Verified Document

Mexican-Americans Mexicans Have A Long Term Paper

S. democracy. In 1998, the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA convened several middle-aged Latinos to discuss the Latino society in California while they were growing up. Born in the 1940s and 1950s, they remembered a much more segregated and exclusionary society than the one today, and the hurt remains: They described growing up in a situation in which being Latino was simply not validated. "Back then [1950s]... who cares? You're just a Mexican, you're a 'beaner,' you know, you're a 'greaser'" (Hayes-Bautista, 2004, p. 14). The Mexicans born after the war had a very different experience than their parents and grandparents. The children of the postwar era were mostly children of U.S.-born Mexicans and grew up in barrios populated almost completely by the U.S.-born residents (Hayes-Bautista, 2004, p. 19)

Much did not change for the Mexicans from the 1940s to 1960s, with discrimination and segregation continuing to be the norm. Many school districts continued to send children to Mexican schools, based on the theory that the students were such slow learners they would hold back white student levels. In 1944, the parents of nine-year-old Sylvia Mendez' moved to the largely non-Hispanic white community of Westminster in Orange County and tried unsuccessfully to enroll her in the neighborhood school. This school was a source of community pride and the ramshackle Mexican school was located adjacent to a dairy farm (Hayes-Bautista, 2004, p. 24). Her father...

It stipulated in Los Angeles, for example, that "No portion of the herein described property shall ever be sold, conveyed, leased, occupied by, or rented to any person of an Asiatic or African race... Nor to any person of the Mexican race" (ibid).
The 1960s saw the beginning of a major change in civil rights across the entire United States for Mexican-Americans as well as blacks and other minorities. At this time, the Chicano movement was established and grew strong, with a strong emphasis on politics and law through such groups as the United Farm Workers. This heralded in a new, but still very difficult time for Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants that continues today.

References sited

Hayes-Bautista, David E. Latinos in the Golden State. Berkley: University of California Press, 2004.

Kowalski, Kathiann. Life in the Barrio. Cobblestone (2004) 25.5.

Menchaca, Martha. Mexican Outsiders. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004.

Moore, Shirley Ann Wilson. We feel the want of protection: The politics of law and race in California, 1848-1878. California History (2003) 81:3-4, 96(31).

Urban History Review Becoming Mexican-American: ethnicity, culture and identity in Chicano Los Angeles,…

Sources used in this document:
References sited

Hayes-Bautista, David E. Latinos in the Golden State. Berkley: University of California Press, 2004.

Kowalski, Kathiann. Life in the Barrio. Cobblestone (2004) 25.5.

Menchaca, Martha. Mexican Outsiders. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004.

Moore, Shirley Ann Wilson. We feel the want of protection: The politics of law and race in California, 1848-1878. California History (2003) 81:3-4, 96(31).
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Mexican War 1846-1848
Words: 1318 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Mexican-American War (1846-1848) The Great Territorial Loss From the perspective of the United States, the Mexican-American War, together with the Louisiana Purchase, represented important land acquisitions as part of the country's relentless expansion westward. In this regard, Kurth (1999) reports that, "There were grand achievements in this national project of continental expansion, especially the southwestern annexations, which were achieved through U.S. military victory in the Mexican-American War. In this case, the United

American Foreign Policy in His
Words: 1508 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

The United States of America's foreign policy has mirrored its influence and power within the international community. As a small and weak nation, America was forced to employ a regional foreign policy, limited to the North American continent. But as the U.S. grew into a powerful industrialized nation, its foreign policy began to change to include more international issues. Finally, as a result of the need for the United States

Mexican-American War and Civil War
Words: 1979 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

More precisely, while the Blacks were in fact the tools of the British presence in America and their desires for freedom were exploited by the Loyalists, in the case of the Indians, their presence in the Civil War was also related to their desire to reshape their territories. Thus, the strong motivation of the Indians after the war began was to reconsider the borders the white people had imposed

American History Final Exam Stages of the
Words: 4609 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

American History Final Exam Stages of the American Empire Starting in the colonial period and continuing up through the Manifest Destiny phase of the American Empire in the 19th Century, the main goal of imperialism was to obtain land for white farmers and slaveholders. This type of expansionism existed long before modern capitalism or the urban, industrial economy, which did not require colonies and territory so much as markets, cheap labor and

Mexican Immigrants
Words: 1347 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Mexican Immigrants The Effects of Poverty:Mexican Immigrants Living in America for the First Time According to an article in the Chicago Tribune in August of 2002, at the end of the summer of 2001 one of the Bush administration's major initiatives was amnesty for Mexican illegal immigrants in the United States. The presidents of America and Mexico seemed all but in love, and borders appeared about to dissolve. A year later, at

Mexican Immigration Is One of
Words: 1217 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

A and those policies that are designed to create a social and political situation that is hostile to immigration (California's clause 187, and other means of reducing benefits and access to social security, education, family reunification, and such like). The overall effect of these policies has been to create a situation of greater social and political vulnerability for migrants, both in the course of their crossing the border and in

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now