Migration policies conveniently excluded or accepted immigrants based on the interests of the white superior race in America. These interests reflect on the change of US citizenship of Mexican, Philippine and Slovenian immigrants as they progressively entered the US. George Martinez creates an interesting point in his article by referring to judges as Anglo judges due to the fact that white supremacy has been built on Anglo-saxon belief of white race purity and dominance. When it was necessary “Mexicans were co-whites [to suit] the dominant group - and non-white...to protect Anglo privilege and supremacy,” it all comes back to the idea of whites being the race of the nation. After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 court cases have emerged questioning Mexicans as equal citizens of America because “Mexican-Americans [faced] discrimination very similar to that experienced by African Americans”. …show more content…
Mexicans were in the process of being considered white or other by the government, but in society they were already classified as an other race by exclusion.
Filipinos were accepted immigrants in the US because the superior race had interests in Asia. Before 1946 Filipinos were not considered under the federal immigration laws that prevented Chinese and Japanese from entering America. They were instead considered US nationals that could do the manual work necessary in America and thus were purchased from a treaty with Spain. With this new land the US could now take “advantage of...acquired Asian marketplaces and resources” thus expanding western commercial capitalism to the world. Continuing with the idea of Manifest Destiny, migration policies were beneficial for the overall benefit of the country, once the Philippine independence rose up there was no benefit for Filipinos to be considered US
citizens. The fate of Filipinos and Mexicans was decided by the U.S. federal government for exclusion while “not-yet-white immigrants consistently had a more secure claim to citizenship, to civil rights and political power, and a greater opportunity to choose to pass as whites, especially in seeking jobs”. The federal government wasn’t excluding “not-yet-whites” because by appearance they were already close to being white what was left was assimilation. As Slav immigrants entered the U.S. they were able to notice the treatment towards the black community by society due to their skin color which “made whiteness that much more attractive,” and an appealing way to live in America. Slavs had better outcomes than Filipinos and Mexicans of becoming full US citizens because of the color of their skin. Not only did the government practice white supremacy in migration policies but also in laws that allowed the sterilization of Mexican women without consent become legal. In the reading by Tyner, he states, “the emergent science of eugenics was seen as a viable remedy” promising a link between “scientific advancement and social progress by exercising rational control over the reproductive process and, hence, the very path of evolution”. Evolution, in the eyes of the scientists and others who advocated for eugenic practices, ends with the dominant race - white - being on top while all the other races have been controlled into extermination. California is one of the main examples of eugenic practices being implemented in the U.S. between the years of 1925 through 1942 with the law remaining in place until 1979 and Nazi Germany is another example that ended with us defeating them and their political view. It wasn’t a human activist move to attack Germany but a political one because both eugenic practices shared “a goal of genocide and [were] justified by similar scientific rationales” just practiced at different degree of ‘solutions’”. Well known philosopher Herbert Spencer “forthrightly claimed that purposeful cruelty was nature’s method for biological process,” a concept the U.S. and Germany practiced respectively. Those who were sterilized were unfit in society due to their race, not their medical history. Science supported the sterilization of colored women in order to better the outcome of less minority people in the US. Populations of minorities would remain low as the white race continued to populate America happily and as the majority. Institutionalized oppression and segregation could be mapped out geographically in terms of education and housing, both forms that intended to keep the pure Anglo saxon image away from colored children and families. Mexicans continued to be segregated even after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 not only by sterilizing mothers but also by segregation of children in schools. Between the 1920s and 1930s Mexican students were subject to “the separate but equal legislation [which] essentially encouraged the non intermixture of whites and racial minorities [due to] superiority and inferiority beliefs”. Those who were considered inferior were children of the working class who either spoke solely Spanish or very little English; these variables would later be evaluated through IQ testing in order to use scientific rationale behind school segregation. The federal government also stands behind separate schooling for minority children and Gonzales argues that there is a long term outcome expected from segregated schools in terms of “reproducing a flexible and cheap source of labor”. Such belief is not so far off from reality considering that children with low IQ scores and low standardized scores will not be able to attend prestige schools in the near future. Minority students are stuck in public education and low budgeted schooling until they are of age to enter the workforce earning minimum wage. With a yearly minimum wage income minority families are not seen as being able to afford a house but once they do, then another fear of contaminating the white supremacy emerges. In Detroit white homeowners struggled to maintain racial orderly fashion while black people struggled for the opportunity to own a home and equal access to a good community. The fact of the matter was a good community was identified as predominantly white and once black families started to move in, whites started to move out. Race made such a huge impact on home purchases that realtors would use block busting, scaring white families to sell their homes before minority families infested the community. The term “silent majority” was coined from the 1940s through the 1960s as “the culmination of more than two decades of simmering white discontent and extensive anti liberal political organization”. The white community was very much bothered by the fact that their perfect utopian like communities were no longer their own and had to move elsewhere in order to feel safe and secure. The government also implemented actions through police force to prevent minority races from forming their own culture and instead implementing their own. Malcolm X, a human rights activist, experienced first hand how “the zoot suit, the lindy hop, and the distinctive lingo of the hep cat simultaneously embodied...class, racial and cultural tensions”. In a culture where minority races were expected to be of service to the upper white class, there was a parallel culture blooming amongst the oppressed to release tensions and was seen as a way stand up against the oppressors through creative expression. The zoot suit wasn’t just a combination of clothing pieces forming an outfit, it was also a construction of collective identity amongst black and Latino men who refused to be subjugated in entering a war that wasn’t part of their fight. This act of defiance was foreseen with repercussions; zoot suits were banned from stores and from being worn in public and if compliance wasn’t met then they became “victims of, or witness to, acts of outright police brutality”. Because Malcolm X and the zoot suiters demonstrated a different form of life that was possible in the U.S. action was taken into effect to prevent other races from living a cultured life. A subculture was forming at home and at spaces of leisure which “emphasized pleasure, rejected work, and celebrated a working-class racial identity”.
This book serves as the best source of answers to those interested in questions about the origin of ethnicity and race in America. Impossible subjects is divided into seven chapters, and the first two talk about the action and practices that led to restriction, exclusion and deportation. It majorly traces back experiences of four immigrant groups which included the Filipino, Japanese, Chinese and Mexican. Ngai talks of the exclusion practices which prevented Asian entry into America and full expression of their citizenship in America. Although the American sought means of educating the Asians, they still faced the exclusion policies (Mae Ngai 18). All Asians were viewed as aliens and even those who were citizens of the USA by birth were seen as foreign due to the dominant American culture (Mae Ngai 8). Unlike the Asians, Mexicans were racially eligible to citizenship in the USA because of their language and religion. However, she argues that Mexicans still faced discrimination in the fact that entry requirements such as visa fee, tax and hygiene inspection were made so difficult for them, which prompted many Mexicans to enter into the USA illegally. Tens and thousands of Mexicans later entered into America legally and illegally to seek for employment but were seen as seasonal labor and were never encouraged to pursue American
The Philippines was annexed because they needed guidance in leading their new nation. Owning our children is like the United States annexing the Philippines. The Philippine Islands our like children who are small and weak, but with the United States is like the parents that help the children grow and prosper into strong people. “That there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellowmen for whom christ also died” (Doc C). The
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].
...y Burnett, “The Noncitizen National and the Law of American Empire” , “in Major Problems in American Immigration History, ed. Mae M Ngai and Jon Gjerde (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013),278
As the hostility toward immigrants had begun to relax, the residency period was reduced to two years by 1824. More reforms were made over several decades, and by 1870 new legislation gave persons of African descent, Asians and other non-white groups access to citizenship. As the country matured and became more multiracial, additional legislation would be passed to prevent “protected groups” from discrimination and exclusion. Present day, the United States is still a country of immigrants and continues to expand its laws to be inclusive of all its citizens and residents. All participants who contributed to the diversity of this county helped to create the vibrant economy and democracy that we know
they cannot deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.” The Filipinos weren't treated as equals, but rather were governed over, which ultimately deprived the life styles of many. Also, the Filipinos were far from the pursuit of happiness, thousands of natives died trying to win independence, causing resentment and anger, the opposite of life, liberty, and safety. Understandably, the United States, a very successful nation in many ways, thought that their “charity case” to the Philippines was beneficial. Allowing the uncivilized to be part of a powerful, profitable, civilized culture seemed like the proper outreach to a country that had just been ruled over for 300 years.
-Despite the already severe legal and social restrictions on Asian immigration, some European Americans felt that immigration should be forbidden altogether with a specific Asian Exclusion Act. In arguments which seem familiar to modern followers of the immigration debate, Asians were accused of taking white jobs and causing social
The 3rd wave of Filipino immigrants (1945-1965) who migrated to the U.S. were referred to as the “Military men”. They were Filipino natives and Filipinos in the U.S. who joined the U.S. Navy and Army in the 1940’s to fight in the war against the Japanese in WWII. Most Filipinos worked as stewards and storekeepers in the U.S. Navy. As members of the U.S. Armed Forces, they were allowed to become citizens and many of them brought over their wives to America after WWII under the War Brides Act. In 1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 prohibiting racial discrimination in employment and demonstrating American democracy to people of different color. In 1946, the Congress also passed the “Luce-Cellar Bill” which extended the citizenship to Filipino immigrants and permitted Filipino immigration to the U.S. by 100 people a year, according to Cordova. After the war, due to America’s colonization of the Philippines, English had been the language of instruction in schools and a reflection of high degree of assimilation of Filipinos in the U.S. Also, most Filipino immigrants who speak Tagalog, or any other dialects, could also speak and understand English very well. In the book Filipino Americans: Transformation and Identity (1997), Maria Root says that “Filipinos possess a colonial mentality after being colonized by Spain for over 300 years and the United States for 50 years. As a result, they perceive themselves as inferior to their colonizers, the Anglo Americans and the Spaniards” (p. 201). The second generation of Filipino Americans began to emerge by 1946 and more than half of the children of Filipino immigrants were offspring of biracial unions. The second generation Filipinos grew up in a world of prejudice. They were ...
As indicated by Abraham Lincoln: "No man is adequate to administer another man without that other's assent. At the point when the white man administers himself, that is self-government however when he oversees himself furthermore represents another man, that is more than self-government-that is oppression." (Doc. A) He was alluding to the white man's propensity to treat individuals with various skin hues as inferiors, which unquestionably happened in the Philippines. As Albert J. Beveridge brought up in Document B, "would not the general population of the Philippines incline toward the simply, human, socializing legislature of this republic to the savage, ridiculous control… from which we have spared them?" Just, human, cultivating? Strict, one-sided, Christianizing was more similar to it. In these islands, the United States of America at the end of the day committed a similar error it had made with the Native Americans. Discovered that there way was the most ideal way, 'the butcher of the Filipinos' (Doc. An) initiated. Less Filipinos kicked the bucket in the three hundred and thirty-three year Spanish govern than the 1.5 million that fell under America's forty-eight year extension. It would have been more compassionate to leave the Philippines as a different
Erika, Lee. "U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues." Journal of American Ethnic History. Vol. 20. Issue 2 (2001): n. page. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.
Immigration has always been a contentious issue in the United States. Benjamin Franklin thought that the influx in German immigration would flush out the predominately British culture in America at the time. (5) Furthermore, a continual wave of foreign cultures began pouring into the American metropolitan areas at the turn of the 20th century. The migration of Italians, Poles, and Jews across the Atlantic Ocean began a mass assimilation of cultural ideology and customs into the United States, yet many people thought that these migrants could not adapt. Today, the American society has become a melting pot of foreign influence; however, many cynics remain skeptical about the incorporation of Latin American people and their influences. Accordingly, these same critics are just as naïve as their previous counterparts, who refused to accept the many gifts and contributions these immigrants have to offer. We must ask ourselves: How long will it take to peacefully incorporate Spanish immigrants into American society? America was built on the movement of these cultures, and the current population of this country must set aside its non-democratic premonitions, and embrace the historical and positive aspect of Latin American immigration.
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...
The English immigrants are given a brief introduction as the first ethnic group to settle in America. The group has defined the culture and society throughout centuries of American history. The African Americans are viewed as a minority group that were introduced into the country as slaves. The author depicts the struggle endured by African Americans with special emphasis on the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement. The entry of Asian Americans evoked suspicion from other ethnic groups that started with the settlement of the Chinese. The Asian community faced several challenges such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and the mistreatment of Americans of Japanese origin during World War II. The Chicanos were the largest group of Hispanic peoples to settle in the United States. They were perceived as a minority group. Initially they were inhabitants of Mexico, but after the Westward expansion found themselves being foreigners in their native land (...
Mexican immigration in the early 1900's was a huge issue that impacted the United States. States in areas such as urban population, employment and many other areas. The mass number of Mexican immigrants that migrated to the United States from Mexico were at nearly half million. between the years of 1920 and 1929. Mexicans left their native land and moved to the United States not only to achieve financial prosperity, but to get out of the chaotic environment that Mexico was in at the time due to the Mexican revolution which began in 1910.
...xperienced harsh discrimination and even legal exclusion from our country. They were blamed for the lack of job opportunities and low pay of jobs and received extremely unfair treatment that labeled them as an inferior race. However, the inter-ethnic tension blinded us from seeing how the immigrants were contributing to our country in positive ways. They not only created economic and social gains for us, but also opened our minds to a whole new way of life and prepared us for the multicultural years to come. With all of the help and modernization that they contributed to our country, the racism and discrimination that the Chinese immigrants received day-in and day-out was not rightly justified or deserved.