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Chapter 10
Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans
Mexican Americans
• Legacy of war created America’s two largest Hispanic minorities– Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans
• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848– Under the treaty, new Americans guaranteed
rights to property and their cultural traditions
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Mexican Americans
– The loss of land and the lack of legal protection after the treaty
• US gained Texas, California, Arizona, and New Mexico for $15 million
• In exchange, US granted citizenship to 75,000 Mexican nationals– Guaranteed
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Mexican Americans
• Religious freedom
• Property rights• Cultural integrity
• Land conflict between Anglo ranchers and Mexican-American ranchers
• Mexican-Americans became outsiders in their own land
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The Immigrant Experience
• Immigration from Mexico is unique in several respects– Continuous large-scale movement for most of
this century– Proximity of Mexico encourage immigrants to
maintain strong cultural & language ties
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The Immigrant Experience
– Aura of illegality that surrounded Mexican migrants
• Suspicion of Anglos toward Mexicans contributed to mutual distrust
• Mexican immigration tied closely to the economies of Mexico & the United States
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The Immigrant Experience
• US corporations invested in Mexico in a way that maximized profits but minimized:– Money in Mexico to provide employment
• Mexican workers are used as cheap laborers in their own country by fellow: – Mexicans & Americans or as undocumented
workers here
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The Immigrant Experience
• Repatriation– Program of deporting Mexicans during
depression of 1930s– Constitutional because only illegal aliens were
to be deported– Many classified as illegal had resided in US
for decades
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The Immigrant Experience
• Braceros– Program between Mexico & US allow
migration across border by contracted labor
• Mexicans regarded as positive presence when useful
• Operation Wetback and Special Force Operation (1954)
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The Immigrant Experience
• Mojados– Slang for Mexicans who enter illegally; refer to
those who secretly swim across Rio Grande
• The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)– Expressed concern over handling of illegal
aliens
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The Economic Picture
• Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans– Higher unemployment rates, higher rates of
poverty, and lower incomes than Whites
• The Culture of Poverty– Embraces a deviant way of life that involves:
• No future planning, no enduring commitment to marriage, and absence of work ethic
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The Economic Picture
• Developed by Oscar Lewis
• Cultural traits as the cause of poverty• Blaming the victim• Used indiscriminately to explain continued poverty
• César Chavez– Formed National Farm Workers Association– Became United Farm Workers (UFW)
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The Economic Picture
• Difficulties of organizing migrant farm workers– No savings for organizing or to live on while
on strike– Growers relied on limitless supply of Mexican
laborers to replace strikers– Opposition by agribusiness and lawmakers
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Political Organizations
• La Raza Unida (LRU)– Pride in one’s Spanish, Native American, and
Mexican heritage– Supported candidates who offer alternatives
to the Democratic and Republican parties
• Chicanismo (Chicanozaje)– Stress a positive self-image
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Political Organizations
• Reies Lopez Tijerina (1963)– Purpose of the organization was to recover
lost land
• Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) 1967– Pursue issues through the courts and protect
Mexican Americans’ constitutional rights
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Dual Nationality
• The United States does not prohibit dual nationality
• Estimated that anywhere from 5 million to 10 million Mexican Americans are eligible: – For such dual nationality
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Puerto Ricans
• Borinquen (Puerto Rico) claimed by Spain in 1493
• Native inhabitants, Taino Indians– Reduced in number by conquest, slavery, and
genocide
• Puerto Rico annexed by the US from Spain after the Spanish-American War
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Puerto Ricans
• Colonization of Puerto Ricans– Politically, then culturally, and economically
• Jones Act of 1917– Citizenship extended to Puerto Ricans
• 1948– Cannot vote in presidential elections and have
no voting representations
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The Bridge Between the Island and the Mainland
• Despite citizenship, occasionally challenged by immigration officials– Other Latin Americans attempt to enter
country posing as Puerto Ricans
• Push and pull factors led to migration from the Island to the mainland
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The Bridge Between the Island and the Mainland
• Neoricans– Puerto Ricans in New York– Better educated and have more money than
Puerto Ricans from the Island– Often resented by long time Islanders
• Now more dispersed throughout the mainland
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The Island of Puerto Rico
• Original inhabitants, Taino Indians, wiped out in a couple of generations
• Neocolonialism– Refers to continuing dependence of former
colonies on foreign countries
• English and Spanish are the official languages
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The Island of Puerto Rico
• Statehood and Self-Rule– Puerto Ricans periodically argued and fought
for independence– Commonwealth supporters argue too many
unknown costs, so embrace status quo– Others view statehood as key to increased
economic development & tourist expansion
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The Island of Puerto Rico
• Arguments for and against independence
• Obama promised support to:– “a clear decision” by the people on statehood,
whatever it be• “By the end of 2012 or soon thereafter”
• Statehood, independence, or continuation of the island’s current status
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Social Construction of Race
• Color Gradient– Reflects past fusion between different groups– Rather than being “black” or “white”, such
societies judge as “lighter” or “darker”
• On the Island social class determines race
• On the mainland race is more likely to determine social class
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The Island Economy
• Overall economy well below that of poorest areas of the US– Federal government exempted US industries
in Puerto Rico from taxes on profits (10 years)– Enterprise Zones– Island’s agriculture ignored and economic
benefits to the island are limited
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The Island Economy
• Unemployment is three times that of mainland
• Per capita income is less than half of Mississippi, the poorest state
• Puerto Rico emerging as major gateway to US for illegal drugs from South America
• World Systems Theory
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The Island Economy
• Major factors in Puerto Rico’s economy– Tourism
• Government subsidies encouraged construction of luxury hotels
• Criticisms– Major economic beneficiaries are investors from the
mainland not locals
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The Island Economy
– High prices prevent less affluent from visiting
– NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
• Reduction of trade barriers and its lower wages undercut Puerto Rico’s commonwealth advantage
– Other island nations compete for tourist dollars
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Contemporary Picture of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans
• Education– In 2008, only 55% of Mexican Americans &
76% of Puerto Ricans aged 25 or older:• Had completed high school, compared with 88
percent of White non-Hispanics
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Contemporary Picture of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans
• 3 factors of increasing social isolation of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans– Latinos are increasingly concentrated in
largest cities where minorities dominate– Schools once desegregated have become re-
segregated
• Tracking
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Contemporary Picture of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans
• Family Life– Most important organization or social
institution among Latinos or any group– Structure differs little from all families in US– Familism– Display variety of American family in general
while suffering higher levels of poverty
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Contemporary Picture of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans
• Health Care– Life Chances limited for Latinos
• People’s opportunities to provide themselves with: – Material goods, positive living conditions, and favorable
life experiences
– Hispanics as a group are locked out of health care system
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Contemporary Picture of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans
– Complicated by lack of Hispanic health care professionals
– Curanderismo• Latino folk medicine, form of holistic health care
and healing
• Culture makes them less likely to use medical system
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Contemporary Picture of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans
• Religion– Predominantly Catholic– Church has taken an assimilation role in past– Recently, more community oriented– Hispanic population growth important for the
church
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Contemporary Picture of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans
– Some churches starting to accommodate observances of Mexican rituals
• Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)
– Pentecostalism• Type of evangelical Christianity growing in Latin
America
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