Assignment 4: Searching for Information and Ken Burns

Hello there world.

I’m back in search of information. In search of life, in search for answers. It has been a bit a difficult week because I’ve been a bit sick but here it goes.
I visited the Hayward Historical Society this past week and I found some information that might seem relevant to what I need.

First, a shout out for Diane and her assistant. Thank you for all the stuff that was waiting for me when I got there.

I found a few articles on combat life. Although, they gave an insight on what life was for these guys, the information was not specific to Latinos. The historical society does have an interesting book that discussed life for Latinos in the East Bay. Due to time restraints, I did not get all the information that I wanted. I will return this Thursday to see what I can dig up.

Lately, I have been on the phone and e-mailing quite a bit. Some of the calls have been to Veteran Posts throughout the bay area. Some numbers are disconnected, others I left messages, but no solid leads yet on finding people or information from the WWII era. I did make contact with a gentleman from the American Legion in the Bay Area. We talked a bit and he said he would see what he could do for me. Also, contacted the Veterans Hospital in Freemont, left a message but nothing solid. I might wait a few days and call them again. I contacted the California Historical Society through e-mail, still waiting for response. I left a message for the Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation, again waiting for a response. I will give it some time then decide what to do.

Over the next few days, I plan to do some research in the archives of the surrounding historical societies; maybe something crazy will come up.

I am excited about one lead.(Technology what would we do without it.) Through email, I contacted a professor from the area, he gave me a name of an individual, which at this time will remain a secret, (because I have not been unable to get a hold of him) but the professor said this person was a Zoot Suiter from that era. Cross your fingers and hope that I find him.

Before I go there is an issue I continuously come across, which is Ken Burns and his neglect to include Latinos in his documentary “The War.” I previously mentioned this but it caused such uproar in 2007. With due reason. Many minorities contributed to the war effort, what amazes me that he made the film in 2007 and still he made a decision to not credit minorities for their participation, WOW! Ken Burns, man o man.
Many people were upset with Ken Burns check out the sites bellow:

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2007/04/08/burns-war-latino.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/05/arts/television/05pbs.html?ex=1336017600&en=97f16eb79f2fcbf0&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
http://defendthehonor.org/
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/4/13/pbs_criticized_for_excluding_latino_native
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1607980,00.html

Well it’s all for now, tune in next time...

Assignment 3: Braceros and Zoot Suiters During the War Years

Today is a new day and have managed to put my brain back together again. I’m starting to wonder if any Mexican-Americans were in Hayward during WWII (I’m sure there were).

Some major historical undertones during this era for Mexican Americans were the war, the Bracero Program, and the “Zoot Suit Riots.” I will let you and only you in, on what is the Bracero Program and the Zoot Suit Riots.

Many people opted for work in major industrial cities like Los Angeles or Oakland during the WWII. Others joined the war. This left a void in the agricultural work pool. In response to this labor shortage, the governments of the U.S. and Mexico came up with the Bracero Program, a Mexican guest worker program. This was a sharp contrast to the Mexican repatriations that occurred during the 1930s, when many Mexicans were forced back to their country in order to secure jobs for “real Americans.”

This Bracero Program was an agreement that allowed for the recruitment of Mexican males to come to this country and work in its agricultural fields. It is estimated by historian Manuel G. Gonzales that quarter of a million Mexican nationals were employed as Braceros between 1942-1947. Officially the program was supposed to end in 1947, but due to the fat cats of the Agricultural industries, mainly from the West, the program ran through December 1964. Contracts issued by Growers were supposed to insure the rights of all the guest workers but abuses did occur. Most Braceros were destined for agricultural work. But some went to the railroads for grueling physical duties. “By August 1945, 67,704 were working on railroads,” wrote author Rodolfo Acuna.

Many came and many stayed. Jose Cruz was one that stayed and made a life for himself in the East Bay. Courtesy of the Latino History Project from the Oakland Museum, Mr. Cruz was born in Mexico City in 1924 and came to this country as a bracero worker.

