HATE CRIMES AND DISCRIMINATION MEXICANS

Hate Crimes and Discrimination Mexicans



Hate Crimes and Discrimination Mexicans

Introduction

Mexican Americans have been the victim of discrimination throughout the history of the United States. The media has played a big role in promoting the negative Mexican stereo type. They have been discriminated against on the basis of race, culture, language and ethnicity. The Ku Klux Klan in particular has voiced opinions of negativity against Mexican Americans. They are also held responsible for lynching a considerable number of Mexican Americans during the time period between 1848 and 1928.

Hate Crimes and Discrimination Mexicans in the Bracero Era

The Bracero Program

In May of 1942 negotiations between Mexico and the United States looked to establish a labor agreement which would allow Mexican migrant labor to enjoy increased wages, while delivering much needed labor to the agricultural sector of the American Southwest (though workers would extend to 25 states across the country). The original agreement created a recruiting process in which both governments participated. Recruitment centers were located in Mexico. Officials from both governments selected braceros after undergoing physical examinations and background checks, those selected were then sent to recruitment centers across the border at which point they would then be assigned to various Southwestern farmers.

In regard to financial compensation, braceros would be paid a “prevailing wage” and could only be contracted if a domestic labor shortage actually existed. In addition, were the presence of braceros to cause an “adverse effect” on wages, then employers were not to be granted contracted migrant labor. At the same time, the United States government legally required contracting farmers to supply adequate housing, medical care and occupational insurance. The agreement promised that braceros would not suffer from “discriminatory attacks”, as well guaranteeing transportation, living expenses, and repatriation of migrant employees in accordance with Article 29 of the Mexican Constitution. One of the great fears among the general Mexican public was that the United States might draft some men into the military, which the agreement nullified, promising no such action would be taken by the United States government. Finally, ten percent of bracero wages were to be placed into a savings fund which would be held in Mexico's Agricultural Credit Bank, a carrot to encourage the laborers to return home once their services were complete. While the program would undergo various alterations, it would be roughly maintained in the same way for 22 years with few interruptions except for the period from 1948 - 1951 when section 3 of the 1917 Immigration and Naturalization Act governed all labor transactions between the two nations. The end of World War II meant the U.S. government no longer saw a pressing need to regulate the labor agreement. During this period, the United States government placed the responsibility of funding the transportation and repatriation of migrants on growers in the Southwest and other regions utilizing contracted labor. Additionally, the Department of Labor took over for the Department of Agriculture. With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, United States growers ...