WEBVTT 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:05.640 Yeah, I was struck in for an eager to get a hold of God and hill. 00:00:09.539 --> 00:00:14.006 If the company, your local velocity, 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:18.256 thousands of mexican americans have long been employed in fields other 00:00:18.289 --> 00:00:24.006 than farm labor and a series of events have helped pave the way for others. 00:00:24.039 --> 00:00:27.907 First of all, as mexicans continued to immigrate to the United States. 00:00:27.940 --> 00:00:31.497 During the first half of this century, the demand for farm labor in the 00:00:31.530 --> 00:00:36.527 southwest decreased. These factors combined to place tremendous pressures 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:40.027 on mexican american families who had been living in the borderlands for 00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:45.876 generations. And many mexican americans migrated to new areas where the 00:00:45.909 --> 00:00:50.997 wages were better to the crops of Ohio michigan Wisconsin. There. They 00:00:51.030 --> 00:00:54.656 worked during the summer, but most of them returned to their Southwestern 00:00:54.689 --> 00:01:00.626 homes for the winter. Then too many jobs that had been done by hand were 00:01:00.659 --> 00:01:04.897 taken over by machine. The number of people needed to harvest a crop was 00:01:04.930 --> 00:01:11.197 drastically reduced and during the 1930s the Dust Bowl drove thousands of 00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:16.247 Anglo-American farming people into the southwest. These dust bowl migrants 00:01:16.280 --> 00:01:21.326 also sought jobs as farm workers and the labor market was flooded. Where 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:27.326 were the unemployed farm laborers to go? Well, the United States had moved 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:31.676 to limit the immigration of foreigners. Laws had limited Chinese 00:01:31.709 --> 00:01:36.147 immigration. In the 19th century, The number of Japanese immigrants was 00:01:36.180 --> 00:01:40.607 cut by the Gentleman's agreement of 1907 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:45.717 And in 1924, the United States Congress had passed the National Origins 00:01:45.750 --> 00:01:50.686 Act, Although this law had little effect on immigration from Mexico, It 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:54.076 further cut. The number of Europeans who were allowed to immigrate to the 00:01:54.109 --> 00:01:56.607 United States. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:00.956 For many years, these european immigrants had met the labor requirements 00:02:00.989 --> 00:02:04.426 of industry in the Northeastern and midwestern sections of the United 00:02:04.459 --> 00:02:08.967 States. When immigration restrictions limited the availability of european 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:13.557 workers, many mexican americans were able to move into the vacuum that was 00:02:13.590 --> 00:02:15.777 created 00:02:15.810 --> 00:02:20.226 the pattern of moving into industrial jobs gained real momentum. During 00:02:20.259 --> 00:02:25.376 World War two, job opportunities increased partly as a result of President 00:02:25.409 --> 00:02:29.677 franklin D. Roosevelt's Committee on Fair Employment practices established 00:02:29.710 --> 00:02:34.136 to ensure equal opportunity in employment and more and more, Mexican 00:02:34.169 --> 00:02:38.837 americans began to enter different kinds of work. Some of these jobs had 00:02:38.870 --> 00:02:43.587 employed members of la raza for many generations. For instance, 00:02:43.620 --> 00:02:48.617 transportation jobs, mexican americans played and continue to play an 00:02:48.650 --> 00:02:52.047 important role in the construction and maintenance of the railroads of 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.756 this country. 00:02:54.789 --> 00:02:59.006 In the 1880s, they provided most of the labor that went into the building 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:02.946 of the Santa Fe and Pacific, railroads. 00:03:02.979 --> 00:03:07.997 rails, which place the southwest in the path of transcontinental commerce 00:03:08.030 --> 00:03:13.617 and opened the way for its development as an economic empire. Since that 00:03:13.650 --> 00:03:17.506 time, mexican americans have worked on the railroads throughout the 00:03:17.539 --> 00:03:22.267 southwest and have followed this work into other parts of the country the 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:27.337 necessity of maintaining this vast transportation system created a lasting 00:03:27.370 --> 00:03:33.297 demand for labor. Beginning from this base, mexican americans have found 00:03:33.330 --> 00:03:41.330 their way into all kinds of construction and maintenance jobs 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:50.606 like agricultural work. Many construction jobs are seasonal in nature 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:54.226 during the winter months, there's little work and so many mexican 00:03:54.259 --> 00:03:59.147 americans have entered jobs in other industries. They found jobs in the 00:03:59.180 --> 00:04:03.617 heavily industrial areas of the north in places like Chicago Illinois and 00:04:03.650 --> 00:04:08.356 Gary indiana. There they went to work in steel mills, meatpacking plants, 00:04:08.389 --> 00:04:13.506 tanneries, they've also found jobs in the automobile industry in Detroit 00:04:13.539 --> 00:04:18.017 jobs for which hundreds of mexican americans first were recruited in 19 00:04:18.050 --> 00:04:20.156 18.5 00:04:20.189 --> 00:04:25.916 a century later, There are about 700 Mexican Americans living scattered 00:04:25.949 --> 00:04:28.517 throughout the Midwest. 