If you were a Mexican during the war years, you faced tough times especially in Los Angeles. Violence erupted in some American cities in 1943, with most of it in the City of Angels; this episode became dubbed “The Zoot Suit Riots” of 1943. Sailors and marines in Southern California were on the prowl for Chicano youths, who were dressed in their finely tailored zoot suit ensembles, in order to issue a whooping for wearing this type of clothing. For days Anti-Mexican hysteria was sensationalized by the media. In June 1943, it came to a boil in Los Angeles. There was chaos was in the streets of this city without any help in sight. Eventually the National Guard became involved in order to stop the riots but the emotional scar on the mindset of Latinos had already been set into place.


Bibliography
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/
http://museumca.org/LHP/index.html
http://braceroarchive.org/
http://3.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kucg3c3b091qa2j8co2_500.jpg
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/docroot/dulcinea/fd_images/news/on-this-day/May-June-08/On-this-Day--Zoot-Suit-Riots-Begin-in-Los-Angeles/news/0/image.jpg
http://la.curbed.com/uploads/2008-04-zoot_suit_riots.jpg
http://museumca.org/LHP/jose/pages/2000.35.5.htm

Acuna, Rodolfo. Occupied American: A History of Chicanos. New York: Harper Collins. Publishers, 1988.

Gonzales, Manuel G. Mexicanos: A History of Mexicans in the United States. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2009.

McWilliams, Carey. North from Mexico: The Spanish-Speaking People of the United States. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1961.

Assignment 2: What on the Internet

December 7, 1941, Attack on Pearl Harbor

After much pondering, I’ve decided that this project should concentrate on the Mexican-American experience during World War II in the Bay Area. After viewing “Tora, Tora, Tora”, “The Longest Day,” and “Saving Private Ryan” (movies depicting WWII), I often wondered what were Mexican-Americans doing during this period? Were they serving in the military and going away to fight for Democracy? Did they work in California’s defense and agricultural industries?

Well, they did all of this. It is estimated that 500,000 Mexican-Americans served in this war. According to historian, Manuel G. Gonzales, there were three reasons why Mexicanos served. They could improve socioeconomic situation, they had a sense of gratitude to their new homeland, and their Machismo, their manliness, it was a way to prove their manhood.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, America joined the war effort. The sons and daughters of this country would rally together in an unprecedented effort in order to stop the threat of Hitler and the Axis Powers, which included Japan and Italy. California was at the forefront of development during this period. Many industries made their homes in California. These industries were in need of labor and turned to untapped sources to fill their needs. Many of these were Latinos.

In my search to acquire information about WWII, Chicano veterans I googled “Mexicans-Americans duirng WWII.” Most of the material dealt with Ken Burns and his exclusion of Latinos in his WWII documentary “The War.” There was a KCET documenatary, “California at War” which was very informative on the role that this state played during the war. There are war narratives from Mexican-Americans but there not specific to Northern California. My task is to try and find these stories. They have to be outhere, somewhere.

**Note: The use of the terms Chicano, Hispanic, Latino, and Mexicano will be used interchangeably to refer to Mexican-Americans.

Bibliography
http://www.thesoundsofhistory.com/pearlharbor.html
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ww2latinos/
http://www.csupomona.edu/~jis/2001/Santillan.pdf
http://www.kcet.org/californiaatwar/doorsteps.php

Acuna, Rodolfo. Occupied American: A History of Chicanos. New York: Harper Collins. Publishers, 1988.

Gonzales, Manuel G. Mexicanos: A History of Mexicans in the United States. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2009.

Biography

Hello Everyone.

My name is Mary Ann. I am a native Angelino. I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I've lived in the Bay area for about two and half years. It’s a nice place, but I do miss my family. After I moved here my siblings decided to have children. I have three nephews and two nieces. My husband and I relocated to this area because of his job. It’s been interesting discovering other areas of California. I received my degree in 2007 but have been unable to find a steady teaching position. We recently added a turtle to the family. His name is Mad Max.

I am of Mexican-American descent. I am interested in the contributions that Mexican-Americans have made to this country. In this class, I would like to explore subjects that deal with the Mexican-American community. One of the ideas I am playing with is the role of Mexican-Americans during WWII, Korea, or Vietnam in Northern California. Something else I've been thinking about is the role of Mexican women in the development of Hayward. I am not sure about what I want to explore, but I think it will be something along that line. I think it is important to emphasize the different contributions to the development of California from all ethnicities.