Egalitarianism In Mexico

By 1918, the period which some scholars consider to be the first large wave of the Great Migration, the black press was promoting Mexico as a destination for black southern migrants. Advertisements in black the black press for the Lower California Mexican Land Development Company (Lower California Company) declared that in Mexico “A MAN IS A MAN IN SPITE OF THE COLOR OF HIS SKIN [sic],” and where twenty dollars allowed a ‘MAN’ to purchase an acre of land. The Lower California Company was a “corporation composed of some of California’s most prominent citizens…to gather the colonists together and to create the organization which will direct the development of the colony.” According to the Chicago Defender, the Lower California Company secured
In September 1919, the California Eagle covered a speech given by Juan Uribe, a Mexican official from the state of Baja California, at the Western Baptist Convention in Los Angeles. In his address, Uribe conveyed three important messages: race did not exist in Mexico, the opportunities for African Americans in Mexico were limitless, and the Lower California Company would soon have property rights of Baja California’s Santa Clara Valley. First, in his address Uribe set the tone of racial egalitarianism when referred to the black audience as his brothers and sisters. He reportedly said, “As I look into the bright and intelligent faces of the large gathering of my colored brethren…My only regret is that it is not physically possible to immediately transfer millions of these fine people who are my brothers and sister to my beloved Mexico…where people are not disturbed by the artificial standards of race or color.” Next, he declared that “Colored American[s] in the United States have in their ranks talent of every type and description. They are men capable of being Government Officials [sic] of all kinds.” Finally, Uribe confirmed that the Lower California Company would hold legal property rights of the Santa Clara Valley. He added, “The acquisiton
Troy, founder and president of the Lower California Company, sold all his belongings in California in order to make his permanent move to Baja California. In an interview with the California Eagle, Troy encouraged others to follow him to Baja California, claiming that Mexico was the land of “freedom and opportunity” for every “man, woman and child of dark skin.” Among those who followed Troy were Mr. R.M. Masey and his family. In an interview with the California Eagle, Masey echoed Troy’s views on Mexico. He told the paper that he and his son moved to Baja California to “demonstrate to the white men of America that a colored man in the land of freedom and opportunity can develop as beautiful and productive a country as ever Southern California dared to