DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974

Transcribe
Translate

Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974

1974-04-13 Opening Remarks Page 9

come back and establish markets so they can sell. The same thing happened in Mexico. By the 1890's the railroads that had been built there was an easy access to go into Mexico, use Mexican labor, exploit them, get all the mining resources out of Mexico and bring them into the United States. Then when it became obvious by the turn of the century that the Southwest was being irrigated that reclamation projects were working that agri business was enlarging itself in the Southwest they needed more labor, they needed more cheap labor and the railroad was a way of bringing those Chicanos up. By the 1901, Acuna points out, that Mexico had become an economic dependency of the United States. When a country becomes a dependency on another country that is has very little alternatives, it is closed in. If we can say the Chicano immigrated to the United States because he was looking for a better land, he was looking for more money, he was looking for a better life. We have to understand that the reason why the Chicano in Northwest Mexico and Mexico was so poor and so exploited is because American imperialism largely put him in that position. When we begin to look at Mexico in the United States we have to understand that a lot of the reasons that Mexico was not able to industrialize or provide enough jobs for all of its people is that it had become an economic dependency of the United States. The Unites States was responsible for the conditions that existed and bring in the Mexican labor off to the Southwest and to the Midwest was to a great extent the work of recruiters the work of companies they went down there to look for us. Many of us came because we had no choice, but we had no choice because the United States through its imperialistic policies placed us in that position. When McWilliams says we are all immigrants to the Midwest just like any other immigrant to the Midwest, that's not true. In the 19th century we are victims of physical imperialism. In the 20th century we have been victims of economic imperialism. We have to understand that in order to understand our situation here in the Midwest we are not like every other immigrant in the Midwest.

If then we are an extended colonial people in the Midwest today we have to understand that in order to understand that a lot of the problems we are faced with are not of our creation. Another favorite gringo trick is to say is the Chicano in the Midwest, Chicano in the Southwest is poor, is illiterate, uneducated, has all these health problems, is not very aggressive towards his traditional static, it is their idea it is all our fault.

We have to understand if we are going to look at any of our problems we are going to study, we have to see then in terms of our historical interpretation. Because colonial people continue to be oppressed and we have been oppressed in the Midwest just like we have been oppressed in the South west. Same thing is happening to us in the education problem. The educational

Saving...

come back and establish markets so they can sell. The same thing happened in Mexico. By the 1890's the railroads that had been built there was an easy access to go into Mexico, use Mexican labor, exploit them, get all the mining resources out of Mexico and bring them into the United States. Then when it became obvious by the turn of the century that the Southwest was being irrigated that reclamation projects were working that agri business was enlarging itself in the Southwest they needed more labor, they needed more cheap labor and the railroad was a way of bringing those Chicanos up. By the 1901, Acuna points out, that Mexico had become an economic dependency of the United States. When a country becomes a dependency on another country that is has very little alternatives, it is closed in. If we can say the Chicano immigrated to the United States because he was looking for a better land, he was looking for more money, he was looking for a better life. We have to understand that the reason why the Chicano in Northwest Mexico and Mexico was so poor and so exploited is because American imperialism largely put him in that position. When we begin to look at Mexico in the United States we have to understand that a lot of the reasons that Mexico was not able to industrialize or provide enough jobs for all of its people is that it had become an economic dependency of the United States. The Unites States was responsible for the conditions that existed and bring in the Mexican labor off to the Southwest and to the Midwest was to a great extent the work of recruiters the work of companies they went down there to look for us. Many of us came because we had no choice, but we had no choice because the United States through its imperialistic policies placed us in that position. When McWilliams says we are all immigrants to the Midwest just like any other immigrant to the Midwest, that's not true. In the 19th century we are victims of physical imperialism. In the 20th century we have been victims of economic imperialism. We have to understand that in order to understand our situation here in the Midwest we are not like every other immigrant in the Midwest. If then we are an extended colonial people in the Midwest today we have to understand that in order to understand that a lot of the problems we are faced with are not of our creation. Another favorite gringo trick is to say is the Chicano in the Midwest, Chicano in the Southwest is poor, is illiterate, uneducated, has all these health problems, is not very aggressive towards his traditional static, it is their idea it is all our fault. We have to understand if we are going to look at any of our problems we are going to study, we have to see then in terms of our historical interpretation. Because colonial people continue to be oppressed and we have been oppressed in the Midwest just like we have been oppressed in the South west. Same thing is happening to us in the education problem. The educational