DOCUMENT RESUME
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TITLE The Arizona Report, 1999-2002. INSTITUTION Arizona Univ., Tucson. Mexican American Studies and Research Center. ISSN ISSN-1092-4213 PUB DATE 2002-00-00 NOTE 58p.; Published three times, irregularly, in 1999-2000 and semiannually in 2001-02. AVAILABLE FROM For full text: http://fp.arizona.edu/masrc/pubs/ arizrep.html. PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022) JOURNAL CIT Arizona Report; v3-6 1999-2002 EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Educational Research; Higher Education; *Mexican American Education; *Mexican Americans; Professional Development; *Social Science Research IDENTIFIERS *Arizona; Chicano Studies; *Mexican American Studies
ABSTRACT This document contains the seven issues of "The Arizona Report" published in 1999-2002. A newsletter of the Mexican American Studies & Research Center (MASRC) at the University of Arizona, this publication reports on social, educational, health, and economic research on Mexican Americans and opportunities in higher education and professional development relevant to Mexican Americans and others interested in Mexican American studies. Articles are: "Minority Education & Workforce Success in Arizona: Hispanic and Native American Education and Earnings Lagging"; "Master of Science in Mexican American Studies" (requirements and some course descriptions); "MASRC & College of Medicine Win $1.2 million, 3-Year Grant: Hispanic Center of Excellence Will Be Unique Research, Curricular Unit"; "Boxing and the Formation of Ethnic Mexican Identities in 20th-Century Southern California" (Gregory S. Rodriguez); "Health, Economic Development Examined at Border Academy"; excerpts from "Mexican Americans in the U.S. Economy" (Arturo Gonzalez); "The History of the Tucson International Mariachi Conference: Southern Arizona Festival Is Showcase for Classic Mexican Artform" (Gregory S. Rodriguez); "The Segregation of Mexican Americans in Tucson Public Schools: Chicanos in Arizona, Southwest Have Long History of Fighting Discrimination" (Maritza De La Trinidad); "Mexican Tucson: Remembering Barrio Libre" (Lydia Otero); "Mental Health and Mexican American Adolescents" (Andrea J. Romero); excerpt from "Mexican Baseball Teams in the Midwest, 1916-1965" (Richard Santillan); "Border Academy Travels to Lower Rio Grande Valley: Medical Professionals and Students Attend Diabetes Seminar in South Texas"; "Women and Environmental Protest in a Northern Mexico City" (Anna Ochoa O'Leary); "The Chicano Battle against Pollution and Power in Tucson" (Daniel E. Reyes III); and excerpt from "Chicano Popular Culture: Que Hable el Pueblo" (Charles M. Tatum). Also included are announcements of new publications and news about the binational Border Academy and MASRC faculty and graduates. (SV)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. The Arizona Report
Volume 3-6, 1999-2002
Mexican American Studies & Research Center The University of Arizona
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND ED CATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS CENTER (ERIC) BEEN GRANTED BY This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 70)0 rhaS Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality.
Points of view or opinions stated in this TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION.CENTER (ERIC) official OERI position or policy. 1
rNO OCV sc. ST COPY AVAILABLE Minority Education & Workforce Success in Arizona Hispanic and Native American education and earnings lagging
Less than five percent of His- panics and Native Ameri- Average Yearly Income by Occupation cans in Arizona have a col- lege degree, and 48 percent did not $45,000 $40,000 graduate from high school, accord- $35,000 ing to a research report from the $30,000 MASRC. $25,000 The study also found that those $20,000 with only "some" college experi- $15,000 ence, but without a degree, earn $10,000 over $2,500 more per year than $5,000 high school graduates. Commu- $0 nity college graduates earn $4,000 Mexican Mexican Native Native African more, and those with bachelor's AmericanImmigrantAmerican White American degrees earn about $14,000 more than high school graduates. Manager, Professional g Technician, Sales Minority Student Achievement MI Service Farming, Forestry and Workforce Success in Arizona 2 Precision, Craft Operator, Laborer was written by Arturo Gonzalez Source: 1990 U.S. Census 5% Public Use Microdata Sample file. and Adela de la Torre of the MASRC, and John A. Garcia of creases its tax revenue by over $1 the UA Political Science Dept. million per year," the authors Excerpts from education The study was commissioned by write. study on page 7 the Arizona Minority Education Other findings are that: Policy Analysis Center (AMEPAC), which is part of the Only 14 percent of African- Arizona Commission for Americans, five percent of His- INSIDE Postsecondary Education. The panics and five percent of Native From the Director 2 findings were presented in Novem- Americans completed four years MASRC Working Paper #27: