assignment
chapter 7 — Hispanic Americans: immigration, colonization, and intergroup competition
Hispanic Americans – largest minority group (16.6 % of total US population) and is growing
- mostly in west and south of US, but growing throughout the US
- some Hispanic American groups have been in North America before Jamestown
— Hispanic: from areas colonized by Spain
- Hispanic groups share a language (but with different dialects) and some cultural attributes
— but do not identify as one group
labels: though our text uses Hispanic American (sometimes Latino American) as an inclusive term, most groups prefer referring to selves according to the country they are from
figure 7.1 – relative sizes of the 10 largest Latino groups in US
Hispanic groups include colonized and immigrant groups
Hispanic Americans are perceived both as ethnic groups and racial groups
Mexican Americans
- conquered, colonized in 1800s, used as cheap labor (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo)
— conquered for land; also exploited for labor
- similarities to Native Americans: small size of groups, differed in both language and culture from majority group
— both impoverished, relatively powerless, few resources, physically isolated
- similarities to African Americans in the South: exploited for labor; after slavery low-paying jobs, subordinate status
- all 3 groups were colonized by Europeans; in early 1900s didn’t have the resources needed to overcome low status, to fully retain own culture
Mexican Americans are different from other Hispanic groups due to the close proximity of Mexico, allowing movement across border and renewal of language, culture
cultural patterns
religion: not protestant (as is most of majority US), but mostly Roman Catholic
- Mexico is highly Roman Catholic; church is an important part of daily life; this continues in the US among Mexican Americans
- family relations and obligations are important
culture of poverty?
- mistaken idea that ‘problems’ associated with Mexican American community originates with an unhealthy value system (weak work ethic, fatalism, etc)
- though there are some differences in values between Mexican Americans and majority US, many values are actually quite similar (Hispanic Americans have greater support for ‘working hard to get ahead’)
- this culture of poverty concept has also been applied to African Americans
- African Americans considered to be too matriarchal / Hispanic Americans considered to be too patriarchal
- has both negative and positive aspects; however majority society emphasizes negative
- value system incorporating: men’s dominance, honor, virility and violence
— includes being a respected father, a good provider
family – tends to be more important for Mexican Americans than Anglo Americans
- family provides support when life is difficult, but can get in the way of Anglo values of individualism (example: moving away from family for educational, employment opportunities)
immigration
- 1st contact with US was largely colonization, conquered (in some southwestern states some immigration if the groups retained political, economic capital)
— this early colonization identification still impacts perception of new immigrants from Mexico
- many factors impact immigration (legal and illegal) into US: conditions in Mexico; US demand for low or unskilled labor; global changes; changes in US immigration policy
push and pull
- immigration from Mexico has some similarities to immigration from Europe; in particular industrialization and globalization
- another large factor: the 2,000 mile border between US and Mexico is the longest, continuous border in the world between a developed nation and a less developed nation
— development in US has been faster than in Mexico; standard of living in US higher than in Mexico
— pay in the US is higher than pay in Mexico (and Central / South America), even for low status, low paying jobs
conditions in Mexico, fluctuating demand for labor, and federal immigration policy
- for 100 plus years, US has used Mexico as a source of cheap, low status, low pay labor (has benefited US agriculture, industry and other concerns)
- when economy is good in the US, greater demand for Mexican labor; when economy is not good, less acceptance of Mexican labor
- table below lists changes in US and Mexico and how they have impacted immigration from Mexico into the US
|
Table 7.2 — significant dates in Mexican Immigration |
|||
|
dates |
event |
result |
effect on immigration from Mexico |
|
1910 |
Mexican Revolution |
political turmoil and unrest in Mexico |
increased |
|
early 20th century |
Mexican industrialization |
many groups (especially rural peasants) displaced |
increased |
|
1920s |
passage of National Origins Act, 1924 |
decreased immigration from Europe |
increased |
|
1930s |
Great Depression |
decreased demand for labor and increased competition for jobs leads to repatriation campaign |
decreased, many return to Mexico |
|
1940s |
World War II |
increased demand for labor leads to Bracero Guest Worker Program |
Increased |
|
1950s |
concern over illegal immigrants |
Operation Wetback |
decreased, many return to Mexico |
|
1965 |
repeal of National Origins Act |
new immigration policy gives high priority to close family of citizens |
Increased |
|
1986 |
IRCA* |
illegal immigrants given opportunity to legalize status |
many undocumented immigrants gain legal status |
|
1994 |
NAFTA** |
many groups in Mexico (especially rural peasants) displaced. |
Increased |
|
2007 |
recession in US |
widespread unemployment in the US, job supply shrinks |
Decreased |
* Immigration Reform and Control Act -details below-
