Becoming Mexican American

The first part of Becoming Mexican American provides the necessary historical, sociological, and economic background for understanding how the Mexican population of Los Angeles came to be as it was during the first three decades of the 20th century. The three chapters are organized according to the three major geographic areas that Mexican migrants traversed on their journeys from rural Mexico to settle in LA. One of Sánchez’s major arguments throughout the text is that Mexican migrants were not static subjects of external forces of change, but rather dynamic cultural actors who continuously reshaped cultural practices and beliefs based on their environment. By examining the conditions present prior to the Mexican Revolution within Mexico, at the border with the United States, and in LA, Sánchez lays the groundwork for the development of the unique cultural phenomena he addresses in later sections.

The era of the Porfiriato marked a paradigm shift in Mexican society, similar to the Industrial Revolution in England. In order to “modernize” and “civilize” Mexico, Porfirio Díaz looked to the United States as a beacon of industry and as the pinnacle of civilization. His wish to improve Mexico essentially meant Americanizing Mexico, which he succeeded in doing to some extent, but not on a wide scale. The expansion of the railroads proved to be the most transformative catalyst, as it provided the means to transport people and goods en masse between Mexico and the United States, making possible the country’s new capitalist economic order.

The two major policies that reshaped Mexican culture during this period were land reform and industrialization, including the expansion of the railroads. Díaz’s land policy favored the establishment of large haciendas, which produced export crops like sugar and coffee. This came at the expense of smaller, family-owned ejídos, leading to a labor surplus as well as an increase in the cost of living. To unify the nation and modernize the economy, Díaz invested heavily in the construction of new railway lines. However, because the Mexican government lacked the capital to fund these new projects, Díaz actively invited foreign investment, particularly from financial magnates in the United States, who came to own large sectors of Mexican industry. Díaz’s plans ultimately failed, as the country’s wealth became increasingly concentrated in the hands of the urban elite, while smaller communities remained impoverished and were forced to adapt. Industrialization and American cultural influence spurred on rapid social and economic change on the village level.

While most Americans of this period, including academics, viewed Mexican peasants as traditional and inflexible, Sánchez demonstrates that rural communities in northern and central Mexico were, in fact, undergoing a significant cultural transition. This is true not only from the materialistic perspective of land reform, urbanization, and the introduction of new technologies like the sewing machine, but also with regard to interpersonal relationships between individuals throughout the village and within the structure of the family. The structure of the village was reorganized to focus on the center of commerce, while the social hierarchy of the community shifted to reflect socio-economic influence. Information from the economic centers outside of the village, as well as the messengers who carried it, became increasingly important, leading to a greater emphasis on literacy and public education.

The structure of the family likewise underwent a forced adaptation, a point that proves to be a significant factor throughout the text in influencing patterns of migration and settlement in the ensuing decades. Sánchez explains that these changes reflect what German psychologist Erich Fromm termed “the undermined patriarchy” (32-33)—a sense of profound powerlessness on the part of the male head of the family, arising as a result of his inability to provide. Not only did this situation lead to further responsibilities for the women of the family, but it also impacted the ability of families to enforce traditional social mores. For example, without constant oversight, young women experienced greater freedom, both in daily life and in their choice of partner. However, with the majority of a village’s most productive young men pursuing more lucrative employment elsewhere, many young brides were left alone, hoping that their husbands would eventually be able to bring them north. Increased geographic mobility reshaped rural Mexican society, creating the conditions that would translate into the formation of new communities and cultural practices in the United States.

After discussing the environment from which most Mexican migrants originated, Sánchez looks to the border between Mexico and the United States and explores how this imaginary line of demarcation changed from an almost informal construct to the rigid line of demarcation we recognize today. The growth of the railroads in the late 19th century created both the opportunity for more profitable employment and as a means of travel to new work sites. As Sánchez notes in Chapter 1, the majority of migrants prior to the Revolution of 1910 did not travel to the United States but to urban centers in northern Mexico (36-37). Those who did travel to the United States considered their jobs, which were often seasonal, as an extension of their work experience in Mexico (49). The idea that work in the United States was temporary, as well as the machinations of American contractors and labor recruiters, resulted in a pattern of circular migration.

