In Martha Menchaca’s, “Constructing History, Constructing Race,” she exposes how Anglo-American’s neglected Spanish American roots creating a false representation of Chicanos throughout history socially, economically and politically. She emphasizes that race was created by racist people in order to degrade certain ethnic groups. Mexican Americans were seen as an inferior race being that they lived in poverty because of their “dysfunctional culture”. (Menchaca 14) Lionel Steinberg ’s quote, “Farmworkers, unfortunately, were considered just another item in producing products…like fertilizer, boxes, or water.…
In his book, Major Problems in Mexican American History, Zaragosa Vargas describes the Mexican Immigrant experience from 1917-1928. He begins by assessing the Protestant religious experience for a Mexican in the early 1920’s, and then describes Mexican life in both Colorado in 1924 and Chicago in 1928. After defending Mexican Immigrants in 1929, he includes an outline of an Americanization program, followed by an anecdote of a Mexican immigrant in the 1920’s. Vargas uses these documents to show the evolvement of Americanization of Mexicans from a community goal to a societal demand.…
The first five weeks of the course Latin America Through Another Lens has introduced me to another perspective on Latin America and immigration to the United States. We have watched film, read articles and completed research to better understand many Latin American countries and the people who call them home. Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, and San Salvador have all been considered in film and I found the movie When the Mountains Tremble to be especially moving. The course introduced me to immigration from Latin America to the United States and we took a closer look at five current myths that are often associated with Latin American immigration. I was very curious about the idea that immigrants are a drain on society’s resources.…
In this paper, I will be summarizing the following chapters: Chapter 3: "A Legacy of Hate: The Conquest of Mexico’s Northwest”; Chapter 4: “Remember the Alamo: The Colonization of Texas”; and Chapter 5: “Freedom in a Cage: The Colonization of New Mexico. All three chapters are from the book, “Occupied America, A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo F. Acuna. In chapter three, Acuna explains the causes of the war between Mexico and North America. In chapter four, Acuna explains the colonization of Texas and how Mexicans migrated from Mexico to Texas. In chapter five, Acuna explains the colonization of New Mexico and the economic changes that the people had to go through.…
In Chavez’s article Latino Threat Narrative, he challenges the ideological assumptions of the Latino Threat Narrative. Chavez discusses how the Latino Threat is still a current idea in the modern world. He gives the example of one article where the writer states that Latinos that have immigrated to the United States have not integrated into society and instead have created their own enclaves. This author also talks about how dangerous Latino immigrants are and how a lot of them are criminals. The immigration restriction of the past created the illegal alien as a “new legal and political subject, whose inclusion within the nation was simultaneously a social reality and a legal impossibility – a subject barred from citizenship and without rights.” (Chavez 24) All Mexican immigrants were soon put into this illegal alien identity.…
We have come far in our knowledge and understanding of the past as we are now all we can hope to do is advance and grow in the knowledge we have yet to acquire and gain more insight from the infinite possibilities that are presented nowadays. The mindset of our nation is one of central understanding when it comes to history as a whole but the things we turn a blind eye to are the things that we seek to learn more about. History in itself has always had times of brilliance and it’s times of downfall. People have always turned a blind eye to events that occurred, not because they want to forget or ignore them but because they do not know enough to be informed and ponder the ties to other things. Chicano history is a vague type of history that…
The following essay evaluates the impact of Puerto Rican immigrants on American citizens in the United States during the mid-1900s. Puerto Ricans came to America in search of a new life but the Americans discriminated against the Puerto Ricans and refuse to accept their lifestyles in America. The migration of Puerto Ricans lead to loss of jobs and territories for the Americans. Although many American business owners benefited from the migration of Puerto Ricans, the majority of United States citizens became very frustrated. Due to the increasing immigrant population, the Americans began to lose jobs, businesses, and territory.…
Like urban music in the United States, bachata began as music for poor and dispossessed. Originating in the Dominican Republic, it reflects the social and economic dislocation of the poorest Dominicans. Derived from the Latin American tradition of guitar music, bachata emerged in the 1960s only to be denigrated by the media, mainstream musicians, and middle- and upper-class Dominicans, mainly because the lyrics often about hard drinking, women troubles, illicit sex, and male bravado were considered vulgar and worthless. Deborah Pacini Hernandez is Associate Professor of Anthropology, Director American Studies and Latino Studies Programs at Tufts University.…
