C. Review on Discrimination Experienced by Mexican American
The interaction of Mexicans and Americans started when Mexicans had begun to immigrate to the United States in large numbers, approximately leads over 680.000
Mexican citizens, as early 1910. The Mexican Revolution and the unsettled economic condition were some factors that led Mexican came to United States; they came to the
United States looked for the jobs. Based on the World War II and Mexican American Civil Rights
, Observers have estimated that approximately 3.5 million persons of Mexican
descent lived in the US. Like other immigrant groups, most had embarked on the challenging journey to the US for material reasons – to earn enough to
return to their native land and start a new life or to make a better life for themselves in the new country Castillo, 2008: 8.
There was a need for the assistance in United States government and also a need for labor especially in cotton farming and agriculture. The Mexicans were
experienced in farming, ranching, and mining. It was going through the next twenty years.
Based on World War II and Mexican American Civil Right, “Color prejudices were common throughout the United States, but Mexicans settled in areas where
racial prejudice was deeply rooted and particularly strong” Castillo, 2008: 11. The Mexicans were natural targets of the race based discrimination that victimized
American Indians, African Americans, and Asians. Poverty was generally the lot of unskilled, especially migratory, labor in the
US. Economic problems for Mexican- Americans were compounded by the disposition of Anglos to see them as part of a permanent underclass and to
discriminate against them accordingly. The fact that they were mostly unskilled, illiterate, and forced into subsistence living reinforced the
assumptions concerning their supposed innate inferiority. It was easy to stereotype them as unclean, unmotivated, slow, dishonest, able to live on less,
and do not fit to associate with whites 2008: 11.
The economic problems faced by Mexican American were because they the most submerged and destitute group in the US. Many of them were employed in the
“lowest paid and least desirable jobs and also plagued by illiteracy, juvenile delinquency, criminality, and disease Castillo, 2008: 8. Therefore the Americans see
them as an underclass citizen and can be discriminated right away. The Mexican American people not only being discriminated but also they
were accused as a criminal. Their second class status was signed in encounters with police, border
officers, and other officials who adopted attitudes that ranged from disrespectful to humiliate. Police brutality was often visited upon Mexican
Americans accused of crimes Castillo, 2008: 14.
From the quotation above, it can be said that the second class status of Mexican American citizen makes them mostly accused of crimes. The most obvious
reminders of the demarcation of social status by race were announcement posted on restaurants and other places generally open to the public indicating that persons of
Mexican descent would not be served Castillo, 2008: 14. Movie theaters often segregated their Mexican American customers. The use of public toilet was also
frequently denied to people identified as “Mexican” and they were banned from or assigned special times for their use of public parks, swimming pools, and other
recreational facilities. A sign like “We Serve WHITE’S only NO SPANISH or MEXICANS” appeared in many public facilities in the Southwest during 1930s-
1940s Castillo, 2008: 13. The impact of such conditions was obvious Mexican Americans could not use those services to which they were entitled and were daily
reminded of their inferior status. In 1940, conditions and prospects for Mexican Americans remained much the same. Mexican Americans remained largely rural,
disproportionately illiterate, mostly very poor, physically isolated from their American neighbors, and deprived of the full potential of life in the US 2008: 14.
From the side of educational, up to now education has not provided Mexican Americans with ladder to success. Segregation, isolation, inappropriate curricula, and
poor teaching are partially the problem they faced Kitano, 1985: 170. Mexican American children on average received fewer months of instruction during the school
year than the Anglo, and fewer years of schooling overall. Indeed, according to an official survey done during the war, 42 percent of Mexican American children of
school age received no education at all 2008: 12. During the US participation in World War I 1914-1918 in Europe, thousands
of Mexican served in the military under the Americans flag. They took advantage during the wartime; they found employment as highly skilled laborers in construction
and industry Hanes, 2007:425. Many immigrants formed organization and labor union to combat prejudice and discrimination.
On the World War II, Mexican American also gave contributions to United States. Similar to World War I, the manufacturing industry opened new job
opportunities for Mexican Americans who were not in military service. Agricultural labor was in great demand, since Mexican Americans were great in agriculture. Then,
United States and Mexico established a bracero program or labor program. This program allowed braceros or laborers to legally enter the United States for seasonal
work on farms. Almost five million workers from Mexico joined this program, even though the working conditions were obviously harsh and low paying job Hanes,
2007: 428. Not only working in the industries, probably about 500.000 Mexican
Americans men joined the armed service during the war. They volunteered for many reasons. Some wanted to escape poverty and discrimination; some did because of
pride, sense of manhood, family loyalty, duty, and patriotism Castillo, 2008: 50. For many others citizen, the war experienced strengthened an identity that had
been shaped by family and community one that had struggled against discrimination for generations Castillo, 2008: 57. The condition of the war was very violent for
them and their contributions might lead to have psychological trauma because many people loss their life. Not only had the war given effects on Mexican American’s
identity, the suffering, poverty, and discrimination that existed before and after the war. And, those who were able to survive physically and psychology were
undoubtedly change by their experienced Castillo, 2008: 54. The emergence of pachuco
that shocked many Mexican American people was one of the examples of how the youth try to find identity. They were considered to represent sexuality and
violence by American people Castillo, 2008: 69. “During the aftermath of the infamous Zoot- Suit Riots, pachucas became
scapegoats in both Mexican and the Anglo press, where they were accused of
being pot- smoking prostitutes who were cultural traitors Castillo, 2008: 69.”
Zoot- Suit Riots was the incidents done by some Mexican Americans teenagers. They wore absurdly long coats with padded shoulder, porkpie hats
completed by a feather in the back, watch chains so long they almost touched the ground, and peg- top trousers tapering to narrow cuffs Kitano, 1985: 161.
“The threat of the pachucos was much exaggerated. The pachucos used to stand in front of the Cornet Theater, but they were harmless, they never hurt
anybody, they just wanted to be the little tough guy, show off their clothing and the way they did their hairdo, no one was afraid of them, there was no
incident of violence or killings Castillo, 2008: 69.”
Mexican American people later remembered their youthful experiences with racism and discrimination as an integral part of shaping their identity with memories
of discrimination and humiliations and with the desire to overcome or reconcile Castillo, 2008: 58. Most of them had grown up to expect hard work, poverty,
hunger, and rejection, they learned to survive.
D. Theoretical Framework
Kategori