Diversity and Marginality in the Border Region

Marcela Vasquez-Leon, PhDAssociate Professor

Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, School of Anthropology

Center for Latin American StudiesThe University of Arizona

 

• 6.5 million people according to 2000 US Census• 49% of residents considered Hispanic, mostly of Mexican descent

• ~700,000 people cross the US-Mexico border every day (2003)

Arizona

• 26 U.S. federally-recognized Native American tribes in the border region, including Tohono O’odham, second largest reservation

• range in size from 9 to 17,000 members. • Share extensive family and cultural ties to indigenous peoples in

Mexico’s border region

• Yuma, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise Counties• Population of 1,159.908 (23% of Arizona population)• 48% considered Hispanics• 2.5% Native Americans who control a large proportion of the territory • ~93,000 (or 13%) people crossed the Arizona-Sonora border on a daily

basis in 2003

BordersAre historical and permeable,

have always existed and shift and change depending on historic events (war, assimilation, consolidation, etc)

 Are dynamic areas of tremendous demographic and economic exchanges

In borderlands, people always move following economic opportunity. Economic investment and people cross borders depending on available opportunities.

• Peripheral places that are highly problematized by the center of power, particularly during difficult times. Centralized policy decisions reflect ignorance of local conditions and the stereotypes and misconceptions that embody fear of the OTHER

The Southwestern culture area

• People hunted deer and small game and harvested fruits, nuts, and the seeds.

• 3000 BC: maize domesticated in Mexico

• 300 BC, Mexicans who irrigated fields migrated to the region.

• Towns and communities developed around agriculture

Spanish Entrada

US immigration to Mexico

Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo: 1848Gadsden Purchase: 1853

Multiple BordersDefined by historical events in Mexico

and the USKin-based networks of exchange: the

Sonoran connectionTransboundary economies: Economic

opportunity (agriculture, railroad and road construction, service industry), demand for cheap labor, narco-violence

Mexican Revolution

Source: Velez-Ibanez 2009

Macario Garcia20 January 1920, Villa de Castaño, México

Source: Velez-Ibanez 2009

 Mexican Women in the Railroad (1944) and Agriculture (1942)

Source: Velez-Ibanez 2009

Crossing the Border: Trade, Capital, People

•2007 NAFTA Cross-Border Trade: $797 Billion•2008 NAFTA Cross-Border Trade: $830 billion•Source: U.S. Department of Transportation – Bureau of Transportation Statistics •Drug trade: billions of dollars (???)

• 1994 NAFTA: trade between US and Mexico nearly tripled•Maquiladoras increased to

more than 3,000• 1995-96: Collapse of the peso

Source: Galan, 2000

Source: Velez-Ibanez 2009

Annual Average IncomeMen Women

Asian-Americans 50,279 36,636Whites 48,909 35,624African-Americans 35,484 30,525Native Americans 33,733 27,685Latinos 28,033 25,531

Source: 2000 Census

What accounts for such disparities?Lack of health insuranceExposure to chemical agentsLanguage barriersSeasonal employmentFear and discrimination related to

immigration statusDominant ideology that values “whiteness”

ConclusionsEducation, income, labor, politics, health,

social and community development, and culture are deeply interrelated

Health programs must be comprehensive, culturally competent, and linked to policy

Community leaders and members must be involved in the discussion of broad ranging problems and of the impact of those problems on their own health.

We must be able to recognize people as experts in their own health