An Immigrant's Tale: The Mexican American Southwest 1850 to 1950

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 521-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Gratton ◽  
Emily Klancher Merchant
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Mexican Origin ◽  
Explanatory Factors

Recent scholarship on Mexican Americans in the United States, relying largely on qualitative evidence, sees racism and exploitation as the major explanatory factors in their history. Using representative samples of persons of Mexican origin, we argue that immigration is fundamental to their historical experience. A small, beleaguered community in 1850, the Mexican-origin population grew during the late nineteenth century due to greater security under US jurisdiction. However, immigration between 1900 and 1930 created a Southwest broadly identified with persons of Mexican origin. Economic development in Mexico, restriction of European immigration to the United States, and extreme cross-border wage differentials prompted extensive emigration. Despite low human capital, circular migration, and discrimination, immigrant Mexicans earned substantially higher wages than workers in Mexico or native-born Hispanics in the United States. They followed typical immigrant paths toward urban areas with high wages. Prior to 1930, their marked tendency to repatriate was not “constructed” or compelled by the state or employers, but fit a conventional immigrant strategy. During the Depression, many persons of Mexican origin migrated to Mexico; some were deported or coerced, but others followed this well-established repatriation strategy. The remaining Mexican-origin population, increasingly native born, enjoyed extraordinary socioeconomic gains in the 1940s; upward mobility, their family forms, and rising political activity resembled those of previous immigrant-origin communities. In the same decade, however, the Bracero Program prompted mass illegal immigration and mass deportation, a pattern replicated throughout the late twentieth century. These conditions repeatedly replenished ethnicity and reignited nativism, presenting a challenge not faced by any other immigrant group in US history.

From the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to Hopwood: The Educational Plight and Struggle of Mexican Americans in the Southwest

1998 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr. ◽  
Richard Valencia
Keyword(s):  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
American People ◽  
Mexican Origin ◽  
American Education ◽  
Educational Equality ◽  
Mexican American Education ◽  
The Impact

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which brought an end to the Mexican American War of 1846–1848, marked its sesquicentennial on February 2, 1998. The signing of the Treaty and the U.S. annexation, by conquest, of the current Southwest signaled the beginning of decades of persistent, pervasive prejudice and discrimination against people of Mexican origin who reside in the United States. In this article, Guadalupe San Miguel and Richard Valencia provide a sweep through 150 years of Mexican American schooling in the Southwest. They focus on the educational "plight" (e.g., forced school segregation, curricular tracking), as well as the "struggle" (e.g., litigation) mounted by the Mexican American people in their quest for educational equality. The authors cover four major historical eras: 1) the origins of schooling for Mexican children in the "American" Southwest, 1848–1890s; 2) the expansion of Mexican American education, 1890–1930; 3) the changing character of public education, 1930–1960; and 4) the contemporary period. In their discussion they identify a number of major themes that characterize the education of Mexican Americans in the Southwest from the time of the Treaty up to the Hopwood decision in Texas—the landmark case that gutted affirmative action in higher education. These include the exclusion and removal of the Mexican-origin community and its cultural heritage from the schools; the formation of the template (segregated, inferior schooling) for Mexican American education; the quest for educational equality; the continuing academic gap between Mexican American and Anglo or White students; and the impact of nativism on educational opportunity, as reflected most recently in the regressive and oppressive voter-initiated propositions in California and in the legal decisions in Texas. As such, Mexican Americans face an educational crisis of an unprecedented magnitude in the history of racial/ethnic minority education.

Good Neighbor in the American Historical Imagination: Mexican American Intellectual Thought in the Fight for Civil Rights, 1930s–1940s

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Mendoza
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Historical Imagination ◽  
American Intellectual ◽  
Good Neighbor

Abstract This article argues that historical narrative has held a significant role in Mexican American identity formation and civil rights activism by examining the way Mexican Americans in the 1930s and 1940s used history to claim full citizenship status in Texas. In particular, it centers on how George I. Sánchez (1906–1972), a scholar of Latin American education, revised historical narrative by weaving history and foreign policy together through a pragmatic lens. To educators and federal officials, Sánchez used this revisionist history to advocate for Mexican Americans, insisting that the Good Neighbor policy presented the United States with the chance to translate into reality the democratic ideals long professed in the American historical imagination. The example of Sánchez also prompts us to reexamine the historiography in our present day: How do we define the tradition and trajectory of Mexican American intellectual thought in U.S. history? This article posits that when Sánchez and other Mexican Americans thought about their community’s collective identity and civil rights issues through history, they were contributing to a longer conversation driven by questions about identity formation and equality that first emerged at the end of the U.S. War with Mexico in 1848. These questions remain salient in the present, indicating the need for a historiographic examination that will change how we imagine the tradition of intellectual thought in the United States.

