Goals: Examine the consequences of Repatriation during the Great Depression Examine labor activism among Mexican farm workers during the GD
Repatriation and the GD Welfare and the New Deal Hostility toward Mexican communities Repatriation as a solution
“Employ no Mexican while a white man is unemployed. “ Securing employment during the GD Discriminating against Tejanos Restrictions denied work to American born Tejanos New Mexico State relief agencies to deny transients public assistance Los Angeles Mexican Americans denied work
Dust Bowl migrants during the GD
Hungry children of the Dust Bowl
Poverty in Oklahoma
Mexican Family during GD
African Americans line up for relief during GD.
Near Brawley, Imperial County Near Brawley, Imperial County. Homeless family of seven, walking the highway from Phoenix, Arizona, where they picked cotton. Bound for San Diego, where the father hopes to get on the relief because he once lived there.
The Border and Immigration Growers call for open border U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Immigration Act of 1929 President Hoover publicly denounces Mexicans Publicizing raids and scapegoating Mexicans William N. Doaks
Raids and Roundups Local law enforcement Sick and elderly Repatriations in Texas Texas legislature refuses relief funds
Raids and Roundups Los Angeles, January 6, 1931 Scare-ahead tactics La Placita Raid Walter E. Carr, local law enforcement Public space and psychological warfare Law enforcement denies racism
1938 Border Patrol
1938
March 1938
Consequences Repatriation and the Mexican family Mixups and screwups Economic impact Was repatriation economical? 1200 aliens = $237,000
FDR and INS Immigration and Naturalization Service FDR reviews repatriation Banks hurt by repatriation
Back in the Homeland Where did the Mexican gov’t. stand ? Arrival of repatriates Culture shock in the homeland
Illegal Aliens Illegal = Mexican Dismal plight of Mexicans and Mexican Americans Immigration Bureau Wholesale disposal of human labor
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The GD: Labor Activism and the New Deal The Farm Bloc and the New Deal Workers in ag. vs. industrial workers Agricultural Adjustment Act National Labor Relations Act 1935 Section 7A
Great Strike of 1933 Great Strike of 1933 Pat Chambers and the Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (CAWIU) Cotton industry
Pixley, California, Cotton Strike Pixley, California, Cotton Strike. Pat Chambers speaks to a crowd of strikers during a rally.
Pixley Cotton Strike leader Caroline Decker, a Communist organizer
Pixley Cotton Strike. Procession (line) of trucks carrying strikers as a sort of mobile picket line. First truck has a sign on side: "Join the Picket Lines; Don't Scab."
John Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle is a novel describing the Great Cotton Strike of 1933 by farm workers in the California Central Valley.
The Mexican Response Organizing Strikes Mexican revolution Communist party
The Great Strike Unfolds Evictions by growers Corcoran becomes a refugee camp CAIWU’s success Women
Pixley, California, Cotton Strike, 1933 Pixley, California, Cotton Strike, 1933. Overview of camp of evicted cotton strikers.
The Great Strike (cont.) Strikebreakers Local law enforcement sides with growers Violence escalates Strike receives national attention
At the Pixley, California,Cotton Strike in 1933, eight armed farmers wait to ambush strikers/unionizers as they cross over to the union hall.
Pixley, California, Cotton Strike, 1933 Pixley, California, Cotton Strike, 1933. A line of men (possibly farm owners) stands next to a long line of policemen, preparing for battle.
Government Intervention Wagner Act not yet finalized in 1933 Killings force gov’t. intervention Growers resisting arbitration
Gov’t Intervention Growers agree to federal mediation Strikers refuse to return to work Partial victory for strikers Hope for the Wagner Act?