The period takes place in the 1960s, and early 70s and my head is spinning from all of the events that are transpiring. The Latinos have been trying to gain equal rights. The “Bracero program” has just ended (Tejada-Flores, n.d.). The program started in the United States with the help of Mexico. It brought Chicanos to the U.S. to work. The first reason we came here to work was so that companies could undercut wages and prevent strikes from taking place (Tejada-Flores, n.d.). American companies also needed to replace workers that went to fight in World War II (Tejada-Flores, n.d.). Caesar Chavez has been working extremely hard by traveling from town to town trying to unionize migrant farm workers. The immigrant farm workers are treated horribly because of the American belief in white privilege. This concept allows Caucasians access to better education, employment, housing, neighborhoods, and health care (Day & Schiele, 2013, p. 13). Caesar and his hardworking colleagues developed the National Farmworkers Association, which they did not refer to as a union because of the negative stereotype that they have (Ramirez, 2011). The end of the Bracero program resulted in the migrant farm workers union becoming stronger (Tejada-Flores, n.d.). Many of these events have contributed to the birth of the Chicano Movement. The time has now come for Mexican Americans to fight for equal rights in regard to wages, equality in school systems and against the maltreatment of Chicano workers. High school and college students have been walking out of class to exercise their beliefs in a need for educational reform (Ramirez, 2011). Before this, the graduation rate of Chicanos was extremely low, forcing them to drop out and become migrant farm workers (Ramirez, 2011). These circumstances are leading to separate but equal laws in regard to education similar to that of what the African Americans had. Hopefully, we will be able to acquire better textbooks along with Mexican teachers and counselors (Ramirez, 2011). According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, another important policy that is being terminated is the “national origins quota system” (FAIR, 2008). This action is creating a new policy that is restricting the number of immigrants that are allowed in the Western Hemisphere to 120,000 (FAIR, 2008). It will allow the remaining members of my immediate family to enter America and reside with my son and me. However, the dominant American social values are posing as a barrier by keeping Latinos under the power of the rich white people and their belief system (Day & Schiele, 2013, p. 7). Although with all of these positive measures taking place I still face many trials and tribulations.
One of my greater challenges is my ability to work. I am in poor health, and my hands are not functioning as well as they did when I was younger. From working in the fields, they have been cut up, bruised, and I have even lost a finger. I plan to try and fight for the rights of migrant farm workers. If I fight for better treatment and fewer health risks at my job then I won’t have to worry as much about being injured. Another hardship I face is getting my oldest son to graduate before he ends up quitting school to become a migrant farm worker like myself. I have taught my son to work hard, and I will get him to graduate by teaching him to work just as hard at school. It is hard for him to become educated because the schools are just now starting to reform. However, he is already so far behind I fear that he will just dropout. Getting the rest of my family here presents as another test for me. I fear that I will not make enough money to move them here, and it will be too hard for my wife to travel with the younger children. I plan to work harder though and save some money to get my family to California. If I rely heavily on my values, I may pull out of this. My family, my son’s education, and my ability to work are all criteria by which I choose my goals (Day & Schiele, 2013, p. 5).
References:
Day, P. J., & Schiele, J. H. (2013). A new history of social welfare (7th ed., pp. 5-13). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
History of U.S. Immigration Laws Historical Immigrant Admission Data: 1821 to 2006. (2008, January 1). Retrieved January 23, 2015, from http://www.fairus.org/
Ramirez, S. (2011, July 9). Chicano Movement. Retrieved January 23, 2015, from http://www.immigrationinamerica.org/
Tejada-Flores, R. (n.d.). The Fight in the Fields Caesar Chavez and the Farmworkers' Struggle. Retrieved January 23, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/