The Los Angeles "Zoot Suit Riots" Revisited: Mexican and Latin American Perspectives

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Griswold del Castillo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
American Culture ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mexican Origin ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
Zoot Suit

The so-called Zoot Suit riots in Los Angeles in June of 1943 made Latin Americans more aware of the negative racial attitudes within the United States toward Mexicans. Through the publicity surrounding the riots, they also first learned of the existence of a large ethnic group of Mexican origin. This knowledge, however, often came with an additional message that the Mexican American culture was not worthy of esteem by respectable people. / Los disturbios llamados "Zoot-Suit" que ocurrieron en Los Angeles en Junio 1943 hizo saber a los latino americanos que las actitudes de los norteamericanos hacia los mexicanos no eran muy positivas. A través de la publicidad durante los disturbios, aprendieron por la primera vez de la existencia de un gran grupo étnico de origen mexicano en los Estados Unidos. Desgraciadamente esta información vino con otro mensaje que la cultura de los mexicoamericanos no era digna de honor por la supuesta gente decente.

Urban Development and Civic Community: A Comparative Analysis

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
David McKay
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Central City ◽  
The United States ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Market Place ◽  
Economic Market ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
Civic Community

This article attempts to explain why it is that in spite of being exposed to similar economic and social forces, cities in Europe and the United States have followed distinctive patterns of development. In continental Europe core urban areas have remained relatively resilient compared with equivalent areas in Britain and the United States. While economic and demographic factors are important explanatory factors, they cannot account for all of the important differences characteristic of the three urban systems, whether measured in quantitative or qualitative terms. It is argued that Continental cities are better protected because of a long-established elite commitment to specific urban areas which has its roots in the development of the modern state. This commitment is labelled ‘civic community’ which finds political expression through complex representational networks at the local, regional and national levels. In Britain no equivalent networks exist and civic community is low. As a result, elites have little commitment to core urban areas. In the United States, complex representational networks do exist, but they are not linked to a historically established elite commitment to core city areas. Instead, the economic market place determines the fortunes of central cities. It is concluded that these contrasting paths of development place considerable constraints on public policies designed to regenerate central city areas.

scholarly journals El Es Dios!

2022 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-147
Author(s):  
Ruben A. Arellano
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Deep Foundation ◽  
Early Colonial ◽  
Danza Azteca ◽  
Place Of Origin ◽  
Mexican American Population ◽  
Historical Sketch

This article outlines a brief historical sketch of the Danza Azteca-Chichimeca, or danza for short, which is becoming ubiquitous in areas of the United States with a significant Mexican American population. It looks at its origins during the early colonial period of Mexico, especially its mythological beginnings, to help elucidate the deep foundation of the dance tradition. This sketch also addresses the evolution of danza after it spread from its place of origin in the Bajío into major urban areas like Mexico City, where, once there, it changed due to ideological and political trends that circulated in the post-revolution period. The article also looks at danza’s pseudo-militaristic undertones to suggest that it might have contributed to the growing discontent among peasants and indigenous people, leading to Mexican independence. Some scholars have suggested that it, as a revitalizationist tradition, belongs in the “crisis cult” category. This analysis became evident when danza encountered neo-Aztec philosophies that promoted nationalistic and restorationist ideologies. In sum, the article touches on the popularity of danza in the United States despite the current climate of xenophobia and anti-migration, and nods at its growing international and global appeal.

Interests Not Passions: Mexican-American Attitudes toward Mexico, Immigration from Mexico, and Other Issues Shaping U.S.-Mexico Relations

1998 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 401-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo O. De La Garza ◽  
Louis DeSipio
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
United States Mexico

As Mexico has become more significant to the United States in the past decade, political leaders on both sides of the border have raised questions regarding the role that the Mexican-origin population of the United States will play in U.S.-Mexico relations. Will they become, as many Americans fear and Mexican officials hope, an ethnic lobby mobilized around policy issues affecting Mexico? Or will they abandon home-country political interests while maintaining a strong cultural identity? This article examines Mexican-American attitudes toward Mexico and toward the public policy issues that shape United States-Mexico relations. Our analysis suggests that Mexican Americans have developed policy attitudes that diverge from those of Mexico. Yet, the relationships of Mexican Americans to the United States and to Mexico are sufficiently volatile to suggest caution in concluding that Mexican Americans will take no role in shaping relations between the two countries.