The illegality that is tied to this population is also related to the physical border that separated the United States and Mexico. It has become a symbol of a growing high risk. The presence of Latin American communities is now more then ever visible within the United States, especially in cities like Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. Some of the largest communities are those of Cubans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and Mexicans. Given this demographic phenomenon, conservative groups in the United States have expressed concern, saying that these new migrants who are subsequently combined into a category that encompasses legal and non-legal Latinos are occupying jobs, using public services without paying taxes and collaborating to the rising crime. The authors have all elaborated in their works that the American historical conception has created Mexicans and Latin American migration as one related to invasion and one of violation which has in turn helped in the creation of institutionalized laws and programs that prohibited this invasion. The rhetoric about Latino immigration took hold when President Ronald Reagan framed the immigration issue within the national security issue by stating that the US had lost control of the border. The terrorist attacks of September 11,2001 confirmed the alleged connection between migration, terrorism and national security. Thus the Mexican border has become the new battleground in the fight against terrorism. Leo R. Chavez put this all in perspective in Chapter Six of The Latino Threat as he analyzes the Minutemen and their agenda of protecting the US – Mexico border from foreign invasion.The Latino threat narrative in conjunction with the Mexican border has been regarded as a social arena where violence reigns,…
Immigration to the United States is a complex demographic phenomenon that has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants, crime, voting behavior… Among all these immigrant groups, this paper will focus on three specifically: the Irish immigrants, the African-American and the Native-American.…
Immigration has been a hotly debated topic for many years. It is an intriguing subject especially in its extensive history of politics, stemming all the way to its current conflicts including the economic expenditures that are put onto the federal and state governments. A closer look into the issue of immigration will show that illegal immigrants contribute a lot to American society, a ready labor force, and many other benefits to the country. This all adds up to the fact that immigration is a necessary and good thing for the survival of this nation. The United States has always been considered the immigrant's nation and is called "The melting pot" for a reason.…
This research paper focuses on the pull and push factors that influence tremendous migrations to the United States. In this research paper I will use the book called A History of Latinos in America: Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez to convey the historical information. The way I will approach this paper is by conducting a thorough analysis between the two groups that were impacted by the push and pull factors. I will use examples and quotes from the book and articles to convey the information. This will help the reader comprehend the message being conveyed by the author creating a sense of logic, order, and understanding in this research paper.…
Format: MLAPages: 5SummaryThis paper is a study of the causes and effects that immigration has caused in the United States Of America, and how migration has centered around the countryThe search for food and new land has driven humans from one end to another end. With time, the need increased into the quest of knowledge and thirst of wisdom, eventually as the periods started to pass by, development started in some countries, and some countries were left far behind. This partial development of the world brought a new kind of movement, known as migration. Countries were jobs, are scarce, and there is not enough money to be made to fulfill dreams, and desire, have started losing their citizens to developed countries, legally and illegally. The United States of America is one such country, where people actually from all known parts of the world have emigrated, for a future full of hope and desire.…
Rapidly increasing numbers of Latin American immigrants have brought prediction of dire consequences. Alan Riding has referred to a silent invasion, informal reconquest of territories lost in the nineteenth century. The problem may not be entirely one-sided. Although emigration may relieve unemployment and provide dollar remittances for abandoned home countries, loss of skilled and educated citizens may retard those countries’ development. Throughout almost two centuries of United States-Latin American relations, one must conclude that the U.S. has exercised political and economic dominance in the Western Hemisphere. Latin American states usually have been in a subordinate and dependent role. Cold war years have seen strong reaction to real and alleged communist…
Acuña indicates that nativist accused Mexicans for unemployment and obligated for their removal because of nation’s economic troubles and hard times (Acuña, 203) (Gamboa, Covarrubias, 2/24/14). During lectures, it has been mentioned that sixty- percent of population was living below poverty due to more than millions of people losing their jobs. (Gamboa, Covarrubias, 2/24/14). Americans began to look for any kind of work- (“Mexican jobs”) - where racism thoughts begin to believe that Mexicans were taking away their job opportunities (Acuña, 204). Families move towards Midwest where they can find farm work to maintain themselves. Their migration deprived their children by not being able to attend school and learn the English…