The research critical analysis wasn’t really difficult to do, I did have some struggle but overall once I grasped the concepts of the assignment I didn’t really have any problems. Other than the basic stuff, such as citations and formulating an actual argument since I was used to how people were telling me to write in high school and I haven’t been able to break that bad habit since college is all about writing about my ideas and opinions. Not regurgitating what other people have said to the professor which I tried to do a lot. Miraculously failing to say the least of it. But that was till I lost the copy that I made a bunch of revisions on, and had to redo them.
Revised Assignment
Faris Mahrouss
FIQWS 10003
Professor Grove
December 4, 2019
How Mexico’s contribution in the Second World War led to their integration into American Society
Mexico isn’t often mentioned when the Second World War is taught to students in school during the United States, unknown to most including me till recently. Mexico’s contributions in the Pacific with liberating the Philippines, alongside the United States during the Second World War. Mexico also played a critical role supporting the United States economically during the war, ramping up production to help the war effort against the axis powers. The Mexican people essentially are the unsung heroes of the Second World War, making major contributions to the allied war effort but receiving little to no recognition. Contributions such as the American outsource of labor through the Bracero Program, as well as combat roles. But more importantly Mexican contribution to the United States during the Second World War also contributed to integration of Mexican Americans into American life. It also unfortunately helped feed into the trend of the United States mistreating its immigrant population, lasting even more recently with the current president.
The United States’ relations with Mexico were affected by the Zimmerman telegram during the First World War where, German attempted to coheres Mexico to joining the Axis power in the promise of territory that Mexico previously lost to the United States during the Mexican American War in 1848. The Zimmerman telegram would be one of the reasons that the United States would enter the war in 1917, with this attempted exploitation of Mexico previously the United States had a concern of national security. With German interests in Mexico during the 1930s it was mostly restricted to economic gains since the “United States was not helpful in providing investment funds for Mexico, German investors would be forthcoming” (Niblo 352), making German business rival with the United States in Mexico. With German involvement in Mexico becoming more and more frequent and the war inching closer, the United States fearing an invasion from its southern border became more involved with Mexico. With the objective of eliminating the possibility of the exploitation of Mexican anti-American sentiments, forging an alliance with the Mexican people. When President Roosevelt would invite a small air unit to serve in collaboration with the United Stated Navy in the Philippines to engage in offensive action.
This air unit would be known as the 201st fighter squadron otherwise known as the Aztec Eagles, which had the role of providing close air support during the and ferrying operations during a span of three months activity participating in the conflict (Schwab 1115). Whether or not their combat role held major significance during the conflict, it held a symbolic significance for the Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Being the first major global conflict that Mexico had an applicable and active combat role in, it united the population behind a war effort. The United States provided new equipment and training to pilots of the 201st, which improved the Mexican Air Force’s current state; that let them to having a more proactive role in combat operations with conjunction of other allied forces. Some of the accomplishments of 201st was during its first engagement in Manila where the 25th Infantry Division was encountering issues with enemy resistance. These victories in the Pacific weren’t only objective but were symbolic to the Mexican and Mexican American population. As Mexico had previous ties with the Philippine islands from when they were a Spanish colony, as well as giving the Mexican people a sense of pride.
Mexico’s contributions weren’t limited to just combat roles either, they filled holes in the workforce created by the mobilization to go to war. During the war Americans were in need of a larger labor workforce since all the men were off to Europe or the Pacific to fight the war; the answer to this for the American Administration was the Bracero program. This is when America began a joint effort with the Mexican Government to bring immigrants to fill the gaps in manpower created by the war (Galarza). The Bracero program also led to the integration of Mexicans into American society as many of them ended up settling in the United States after World War II and possessed American Citizenship giving birth to the Mexican American Generation (Garcia,278). Something that many people still do today, where they come and settle their families in the United States for a better life. Which was great for the economy during the war as employment would rise and so would production; but the Bracero program also had multiple negative consequences which usually led to immigrants being underpaid(North).”their willingness to work for wages scorned by native Americans” (Galarza) shows the extent of abuse that Mexican workers experienced and why they were preferred for labor as they were cheaper than their counterparts. This cheap labor became a source of exploitation of people within both sides the US-Mexican border. Which speaks volumes about the legacy that the Bracero Program left with the people of Mexico, and how we interacted with our immigrant population. Even congressional attempts in stopping the program was shot down and came under pressure to extend the program for longer than it in attempts to exploits hard working immigrants for labor, giving them lesser wages for break breaking labor (Galarza). Most of these immigrants worked on farms “here were as many as half a million of them working in U.S. agriculture, primarily in labor-intensive crops such as fruit and vegetables.” (North). This influx of workers saved the United States’ agricultural industry where they would later be deported, from those exact same farms where they were abused and mistreated. Though Operation Wetback under the Eisenhower administration, millions of people would be deported from the United States.
