3 paragraph History Journal Response to this weeks learning activities and reading
HRW33
WK6MexicanFarmLabor.pptxMexican Americans
Early 1900s
Policies that set the scene
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
Suspended new labor from entering the country from China
1907 Gentlemen’s Agreement
Stopped the importation of Japanese labor
1924 Immigration Act
designed to restrict the entry of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe
Thus creating a labor shortage
Perfect timing for Mexicans to enter the labor force
Migration Reasons
Mexican Revolution 1910- 1920
Many fleeing the war torn country
It is estimated that during the revolution years, approximately 53,000 workers migrated per year
World War I
Shortage of men in the labor force
Mexicans labor was contracted for various industries:
Carpentry, Agriculture, Steel, Railway and others
Labor Contributions
Policies… in good times
In response to Mexican worker’s complaint of mistreatment:
Contract between Mexican Labor ministry and the US Employer
Worker had the fair treatment guarantee of Mexican Constitution
Families would join the worker during the contractual period
Specified the work schedule, rate of pay, place of employment and housing conditions
Migrant Farm Worker families
Migrant Patterns
Top 5 Reasons to Migrate: grapes, lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes and peaches.
Fall -Winter Months: Migrate to Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial Counties in CA and Yuma, Arizona
Citrus, grapes, berries, Garlic..
Winter – Spring: Monterey, Ventura, SLO, Kern, Riverside
Berries, Bell Peppers, sugar beets
Summer – Merced, Imperial Valley, Fresno
Apples, Apricots, Melons
-CA Agricultural Statistics 2008
Justifications
“Mexican and Asians are physically suited for farm labor because they are used to stooping crouching and bending , while white people are accustomed to standing up straight. White men cannot physically do this work… nor should they.”
-Dr. George Clements of Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce’s Agricultural Dept.
:farmworkers.org
Assimilation Issues
No Education for Migrant Mexican American children
Mexicans were not expected to assimilate and become American
They lived in segregated communities
Those that did attend school, often attended segregated schools.
Children were often discouraged by their own teachers from continuing their education past elementary school.
Labor Unions did not welcome Mexican membership
Familiar rhetoric to Justify Exclusion and Discrimination
Mexicans are racially Inferior
Mexicans are created for work not education
Miscegenation would threaten racial purity in the U.S.
Scholar Opine: “genetic purity must be preserved”… “be warned against the Mexican-ization of the Southwest”…”The dilution of the people and the institutions of this country has already gone too far!”
More homogeneity not less…definition?
The Rhetoric…familiar
The Great Depression is looming: Mexicans are blamed for white unemployment
In contrast to just a few years (Filipino/Mexican/White labor)
Anglo workers viewed Mexicans as a competitive labor force
Labor unions accuse them of undercutting wages
Mexicans and Mexican Americans must be forced to return to Mexico
Policies…in bad times
1924 U.S. Congress Creates the enforcement agency known as the Border Patrol.
Mexicans with no labor contracts were deemed ‘Illegal’
Mexican Repatriation Program
Government agencies and private charities provided railroad transportation for tens of thousands of Mexican-Americans to Mexico.
Not inside the train, but in the box cars
Round ups were common
Family separation
Americans were being picked up and dropped off in an un-familiar country just because they were of Mexican descendant.
Approximately 400,000 Mexican-Americans were Repatriated (deported)
Lesser Known Notable
Cruz Reynoso & the CRLA
1950’s - present
Born the youngest of 11 children in 1931 to migrant farm workers
At age 8, started farm labor in the orange groves of Orange County
Attended school in between seasons – excelled in studies
Earned him a scholarship to Pomona college
Graduated from UC Berkeley, Law school
California Rural Legal Association (CRLA).
Appointed to the CA Court of Appeals
First Chicano justice on the CA supreme court
President Clinton appointed him as Vice Chair on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 1994
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Law professor UCLA, UC Davis
CRLA & the short handle hoe ‘El Cortito’
Fought to have the short handle hoe removed from California Fields. The appeal to the Division of Industry Safety lasted 7 years.
The DIS denied the petition
CA Supreme Court overturn the DIS’s decision
1975 CA SC still could not force the regulators to outlaw the hoe.
Gov. Jerry Brown (term 1) pressured the bureaucrats to write the tool in the regulations rules and remove it from the fields
