One Mexican-american's thought

The United States of America is a country that was formed by Europeans (mainly English) who were not happy in England so they invaded what is now America and killed, tricked, and stole land from the native people that were here. These Americans were the first true “Wetbacks” to set foot on this land. Mexico was a land formed by indigenous victory over European powers France and Spain. Mexico was a land of great size and potential wealth in land resources like gold and crude oil, however the first relationship problems occurred when Americans found out about these potential wealthy opportunities and decided to cause a war with Mexico. Mexico could have chosen to sell the land, but since they declared not to do so, America took up its role of dominatrix yet again and steal more land by going to war with Mexico. This war led to an American victory and more wealth then they could have imagined at that time. However this led to problems because the border now extended south and now many indigenous looking not white people were now American citizens. Now Immigration is interesting because you have family members that now have been separated by a border that is agreed on by the governments but not the people. The people have to choose to stay at their homes and go through new racial injustices and language barriers to stay at what they know is home but now seems foreign or move south to what is now Mexico. Abraham Lincoln once said about America “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” however in my opinion nowadays it is “government for the people with money, by the people with money, and for the people with money.”
Now that I have given a little background on how these two countries started their relationship, I am going to acknowledge America’s hunger for wealth and racial homogeneity, by examining Americas programs for Mexican workers which helped to ensure more wealth for America, and by examining racial bills that have proved the want for racial homogeneity. America is a country that strives on making money at any cost (death of soldiers in war to exploiting immigrants for cheap labor) and because of the hunger for wealth they issued programs for Agribusiness to survive like making the Mexicans an exception to the Immigration Act of 1917. “In 1920 the alien land law was passed in the State of California which restricted the ability of noncitizens to own land.”(Johnson 110) This is an example of the begining, of what I think, is the want for racial homogeneity. Now to show that America is all about the money and not the people is the deportation of three hundred thousand Mexican and Mexican-Americans that didn’t have proper documents upon request during the “Great Depression”. Some of the people deported had never been to Mexico before, imagine not knowing anything about a country that you are assumed to be from and having to adapt to survive at least until you can get to an embassy or immigration station. This halted the immigration flow until World War II when the need for more agricultural workers was needed again so the Bracero program was started by the American government. The Bracero program was a wide-scale labor contract made with Mexico. The American government knew that the Mexicans were willing to work for low wages and in inhumane work conditions, but after about ten years of this program Americans start to realize they can tell the difference between Mexican-Americans and Mexicans. This leads to in “1954 “Operation WetBack” which was portrayed by mass media as a National Security issue.” (Garcia 119) This led to the deportation of over one million Mexicans and yet again Mexican-Americans that didn’t have documents upon request and the restriction of the border, which also led to the beginning of the “undocumented immigrant.” This also is where I think that the racial homogeneity thoughts continued and can be seen in the actions of America. Now immigration was put on the back burner until the birth of proposition 187. Proposition 187 was possible because of what is called an initiative process. “Initiative process is an exception to the general rule, affords voters themselves the opportunity to directly enact laws. The initiative, consistent with its progressive era roots, often is regaled as a populist tool that may force change on a government captured by special interests. In this spirit, initiatives have furthered a number of laudable goals in some states, including eliminating the poll tax and extending the franchise to women” (Johnson 110). Proposition 187 “the measure would bar state and local governments in California from providing non-emergency medical care, public assistance, social services, and education to undocumented immigrants. It would further require California law enforcement, health and social service agencies, and public school officials to report persons suspected of being undocumented to the Immigration and Naturalization Service(INS)” (Johnson 110). The question that was brought out by people that opposed proposition 187 is whether Proposition 187 is racist? I believe that it was racially motivated and that the white Californians feared becoming the minority in California and losing power to Mexican Americans, so subconsciously or consciously the white Californians are forming the thought of racial homogeneity. The question whether Proposition 187 might properly be classified as racist, however is deeply complicated. Part of its support comes from its concerns with the fiscal consequences of undocumented immigration. Some voters undoubtedly were fearful of a loss of control of their culture, society, and lives. Others, however, were