Saharsh Singhania
Professor Mintzi Martinez-Rivera
Mini-Historical Research Project
April 21st, 2017
Latinos in the US: Then and Now
“When Mexico sends its people they’re not sending their best. They’re bringing crime. They’re bringing drugs. They’re rapists.” These words uttered not by some uneducated xenophobe but on the contrary by the supposed living embodiment of equality and justice, our very own national leader – Donald Trump – represents a sliver of a much larger problem. As author Leo Chavez points out in his book “The Latino Threat Narrative”, Latinos is the United States are consistently misconstrued as a hazard to the nation and therefore simplistically labelled ‘aliens’ or ‘immigrants’. This view sadly reduces the entire political identity of Latinos to a single word with a negative connotation, neglecting their history as if distinctly bifurcated from U.S. History.
Hispanic and Latino History is U.S. History. In 1980, Hispanics represented a mere 6.5% of the total U.S. population. Today, with a population of over 55 Million, they comprise nearly 20% of the U.S. population and are soon-to-be the largest minority in the nation. The U.S.-born share of this population has grown consistently since 1960s and represents the majority of Hispanics and Latinos in the United States today. Yet, they are seen as invaders, unwilling to assimilate, equipped with diabolical plans to reclaim their motherland. This however, could not be far from the reality. To understand this reality, a careful survey of Latino history in the United States is imperative.
Latino History however is expansive and this paper focuses on events that occurred mostly in the United States and played a pivotal role in showcasing atrocities committed towards Latinos throughout their history in our nation. These in turn galvanized their collective consciousness to fight for the community’s humanitarian rights and accurately define their political identities. The complex menagerie of events, thus, that led to the current Latino situation in the United States is as follows:
I. It all began with Cabeza De Vaca when indigenous Hispanics from the land area now known as Mexico explored North America almost a hundred years before the British even established Jamestown. Thus the notion of Hispanics being foreigners in this country is erroneous and those especially with Mesoamerican roost have much deeper backgrounds in the United States than those with European roots.
II. A group of Spaniards and other indigenous Latinos ventured out from the then Colonial-Mexico into California and established Los Angeles in 1781. It is no coincidence that Los Angeles today has the largest Hispanic population at approximately 5 Million.
III. Poet, progressive and Cuban patriot José Martí put in four years in New York City, where he composed for both English-and Spanish-dialect daily papers, creating thoughts that would impact his reasoning about the frequently tense connection between the U.S. and Latin America. As one of the primary intellectuals of Latin America, he earned a statue in Central Park of New York City, permanently leaving his mark.
IV. Perhaps not for the most benevolent of reasons, the United States augmented both citizenship and, not long after, military enrollment to Puerto Rico in 1917, as World War I seethed on in Europe. This underscores the fact that Puerto Ricans are citizens just as much as those conceived in Unites States’ 50 states and highlights the ignorance prevalent in the nation today.
V. Octaviano Larrazolo of New Mexico was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1928 and became the first Hispanic Senator ever. As a government official, he pushed to lift Hispanic representation so that the political framework would mirror the state’s populace. He likewise composed parts of the state’s constitution ensuring that individuals of Mexican plunge wouldn’t be disfranchised.
VI. In the 1940s, strained relationships between Chicanos and Anglo Sailors of California ascended to critical heights. Sailors who viewed Chicanos wearing baggy Zoot Suits as criminals spared no effort in humiliating them with physical violence. These atrocities eventually flared up in June 1943 when several sailors severely harassed “pachucos”, often stripping their suits. Not surprisingly, the police were indifferent to this discrimination which is a prominent example of the context for the civil rights movements spearheaded by Latinos.
VII. Private Felix Longoria perished in Philippines as World War II came to a halt. His recuperated body was retuned to his hometown of Three Rivers, Texas only to be turned away by the director of the funeral home as he dreaded the disapproval of white residents. The G.I. Forum, a social equality organization championed by Hector P. Garcia, orchestrated a campaign that won the consideration of then-U.S. Sen. Lyndon Johnson. He in turn organized Longoria’s burial at Arlington National Cemetery, representing a civil rights victory for Latinos.
