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Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974
1974-04-13 Opening Remarks Page 7
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7 be able to uncover the tremendous contributions as far as the economy id concerned that the Chicano has belabored in the Midwest. This is all fine and good the question is how do you interpret this. McWilliams said, well they were just like any other immigrant thay came up here for work. Mexico was so poor that it had to send all of its people out of there. Mexico was so poor the Mexican and Mexico could not live very well. That was due because Mexico is a backward country. That is due because Mexico is an underdeveloped country. That is due because the people of Mexico are an inferior people. This is due because the culture of Mexico is an inferior culture. Therefore, these poor Mexican peons took for granted coming up here to get the rich life to live like a gringo to live better off then thay were in Mexico. Ie we accept the idea that we are like any other imigrant coming up to the Midwest that is the conclusion you would derive. Then like every other immigrant we got out of Mexico because we could not stand it there because of all of these reasons. Therefore, if you accept that the only reason, the only way you can succed in this country is to assimilate. The only way is to "forget your inferior vulture, forget your inferior background and assimiate." you see, that is the solution. So when you accept McWilliams' position or anyone else's position that we were just like any other immigarnt coming into the Midwest, then you are accepting that the reason that we came was because Mexico could not feed us due to her backwardness and the superiority of the anglo culture, the superiority of the anglo economy. There is no doubt and I interviewed a lot of Chicanos, old ancianos, in the last six weeks in Des Moines primarily who came up in the "nineteen teens" and the "nineteen twenties" and they told me, I told them "Por Que? Vinieron para aca. Que? Les dio venir aca a Iowa. Y todes me dijeron venimos aca hacer dinero, estabamos muy pobres. La cosa estava mejor aca, el dinero estaba mejor aca. Asi es que aqui nos quedamos. Now, of course, there were poverty problems. The question is, why were there proverty problems in Mexico? I think the only way we can understand that in some perspective to the Chicano movement in the Midwest, the Chicano movement in the Southwest is to look, of course, at the United States relationship with Mexico in the 19th and 20th century. I think all of us, como estaba diciendo antes, we were there first. The gringo came over and conquered the area, colonized
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7 be able to uncover the tremendous contributions as far as the economy id concerned that the Chicano has belabored in the Midwest. This is all fine and good the question is how do you interpret this. McWilliams said, well they were just like any other immigrant thay came up here for work. Mexico was so poor that it had to send all of its people out of there. Mexico was so poor the Mexican and Mexico could not live very well. That was due because Mexico is a backward country. That is due because Mexico is an underdeveloped country. That is due because the people of Mexico are an inferior people. This is due because the culture of Mexico is an inferior culture. Therefore, these poor Mexican peons took for granted coming up here to get the rich life to live like a gringo to live better off then thay were in Mexico. Ie we accept the idea that we are like any other imigrant coming up to the Midwest that is the conclusion you would derive. Then like every other immigrant we got out of Mexico because we could not stand it there because of all of these reasons. Therefore, if you accept that the only reason, the only way you can succed in this country is to assimilate. The only way is to "forget your inferior vulture, forget your inferior background and assimiate." you see, that is the solution. So when you accept McWilliams' position or anyone else's position that we were just like any other immigarnt coming into the Midwest, then you are accepting that the reason that we came was because Mexico could not feed us due to her backwardness and the superiority of the anglo culture, the superiority of the anglo economy. There is no doubt and I interviewed a lot of Chicanos, old ancianos, in the last six weeks in Des Moines primarily who came up in the "nineteen teens" and the "nineteen twenties" and they told me, I told them "Por Que? Vinieron para aca. Que? Les dio venir aca a Iowa. Y todes me dijeron venimos aca hacer dinero, estabamos muy pobres. La cosa estava mejor aca, el dinero estaba mejor aca. Asi es que aqui nos quedamos. Now, of course, there were poverty problems. The question is, why were there proverty problems in Mexico? I think the only way we can understand that in some perspective to the Chicano movement in the Midwest, the Chicano movement in the Southwest is to look, of course, at the United States relationship with Mexico in the 19th and 20th century. I think all of us, como estaba diciendo antes, we were there first. The gringo came over and conquered the area, colonized
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