Migrant Farm Workers in the 1960’s Luis Valdez used his theatre platform as a weapon to speak out against the Latino stereotypes and their effects on society by using Mexican characters in the symbolic play “Los Vendidos” as each individual had a label against the racial prejudices at that time (GlassGlassvisage.hubpages.com 1). He showed how the Mexicans were treated by society, and they all spoke Spanish and worked together. The characters attached to the labels were fabrications of society (Glassvisage). Valdez describes the prejudice that all Americans feel the need to be superior to others, and to be in control (Glassvisage). Glassvisage states the used car lot of Honest Sancho in the play, called “Honest Sancho’s Used Mexican Lot”, likens Mexicans to objects, which is how they probably felt when being stereotyped against (Glassvisage). Honest Sancho sells robots to the Americans portraying the Mexicans, and describes them in technical terms. The final line of the play is from the revolucionario referring to the robot Sancho as “He’s the best model we got!” (Glassvisage). The Mexicans realize that if no action is taken, more names will be created and prejudice will continue, and the mindsets of people would only be renewed as society changes (Glassvisage). Glassvisage states Miss Jimenez who comes to the used car lot looking for a Mexican for Governor Reagan’s administration, decides they are not up to par, and represents the similar attitude of some people when they see a skin color or hear an accent; automatically stereotyping (Glassvisage 2). The author states many people make judgments and often do not realize it at the time. Valdez knew that Mexican people dealt with this prejudice, but it didn’t mean they wer... ... middle of paper ... ...ldez and his theater did expand by taking Chicano theater to Broadway and more commercial venues and by moving into commercial cinema and television.” (Pendergast) Works Cited Malpica, Daniel M. "Indigenous Mexicans migrants in the city of Los Angeles: Social networks and social capital among Zapotec workers." Dissertations & Theses (2008): 141. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text. Peach, Hedley G. "Letter to the Editor: Migrant Farm-workers and health." Rural and Remote Health 13.2 (2013): 2337. MEDLINE Complete. Web. 2 May 2014. Pendergast, Sara & Pendergast, Ted. "Valdez, Luis (1940-)." Gale Virtual Reference Library (2000): 15. St. James Press. Sosnowski, Jana. "An Analysis of the Characters in "Los Vendidos"." Synonym-Demand Media (2014). Visage, Glass. ""Los Vendidos", Luis Valdez: Using steorotypes to end racism." Glass Visage (2012): 6.
At the end of article they describe the pain Joaquín Murieta endured for being a honest and innocent man: “His soul swelled beyond its former boundaries, and the barriers of honor, rocked into atoms by the strong passion which shook his heart like an earthquake, crumbled and fell” (1). At the current time it didn 't matter if you were honest or not with law. If you weren 't white in 1850, you were considered an outsider. Since Joaquín Murieta was Mexican, he was not persecuted because of his transgression but because he was Mexican. The writer wanted to give you an idea of what it felt to be a Mexican and the mistreatment they got from the white
... the street. "They're dirty!" (p. 302) The lady did not know anything about Juan and she had a stereotype of what Mexican's were. This happens to many people. People are ignorant and don't watch what they are saying. This type of behavior leads to discrimination, prejudice and racism.
She explains how Mexican and Chicano literature, music, and film is alienated; their culture is considered shameful by Americans. They are forced to internalize their pride in their culture. This conflict creates an issue in a dual culture society. They can neither identify with North American culture or with the Mexican culture.
The White Racial Frame has changed over time to some extent. It’s not just an idea that started in the 21st century but it has been around since the first contact of Europeans. El Teatro Campesino displays how Chican@s rose above and came out far. Luiz Valdez and his performers performed about social issues that raised awareness to communities. Where as in “The Color of Debt” white supremacy takes action when the blacks are being treated unfairly and differently than the whites. Overall, El Teatro Campesino was a great implement to demolish some of the framing of racial and ethnic groups that Feagin discussed in The White Racial
In “Like Mexican” when Gary announced he fell in love with a Japanese girl his family did not immediately accept the good news Gary thought it to be. Gary’s grandmother wanted him to marry an “Okie” (People different from his own culture.) The false assumption from Gary’s family led to disbelief and hesitation, but Gary realizes that one defined by their race and ethnicity does not determine who you are and your financial situation (Soto 280). In the end Gary Soto managed to be “different” and didn’t follow his Mexican stereotypes. No matter what race, country, ethnicity people are that people can also have similar financial status and living environment was the lesson he learned from his experience. In contrast, Deborah Tannen’s “Gender in the Classroom” conducts surveys and observations by splitting the students into “degree programs they were in, one by gender, and one by conversational style.” The four foreign, male students “spoke in class at least occasionally.”(Tannen 286). Although, it was particularly hard for the Japanese woman to speak in an all female-based group, because the woman was so “overwhelmed” by the change of atmosphere; She was surprised by the other, quiet and shy women to be so talkative and loud. “The differing ethics” from the varied backgrounds led to Tannen’s experiment as a success. Tannen also learned a lesson from her surveys. She thought that “everyone’s style changes in response to the context and other’s styles” no
Harvest of the Empire is a valuable tool to gaining a better understanding of Latinos. This book helps people understand how varied Latino’s in the United States are. The author also helped give insight as to how Americans reacts to differences within itself. It does this by giving a description of the struggles that every Latino immigrant faced entering the United States. These points of emphasis of the book were explained thoroughly in the identification of the key points, the explanation of the intersection of race, ethnicity, and class, in addition to the overall evaluation of the book.
