F. P. Ramirez was a fighter for race equality whose journalism exposed severe injustices to native Californian society during a violent paradigm shift in southern California and Mexico during the 1850s. Ramirez was not perfect and his sociopolitical errors offer as much insight as his greatest achievements.
There was little Chicano resistance to the pro-slavery Chivalry Democrats during the 1850s. Through this dark era, racism was normalized, voters became complacent, and an elite class dominated Los Angeles. Yet, Ramirez remained devoted to human rights and equality. At the age of 26 Ramirez spoke three languages and held multiple public offices in Los Angeles; taking advantage of his privileges to speak out for Chicano rights for many years. Ramirez solely wrote El Clamor Publico, a weekly paper that offered modern day solutions to civil problems of native Californians throughout the 1850s.
Through El Clamor Publico Ramirez reported illegal executions that were arranged by secret societies of the elites who ran the justice system. The elites could have executed Ramirez, but this fear did not slow his clear and radical reporting on social injustices. Today, we can follow his example by speaking out fearlessly about controversial issues like border control, minutemen, distribution of wealth, universal healthcare, education, and equal employer bias for any gender and race.
Ramirez was not perfect and scholars can learn as much from his failures as his triumphs. In Los Angeles, Ramirez condemned Spanish-speaking voters in California for supporting the Chivalry Democrats who supported the enslavement of most non-whites. However, the true enemy had already infiltrated and manipulated the depths of non-elite Californian subconsci...
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...nia sociopolitical transformation demonstrates the power of people to rapidly change society for the good of all mankind. However, if change does not come quickly, Ramirez’ example teaches us to keep fighting for our ideals.
No matter his success in politics, Ramirez’ documented important events and particularily discriminatory behavior that, over time, would have been lost. Due to these recordings, today we can learn from the grim history and make the lessons applicable to contemporary social issues such as racism, endemism, and, discrimination toward gender and sexual orientation. The most important step toward progression of sociopolitical health through equality is learning from history because “what we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat.”
Works Cited
A Clamor for Equality: Emergence and Exile of Californio Activist Francisco P. Ramirez.
Teja, Jesus F. De La. A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguin. Austin: State House Press, 1991.
Through visiting La Plaza De Culturas Y Artes, I have learned a lot more interesting, yet, surprising new information about the Chicano history in California. For example, in the 1910’s and on the high immigration of Mexicans and other Chicanos, into coal mines and farms by major corporations, made California one of the richest states in the US. I also learned that most of California 's economy was heavily reliant on immigrants. Immigrants were the preferred worker for major corporations because they didn 't have American rights and were given the harder jobs for less pay.
The author of Mexican Lives, Judith Adler Hellman, grapples with the United States’ economic relationship with their neighbors to the south, Mexico. It also considers, through many interviews, the affairs of one nation. It is a work held to high esteem by many critics, who view this work as an essential part in truly understanding and capturing Mexico’s history. In Mexican Lives, Hellman presents us with a cast from all walks of life. This enables a reader to get more than one perspective, which tends to be bias. It also gives a more inclusive view of the nation of Mexico as a whole. Dealing with rebel activity, free trade, assassinations and their transition into the modern age, it justly captures a Mexico in its true light.
This book was published in 1981 with an immense elaboration of media hype. This is a story of a young Mexican American who felt disgusted with being pointed out as a minority and was unhappy with affirmative action programs although he had gained advantages from them. He acknowledged the gap that was created between him and his parents as the penalty immigrants ought to pay to develop and grow into American culture. And he confessed that he was bewildered to see other Hispanic teachers and students determined to preserve their ethnicity and traditions by asking for such issues to be dealt with as departments of Chicano studies and minority literature classes. A lot of critics criticized him as a defector of his heritage, but there are a few who believed him to be a sober vote in opposition to the political intemperance of the 1960s and 1970s.
8. Meyer, Michael C., et al. The Course of Mexican History, 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
In an article written by a Senior student they discuss a monumental moment in Mexican American history concerning equality in the South. The student’s paper revolves around the Pete Hernandez V. Texas case in which Hernandez receives a life in prison sentence by an all white jury. The essay further discusses how Mexican Americans are technically “white” americans because they do not fall into the Indian (Native American), or black categories and because of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848. The student’s paper proceeds to discuss the goals connecting the Hernandez V. Texas case which was to secure Mexican American’s right within the fourteenth amendment [1].
... middle of paper ... ... Throughout the process of attempting to achieve these goals, the battle for racial equality was continuously lost and left with it a legacy of social sentiment that would manifest itself through several socio-cultural movements in the forthcoming years. Works Cited: Marable, Manning, et al.
Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire a History of Latinos in America. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc, 2000.
Martinez, Miriam. "A Latina of many colors, Sandra Cisneros." Latino Leaders Apr.-May 2004: 42+. Student Edition. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.
Few things have impacted the United States throughout its history like the fight for racial equality. It has caused divisions between the American people, and many name it as the root of the Civil War. This issue also sparked the Civil Rights Movement, leading to advancements towards true equality among all Americans. When speaking of racial inequality and America’s struggle against it, people forget some of the key turning points in it’s history. Some of the more obvious ones are the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the North, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s march on Washington D.C. in 1963. However, people fail to recount a prominent legal matter that paved the way for further strides towards equality.
Narrator: In the beginning of the 1900’s Mexican- Americans in the U.S. lacked civil rights. Until they stood up and brought significant changes in their community. It was the governments responsibility to fulfill their rights and basic needs. They were able to create a better society, in which they brought better working conditions for farmer workers, better education for students in America, and Mexican- American leader to represent hispanics in the U.S. Thank you.
Tejada-Flores, Rick. "Fight in the Fields - CESAR CHAVEZ | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 12 February 2012.
When Spaniards colonized California, they invaded the native Indians with foreign worldviews, weapons, and diseases. The distinct regional culture that resulted from this union in turn found itself invaded by Anglo-Americans with their peculiar social, legal, and economic ideals. Claiming that differences among these cultures could not be reconciled, Douglas Monroy traces the historical interaction among them in Thrown Among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California. Beginning with the missions and ending in the late 1800s, he employs relations of production and labor demands as a framework to explain the domination of some groups and the decay of others and concludes with the notion that ?California would have been, and would be today, a different place indeed if people had done more of their own work.?(276) While this supposition may be true, its economic determinism undermines other important factors on which he eloquently elaborates, such as religion and law. Ironically, in his description of native Californian culture, Monroy becomes victim of the same creation of the ?other? for which he chastises Spanish and Anglo cultures. His unconvincing arguments about Indian life and his reductive adherence to labor analysis ultimately detract from his work; however, he successfully provokes the reader to explore the complexities and contradictions of a particular historical era.
Juan saw injustice as he perceived it, and so with only two friends and all of the bravery he could possibly muster, he set off on a journey that not only defied the laws of their own government but ours as well. Together, they overcame some challenges, only to be hurt in the most gruesome ways. Often, the price of non-conformity is so minor to us at first glance, that a great deal of individuals think it is a simple matter: “Do I d...
During this course, this author has been taught about various social issues in today’s society as a whole. Some of these issues include perception of race and culture, poverty, social inequality, urbanization, and more. After exploring all these issues and more, this author has chosen to finish his last assignment on racial discrimination and Hispanic Americans. This author decided upon this specific issue because he has observed this in almost every town or city he has visited as a truck driver. This author thinks it is unfortunate that minorities are still treated unfairly. As citizens of the United States of America, it is useful to become educated on what racial discrimination is and see how it is applied in everyday life. This author decided to investigate this issue and determined the genuineness and voluminous of it.