Operation Wetback is just one of the instances in history, where the United States has abused its relationship with its immigrant population. Using an aggressive approach Operation Wetback had two operational and primary goals, firstly “stemming the flow of illegal and undocumented Mexican Workers into the United States” and secondly “discouraging the employers who harbored such workers”. (Funderburk) Repaying the workers that supported the United States’ industrial war time effort, with being deported on a bus back to Mexico. This trend carries into the modern era with the 45th president Donald Trump, where the United States still abuses its immigrant population. Placing them inside “overcrowded and unsanitary conditions” similar to what was done during Operation Wetback, though a process of mass deportation. The current president also makes derogatory comments about Mexicans calling them “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. “which further shows how we interact with the immigrant population of this country.
While Mexicans moved into the United States it started a movement that was being described as a “political watershed” by Garcia which means it marked the beginning of something new in history that held significance, and he wasn’t wrong as it opened up the pathway to Mexican immigration through military service, and the Bracero program. This led to Mexicans “perusing new political initiatives”(Garcia) which was to them it was the process of obtaining a citizenship and staying in the United States. Such as what modern United States sees today with Immigrants, or so in my experience; most often you have parents migrating to the United States in the search of a better life. This is the common cycle seen after the Second World War during the 1940s, where the Mexican American generation would permanently reside in the United States rather than head back home becoming part of American Society. This intergradation into American Society would also be defined by the struggle that many other ethnic groups faced which was the acceptance and basic civil rights in the United States.
Injustice plagued the United States after the Second World War, where many Mexican American veterans returned home. Such as in the case of Mexican American Private Felix Longoria where “Four years after his combat death in the Philippines in 1945, Longoria’s remains were shipped to the U.S. The local funeral home, however, refused a request by his widow, Beatrice, to use the funeral home’s chapel for a wake in his honor. As the funeral home director explained then, ‘We just never made it a practice to let [Mexican Americans] use the chapel and we don’t want to start now.’.”(Oropreza).This instance of injustice contributed to civil rights practices that focused on issues that current Mexican Americans faced after the war, providing more evidence of the injustice that Mexicans and Mexican Americans faced, and how the United States had an outlying trend of abusing their immigrant population.
In conclusion Mexico’s role in the war was fueled by Germany’s previous encounter attempting to manipulate them into becoming an aggressor against the United States during the First World War. This idea that Mexico could possibly be manipulated to become aggressive was a growing concern to Americans, as Germany was doing business in Mexico. Which led to the United States integrating Mexicans into the Military Operations with the United States training a fighter squadron and giving them brand new equipment for their military. With the United States committed to the war, the manpower shortage back home was filled with Mexican immigrants brought in through the Bracero Program. With a majority of these immigrants being abused on farms, getting paid low wages, living in poor conditions, and facing discrimination throughout their time in the United States. As the Bracero Program brought in workers, they also brought their families which ended up settling and becoming the first generation of Mexican Americans that become Americanized and let into our American way of life. But they were also let into a trend of Americans exploiting and abusing the immigrant population, that the country was built on.
Work Cited:
Pruitt, Sarah. “The Surprising Role Mexico Played In World War II”. HISTORY, 2018, https://www.history.com/news/mexico-world-war-ii-surprising-involvement.
“World War II: Mexican Air Force Helped Liberate The Philippines”. Historynet, https://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-mexican-air-force-helped-liberate-the-philippines.htm.
North, David. “We Should Remember The Bracero Program … And Shudder”. CIS.Org, 2013, https://cis.org/North/We-Should-Remember-Bracero-Program-and-Shudder.
Schwab, Stephen. “Mexican Expeditionary Air Force In World War II: Late, Limited, But Symbolically Significant.” The Journal of Military History, Vol. 66, No. 4 (Oct., 2002), pp. 1115-1140
Niblo, Stephen. “Allied Policy Toward Axis Interests In Mexico During World War II.” Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2001, p. 351-373
Garica, Mario. “Americans All: The Mexican American Generation And The Politics Of Wartime Los Angeles, 1941-45”, Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 65, No.2, 1984, p. 278-289.
Galarza, Ernesto. Merchange Of Labor. The Mexican Bracero Story.. Mcnally & Loftin, 1964.
Oropeza, Lorena. “Latinos In World War II: Fighting On Two Fronts (U.S. National Park Service)”. Nps.Gov, https://www.nps.gov/articles/latinoww2.htm
Reilly, Katie. “Here Are All the Times Donald Trump Insulted Mexico”. Time, 2016, https://time.com/4473972/donald-trump-mexico-meeting-insult/.
Funderburk, Brent. “Operation Wetback | United States Immigration Law-Enforcement Campaign”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Operation-Wetback.
