Mexican American Rights

Hispanic Americans in the Southwest In the mid to late 1800s full U.S. citizenship has been denied to Hispanics, full citizenship rights include the right to vote, own property, and holding political office. In the 1890s Mexican working-class children in urban areas were admitted to city schools but into segregated classes in the elementary grades, however; secondary or postsecondary education was not available to Hispanic Americans. Ranching, agriculture, factories and railways and the wages these jobs offered were so low that Hispanic families could barely make ends meet. Hispanic Americans have been discriminated against throughout history and this discrimination greatly has limited their participation in citizenship, education,
income, employment and politics. In 1848 Hispanic Americans are denied the right to vote.
The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American war in 1848 and under this treaty the United States gained about 900,000 square miles of land and additional 30,000 square miles purchased for 10 million dollars. Today, this makes up southwestern states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, Utah, parts of Colorado. Close to 80,000 Mexicans chose to stay with the land and the U.S. promised to give rights to the Mexicans who remained in the new territories of New Mexico, Texas and California after two years. These Mexicans were supposed to become full U.S. citizens and be given the privileges of the citizenship. Most of the promises were not kept or honored by the United States. Instead, individual states decided which Hispanic Americans were given the right to vote and participate in other benefits of citizenship. In some states, the Hispanic Americans that were given rights were the ones who were of Anglo heritage with descendants from white countries. Hispanics from black or Indian heritage were not given the full right of
citizenship. [W]hen restrictions on voting rights, naturalization, and immigration are taken into account, it turns out that for over 80 percent of U.S.
history, American laws declared most people in the world legally ineligible to become full U.S. citizens solely because of their race, original nationality, or gender. For at least two-thirds of American history, the majority of the domestic adult population was also ineligible for full citizenship for the same reasons. Those racial, ethnic, and gender restrictions were blatant, not “latent” (qtd.in Smith 203-205). During this period, Hispanic Americans are left in a state of uncertainty. With voter eligibility laws, most Hispanic Americans did not have the right to vote and dispute legal issues regarding land issues thus; causing them to risk losing something that they worked so hard for. “What we mean by “citizenship,” moreover, is not self-evident. Smith notes that the Constitution “did not define or describe citizenship, discuss criteria for inclusion or exclusion, or address the sensitive relationship between state and national citizenship.” One of the central tensions was how broadly we conceive of “citizenship.” In a narrow sense, American citizenship refers to national identity and the right to carry an American passport (for example, every American, native-born or naturalized, adult or child, retains this right). At the other end of the spectrum, we can think of “citizenship” as entailing full political rights,
including voting, office-holding, and jury service many American citizens do not have that full bundle of political rights (Gomez 9). During the mid-1800s Hispanic American children did not have access to public schools. It was not until the 1880s that they partially had access to rural schools. Finally, in the 1890s urban Hispanic American children were admitted to city schools. However, access was limited and classes in the elementary grades were segregated and of inequality. Secondary or postsecondary educational institutions were not available to the children of working class families. Only Hispanic American children of wealthy families attended colleges and universities and these families usually sent them to Spain or Mexico. Racial prejudice existed in the public schools most likely because there were no school officials that were of Hispanic heritage. “Language was the most common rationale used to segregate Mexican students. Allegedly, Mexican students were not permitted to attend classes with Anglo students because they needed special instruction in English. The pedagogical rationale was that the limited-or non-English-speaking-Mexican children would impede the academic progress of Anglo children” ( Manchaca, Valencia 230). Schools were often older and substandard and school equipment was not adequate for teaching. Teachers that were early in their career were sent to the segregated schools to teach the Hispanic American children. Hispanic Americans were taught different skills than that of the Anglo Americans partly because the assessment process was racially skewed causing Hispanic Americans to be placed in non-academic courses. It is for this reason that Hispanic Americans did not enter post- secondary schools in relatively high numbers in the late 1960’s. “One key to understanding higher education is to realize that the pipeline to college for Latinos has generally been blocked at the lowest levels of schooling, often prior to high school. As a result it was not until the last quarter of the twentieth century that Latinos entered higher education in significant numbers” (MacDonald, Garcia 16). Most Hispanic Americans had land and as their main source of income they worked their small ranches and farms. Other Hispanic Americans worked for freight companies as guides and security. A small group worked on the ranches of Anglo Americans teaching them how to work the land and their life stock. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised the Hispanic American who stayed in the U.S. and that acquired property, that property and those Hispanic Americans would have full U.S. citizen right to their property and full protection against that land being taken away. Despite this promise, many Hispanic Americans lost their claims and ownership to their land in lawsuits before state and federal courts. Huge tracts of land which belonged to Hispanic Americans were taken from them by extreme legal means or theft. This in turn caused a great deal of violence and economic exploitation. The implementation of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo stood to over-represent the Anglo American population and under-represent the Mexican population: thus, leaving The Hispanic Americans to the mercy of the Anglo Americans. Hispanic Americans try greatly to take back their land through legal action, but because Hispanic Americans were under represented in political and judicial systems. In a discriminatory manner many of the Hispanic land owners were denied the right to gain back their land, other cases remained held up in court and never were resolved. “ Mexicans who held tracts of land of any appreciable size in Texas, California, and New Mexico prior to 1848 were angered and alienated when they began to lose their properties because of alterations made in the 1848 treaty after its signing or because of other unethical tactics used by Anglo Americans to obtain their land. Luis Falcón and Dan Gilbarg identify the procedures employed to acquire two-thirds of the lands once held by Spanish or Mexican families in New Mexico: "Traditional claims were rejected, and original owners were required to prove their ownership in court. The procedures of these courts were biased against the original owners: the burden of proof fell on them, the courts were conducted in English and in locations less accessible to Mexican landowners, and standards of legal proof were based on U.S. law rather than Mexican law under which the land had originally been acquired" ( Falcón, Gilbarg 58). “Small landholders were particularly vulnerable. Land companies often successfully appropriated the holdings of isolated Mexican villagers who neglected to register their land claims in the appropriate governmental offices or failed to pay sometimes burdensome new taxes demanded on their properties. In some instances, these taxes were increased to excessive levels for Mexicans, then lowered after they were forced to sell their holdings to Anglo American families or land agents” (Cortés, 707).
Hispanic Americans did however have several prominent politicians one of which was Miguel Antonio Otero. Miguel Antonio Otero was elected to the second Legislative Assembly of New Mexico, was attorney general and was a strong supporter of the transcontinental railroad through New Mexico. His son also named Miguel Antonio Otero was the 16th governor of the New Mexico Territory. Another prominent Hispanic American figure in politics was Father Antonio Jose Martinez. Martinez who was born in Northern New Mexico was an advocate for Mexican independence and Pueblo Indian citizen rights. He was actively involved legislature and was elected president of a constitutional convention. It was not until the first half of the 20th century that different group such as The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) was established with the mission to fight injustices such as court holdings, and other discriminatory practices. Hispanic Americans were often characterized as being lazy and simple minded and inferior to Anglo Americans. A typical statement of the period is recorded in the travel journal of T. J. Farnham: That part of the population which by courtesy are called white, are the descendants of the free settlers from Mexico. Their complexion is a light clear bronze; not white, as they themselves quite erroneously imagine, and withal, not a very seemly color; not remarkably pure in anyway; a lazy color. ... In a word, the Californians are an imbecile, pusillanimous, race of men, and unfit to control the destinies of that beautiful country .... The Old Saxon blood must stride the continent, must command all its northern shores . . . and in their own unaided might, erect the altar of civil and religious freedom on the plains of the Californias (qtd. In Menchaca,Valencia [1855:359, 363]. Throughout the late 19th century, and into the 20th century Hispanic Americans have been discriminated against. Hispanic Americans initially had vast amount of land taken from them and despite the promises made in the Treaty Guadalupe of Hidalgo the land was never returned. It is stated that after 2 years all Mexicans would become American and enjoy full rights of American citizenship. In 1850 in Hispanic Americans are denied voting because state voter eligibility, violating civil rights. Without the vote all claims for land, water and livestock are left up to politicians and judges to resolve. These politicians and judges, mostly Anglo Americans are elected officials elected into office By Anglo Americans. In most cases the outcome was based on racial discrimination and as a result many disputes were never settled. Segregation of school age Hispanic American Students and the lack of education can be directly related to the low post secondary numbers of Hispanic Americans. Hispanic Americans were often taught a different curriculum than that of the Anglo Americans. School day consisted of learning life skills. Some Hispanic Americans did retain their land and worked the land to provide for their families others worked the railroad and in agriculture earning low wages.