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103-5). Ruiz strongly suggests that no matter what profession that Mexican women have played an important part in making history but one way or another their accounts have been kept in the dark. What sets Ruiz aside from previous historians is that, while they was fixated on male European immigrants’ creation of the American society, she proved the journey and challenges of Mexican immigrant women that contributed to developing the American and Latino American
During the Chicano Nationalist Movement, a well-known speaker, Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales, delivered a speech titled Chicano Nationalism: Victory for La Raza. In this speech, Rodolfo Gonzales tries to unify the Latin American people within the United States by using the idea of a family and to create a new political organization for the Chicano people. This speech was a cumulation of various ideas which stemmed from his own life, the experiences of the Chicano people, and the Chicano Nationalist Movement in general. Each of these factors contributed to the context of the speech and how the ideas within the speech are presented by Rodolfo Gonzales. Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales was born to Federico and Indalesia Gonzales, two Mexican immigrants, on June 18, 1928.
1. World War II accelerated rapid urbanization, before the start there was around 60 percent of Mexican-Americans that lived-in cities and that number would rise to 70 percent after WWII. World War II also drastically changed the Mexican family system. Women became much more independent and worked jobs outside of the home and many more non-traditional jobs. Racism against Mexicans increased as they were made scapegoats and after the Japanese, they were also seen as aliens.
As they faced discrimination and unequal treatment in the workplace and in their communities, Mexican American women joined organizations such as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the American GI Forum to fight for their rights and to demand equal treatment. "From Coveralls to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front," Elizabeth R. Escobedo argues that despite the opportunities that the war provided for Mexican American women, they still faced many obstacles and challenges. Some of these obstacles include: Discrimination and Racism: Mexican American women faced discrimination and racism in the workplace and in their communities. Many employers paid Mexican American women lower wages than their white counterparts, and they often faced barriers to promotion and advancement. They also experienced housing discrimination and segregation.
Latina/os living in the United States are viewed only as a source of cheap labor. White Americans would go as far and call them “ignorant Mexicans” or “young Mexicans, with very few brains, if any”(Lytle Hernández, 2017: Kindle Locations 2816-2818). The only reason western industries advocated for Mexicans to continue crossing into the United States after the 1924 National Origins Act, an act that blatantly excluded immigration from anywhere except western Europe with a list of quotas, was because their labor was cheap, something industries loved taken advantage of. Although Anglo-Americans preached for a white-dominated society, whenever it came to who would be building this “Aryan” society they would gladly hire Latina/os, taking advantage of their poor situation to load their pockets. Sometimes, hiring wasn’t even needed if convict labor could be used.
The American Homefront Even though some sacrificed the ultimate price fighting overseas to defend their country and housewives leave home and enter the nation 's factories. African Americans continued, filling vacated factory jobs and Mexican Americans were courted to cross the border to assist with the harvest season. More teenagers pitched in to fill the demand for new labor. Americans of all ages and races on the American Homefront all stepped up to the plate during the devastation of World War II. Sybil Lewis is an African American women from Scapula, Oklahoma who was working in a small black owned restaurant in Los Angeles, California.
The American dream was born again, but this time it proved to hit a little closer to home for many
“According to the U.S. Census,” Muñoz writes, “by 1930 the Mexican population had reached 1,225,207, or around 1% of the population.” As a result the discrimination became more widespread and an overall greater problem in the U.S. Soon, this racism became propaganda and was evident throughout the media, “Patriots and Eugenicists argued that ‘Mexicans would create the most insidious and general mixture of white, Indian, and Negro blood strains ever produced in America’ and that most of them were ‘hordes of hungry dogs, and filthy children with faces plastered with flies [...] human filth’ who were ‘promiscuous [...] apathetic peons and lazy squaws [who] prowl by night [...] stealing anything they can get their hands on,” Muñoz writes. This exhibits the vulgar racism that evolved into the Chicano movement. The Chicano movement started with injustice in education.
After watching the movie “A Class Apart: A Mexican American Civil Rights Story”, I realized that I didn’t know much about how Mexico lost part of their land to the United States and about how hard life used to be for Mexican Americans compared to now. I learned about how Mexican Americans were treated in the United States. The movie was mainly about how Mexican Americans were discriminated and they were treated as inferior people. They were not seen as actual “Americans”, but as a second class, calling them names like “shiftless, lazy, dumb, etc.” Another important thing I learned is who was Gus García and what he did for Mexican Americans.
Many accusations of subversion and disloyalty were thrown around Hispanic countries since slavery been abolished. But in the United States, many Hispanics showed their allegiance and patriotism to their confederation through service. Each citizen contributed to their side through wartime efforts ranging from factory workers, farm workers, spies, or fighting for the armed forces. Those who joined militia units on the battle frontier often did so out of loyalty, beliefs, or plain fear of being sent out of the state away from their families. Almost three million soldiers fought during the civil war and ten thousand of those soldiers were Hispanics fighting in the army or navy (Civil War Soldiers).
Injustice and inequality often ignite the sparks of social and political movements. The Chicano (Mexican-American) and Puerto Rican movements of the 1900s provide such examples. Latinos are often considered a homogeneous and involved political subsection or as Beltrán describes a ‘sleeping giant.’ The metaphor describes a sleeping giant who contains much political control through its sheer size but does little with its power. Mexican-Americans and Puerto Ricans have historically proven this metaphor wrong and mobilized in great numbers to affect real change within their respective communities.
No matter who you are or where you have come from, you have undoubtedly heard of the American Dream. The idea that no matter who you are or where you have come from, you can do whatever it is you desire in America. What was once one the main driving forces for immigrants to flock to the new world, has slowly changed over the years, but still holds its value in the eyes of those who are looking for a promising new place to live. The American dream might not hold the same awe inspiring sound that it once did, but for many generations before ours, it was a beacon of hope that helped build the foundation that the United States was built on. And still today the American dream might not be as achievable as it once was, but it is still an important symbol to the American ideology.
1. Who is this subculture group? Where are they from? The Mexican Americans are a population of Spanish speaking individuals whom inhabit an area of Southern Texas named Hidalgo County. This cultural group often refers to themselves as being “true Texans” while referring to those individuals who speak English as being outsiders.
The American Dream is still alive and available to everyone today, although it is different for everyone. The American Dream is what each individual believes it to be and does not have a set definition, it is whatever the person believes it to be and it still possible for everyone. America still provides access to opportunity for everyone from the people who are born in poverty to the people that are born into wealth. While lately there has been much debate over whether the American Dream is still alive and well and many people believe that it is dead, there are considerable proof and evidence that the American Dream is developing and thriving. First of all, in the American Constitution, it states “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
The American Dream has continued to be present and flourishing in 21st century America