00:04:28.550 --> 00:04:32.476 The culture. These mexican americans brought with them from the Southwest 00:04:32.509 --> 00:04:37.267 has been modified by their experiences in the north. Perhaps these changes 00:04:37.300 --> 00:04:40.947 have occurred because discrimination against mexican americans was not 00:04:40.980 --> 00:04:45.447 quite so extreme as it had been in the Southwest. Perhaps because in their 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:49.697 jobs and in their daily lives, they were in constant contact with anglo 00:04:49.730 --> 00:04:54.356 americans. Some of these mexican americans have been almost completely 00:04:54.389 --> 00:04:59.906 assimilated into the general population, but at the same time, some of the 00:04:59.939 --> 00:05:05.246 largest barrios in the country are found in places like East Chicago gary 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:10.856 indiana Lansing michigan compared to the Southwest. A much higher 00:05:10.889 --> 00:05:15.197 proportion of the mexican americans in the north are U. S. Citizens and in 00:05:15.230 --> 00:05:19.856 many cases english has replaced spanish as the language of the midwestern 00:05:19.889 --> 00:05:25.637 mexican american home then to the residential separation of mexican 00:05:25.670 --> 00:05:29.827 americans from anglo americans that occurs in many parts of the Southwest 00:05:29.860 --> 00:05:37.860 has all but disappeared. In many northern cities 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:46.507 now, many immigrants came from rural Mexico. But in the United States, 00:05:46.540 --> 00:05:52.017 they've become an increasingly urban people today. Approximately 80% of 00:05:52.050 --> 00:05:56.387 all Mexican Americans live in cities and in these cities they're searching 00:05:56.420 --> 00:06:00.957 for new opportunities to learn skills to learn the English so necessary 00:06:00.990 --> 00:06:06.806 for many jobs. The large scale farming enterprises once flooded with labor 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:11.116 eventually found themselves facing a shortage of labor and the reaction of 00:06:11.149 --> 00:06:15.697 growers to this situation further encourage the awakening for. It created 00:06:15.730 --> 00:06:21.656 some of the first widespread spoken protest among mexican americans. It 00:06:21.689 --> 00:06:26.346 began when World War Two further depleted and already dwindling farm labor 00:06:26.379 --> 00:06:31.637 supply For all workers who could either join the armed forces or found 00:06:31.670 --> 00:06:35.866 jobs in higher paying wartime industries, but at the same time the 00:06:35.899 --> 00:06:42.606 production of foodstuffs was critical to the war effort. And so in 1942, 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:47.447 the United States and Mexico concluded the Bracero agreement. Mexican 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:52.846 laborers or braceros would be contracted for a specified season and 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:57.587 brought to the United States to perform agricultural work. At first the 00:06:57.620 --> 00:07:01.967 bracero program was maintained by the farm Security Administration. The F 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:06.137 . S. A. And the agreement between the two nations was followed to the 00:07:06.170 --> 00:07:11.556 letter, the mexican workers were guaranteed wages, transportation and 00:07:11.589 --> 00:07:15.527 housing. The agreement stated that braceros were not to be used in 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:19.887 competition with domestic farm workers. They were to be contracted only in 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:25.587 areas where a real farm labor shortage existed, officials from Mexico's 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:29.286 ministry of labor had the right to inspect the farms where braceros were 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:34.226 used and thus for the first time since Mexico lost her northern provinces 00:07:34.259 --> 00:07:38.046 to the United States, the government of Mexico had some say in the 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:43.257 treatment of mexicans across the border. Scarcely a year after the program 00:07:43.290 --> 00:07:48.056 began, the mexican inspectors accused several texas counties of severe 00:07:48.089 --> 00:07:52.567 discrimination against mexicans and mexican americans and refused to allow 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:57.197 anymore braceros to work in these counties. This boycott continued until 00:07:57.230 --> 00:08:02.007 the Bracero program ended in 1947, 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:06.556 but it made little difference to the texas growers for they hired illegal 00:08:06.589 --> 00:08:11.036 mexican immigrants who continue to provide a steady supply of farm labor 00:08:11.069 --> 00:08:16.406 with men willing to work for wages even lower than those paid the braceros. 