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Comment:
if people feel so passionate about mexico-go there clean it up, take pride..but the U.S. and its laws are not the problem for the people of mexico its the people of mexico and their laws, their government. Protest there, not here.. (Cassey)
Clarification
Dear Cassey, We are fighting the core of the problem. You have got to realize that in order for you to have your car, your house, clothes, etc. people have to be exploited. In order for you to live the American Dream millions of people have to work hard in Mexico, Latin America, Asia and here in your beloved US, to produce what you consume. In order for the US to be the country it is it has got to suppress the growth of every other country. Thus, if WE, minutemen, opponents of the minutemen and people who are torn in between, want a solution we ALL have to put an end to the exploitation=capitalism.
Throughout time immigrants, or in this case, Mexicans are said to be responsible from everything from low wages, to crime, to poor public schools, to terrorism, yet if we rationalize on this issue, we will see that Mexicans have been utilized through out the history of Capitalism.
In times of need Mexicans are welcomed and even encouraged to come and work in the US, but when the need goes away Mexicans are forced into leaving the country.
Time Line (legacy of exploitation)
+1850-1880 55 thousand Mexicans immigrate to the US and build western railroads. About 60% of the railroad working crews were Mexican or of Mexican decent.
- In 1924 the border patrol is created to keep Mexicans out.
+ 1942 the Bracero program is agreed upon by the US and Mexican government. Such program, which allowed Mexican workers were come in and bring their families into the US to work in factories and fields.
- In 1953 operation Wetback takes place. 3.8 million Mexicans are deported.
+1964 Maquiladoras begin settle in the southern part of California. Thousands of Mexicans are contracted to mass produce for the Capitalist nation.
- In 1965 the immigration and naturalization act limits the number of workers that can enter the US.
+ 1994 The North American Free Trade Agreement is signed by the current leaders of Mexico, Canada and the US. Treaty that allowed the US to exploit Mexicans in their own country.
~ In order for Mexicans to “benefit” from the loans that the World Bank offered, Mexico had to comply with the Structural Adjustment Program which called for the following :
(1) privatization of land (oil, mining, telephone service, etc..) Previously the Mexican constitution protected the communal lands (ejidos) held by the indigenous population. Under this condition millions of families lost their houses as well as their work.
(2) cuts in social spending, (health, education, housing) resulting in the malnutrition and the inhumane living conditions currently faced by Mexicans.
(3) emphasis on export production, which means that the emphasis on exporting goods precedes the needs to feed and clothe and alleviate Mexicans own poverty.
 e-mail:: sextosol@gmail.com
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President Fox is the biggest slave owner of the largest plantaion; Mexico 2 billion a year goes to Mexico from his exported labor I feel this whole movement is helping Mexico why there's poverty all over the world.My family came from Peru tell me why should I help Mexico this country has given me opportunities that my parents did not have.The focus should be on the Mexican government.
Carmina
Mon amie! I think not! Mexico the BIGGEST PLANTATION?? Look up! There's definitely a bigger one still!
You want us to focus on Mr. Fox? You mean, the Coca Cola CEO who moonlights as President of Mexico? Hmmm.
Maybe we should focus on his employer. Or maybe we should focus on all of his fellow executives and golf buddies, who in turn sit on the boards of all the world's largest corporations -- and meet in lavish private parties to make decisions for the entire world. Or have you not heard about any of this?
me
At peak construction in January-February 1882, Strobridge's Western division was pushing to complete the last 20 miles of track and employed upwards of 7,000 people--6,000 of whom were reported to have been Chinese laborers (San Antonio Daily Express, March 14, 1882). Once the line was complete (1883), most of the Chinese laborers eventually went back to California after working in the Mojave Desert on a branch line to tap the Arizona and Pacific Lines (San Antonio Daily Express, October 10, 1882). Only a handful of the Chinese workers remained in Texas.
At this time much of the construction work on the U. S. rail system was done by Chinese immigrants. But most of what we know about their contributions is restricted to period literature about areas in California, Nevada, and Utah. Except for a few comments in regional newspaper articles in Texas from 1881-1883, very little first-hand information exists on the Chinese crews that worked for Strobridge's Western Division. What information we do have on such crews in the Lower Pecos area comes primarily from archeological investigations of railroad construction camps (Briggs (1974) which located Chinese artifacts.
Strobridge's Western Division was modeled after the Central Pacific's operations in central California, Nevada, and Utah which had been part of the larger Central Pacific-Union Pacific Transcontinental network. Due to a reported inability to secure white laborers on the Central Pacific lines, Chinese laborers, by default, became an integral part of the first transcontinental often outnumbering non-Chinese construction crews by more than a 3-to-1 ratio (Reed 1870). E. W. Reed, Superintendent of the Utah Division wrote, in 1870:
"I have on my two divisions about 250 Chinamen. I never saw a better working gang of men than they are. They are a class of people that do not drink and you can depend on them every day unless they are sick. The only place that I see that they are not equal to white labor is in the loading and handling of iron on cars. But for shoveling, surfacing, track-spiking, loading ties or making embankments, they are equal to whites. We pay them $31.00 per month for 26 days work and they board themselves and pay freight that is shipped over the road to them" (Reed 1870).
There is every reason to believe that the 1881-1883 Chinese labor crews that worked in today's Amistad Reservoir basin were nearly identical in work composition, eating habits, camp organization, and daily administration to the Chinese crews that worked on the first transcontinental railroad in California, Nevada, and Utah during the 1870s. Briggs' research (1974) at the Langtry Construction site (41VV585) clearly indicates that Chinese crews were among the residents of this temporary construction camp. His research identified the presence of four separate double-hearth features, something he attributes to traditional Chinese food preparation. Briggs believes the double-hearth was used strictly by ethnic Chinese--one side for steaming rice and the other for frying meats and vegetables. From analysis of the historic artifacts in association with the four double-hearth features, Briggs makes a conjectural population estimate of 17 Chinese to one Anglo at this site where perhaps 550-665 construction workers lived for a brief period in 1882.
Concerned
awesome article sextosol, and awesome photo too. thanks!
lotu5
Dear Carmina,
If you enjoy clean buildings and bathrooms, pretty gardens, your food and a roof over your head, remember on whose low-paid backs these opportunities are offered to you.
Claire
Claire
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