** North American Free Trade Agreement
Great Depression (1930s) – US initiates repatriation policy (sending undocumented Mexicans back to Mexico)
- though this policy was aimed at people in the US illegally, many legal residents were intimidated and also left
WW II increased US desire for cheap labor from Mexico (US men in the military, production in US has increased due to the war, even women in the US are in paid employment)
- bracero program – began during WWII, continued into 1960s
— goal: bring in cheap labor from Mexico (predominately for agriculture)
— saved US agriculture a lot of money, since they were paid less than US workers
— involved bureaucracy in both Mexico and US; this bureaucracy was meant to create fairness for both US employers and Mexican laborers
Operation Wetback – began in 1950s
- intended to repatriate illegal immigrants from Mexico
- in actual practice, the civil rights of many US citizens were violated
— partly why there is such a high degree of distrust in Mexican American community for US officials
— example: though many people complain that illegal immigrants from Mexico are abusing US health care, etc that is not so; more often even legal residents avoid US government and don’t use many services that would be entitled to
1965 policy changes
- replaced racist 1924 policy that drastically reduced immigrants from coming into US
- opened up immigration for close family members of people already US citizens
- increased immigration from Mexico as immigrants gained citizenship, which allowed relatives in Mexico to immigrate
IRCA – Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986)
- any illegal immigrants in the US since 1982 could get legal status
- about 3 million people took advantage of this (3/4 of them from Mexico); but did not stop illegal immigration from Mexico
- much of the illegal immigration from Mexico is for low wage, seasonal work; workers return when the season is over
recent immigration from Mexico
- Mexico continues to have lower standard of living as compared to US (housing, health, education, etc) and jobs are relatively scarce, increasing the desire to come to the US
— World Bank (2013) – about half of the Mexican population lives in poverty
— when they seek jobs in the US their low educational attainment (average is 8.5 years) restricts employment opportunities
NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement (1994) – U.S., Canada and Mexico became one trading zone
- has created benefits and problems for all 3 countries
— in Mexico cheap imported corn has put some small farmers out of business and in need of employment
— some of these displaced individuals have come into the US looking for work
- as we come out of the Great Recession, US is again considering reducing immigration
— how many? - from where? – what skills? should there be priority for relatives? what about unauthorized immigrants?
- one suggested solution – a wall between the US and Mexico to prevent drugs and illegal immigrants from coming into the US from Mexico
— not likely to help substantially
— — trebuchet like apparatus used to ‘toss’ drugs into US
— — planes can be used sometimes – also drones
— — submarines successfully drop drugs along the coast
— — most important – sophisticated tunnels connecting US and Mexico – have electricity, air conditioning, small vehicles can move; can easily bring in drugs and people, totally bypassing any wall
- today US is divided on immigration; some are OK with continuing with what we have, others want to reduce or stop immigration all together
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/chinese-migrants-lead-us-agents-san-diego-border-49475177
immigration, colonization, and intergroup competition – 3 concerns
1. political / economic
- long history of political, economic issues between 2 countries
- sometimes encouraging immigration (legal and illegal) to benefit both citizens of Mexico and US corporate interests (especially agriculture)
- this movement across the border has a long history (see time table above)
2. colonized status
- the fact that persons of Mexican heritage first ‘entered’ the US was through conquest, the initial contact was as a conquered group / colonization
- any new people coming into US from Mexico are perceived of and treated more like a colonized group than an immigrant group
people coming into the US from Mexico are entering a situation where those before had already been given the status of ‘colonized’ which works to perpetuates prejudice, discrimination
- has characteristics of both colonized group and immigrant group
- colonization includes paternalism, racism
3. prejudice, discrimination increase with competition, sense of threat
- when people in the US are concerned about jobs or other possible threats, increased prejudice, discrimination of immigrants from Mexico
- combination of competition, differences in power and prejudice can inform attitudes
split labor markets
split labor markets affect Mexican Americans (also affect African Americans and Native Americans)
— in addition to racial split labor market - has also been a gender split labor market where women of Hispanic descent get the lowest end jobs
- in general, persons with Mexican heritage are in lower economic hierarchy; some families (more likely if 3 or more generations in US) are achieving - economically - middle class status, but are still treated as 2nd class citizens (similar to African American families)
split labor market
- primary labor market – generally, own the means of production or high up
- secondary labor market – sell labor for subsistence wages; is easily divided or split creating competition
which group benefits from a split labor market?