One of Sánchez’s most significant areas of focus throughout the first section of Becoming Mexican American is the identification of this pattern of circular migration, which he argues is unique to the Mexican population of the era. Unlike Europe immigrants in the East and Asian immigrants in the West, Mexican migrants were regarded as temporary, as well as an essential source of labor for the continued expansion of the railroads and agriculture. Despite legal efforts to limit the contracting of Mexican laborers in Mexico, recruiters developed highly organized networks to employ as many workers as possible, thereby keeping wages low. At the same time, employers encouraged their laborers to write home about the improvement in their standard of living, and the lax policies of border officials and the railroad companies allowed for easy travel. The success of these geographically mobile laborers and the remittances they were able to send home motivated further migration, resulting in the “mushrooming effect” to which Sánchez refers, and expanding border communities. However, during the Mexican Revolution and the ensuing civil war, tensions rose along with the number of newly displaced migrants fleeing the violence inflicted upon their homes.

In addition to the usual conflicts between Anglo Americans and Mexicans at the border, due to, for example, the language barrier, Sánchez notes that enforcement of legislation drawn up in Washington, DC, produced new grievances and changed overall perceptions of the border. Sánchez frequently points out that, while conditions on the US-Mexican border were substantially different to those of the east or west coasts of the United States, legislators in the capital tended to address all immigration as a single issue, regardless of their familiarity with the region in question or the “realities” of the border. The passing of a new immigration law in 1917 and the subsequent establishment of the US Border Patrol in 1924 formalized a major shift in power at the border and “clearly showed Mexicans who was in charge of the border pass” (60).

The provisions of the 1917 law essentially put an end to the experience of a casual or easy border crossing, thereby limiting circular migration and promoting one-way crossings. In addition to literacy tests and medical exams, migrants were particularly burdened by a new head tax and by increased scrutiny of legal documentation. Sánchez argues that these provisions led to the border crossing becoming increasingly gendered, since boards of special inquiry generally targeted women traveling alone or with children to investigate their marital status (56). The institution of a head tax also encouraged an increase in the number of illegal crossings. The fear and humiliation associated with the arbitrary nature of the screening procedures at the hands of racist border patrol agents reshaped the significance of the line between Mexico and the United States for Mexican migrants, who recognized the “limitless power” of the US immigration services over the life of any individual migrant.

The final chapter of this section follows the patterns of migration of Mexican immigrants who arrived in LA at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as the conditions they encountered in the city (64). Sánchez notes that, rather than prevent or discourage Mexicans from coming to the United States, the immigration policies discussed in the previous chapter actually led to an increase in the total population of Mexican immigrants, as most chose to remain in the US instead of returning to Mexico (68). The growth of the community was driven by waves of migrants responding to the need for agricultural labor in Southern California, which could then be supplemented with industrial work to provide a year-round income. Despite the city’s Spanish foundations, Mexicans arriving in LA had to contend with Anglo Americans’ distortion and transformation of the city’s cultural heritage to establish their own enclaves.

As Sánchez explores in later chapters, the period of sustained growth in California, beginning in the 1880s, drew settlers from other parts of the US as well as Mexico. In the process of urbanizing Los Angeles, Anglo Americans also sought to reshape parts of the city’s history and culture to fit what is known as the “mission myth.” Sánchez explains:

By depicting the city’s Latino heritage as a quaint, but altogether disappearing element in Los Angeles culture, city officials inflicted a particular kind of obscurity onto Mexican descendants of that era by appropriating and then commercializing their history (71).

Landmarks like LA’s central plaza, which once represented the cultural center of the city, became historical symbols of the romanticized “lost civilization” of LA’s Spanish and Mexican past. Anglo migration and settlement between downtown and the Pacific Ocean shifted the city’s business, social, and cultural center westward and southward, leaving poorer immigrants to establish communities in the eastern fringe and directly north and south of the plaza (74).

Although Sánchez dedicates a significant portion of the chapter to describing the horrendous conditions that characterized most Mexican immigrants’ standard of living in LA, as well as the exploitation they experienced at the hands of unscrupulous landlords and employers, it is his analysis of the broad trends that shaped Mexican LA neighborhoods that most informs the rest of the book. He writes: “The East LA ‘barrio’ never had a more heterogenous ethnic population than it contained during the first forty years of the twentieth century” (77). Mexican homes were widely dispersed across these eastern neighborhoods and would not become a cohesive eastside barrio until after World War II.

Interaction with other immigrant communities solidified Mexican ethnic pride, and continuous residential transformation drove Mexicans and Mexican Americans to achieve goals such as homeownership in an effort to advocate politically for themselves and for their community. The LA Chamber of Commerce’s commitment to large-scale economic interests, combined with the cultural myths that minimized Mexican influence, made it easy to ignore the needs of the immigrant population. While the Protestant, Anglo-American leaders of the city hoped that Mexicans would simply acculturate and disappear into the mass of the population at large, their efforts at forcing Mexican immigrants to conform resulted in solidifying a unique ethnic population.