Self-Reports of Spousal Violence in a Mexican-American and Non-Hispanic White Population

1991 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan B. Sorenson ◽  
Cynthia A. Telles
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spousal Violence ◽  
Mexican American Women ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Hispanic White

As part of a survey of Los Angeles households, 1,243 Mexican Americans and 1,149 non-Hispanic whites were surveyed about their experiences of spousal violence. Questions to assess violence included both perpetration (whether they had been physically violent toward a partner) and victimization (whether they had been the victim of sexual assault by a partner). Over one-fifth (21.2%) of the respondents indicated that they had, at one or more times in their lives, hit or thrown things at their current or former spouse or partner. Spousal violence rates for Mexican Americans born in Mexico and non-Hispanic whites born in the United States were nearly equivalent (20.0% and 21.6%, respectively); rates were highest for Mexican Americans born in the United States (30.9%). While overall rates of sexual assault were lower for Mexican Americans, one-third of the most recent incidents reported by Mexico-born Mexican-American women involved the husband and approximated rape.

scholarly journals Acculturation Factors Related to Obesity of Latino American Men Nationwide

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1421-1430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy L. Ai ◽  
Hoa B. Appel ◽  
Jungup Lee
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Minority Population ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Latino Paradox ◽  
Latino American ◽  
Acculturation Factors

Obesity is a public health epidemic, particularly among underrepresented populations. With a large proportion of immigrants, Latino Americans comprise the largest minority population in the United States. This study examined the association of acculturation factors with obesity among Latino American men ( n = 1,127) using the National Latino and Asian American Study. The result identified two acculturation-related factors (being U.S.-born and living in the United States for the longest period/5-10 years) as positive correlates. In contrast, a different study on obesity in Latino American women demonstrated discrimination, but not the above factors, as significant correlates. The men’s pattern suggests that the Hispanic/Latino paradox might have greater implications for men with respect to weight issues. Furthermore, Mexican American and Other Latino American men presented a greater likelihood of being obese than Cuban and Puerto Rican men. The findings, if replicated in prospective research, suggest the need for gender- and ethnic-specific intervention for obesity in Latino American men, particularly for the largest subgroup, Mexican Americans.

scholarly journals Adaptation of the Psychological-Behavioral Acculturation Scale to a Community of Urban-based Mexican Americans in the United States

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardo Maupome ◽  
Rodrigo Marino ◽  
Odette M. Aguirre-Zero ◽  
Anita Ohmit ◽  
Sigi Dai
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Value Orientation ◽  
Mexican Origin ◽  
European Americans ◽  
Behavioral Variables ◽  
Psychological Acculturation ◽  
Weighted Combination

<p class="Pa7"><strong>Objective: </strong>To report the psychometric properties of the Psychological-Behavioral Acculturation Scale (P-BAS), a tool gauging behavioral and psychological acculturation after adapting it through formative research to people of Mexican origin in the United States.</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyzed data from adapted P-BAS questionnaires in the TalaSurvey study, using standard methods to establish internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alpha), construct validity, and ascertain if the value orientation profile differed by ethnic group.</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Results: </strong>In 2012-13, 505 respondents (mean age 45.2 ±14.1, 56% female) partici­pated: 250 European Americans (EA) and 255 people of Mexican origin (MA).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Although internal consisten­cies of 15 value orientation measures were occasionally low, overall results were en­couraging. A weighted combination of value orientation scores strongly discriminated between EA and MA. Additionally, the pat­tern of relationships among MAs identified between acculturation scores and the valid­ity contrasts supported the construct validity of the proposed dual framework. The trend was particularly evident for most behavioral variables. <em>Ethn Dis. </em>2015;25(4):469-478; doi:10.18865/ed.25.4.469</p>

Procedural (In)Justice as Inclusivity and Marginalization: Evidence from a Longitudinal Sample of Mexican-American Adolescents

2021 ◽  
pp. 002242782110039
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Thompson ◽  
Theodore Wilson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Segmented Assimilation ◽  
Group Engagement

Objectives: Treatment by law enforcement officers, as representatives of the state that interact with individual citizens, may signal to individuals their political and social inclusion within society. Hispanics, as the largest minority group in the country that oftentimes must navigate two cultural identities, may be especially sensitive to the treatment of police. We test the group engagement model’s implication that procedural justice—or lack thereof—may promote or hinder attachment to the United States and/or Mexico among Latino/a adolescents and young adults. Methods: Using a fixed effects panel design with a subsample of Mexican Americans from the Pathways to Desistance Study, we examine whether changes in subjective procedural justice evaluations of the police are related to changes in National identification. Results: Changes in procedural justice perceptions are significantly related to changes in Mexican identification, whereas procedural justice is not related to changes in Anglo identification. Although, consistent with segmented assimilation theory, the relationships between changes in procedural justice and Mexican/Anglo identification may be stronger among participants born in the United States. Conclusions: The findings are generally consistent with the group engagement model of procedural justice and suggest procedural injustice may alienate Hispanics.

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