mexicans- part 2

Porfirio Diaz

the head/president of Mexico in 1900

Longer second wave for Mexicans than any other immigrant group

What made the Second Wave/3rd Movement of Mexicans unique from other groups?

Porfirio Diaz; differing opinions within Mexican classes due to push for industrialization (upper and middle class love him and lower class hate him)

Main Push Factor for Second-Wave Mexicans and reason why?

The upper/middle class like him because he pushes for industrialization and development of Mexico. He did this by letting American factory companies take over Mexico with factories, and Americans agreed to this because less labor laws/gov policy in Mexico. However, the lower class (peonage) did not like this since they were the ones who had to work these jobs for lesser pay

How was industrialization and classes involved in Porfirio Diaz as the main push factor?

Peonage

Mexican workers; lower class, work in “peon system“ that is basically indentured servancy

1. Jobs

2. Location

Pull Factors for Second-Wave Mexicans

Chinese Exclusion Act resulted in lots of job openings for farm work and Mexicans were exempted from quota acts, so don’t have to go through Ellis/Angel island or processing, however do still have to have papers to enter through border

How were jobs a pull factor for second-wave Mexicans?

Transit (walked, short distance to bordering state, Texas)

How was location a pull factor for second-wave Mexicans?

“El Norte”

“The North”; represents the promise of migration for 1.5M Mexican migrants of the Second wave

Return migration; considered sojourners that

What type of migration did Second Wave Mexicans do?

Similar because same plan to come, make money, then go back to homeland, but they practiced sojourning more than Chinese due to lack of immigration policy. Went back every farming SEASON (half of a year), and their jobs also allowed them to sojourn

How was Mexican sojourning similar and different from Irish/Chinese?

Farm work and factory work

Jobs for Mexican Second-Wave Migrants

Detriot, Chicago, Atlanta, etc; have jobs in factories that pay double or triple of the pay of migrant farm work. Makes sojourning not as easy but def does not limit it; take trains to back, very determined

What was the lifestyle for Mexicans who migrated to urban areas of the US?

“Inferior Race”, “Mexican Race”, Brown Race”, Mongrelization, Unintellgient, “Violent”

Stereotypes of Mexican Second-Wave

unassimilataeable based on looks

“Mexican Race” stereotyped is based on

dirty, greasy

“Brown Race” means

Mongrelization

a mongrel is a mixed animal; relates to animality; dogs always present in political cartoons

IQ tests

“Unintelligent“ stereotype comes from

Based on American perspective of history (Mexican Revolution); shown with guns and torches in cartoons, Zoot Suits Riots

Where does the “violent” stereotype come from?

Zoot Suits

 A form of resistance to American’s conservative dress standards; flaunt culture (floppy hats, gold teeth, chains, ballooning)

Zoot Suits Riots

From small altercation between armed forces members and Mexicans where they burned Mexican’s zoot suits resulting in riots over the nation, which results in supporting the violence stereotype

• Segregated Schools

• Anti-Miscenngation Laws (no inter-racial relationships with whites)

• Compulsory Sterilization

• Anti-Catholic- Mexicans are very Catholic, followers of the Pope, same things as Irish and S Italians

• Ku Klux Klan- 

• Cannot form/join Labor Unions- but still try to make them anyway

In what ways were Mexicans discriminated against?

• Economy: Roaring twenties, low unemployment

• Immigration: Promote Mexicans to fill low paid jobs, then be like OMG too many tfff

1920s American Economy and Immigration Attitudes

• Economy: Great Depression, 25% employment 

• Immigration: Border Patrol (starts out as vigilante group at first, most KKK members), Exclusion and Deportation of “Illegals” (though Mexicans came legally bc no immigration policy, some American citizens who have never been to Mexico)

1930s American Economy and Immigration Attitudes

• Econ: Wartime economy, Need workers

• Immigration: Bracero Program (“Guest Worker Visa”; an open visa laborers can apply to come to the US to work jobs), renewed every year, back and forth every year; 4.6M contracts issued

  • Stop in 1964 due to immigration policy

1940s American Economy and Immigration Attitudes