Latino Americans in WWII

War Effort Pressure to volunteer Puerto Ricans escape Depression Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 – ½ million Latinos – Hazardous duties

War Effort Units drawn from geographical locations – Few Latino units – Fought alongside Whites

War Effort 88 th Infantry Division – The Blue Devils Company E of the 141 st Regiment from El Paso 65 th Infantry Regiment – The Boriqueneers

War Effort

Puerto Ricans – More jobs to Puerto Rico – Joined to win respect in hopes of independence – Fought in North Africa, France, Germany – Defend a country they knew nothing about – Related to displaced European farmers

War Effort Segregation – Eugene Calderon Trained with Tuskegee Airmen Moved around a lot during training No white or black barracks

Home Front Spring 1942 – Harvest time and no workers – Women flock to jobs – Heavy immigrant recruitment – Forced immigrant interactions

Home Front August 1942 Bracero Program – US and Mexico sign agreement to export temporary workers – 1 million initially in 21 states

Home Front: Bracero Program

Picked beets, plums, tomatoes, peaches, cotton Went on strike

Home Front: Bracero Program 1943  76,  118,  300,  26,000

Home Front: Bracero Program Some wanted to end the program – Children not in school – Illiterate adults – Poor wages – Substandard living – Tuberculosis

Home Front: Bracero Program Complaints of illegal immigrants Attorney General Herbert Brownell, INS Commissioner Joseph Swing  Operation Wetback in 1954

Home Front 1 st and 2 nd generation Mexican- Americans (Pachucos) – Too young to enlist but work – Get extra $ for leisure – Zoot Suit and marcel- style hair

Home Front New Barrio Language – Vato – Guerro – Me Comprendes, Mendez? – Al rato, vato – Nada Nada, Limonada – Dale gas! – Homes/Homebody/Holmes

Home Front Pachucos wanted to be different – Seen as un- American – Unwilling to assimilate – Thought of as gangs

Home Front Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles June 3, 1943 – Sailor starts fight with pachuco – June 4, 1943 Sailors start attacking anyone in a Zoot suit – Police did not step in – Sailors were at fault but no one arrested or charged

Veterans Coming Home Refused services at home The Fearless Mexican Macario Garcia – Medal of Honor 8/23/1945 – Heroes welcome in Sugarland Texas – Refused service at Oasis Cafe

Veterans Coming Home Veterans still stuck in barrios No access to sanitation or healthcare G.I. Bill of Rights – Guaranteed mortgages for new homes – No new homes or kept out of neighborhoods – Pushed into trade schools

Veterans Returning Home Funeral Refusals – Felix Z. Longoria Jr. – Wife Beatrice is denied services – Garcia contacts LBJ for help

Veterans Returning Home Veterans become human rights activists Dr. Hector Garcia and the American G.I. Forum – Denied status and slowly promoted – Thought Bracero Program was doing harm

Veterans Returning Home Dr. Hector Garcia and American G.I. Forum – Thought Bracero Program was bad – Supported Operation Wetback until protests – Chapters and influence spread