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:22.327 Now, when the wartime Bracero agreement ended in 1947, the growers cried 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:25.106 for its renewal. 00:08:25.139 --> 00:08:32.846 1951. President Harry S. Truman signed into law, Public Law # 78. This law 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:37.827 formalized the bracero agreement between Mexico and the United States. It 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:42.197 began as an emergency measure to cope with labor shortages created by the 00:08:42.230 --> 00:08:47.167 Korean War, but growers demanded its continuation and the agreement was 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:52.707 renewed periodically until it finally expired in 1964. 00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:57.917 The growers preferred braceros to domestic labor. The Braceros would work 00:08:57.950 --> 00:09:03.417 long hours at $0.50 an hour. On the other hand, domestic workers, most of 00:09:03.450 --> 00:09:08.927 them US citizens asked for more money and for extra overtime pay. The 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:13.287 Braceros were willing to accept substandard housing, domestic laborers 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:19.766 demanded improved working and housing conditions. Thus in 1951 alone, More 00:09:19.799 --> 00:09:24.896 than 190,000 Braceros were contracted to work in the United States, But in 00:09:24.929 --> 00:09:32.006 that same year more than 500 Mexicans entered this country illegally, 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:37.016 1955, the number of Braceros in the United States during the crop season 00:09:37.049 --> 00:09:42.856 had risen to about 400,000 and this combination of Braceros and illegal 00:09:42.889 --> 00:09:47.927 immigrants served to drive Mexican American farm laborers from their jobs. 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:53.697 The availability of cheap labor created intense job competition. Many of 00:09:53.730 --> 00:09:56.687 the braceros who had worked a season or two in the United States 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:01.006 eventually returned to this country as permanent residents and became an 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.366 accepted part of the mexican american community. But as a group, the 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:10.606 braceros were very unpopular. Mexican americans complained that the 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:15.506 bracero program depress the wages of domestic farm laborers. Since the 00:10:15.539 --> 00:10:20.407 braceros were readily available, the growers chose to contract them rather 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:25.346 than hiring the more expensive domestic labor. Mexican american farm 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:30.226 laborers stated that they had a choice of either accepting low wages or 00:10:30.259 --> 00:10:35.077 unemployment and the unemployed farm workers had to survive without social 00:10:35.110 --> 00:10:40.376 security benefits or unemployment insurance. But Aceros were also 00:10:40.409 --> 00:10:44.917 unpopular because they took the money they earned back to Mexico. Mexican 00:10:44.950 --> 00:10:48.526 american merchants suffered because the bracero spent most of their money 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:52.896 and company stores or perhaps in gambling casinos set up especially for 00:10:52.929 --> 00:10:57.596 them. The government and the public became increasingly aware of the 00:10:57.629 --> 00:11:01.907 mexican american protest. Public opinion turned against the bracero 00:11:01.940 --> 00:11:08.927 program. Congress renewed public law 78 for the last time in 1963. It was 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:14.337 allowed to expire on December 31, 1964. In spite of the cries and 00:11:14.370 --> 00:11:19.667 complaints of the growers. Since that time, the wages of domestic farm 00:11:19.700 --> 00:11:23.866 workers have increased and working conditions improved, although in most 00:11:23.899 --> 00:11:30.287 cases they're still substandard, but more important, a great many mexican 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:35.246 americans have found for the first time that they can influence public 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:41.457 opinion that they can make themselves heard. And by the thousands, they've 00:11:41.490 --> 00:11:46.856 started to take part in a political awakening actively to seek greater 00:11:46.889 --> 00:11:52.136 education for themselves and their Children. They've begun to see the 00:11:52.169 --> 00:11:58.500 power of the ballot box to participate in a new experience.