- majority – especially those who own the means of production
- exploitation of secondary labor market through ‘splitting’ this secondary labor market into at least 2 different groups, each willing to work for less money, in not so good working conditions; secondary labor market – those who sell their labor for subsistence wages (proletariat)
protest and resistance: protest, resistance since initial contact in 1800s
- one area of concern: jobs and the split labor market
— when factory or agri-business owners want to thwart unions, hire in Mexican Americans at a reduced salary, increasing animosity to Mexican Americans from poor whites
— attempts to exclude Mexican Americans from labor unions
Mexican Americans important to US labor movement - if not allowed into white labor unions, formed their own labor unions
- more groups form after end of WW II - Mexican Americans (like other minority status groups) had greater realization of what had been denied them
Chicanismo: ideology that was behind activism, militancy of 60s (similar to Black Power, Red Power)
- Chicanismo & Black Power similarities: grew out of impatience with ongoing prejudice, discrimination, unequal status; rejected negative stereotypes, but promoted sense of pride in own group (but not ‘my group is better than your group’)
- move away from continued trying to assimilate; rather develop pride in own group
Chicanos - term adopted in 60s
- had initially been a negative term
- as with Negro becoming Black; Indian becoming Native American, then First Peoples; indicates a self-image
- self image that emphasizes positive aspects - and these names were self-given, not imposed by dominant group
Chicano women (Latinas) very involved also - similar to African American, etc women dealt with racism and sexism
organizations and leaders
most important – Cesar Chavez and United Farm Workers
- also follower of non-violent direct action as initiated by Gandhi
- used the Catholic church as an ally, which also helped put off ‘communist’ depictions
- brought together many different groups involved in agriculture – African Americans and Filipino Americans
- used boycott successfully – grapes were boycotted for 5 years – also media
— won better wages, working conditions for workers
— also brought wages, working conditions of agricultural workers to US awareness
Puerto Ricans and other minority groups
Puerto Ricans: Puerto Rico became US territory at end of Spanish American war of 1898 - Puerto Rico and citizens first contact with US war, conquest
- with on-going poverty, lack of resources, people of Puerto Rico not able to assert independence
- as the century wore on, U.S. firms began to invest in and develop the sugarcane industry that decreased opportunities for economic survival in the rural areas and forcing many peasants to move into the cities
- overall relationship with US based on colonization
- since 1917 Puerto Ricans are US citizens (Puerto Rico is a territory of US) – helped facility movement onto mainland US
- movement to the mainland began gradually and increased slowly until the 1940s, when the number of Puerto Ricans on the mainland increased more than 4 times, to 300,000
- during the 1950s, it nearly tripled, to 887,000
Puerto Ricans - Migration (push and pull) and employment
- Puerto Rico is US territory - mostly very poor; people migrate from Puerto Rico to mainland largely for jobs
transitions – Puerto Ricans and other minority groups
- Puerto Ricans not immigrants, but deal with transition coming to the mainland
- changes in language, culture (including some religious practices)
— most people from Puerto Rico are Catholic, but as with many other Catholic areas approach the Catholic faith differently according to locale
race / perception of race in Puerto Rico versus mainland
- Puerto Rico has much greater diversity - mixture of people from Africa, indigenous peoples, European background
— concept of ‘race’ is not dichotomous in Puerto Rico as on mainland (i.e. black versus white)
— in Puerto Rico, more important than race is SES (socio-economic status)
- in coming to mainland, many Puerto Ricans don’t understand prejudice, discrimination based on skin color
- Puerto Ricans in US have elements of both colonized group and immigrant group
Cuban Americans
- until the end of the Spanish American War Cuba was a colony of Spain
- with end of the Spanish American War, Cuba became an independent nation
— however the US remained heavily involved in Cuba, even having US troops occupy Cuba twice
- after Castro - Castro overthrew Bautista (himself exploitive of peasant population)
- those considered loyal to Bautista were killed and or exiled
— (loyal) government officials, educated, land owners
- exiled immigrants - initially upper classes, educated, fit into US mainstream society
— were, in general accepted; including great acceptance due to having escaped from Communism
— were also give advantages that others did not get
- subsequent immigrations - individuals of lower socio-economic status (SES); currently still ‘boat people’
Cuba - 3 waves: elite, middle class, less than middle class
- elite: escaping Castro, Communism, openly accepted - had values that fit in more with US middle class (partly due to education)
- 2nd group - not as accepted (lower SES, not as educated)
- 3rd group - not accepted (even lower education, SES)
Hispanic Americans from Central & South America
- areas of social, economic, political instability