parallels between the way immigrants are being viewed and treated especially due to the presidency of Donald Trump.
This can be compared to the increase of the Puerto Rican population in New York City. There were so many people coming to the city that it was referred to as the “Puerto Rican Problem”. Many Americans began to claim that Puerto Ricans were bringing illnesses and that they do not know how to civilly live in the city. These accusations are all ironic because of the fact that American companies truly relied on their laborers for the fruition of the nation. If these people are so bad then why are they continuously hired? How could businesses thrive if so many of the people working there brought illnesses with them? In class, we watched a clip from the West Side Story demonstrating the desire some Puerto Ricans have to move to New York City. It was clear that a lot people saw America as a place where they can thrive and live a lot better than their homeland while there were some that knew what came with the territory- racism, excessive labor and more. Amerian businesses took advantage of their eager and treated them unfairly. “Young Lords Party: 13 Point Program and Platform” expresses the Puerto Rican fight for a socialist society. They began to voice their wants (and rights) to liberation, free food, education, and employment. It is important to note that their desire was not just for themselves but for every minority living in America.
America continued to perpetuate its ungrateful and racist attitudes through its living conditions. This can be seen through the subconscious creation of barrios. A barrio can generally be described as a low income neighborhood. In some places of the world, they are often referred to as “the ghetto” or “the projects”. As it pertains to Puerto Ricans in New York City, suburbanization became very popular after 1945 and the quest for The American Dream commenced. However, the typical white picket fence and perfect family was only attainable for veterans and the wealthy. All the while needing immigrants to enhance the country, America did its very best to make it as difficult as possible to succeed. While immigrants were living in barrios, Los Angeles realized they needed latin culture to spunk up the towns. They took bits and pieces of Latinx culture while pushing away the people it belongs to. The government also used eminent domain to reclaim spaces and ostracize immigrants for economic benefit. This can be seen today in areas like Little Italy, ChinaTown and more. Cities monopolize on cultures to attract tourists as well as be perceived as an inclusive space while there is an imminent threat of immigrants outnumbering American born citizens.
I personally think your blog post is well written, you've included a lot of facts and touched upon important elements we've discussed in class. I too wrote about Trump in my blog and spoke about how his presidency has negatively affected the Latinx community. Using the West Side Story scene was a good way to support your answer and is very accurate in the way society back then and society now views Latinx's. Good Job.
ReplyDeleteThis is ^ Britanie
DeleteThis blog post was a great read and insight into America's ways of dealing with immigration both directly and indirectly. I always thought of the Guest work program as a way for America to keep workers without benefitting them. American policies have always done this. Guest workers come to work and leave with the expectations of getting money. But policy makers know they will stay and don’t need to pay them plus they get workers to do the work Americans don't want to do. I agree that history is repeating itself and I find that when people, policy makers do not pay attention to history and its consequences, we end up here in 2019 with Tighter restrictions, boarder control, and the high amount of detention centers at the border. I also think that this all has something to do with who's in power at that time in history. Instead of learning from our historical mistakes, policy makers follow the public sentiment at the time and do not pay attention to who it affect. I would be interested to know the political climate surrounding the country in 1924 and if it was similar to 2019.
ReplyDeleteThe recent video we watched in class depicted the consequences of pushing immigrants and Puerto Ricans out of US towns. As America perpetuates it ungrateful and racist attitudes and drives Latinx paleopole into different isolated places , they realize how the culture, people, and labor all helps run and drive their businesses and daily lives.
Love this post!! and how you mentioned the bracero program, which was something that made me think of Dolores Huerta, when she became an leader to protest for the labor with Cesar chaves for farmworkers.
ReplyDelete