The Mexican American Experience, a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Host Armando Gutierrez interviews Cynthia Orozco, a history student at UT-Austin, on some of her research on the League of United Latin American Citizens and the context in which it formed. Orozco argues that in order to understand LULAC we need to place the organization in its historical context and the ideas and issues prevalent at the time, including the debates about Americanization and immigration, and the activity and racism of the Texas Rangers. Although Mexican Americans officially founded LULAC in 1929, several other Mexican American organizations had formed in the aftermath of World War One as Mexican-American veterans returned to continued discrimination and the widespread perception that they were not citizens. Almost simultaneously, ideas of Americanization and nativism were gaining ground and the government passed increasingly restrictive immigration and labor laws. Orozco explains that Mexican Americans were typically against immigration because they feared the job competition. At the same time, Mexican Americans continued to face widespread discrimination, segregation, persecution and poverty. In response to these issues, the small Mexican American Middle Class formed organizations, such as Orden de Hijos de America, designed to help organize the community's vote and prepare them for citizenship. Several of these organizations met in 1927 to form one united organization, but these talks fell apart after a delegate proposed membership be denied to Mexicans who were not citizens. Two years later, the organizations formally merged into LULAC, and the organization began to tackle issues of segregation, language barriers and citizenship. Keywords: 1930 Congressional Hearings on Mexican Immigration, Alonso Perales, Americanization, Anti-Immigrant Attitudes, Anti-Labor Attitudes, Border Patrol, Bureau of Education, California, Child Labor, Citizenship, Clemente Idar, Columbus, Ohio, Communism, Corpus Christi, Texas, Corridos, Corruption, Democracy, Department of the Interior, Discrimination, En Defensa de mi Raza, Filiberto Galvan, Greasers, Head Start Program, Immigrants, Immigration, Immigration Restrictions, J.T. Canales, Jim Wells, Ku Klux Klan, Labor, League of United Latin American Citizens, Luz Saenz, Mexican American Attitudes towards Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Mexican Fraternal Organizations, Mexican Labor, Mexican Middle Class, Mexican Revolution, Mexicans, Nativism, Orden Hijos De America, Orden Hijos de Texas, Order of Sons of America, Pablo Gonzales, Palmer Raids, Patriotism, Perceptions of foreignness, Political Bossism, Racism, Rio Grande Valley, Sacco and Vanzetti, San Antonio, Santiago James G. Tafolla, School of 400, South Texas, South Texas Growers Associations, Stop Speak Spanish Club, Texas Rangers, The Flores Magon Brothers, The King Family, The Knights of America, Veterans, Voting, Washington D.C., William Knox, World War I. Broadcast date: 1979-01-26.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator), Gutiérrez, Armando (host), and Orozco, Cynthia (interviewee)
Date Created/Date Issued:
1/25/1979
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin