The Story of the Phoenix Is As Old As Time

Sochacki, 1

Phoenix Rising:

World War II and Its Affects on Mexican Americans

Introduction

Beatrice Griffith, upon finishing her ground breaking research during World War II, came to the following conclusions about Mexican Americans: “They have come from the war fronts and factories, from foreign lands and American cities, to change their old ways of living. They are sustaining their new dreams with new knowledge of American work habits, skilled trades, and organizational methods. Like the Phoenix rising, they, too, are rising from their own ashes.”[1]

The story of the Phoenix is as old as time. The tale of a bird burning itself every 500 years in order to renew its immortality has been passed through all major civilizations since the ancients Greeks. Sensing old age and lackluster, the mystical bird collects kindling and fans its own fire while nesting upon the flames. From the ashes of the old Phoenix, a young and beautiful Phoenix is reborn. By overcoming fire, death, and old age, the Phoenix represents triumph over adversity and rebirth into glory, thereby providing hope and constancy.

World War II afforded Mexican Americans their own trial by fire. Before the 1940s, peoples of Mexican heritage endured segregated social,economicand political conditions despite being an essential part of the Southwest since the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. This treaty awarded the US approximately half of Mexico’s territory after the Mexican American War. Since then, segregation of Mexican heritage communities became as socially entrenched as the Jim Crow Laws.

Originating with the Treaty, Mexican Americans are those individuals of either Mexican decent born in the United States or those who have spent a significant portion of their lives within the US. Mexican American communities frequently include recent migrants from Mexico, as well, allowing their societies to be categorized as Mexican heritage.

WWII, however, provided the kindling for Mexican Americans to light a social, economic, and political fire in the United States. New opportunities in labor and military service, along with the influx of Mexican immigration and wartime rhetoric of democracy, fueled the flames. The changing dynamics created by WWII allowed Mexican Americans to shed their old stereotypes and classifications. Once the embers of the war cooled, Mexican Americans emerged as an organized, enlightened force ready to challenge established discriminations.

World War II provided a catalyst for Mexican Americans to become aware of their value as UnitedState’s citizens, prompting them to organize and demand social, economic, and political justice, which enhanced the presence of Mexican American communities in the United States. Firstly, the rhetoric of the war, with its emphasis upon preserving democracy and equality, prompted Mexican Americans to challenge the hypocrisy resulting from USwar propaganda and actual domestic conditions. Furthermore, the Good Neighbor Policy forced the US to honor the rights of Mexican heritage citizens in order to receive war support from Mexicoand Latin America. Thus, Washington became invested with ending all forms of Mexican American segregation within its borders, allowing these individuals to become full social members of the country.

The labor opportunities created by the war provided economic stability for Mexican Americans, thereby solidifying communities by helping them achieve economic strength. As industry expanded to accommodate wartime production, Mexican Americans received opportunities to establish themselves in cities with higher paying jobs and stable living conditions. This urban migration forced farmers to petition the government for the Bracero Program, which brought thousands of poor, male Mexican farm workers to the United States to remedy labor shortages. This influx of workers exposed new migrants to life in the US and allowed them easy entry, thereby enlarging Mexican heritage communities and providing the numbers necessary for unionization. Labor unions formed during and after the war, and perpetuated the idea of possibly achieving the lucrative “American Dream.” MexicanAmerican women also entered the workforce in vast numbers, adding to a collective class consciousness and an increased sense of economic stability in the US.

WWIallowed Mexican Americans to prove their patriotism by serving in the military and engaging in war support activities. Mexican Americans received the highest number of Congressional awards out of all minority groups and represented themselves in higher percentages in all branches.[2] Military service placed Mexican American men on an equal footing with their Anglo counterparts. Upon return to the United States after proving that they could equally risk their lives in the name of duty, servicemen became more critical of the unequal living conditions in the US. Veterans took advantage of new skills and GI benefits to rally their communities into political action groups and challenge the existing social order.

The economic prosperity that followed on the heels of World War II allowed Mexican Americans to move into the middle-class in small numbers. National political and social organizations, such as League of United Latin American Citizens(LULAC), consolidated and strengthened to coordinate the economic power of this new social group. Aware of entrenched racism, the vanguard middle-class championed such causes as ending school segregation and electing Mexican American politicians. Albeit a small proportion of the overall Mexican heritage population, this middle class further established Mexican American communities by encouraging social and political consciousness in their societies.

Thanks to the influx of new agricultural workers from Mexico and the movement of Mexican Americans into the cities, thousands of migrants enhanced the stability of Mexican American communities and established new migratory networks. In order to effectively challenge social and political discriminations, they looked to themselves first to find solutions to problems and support for the long road ahead. Thus, new migrants became integrated into the existing Mexican American communities, ensuring community survival for the next generation. Their community consolidation created the new cultural identity, different from the previous historical identity residual of the Treaty, of “Mexican American,” which became a rallying point for social action.

The Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles during June 1943 were the product of US nativist backlash and further cemented the consciousness of discrimination in Mexican American communities. Outraged by the blatant racism, Mexican Americans consolidated their strength around local communities and embraced their common heritage as a means for stopping the attacks. Although the Riots proved an example of the extreme hatred towards Mexican Americans, the community grew stronger and more collected as a result of their common culture. The group consolidated their political influence and appealed to the greater US consciousness of democratic ideals. After all, their sons, husbands, fathers, and brothers were dying in battlefields with the Anglos to defend their homes, as well.

Thus, a combination of social, political, and economic changes fostered by the war provided the conditions necessary for Mexican American communities to solidify their position in US society. World War II increased the number of Mexican migrants in the United States, enhancing migration networks and communities. These vanguard communities not only broke ground on social justice issues, but also created a focal point around whichMexican Americans and new migrants could rally. With this initial establishment, the foundations were laid for future Mexican immigrants. Their struggles and efforts earned them a niche in mainstream US life. Moreover, following the cyclical pattern of the Phoenix, the Mexican American communities of the WWII era laid the kindling for the next generation. The issues that were questioned and the leaders that were born out of WWII provided the fuel for the Chicano Movement in the 1960s.

Historical Overview

It is essential to understand the historical and social conditions of both Mexico and the United States in order comprehend the gains Mexican Americans made during the war. The US suddenly found itself with thousands of native Mexicans living within its borders after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which allowed the US to annex approximately half of Mexico’s territory. Thus, these individuals became the first Mexican Americans.[A] They became integrated into the labor force of the Southwest, working in ranching, agriculture, railroad construction, and mining.

From the beginning, Anglos[B] adopted a superior attitude towards their Spanish-speaking neighbors. Separate “Mexican” barrios were formed and the “Mexican” wage became a prevalent labor issue. If, in fact, the Mexican barrios and Anglo neighborhoods happened to merge, Mexican Americans received segregated services, such as restaurants and schools. Throughout the early 1900s, Mexican Americans continued to supply cheap labor for the mining, agriculture, and railroad industry. Wage and working discrimination ran rampant, and Mexican Americans were forced to assume the lowest rung of the social ladder. Complicating this position was the Great Depression and the 1930s, when displaced Midwestern farmers flocked the Southwest seeking employment. Their desperation for work created a backlash of nativism against the Mexican American minority, ushering an era of persecution, heightened segregation, and deportation.

Despite social and economic hardships in the United States, many native Mexicans envied their co-patriots to the North since conditions in Mexico deteriorated rapidly after 1848. Stung by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo and the loss of half its territory, the Mexican government moved towards the authoritarian Porfiriato, which was marked by rampant corruption and inflation. Instead of providing the large social reconstruction it promised Mexicans, the government forced the country into a downward economic, social, and political spiral that culminated in the Revolution of 1910. During this time period, many Mexicans fled the instability and bloodshed by migrating to the United States. Although many wished to return, they became integrated into the communities established by the original Mexican Americans. The Revolution failed to be the savior many Mexicans hoped. The resulting agricultural and economic reforms did little to ease the daily plight of working-class and farming Mexicans. As historian Richard Craig notes, “Soil, weather, geographic proximity, urge for adventure, salaries, credit, political bossism, and hunger” became the motivations for Mexicans to migrate to the United States.[3] Lured by the ideals of the “American Dream,” these individuals came to the US with an ethic of hard work mixed with determination, hoping to achieve moderate economic and social stability.

The Good Neighbor Policy and It’s Affect on Mexican-American Communities

With this background, the United States and Mexico entered the 1940s and the war years. The attack on Pearl Harborin 1941 threw the US into World War II. The United States stressed democracy and racial equality as motives for defeating Hitler, and called for hemispheric unity.[4] Mexico answered the United States by declaring war against the Axis powers on April 1, 1942. Eager to become a Latin American leader and the critical link of communication between the US and the rest of the hemisphere, Mexico readily embraced its existing Good Neighbor Policy with the United States. The policy deeply united the two countries economically, politically, and socially, forcing the US to reevaluate its treatment of Mexican heritage individuals.

The United States enacted the Good Neighbor Policy in 1939 to consolidate hemispheric cooperation, promote economic exchange, and encourage cultural understanding.[5] By enhancing pan-American unity, the US hoped to create protection from Axis attack and supplement the Allied war machine. Mexico became a logical partner in this coalition, given its history and proximity to the US, and the availability of “immense resources for war production.”[6] With its privileged position in the Good Neighbor agreements, Mexico and the US became equal partners, a marked separation from their previous history. As US Ambassador to Mexico George Messersmith described the “equity and lasting advantage” of these accords, he commented, “The relations between Mexico and the United States are more favorable and show a better mutual understanding than any time in our history.”[7]

The Mexican press also hailed the new agreements, portraying the Good Neighbor Policy as a means of ending economic hardships within Mexico. Since the war created a situation of joint dependency, the US was forced to invest in Mexico. The Excelsior, a prominent national Mexican newspaper,proclaimed the United States to be Mexico’s “older brother,” joined to the country in an “indispensable alliance.” It was reported that “only an economic, political, and military alliance with the US would resolve immediate problems and moreover create large, new sources of production and work.”[8] The United States media interpreted this excitement as Mexico being “deeply impressed” with the “permanent, goodwill cooperation between the two countries.”[9]

Using its leverage as an equal political partner, Mexico forced the United States to address its own racial issues before it could be viewed as a credible “good neighbor.” As historian Juan Gomez-Quinones attests, “The struggle against fascism elicited unprecedented identification by Mexicans with U.S. aims and a heightened belief in democratic principles. At the same time … discrimination [in the US] was not suspended.”[10] While battling Hitler and picking away at his racial superiority agenda, rampant anti- “Spanish speaking” prejudices persisted in the United States. Mexico, recognizing this dichotomy forced Washington “to promise a harmonious future of progress and international justice.”[11] Thus Mexico not only became linked to the United States economically, politically, and militarily, but also socially.

Washington created the Office of the Coordinator for Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA) to address these social concerns. Such an objective prompted historian Emilio Zamorra to call the Good Neighbor Policy a “diplomatic concern joined with domestic issues.”[12] The OCIAA focused on creating cultural awareness in the United States via media campaigns and educational drives. Although their primary focus was educating Anglos, the OCIAA also provided programs for Mexican Americans. These endeavors focused on easing any tensions that might have arisen from discriminations.[13]

The OCIAA created the Good Neighbor Commission (GNC), which focused on easing labor tensions between the United States and Mexico. As an ally, Washington solicited much needed labor from Mexico under the Bracero Program, which brought thousands of Mexican male agricultural and industrial workers to the US for temporary employment. These laborers, however, became subjected to the same discrimination and social alienation as their predecessors. Mexico, as an ally, called upon the US to honor its patronage as a “good neighbor” and remedy the discrimination. For example, Mexico refused to send braceros to Texas, forcing Washington to investigate substandard bracero conditions. This action shook the accords of the Good Neighbor Policy, bringing the issue of discrimination to national attention. Although this seemed to merely address labor contract violations, the true significance of Mexico’s intervention extended beyond the program. Mexico relentlessly forced the US to broaden the Good Neighbor Policy, which resulted in Washington paying closer attention to local Mexican-heritagecommunities and intervening in issues of discrimination.[14] The Mexican Consul General, Miguel Calderon, conceded the social agenda of Mexico’s actions when he stated that the Texas ban provided “merely exceptional measures for protecting Mexican nationals in view of exceptional circumstances.”[15]

The OCIAA did not only deal with labor complaints, but also tackled the issue of discrimination from a military perspective. By discriminating and segregating “Spanish-speaking” peoples from mainstream social networks, the United Statesgovernment decreased the efficiency of its war machine. First, repercussions from Latin America would threaten supplies of labor and raw materials since US leaders would appear inefficient or prejudiced. US citizens would also view their Latin American allies as second rate, rather then equal partners. Finally, the Axis powers could potentially exploit the racial tensions by turning Latin America against the US or publicizing the hypocrisy between US rhetoric of democracy and the actually state of racial affairs.[16]

The need for stable relations and continued military support from Latin America forced the United States to be a good neighbor locally before being a good neighbor hemispherically. Washington hired individuals like Loyd Tirement to travel throughout the United States promoting pan-nationalism and biculturalism.[17] Governors and local officials, like Gov. Coke Stevenson of Texas, prohibited blatant racism, such as segregated public buildings and signs in store windows that read “No Mexican Trade Wanted.”[18] Stevenson went even further and declared on June 25, 1943, the Good Neighbor Policy in the Public Policy of Texas. This act allotted for “full and equal or amusement to Mexicans and other Americans residing in the State.”[19]