ETHN 100: Chapter 9 notes Mexican Americans: from colonized minority to political activists Introduction: A.Southwestern or borderlands region settled by Spanish-Mexican-Indian ancestors. B.Today, this region is part of U.S.A. Similar to the Native Americans, Mexican Americans entered the society through direct conquest of their homelands.

1.The Colonial Model: central point: minority groups that are forced to join a society are fundamentally different from those that join voluntarily. (i) Blauner (1994) argued that Mexican conquest is an example of classical colonialism—British style. (ii) La Raza: Mexican American ethnic group living in the U.S. in (iii) Creation Generation: Mexicans who became residents of the U.S with the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.

2. Early Indian-Spanish relations: (i) Spaniards came to Mexico in the 16 th century and established as a European group. (ii) the melting pot process of assimilation was more significant in Mexico than in the U.S., i.e., inter-group relations increased.

3. The Texas frontier: Spain’s claims to the eastern portion of Texas was disputed by the U.S. until 1819, when Spain and the U.S. completed a treaty giving Florida to the U.S. and Texas to Spain. (i) In less than 15 years after Mexico gained her independence from Spain, Texas broke away from Mexico—independent Republic of Texas. (ii) Tejano: are the native Mexicans living in Texas, when it broke away from Mexico to form an independent republic.

4.Conflict in the borderlands: Texas as part of U.S. –considered by President Santa Anna in 1843 as an act of war against Mexico; and in 1846, U.S. President Polk asked Congress to declare war against Mexico. (i) The date1848 is important because under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico surrendered to the U.S. nearly 1/2 of the territory of Mexico; and Rio Grande –established as boundary of Texas.

(ii) The Cortina Wars ( ) under the leadership of Juan N. Cortina increased the border conflicts; and strained Mexican American and Anglo relations for many years. (iii) Sociological implication=ethnic stratification.

5. The immigrant model: central point =migrants: Alvarez (1985) argued that it is more accurate to say that Mexican Americans were migrants rather immigrants. (i) As a result of urbanization, many Mexican Americans of the Southwest now live in large ethnic barrios—ethnic communities. 6.Mexican immigration and native reaction: Anglo employers took advantage of the Mexican migrant labor force, i.e., poor housing and high rents. 7.The great depression: many Mexicans were deported—push-pull factors.

8.The bracero program: a legal program of immigration for Mexican agricultural workers.— called today guest worker. 9.The zoot-suit riots: occurred in June of 1943, following a mysterious death in a gang fight in East Los Angeles. This created a tension between the Anglos and the Mexican Americans. (i) The Sleepy-Lagoon Trial: was the trial of these young men, which was conducted in a biased way because it focused more on the defendants’ Mexican heritage. (ii) The “Pachuco” refers to a group of Mexican youth who represented a defiance of authority through style of dress and behavior.

10.The Mexican American civil rights movement: (i) The most famous and successful organization of Mexican Americans—the League of United Latin- American Citizens (LULAC) was formed in LULAC emphasized both assimilation and the elimination of discrimination. (ii) PASO=Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations which put direct pressure on the major political parties. These separate efforts were thought of as part of a larger movement called La Causa (Valdez 1982:271).

(iii) The United Farm Workers (UFW) organized in California by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta—very effective in advancing Mexican American concerns to the national public. (iv) The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) established in 1967 by Pete Tijerina and Gregory Luna, with the help of the African American Civil Rights Organizations and funded by the Ford Foundation—initiated organized legal attacks against segregation of Mexican American students.

11.The Post- Chicano era: Both pluralism and cultural assimilation found among Mexican Americans in Texas—“stirring pot,” (Richardson 1999). (i) Cultural nationalism: central feature of Mexican American movement in the 1960s.