Claiming Rights and Righting Wrongs in Texas: Mexican Workers and Job Politics during World War II PDF
Preview Claiming Rights and Righting Wrongs in Texas: Mexican Workers and Job Politics during World War II
Claiming Rights and Righting Wrongs in Texas Number Fifteen: Rio Grande / Río Bravo Borderlands Culture and Traditions Norma E. Cantú, General Editor Claiming Rights and Righting Wrongs Texas in Mexican Workers and Job Politics during World War II Emilio Zamora Foreword by Juan Gómez-Quiñones Texas A&M University Press College Station Copyright © by Emilio Zamora Manufactured in the United States of America All rights reserved First edition This paper meets the requirements of ANSI / NISO Z.- (Permanence of Paper). Binding materials have been chosen for durability. o y An earlier version of chapter appeared as “Mexico’s Wartime Intervention on Behalf of Mexicans in the United States,” in Mexican Americans and World War II, edited by Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez (Austin: University of Texas Press, ), and is reprinted here with the permission of the University of Texas Press. An earlier version of chapter appeared as “Th e Failed Promise of Wartime Opportunity for Mexicans in the Texas Oil Industry,” in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly (January ): –, and is reprinted here with the permission of the Texas State Historical Association. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Zamora, Emilio. Claiming rights and righting wrongs in Texas : Mexican workers and job politics during World War II / Emilio Zamora ; foreword by Juan Gómez-Quiñones.—st ed. p. cm. — (Rio Grande / Río Bravo ; no. ) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN- : - - - - (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN- : - - - (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN- : - - - - (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN- : - - - (pbk. : alk. paper) . Alien labor, Mexican—Texas—History—th century. . World War, –— Mexican Americans. . Mexican Americans—Employment—Texas—History— th century. . Mexican Americans—Texas—Civil rights—History—th century. . Mexican Americans—Texas—Social conditions—th century. . Discrimination in employment—Texas—History—th century. . United States—Foreign relations— Mexico—th century. . Mexico—Foreign relations—United States—th century. . United States. Committee on Fair Employment Practice—History—th century. . League of United Latin American Citizens—History—th century. I. Title. II. Series. HD.MZ .’—dc This book is for Angela, Clara, and Luz. May it always remind them of our wonderful life together. Contents Foreword, by Juan Gómez-Quiñones ix Acknowledgments xiii Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Wartime Recovery and Denied Opportunities Chapter 3 Elevating the Mexican Cause to a Hemispheric Level Chapter 4 The Fight for Mexican Rights in Texas Chapter 5 The FEPC and Mexican Workers in Texas Chapter 6 The Slippery Slope of Equal Opportunity in the Refi neries of the Upper Texas Gulf Coast Chapter 7 Negotiating Mexican Workers’ Rights at Corpus Christi Chapter 8 Conclusion Appendix 1 Demographic and Social Patterns among Mexicans in the United States, – Appendix 2 Partial List of Mexican FEPC Complainants in Texas, – Notes Bibliography Index Foreword Multiple forms of agency by diverse persons, along with intended, unin- tended, and contradictory consequences in a complex sociopolitical envi- ronment, is the broad topic of this work by historian Emilio Zamora. The research that he generates is informational, interpretive, and innovative. There is fi ne detailing here, to be sure, including all the nuances involving human beings who either do or do not resolve challenges of employment under racialized circumstances. The author adds colors and shadings in exhaustive detail through informed descriptions, rich analyses, and critical commentary. Like most thoughtful social historians in this country, Zamora addresses one of its major themes, namely, the persistence of racial and ethnic inequalities, even as positive measures to mitigate them are promoted and, to some extent, eff ectuated by public offi cials and government agencies. The work also takes up other major points of debate in U.S. historiogra- phy, among them the effi cacy of gradualism in promoting change. Gradual- ism is the option preferred by functionaries and many activists. Historians often follow by studying the slow and uneven quality of gradualist change and implicitly endorse it, preferring this option to stagnation or radicalism. Zamora parts with them. He questions why the proverbial “American” op- timism limits the possibilities of choices beyond moderate gradualism. His work illuminates how the preference for slow change by public agencies and institutions grant a low priority to the interests and desires of the Mexican community. As Zamora points out, the conventional black- white paradigm is not about numbers, whether blacks outnumber Latinos nationally or locally. This paradigm is a distorting optic for examining both ethnic and class specif- ics in the United States; it denies and limits the presence and progress of a Latino population, including the Mexican. It is also a manipulative tool for both liberals and conservatives to foment invidious distinctions and thwart substantive social change. Zamora also brings to mind the many historians of U.S. development who assign a positive role to U.S. business unionism with its emphasis on wages and benefi ts. Historians often view trade unions as proponents and facilitators of progressive change. In contrast, Zamora fi nds them to be equivocal or negative to Mexican progress. He accomplishes
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