VIII. The courts ruled it unlawful to isolate students of Mexican heritage into inferior schools before Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. Sylvia Mendez, the plaintiff sued in the wake of being turned away from a public school in California labelled “whites-only”. The decision made by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1947 broke ground for Brown vs. Board of Education and played a pivotal role in illegalizing school desegregation.
IX. During the late 1950s Puerto Rican women were utilized as experimental animals in the trial of the birth control pill. They were misinformed and side effects were obscured. Despite the death of three women as a direct result of these trials, no further investigations were conducted which showcases the sentiments harbored towards Latinos and the importance of their lives.
X. Fidel Castro established a Communist Government in Cuba as result of the Cuban Revolution’s triumph in 1959 and its precipitous leftward turn within two years. More than one million Cubans left the island as the Revolution ripened to be acutely radical, with a large portion of them settling in Miami, Florida, a city they metamorphosed. Consequent influxes of Cubans moved to the United States in the 1980s, with the Mariel boatlift, and the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union overturned the island’s economy.
XI. In 1965, Filipino and Latino farmworker unions participated in a strike, and later a boycott of grapes in the Delano zone of California to dissent poor working conditions. The five-year crusade at last prevailed with regards to constraining the grape makers to sign union contracts. This early triumph grounded the place of the United Farm Works and its pioneer Cesar Chavez, every one of whom were critical players in the Latino social liberties development.
XII. During an uproar in 1970, police shot conspicuous columnist Ruben Salazar with a poisonous gas canister while he was drinking at the Silver Dollar Bar and Cafe in Los Angeles, executing him. One of the greatest Mexican-American journalists of his time, Salazar wrote about local politics as well as foreign wars with an unmatched zeal and his execution was viewed as a symbol of oppression of the Chicano community in California.
XIII. Roberto Clemente was a Latino professional baseball player who championed black and Hispanic rights. He began his career prior to the end of segregation and was the first to reach 3,000 hits after playing two World Series and winning MVP in the 1971 games. He went about as a politically cognizant illustrative of the Latino people when professional sports included a handful of Hispanics.
XIV. President Ronald Reagan passed an immigration reform in 1986, which helped legalize nearly 3 Million undocumented immigrants in the nation. This makes clear that aiding immigrants through productive immigration reforms is not only possible but practical.
XV. United States, Canada and Mexico, in their desire to reduce trade barriers among themselves, signed a free trade agreement in 1994 known as NAFTA or the North American Free Trade Agreement. Resultantly, a deluge of Mexican farmers lost their jobs due to cheap U.S. imports prompting their exodus into the U.S. This underscores the realization that Latinos emigrate not to pursue the glamorous American dream but to counteract their lost livelihoods and sustain themselves.
XVI. Pete Wilson, then governor of California, spearheaded an archaic referendum that would have illegalized the provision of public service including education and healthcare to undocumented immigrants. Although the law was abandoned by the courts, Prop 187 laid the ground for anti-immigrant legislation which stands as a symbol of the discontent towards the Latino community.
XVII. An experimental Mexican American Studies module in Tuscon, Arizona was professed to politicize students and Republicans naturally passed legislation to dispense with the program. Floundering under pressure from the state, the local board of education disassembled the program. Although the legislation has been challenged in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, it brings to focus the fear harbored against allowing Latinos to learn about their history and heritage.
XVIII. In 2014, Latinos became the most populous ethnic group in California, even outstripping the population of non-Hispanic whites. This fact challenges conventional wisdom as two-thirds of Hispanics living in the Unites States were born here and did not emigrate here contrary to popular belief.
These events served as watershed moments in the history of Latinos and Hispanics in the United States by igniting their fraternal sentiments and inspiring them to fight for equality and justice. The complex interactions of events led to the present situation and highlight the fact that history is often complicated and deterministic. Given the numerous interactions of Latinos with ‘Americans’ and their ultimately interwoven fates, we can conclude that Latino History is U.S. History.