Colonization to 20th Century Part 4

welcome back i hope the lesson on the mexican revolution was enlightening in this final lesson of the series we will look at what was happening in the united states at the beginning of the

20th

century

the theft of previously mexican land continued the new land reclamation law of 1902 had the stated goal of modernizing agriculture in the Southwest by converting unused land to irrigation projects the us government used this law to seize land owned by mexican americans land was considered untitled because titles from mexico and spain were not respected small farms once owned by mexican americans became large corporate farms now worked by cheap mexican labor the united states experienced large waves of immigration from mexico at this time many were fleeing the violence of the mexican revolution but many more were recruited by us companies who would travel to mexico and promise better wages and a better life the irony was that the us role in mexico and its support for porfirio diaz was what caused mexican peasants to lose their land in the first place many say today is no different during this time mexican immigrants helped build the united states railroads and infrastructure the industrial revolution in the united states is said to have been financed by the labor of mexican americans and african americans despite the fact that they were promised a better life anti-Latino sentiments grew, affecting both new immigrants and communities that had always been there Americans continue to suffer the effects of racism and discrimination in a country founded on the principles of white superiority and privilege from whites, business, housing, and education were all segregated, they were barred from certain higher-paying jobs that would often go to less experienced or informed whites, it didn't matter if you were a citizen if you were Mexican or Mexican-American you were treated like a lower class foreign stereotypes were everywhere mexicans were seen as lazy, stupid and unworthy even though they were helping to build the country here is a quote from an alleged scientist socially and politically time the presence of large numbers of mexicans in this country creates serious problems immigration commission reports show they lack ambition are largely illiterate in their mother tongue are slow to learn English and in most cases show no political interest, are unstable as a class, move easily from place to place and do not acquire or lease land to any extent, but their most unfavorable characteristic is their inclination to form colonies and live in clans wherever a sizeable group of Mexicans are employed they live together if possible and associate very little with members of other races in mining towns and other small industrial communities as they ordinarily live in rough adobe in rough adobe shacks outside town limits in cities

colonization

has become a threat in los angeles housing problem centers largely in the cleanup or demolition of Mexican country houses that have become breeding grounds for disease and crime and have now attracted a sizeable population of immigrants of other races it is estimated that approximately two thousand Mexicans live in these Casas Cortes, the Mexican neighborhood continues to offer a serious social problem to the community.

In conclusion, it must be recognized that although Mexicans have proven to be efficient laborers in certain industries and have provided a cheap and elastic labor supply for the Southwestern United States the ills to the community at large which their presence in large numbers almost invariably brings can more than balance their desirable qualities their low standards of living and morals their illiteracy their complete lack of proper political interest the retarding effect of their employment on the pay scale of the more progressive races and, finally, their tendency to colonize urban centers with poor results combined to mark them as a rather undesirable class of residents. mexican revolution texas rangers killed thousands of mexicans and mexican american bandits remember how language is used many of us don't know that the main reason the texas rangers were created was to deal with the problem of blacks and Mexicans many people make connections to the fact that most of the people in prison are Hispanic or Black if an Anglo American wanted to get rid of a Mexican American for any reason mainly to steal their land they just had to say he was a bandit, a rapist or a criminal.

Sounds familiar, even children became victims of this violence. In 1911, a mob of more than 100 people hanged a 14-year-old boy, Antonio Gomes, after he was arrested for murder, rather than allow him to go through the criminal justice system or serve jail time. people lynched him and dragged his body through the streets of thorndale texas because they were traveling with the agricultural crop most mexican americans lived and worked in migrant camps living conditions were terrible with no running water or electricity shacks for housing and no schools for children boys often worked in the fields as young as four years old working conditions were just as bad with low wages long hours of work physical and emotional abuse and police and local governments helped farm corporations maintain these conditions oppressive places in one of these camps anti-mexican sentiments increased with the great depression when anglo-americans accused mexicans and other foreigners of stealing american jobs from 1929 to 1936 the united states forcibly removed up to 2 million people of mexican descent from the country up to 60 percent of whom were US citizens because the force movement was based on race and ignored citizenship the process arguably meets modern legal definitions of ethnic cleansing colorado even ordered all of its mexicans to leave the state in 1936 impact on Spanish-speaking communities was devastating to some Light-skinned Mexican Americans attempted to pass themselves off as Spanish and non-Mexican in an attempt to evade law enforcement.

Remember that white privileged people with disabilities and active illnesses were taken out of hospitals and dumped at the border while receiving support from the federal government. The actual deportations were largely staged. And carried out by city and state governments, often with the support of local private entities, one-third of the Mexican-born population of Texas and one-third of Los Angeles were driven out of the country my great-grandfather along with my grandfather was illegally deported from texas at this time my father was also an immigrant or returning to his ancestral homeland when he came to the united states school segregation meant that mexican schools were nothing more than run-down shacks that was up to your complexion and your last name whether or not you were a citizen or your family had been on that land for generations longer than white students who attended good well-funded schools california schools were removed by silva mendes and his parents in court school officials claimed that Latino students were dirty and infected with diseases on top of them.

He argued that Mexican-American students did not speak English and therefore had no right to attend English-speaking schools. Mexicans have inferior personal hygiene ability and economic outlook. Said an official. Although the case was a victory for the Mendez family. by his fellow students when he attended the white school the first silent films quickly identified the mexicana as one of the vilest villains on the screen he stole murdered looted raped cheated bet lied and exhibited practically every vice that could be shown on the screen This image flourished in a series of greaser films such as Tony the Greaser in 1911 Bronco Billy and the Greaser in 1914 and Revenge of the Greasers in 1914.

The term greaser quickly supplanted Mexican or Latino as a synonym for the violent Hispanic on screen in New York. The Times noted that barbaric Mexico tended to stop at the burning of corpses on the battlefield. Cultural narratives such as these continue to reflect discriminatory and racist views against Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Meanwhile, in Mexico and seen on Mexican-American television, the age of The gold of Mexican cinema began in However, the Mexico of the 1930s was not exempt from racism and Mexican cinema and television were and continue to be Eurocentric. They portray indigenous Mexicans as vagabonds, ignorant, and primarily domestic servants.

We'll see more examples from the golden age of cinema in later lessons. We have reached the end. of our journey from

colonization

to the

20th

century

, as I say, it's not that we need to know history or we will repeat it, we are repeating history because we don't know it, I hope this history helps you understand the context of current problems and that you are beginning to see how cultural narratives move through history and affect our biases and assumptions, history today is complex, especially when this boring story doesn't seem to matter, now that you have seen history from this perspective, what do you think ?