Moraga, Cherrie. “Queer Aztlan: the Reformation of Chicano Tribe,” in The Color of Privilege 1996, ed Aida Hurtado. Ann Arbor: University Michigan Press, 1996.
The fundamental conflict that led to their arrest and unfair trial was a clash between Mexican-Americans and the dominant White American culture. Acting as a host, El Pachuco is the spirit of the ideal, defiant Pachuco and serves as Henry’s Reyna’s alter ego throughout the play, intermingling past Mexican culture with the current Zoot Suit culture. El Pachuco serves as a corrective to illustrate the heavy biases that the court and media displayed throughout the 1940s against Chicano people. Through his constant interjections during the courtroom scene, and his final confrontation with the reporter at the conclusion of the play, he points out the injustices that Mexican-Americans had to endure. El Pachuco highlights each point in which the court discriminates or treats the Zoot Suiters unfairly.
The Mexican Migrant Farm Workers’ community formed in Southern California in the 20th century because of two factors that came together: farming emphasized by migrations like the Okie farmers from the East and Mexicans “imported” to the U.S. because of the need for cheap labor as a replacement of Americans during World War II. The migrant labor group formed after an already similar group in the U.S had been established in California, the American farm workers from the East, known as the Okies. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s caused the movement of the Okies to the West and was followed by the transition from American dominant farm labor to Mexican migrant labor. The Okies reinforced farming in California through the skills they took with them, significant to the time period that Mexicans arrived to California in greater numbers. However, the community was heightened by World War II from 1939 to 1945, which brought in immigrants to replace Americans that left to fight in the battlefields. Robin A. Fanslow, archivist at the Library of Congress, argues that because of World War II, “those who were left behind took advantage of the job opportunities that had become available in [the] West Coast” (Fanslow). Although some Mexican migrants already lived in the U.S prior to this event, a vast majority arrived at the fields of California specifically to work as farmers through the Bracero Program, created because of the Second World War. Why the Second World War and not the First World War? WWII urgently demanded labor and Mexico was the United States’ closest resource. Although WWI also caused the U.S. to have a shortage of labor; at the time, other minorities dominated, like the Chinese and Japanese.
Latino portrayals in the media of theatre and movies have had negative affects for the Latino community but there are roles that are slowly becoming positive for their community. Not only have Latinos been portrayed negatively through stereotypes but they have also been ignored from American Media. When Latinos are actually present in different forms of media a very consistent type of Latino is portrayed. The words Hispanic and Latino already come with an image of that specific person who has dark features and an accent. When it comes to stereotyping Latinos in the media whether it be Hollywood or Broadway they tend to translate everything negatively through the roles they play. The audiences’ lack of understanding different Latino cultures allows the media to manipulate and reinforce myths on Latino communities. Rita Moreno from the film West Side Story had to overcome many stereotypes in order to achieve her fame. "Before 'West Side Story,' I was always offered the stereotypical Latina roles. The Conchitas and Lolita’s in westerns. I was always barefoot. It was humiliating, embarrassing stuff. But I did it because there was nothing else. After 'West Side Story,' it was pretty much the same thing. A lot of gang stories”
Crouch, Ned. Mexicans & Americans : Cracking The Cultural Code. NB Publishing, Inc., 2004. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 21 Nov. 2011.
The United States cannot afford to lose the economic gains that come from immigrant labor. The economy would be suffering a greater loss if it weren’t for immigrants and their labor contributions, especially during the 2008 U.S. recession. The U.S. economy would most likely worsen if it weren’t for the strong labor force immigrants have provided this country. Despite the mostly negative views native-born Americans have towards immigrants and the economy, their strong representation in the labor forces continues today. Immigrants aren’t taking “American” jobs, they are taking the jobs that Americans don’t want (Delener & Ventilato, 2008). Immigrants contribute to various aspects of the economy, including brining valuable skills to their jobs, contributing to the cost of living through taxes, and the lacked use of welfare, healthcare, and social security when compared to native-born Americans, showing that the United States cannot afford to lose the contribution immigrants bring into the economy.
Montoya, Margret E. "Masks and Identify," and "Masks and Resistance," in The Latino/a Condition: A Critical Reader New York: New York University Press, 1998.
As long as civilizations have been around, there has always been a group of oppressed people; today the crucial problem facing America happens to be the discrimination and oppression of Mexican immigrants. “Mexican Americans constitute the oldest Hispanic-origin population in the United States.”(57 Falcon) Today the population of Mexican’s in the United States is said to be about 10.9%, that’s about 34 million people according to the US Census Bureau in 2012. With this many people in the United States being of Mexican descent or origin, one would think that discrimination wouldn’t be a problem, however though the issue of Mexican immigrant oppression and discrimination has never been a more prevalent problem in the United States before now. As the need for resolve grows stronger with each movement and march, the examination of why these people are being discriminated against and oppressed becomes more crucial and important. Oppression and Anti-discrimination organizations such as the Freedom Socialist Organization believe that the problem of discrimination began when America conquered Mexican l...
National Rural Health Alliance (2007). Yearbook and Annual Report 2006–2007 [Electronic version]. Retrieved April 09 from