motivated by the desire to halt the flow of Mexican Immigrants to the United States and to hasten their return to Mexico. Others were unabashedly anti-Mexican, regardless of the immigration status of the persons” (Johnson 111). I also think that all of this wouldn’t had happened if Mexicans spoke English, were somewhat wealthy, and were white; they wouldn’t have any problems with them “taking over California.” Other examples that I obtained from Kevin Johnson’s article that helps with this issue of racial homogeneity were actual quotes from what white people with powerful positions really think about “Illegal Aliens” The Proposition 187 media director for southern California had this to say “Proposition 187 is a logical step toward saving California from economic ruin. By flooding the state with 2 million illegal aliens to date, and increasing that figure each of the following 10 ears, Mexicans in California would number 15 million to 20 million by 2004. During those 10 years about 5 million to 8 million Californians would have emigrated to other states. If these trends continued, a Mexico-controlled California could vote to establish Spanish as the sole language of California, 10 million more English speaking Californians could flee, and there could be a statewide vote to leave the union and annex California to Mexico”(Johnson 112). Howard Ezell, who was the Western Regional Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, had been quoted a few times and he would definitely make Neo-Nazis and the KKK proud with these comments. “Illegal Aliens should be caught, skinned, and fried…. The mindset on the part of Illegal Aliens, is to commit crimes. The first law they break is to be here illegally. The attitude from then on is, I don’t have to obey your laws…. The people are tired of watching their state run wild and become a third world country” (Johnson 113). The last person has a very creative mind as well, she is passionate about her cause. A Proposition 187 drafter it really is her cause that she is trying to make a law that racially discriminates not just Mexicans but South and Central Americans and even some American citizens. All this fits the Racial homogeneity the brainwashing that associates being American is being white. One of the drafters of Proposition 187 Barbara Coe had these things to get off her mind when it comes to Illegal aliens and notice when she speaks if you feel a strong racial intent in her choice of words. “You get illegal alien children, Third World Children, out of our schools, and you will reduce the violence. That is a Fact…You’re not dealing with a lot of shiny face, little kiddes… You’re dealing with Third World cultures who come in, they shoot, they beat, they stab and they spread their drugs around in our school systems. And we’re paying for them to do it… My friends have never heard a racist word out of me. I just don’t like wetbacks” (Johnson 114). These types of feelings of hatred towards human beings makes you wonder why Mexico is still willing to put up with humility of their people and it also shows the evilest creation of all time money and how powerful it really has become. All this further complicates the immigration policies between the United States of America and Mexico.
The next issue that has effected the immigration flow of Mexicans into the United States and how the Mexicans are viewed in the United States at that current time is mass medias portrayal of Mexicans, on the news, television sitcoms, and in movies. The examples I am going to examine come from to sources: the first source is Celluloid Immigrant which was an article that was read by the class this semester. The other source is The Border According to Hollywood: The Three Caballeros, Pancho, and the Latin Senoritas. Both of the sources analyze stereotypes that have formed through popular mass media devices and informed the people that all Mexicans are a certain way. The mere fact that subconsciously Americans believe what is seen and heard from mass media outlets, until an American can personally change his/her mindset to accept the fact that these images are negative stereotypes and that mass media portrayals are either completely falsified or only pertain to a select few. The sources list movies as playing an influential role in stereotyping Mexicans. Another problem with stereotypes portrayed in these movies is how the stereotypes tend to be carried in the minds of the American viewer and passed down generation by generation and as a result stereotypes become hard to eradicate. The existence of these stereotypes are still seen in popular television shows today. Some of these shows are Desperate Housewives (ABC) and the OC (FOX) which both have shown the stereotypical Mexican gardeners and nannies. This is a common stereotype which suggests the only kind of work a Mexican man can do in America is either picking fruits and vegetables or taking care of a houses landscaping, and the Mexican woman in America can either be a nanny or maid. Celluloid Immigrant analyzes The Border According to Hollywood analyzes some popular American comedy films that portray the border towns of Mexico as an unpleasant place to visit unless someone is looking for trouble, sex , or drugs. The comedies Maciel analyzes are Losing It, The Three Amigos, and Born In East L.A.. The film Losing It took place in a bordertown called Tijuana “Tijuana is portrayed as a sleazy, dirty, criminal, and despicable area” (Maciel 223). The Three Amigos took place in a Mexican border town that portrayed the image that these Mexican border towns were inferior to the towns and cities that border Mexico on the United States side.