Capitalist Dev. Of the SW (Part II) Goals: Examine how did Mexican workers in the United states countered exploitative working conditions at the beginning of the 19 th century How post-war depression affected the lives of Mexican workers in the U.S. Examine socioeconomic conditions in Mexican communities during 1920s

Mobilizing the Mexican Response Mobility as an asset Other forms of protest Work crews Formal organizations

Mexican Cotton Pickers

Unionism on the Texan Border Federal Labor Union of Laredo (FLU) FLU’s first general strike, 1906 Mexican national retaliates Union philosophy

Socialists and Magonistas in Texas, Socialism and the Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM) Renters’ Union of America –F.A. Hernandez organizes Revolution and socialism Political and violent repression end Mexican socialist unions

Socialists on 1912 presidential ticket

Mexican and African American cotton pickers inside plantation store, Knowlton Plantation, Perthshire, Miss. Delta. This transient labor is contracted for and brought in trucks from Texas each season.

Post War Depression 1921 the nation entered of period of industrial and agricultural depression Growers refuse to take responsibility for destitute workers Growers demand deportation of Mexican workers Violence and arrests Mexicans began to migrate to cities

Post War Depression Federal government took no action Mexican government aids Depression of led to sharp decline in immigration of Mexican workers.

Economy rebounds in 1923 Recruitment of Mexican workers resumes Aggressive campaigns to recruit Mexican workers Entry of Mexican laborers during the 1920s facilitated by Labor Dept Mexicans provide most of unskilled labor in U.S Fears of “Mexican invasion”

Immigration Law and Illegal Aliens 1924 Immigration Act Border Patrol established in 1924 Immigration Raids 1926 Imperial Valley labor camps raided by Immigration Bureau –Gentleman’s Agreement –Raids in IV cease

Border Patrol, El Paso Texas, 1927

The AFL and Mexican labor AFL hostile toward Mexican labor Movement of Mexican workers into industrial occupations Bethlehem Steel Company Davis and Gompers conspire

Who was responsible for welfare Mexican workers? Growers AFL Federal government Poverty and Insecurity Low Naturalization rates

Mexican family, Omaha Nebraska, 1922

The 1920’s Mexican Diaspora The 1920s –Increasingly urban Mexican population –Segregation –Poor living conditions –Mexicans as racially inferior or culturally inferior?

Slum-corrals built in 1913 in Texas and occupied continuously since then. Six outdoor flush type toilets and one shower are provided for the more than one hundred people.

Entire family groups move from Texas to Wyoming for work in the sugar beet fields. En route at San Angelo, Texas.

Health Issues High infant mortality/TB Well baby clinics Racial inferiority blamed Racist stereotypes

Education The IQ test Tracking Segregation in schools Racism and education No-Spanish rule Vela v. Board of Trustees Capitalism and segregation

Nativist Hysteria “The last Nordic family” Decay of community and country Where do Mexicans fit in? Another “race problem” Why allow Mexican immigration?

The Necessity of Mexican Labor Large growers Whites refuse to work The Great Migration Maintaining white superiority

The Mexican Middle Class League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) –Demanded their rights as U.S. citizens – Non-citizens excluded –Urbanized –Embraced Americanization –Anti-immigrant

Mexican Women Sexual division of labor Maintaining the work force Preserving Mexican culture Women as wage earners

Mexican American women factory workers, 1922

El Paso Laundry strike of 1919 Women and labor activism Sense of community Laundry Workers’ Union Community solidarity AFL helps out Surplus Mexican labor ends the strike

Second-Generation Mexican Women Forces of Americanization –Education –Employment –Media Culture and the border