ber at AMEPAC conferences in of college. The figures are lower Mexican American Women and Phoenix and Tucson. for Hispanics of Mexican origin Social Change: The Founding of The cost of having a less edu- and among certain Native Ameri- the CSO in Los Angeles 2 can tribes. cated workforce results in a loss of New Master of Science in millions of dollars in tax revenues The likelihood that students of Mexican American Studies 3-6 for the state."For every 12,000 all races will continue on to Second Annual BORDER ACADEMY (of these individuals) who com- to begin July 2, 1999 8 plete high school, the state in- Continued on page 2 New publication examines role of women From in the creation of L.A.'s Community the Service Organization in 1940s Director he Center has published the 27th title in its Working Paper Series. Mexican American Women and Social Change: The Founding of the As we enter the New Year, the T Community Service Organization in Los Angeles, An Oral History is written Center has focused significant by Linda Apodaca of California State University, Stanislaus. attention on the issue of Hispanic Apodaca presents the early history of the Community Service Organiza- educational achievement. After a tion and the women who took part in its creation. They were key to its first two-year research project spear- victories, such as the election of Edward R. Roybal to Congress in 1949. In headed by Dr. Arturo Gonzalez and 1991 and 1992, she interviewed CSO women of the "Mexican American funded by the Arizona Minority Edu- Generation" of the 1940s and 50s. They told the author of their personal cation Policy Analysis Center, the backgrounds and the experiences that led to their eventual involvement in issue of lagging incomes and educa- politics and community organizing. tional achievement for Mexican-ori- "Of the thirty founding members, eleven were Mexican American women," gin people and Native Americans in Apodaca writes, noting that CSO women were counted as full members Arizona was highlighted in stark with full voting rights, unlike similar organizations during that period, such terms at two public presentations in as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). November. A major break in the Mexican American Women and Social Change offers interesting informa- educational pipeline for both groups tion on how 30 people, connected through family, friendship and commu- appears to come early in their high nity, developed this organization that helped Chicanos for more than 40 school years as early as the ninth years. grade, where the risk of dropping out "In most areas, the CSO became an umbrella service group dealing with is extremely high. An additional leak housing, labor, neighborhood improvement, police-community relations, occurs during the critical transition and health. Local, state, and federal agencies came to trust the CSO as the from the community college level to group to contact in East Los Angeles. The CSO went on to have chapters in California and Arizona. In San Jose, Cesar Chavez joined the CSO and four-year colleges and universities. became a state director; in Stockton, Dolores Huerta joined. It was in the Continued on page 8 CSO that both Chavez and Huerta honed the organizing and advocacy skills that would serve them later as internationally recognized leaders of the The Arizona Report is published by United Farm Workers." the Mexican American Studies & from Mexican American Women and Social Change: The Found- Research Center at the University of ing of the Community Service Organization in Los Angeles. Arizona. Available for $ 3 .00 from the Center.
SEND CORRESPONDENCE TO: MASRC Minority Education from page 1 Economics Bldg., Room 208 achieve higher levels of education are nearly identical among those who The University of Arizona finish high school or earn an associate's degree. Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 The report suggests several policy measures to increase minority edu- Phone: (520) 621-7551 cational success and wages, including targeting dropout prevention pro- Fax: (520) 621-7966 E-mail: [email protected] grams in K-12 to "at risk" minority populations, and providing more The Arizona Report is published as a support for programs that help community college students continue public service and is free of charge. on to bachelor's degrees. AZR
ISSN 1092-4213 The Arizona Minority Education Policy Analysis Center is part of the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education. Its mailing address is 2020 North ©1999 The Arizona Board of Regents on Central Avenue, Suite 275, Phoenix, Arizona 85004. AMEPAC's e-mail address
behalf of the University of Arizona ; is: [email protected]
The Arizona Report: Winter 1999 2 Master of Science in Mexican American Studies
The MAS Master of The concentration in competency on Mexican Science curriculum, Latino Health prepares Americans. In addition, it which was approved students to conduct will provide applied skills by the Arizona Board of culturally competent health for working professionals Regents last summer, is a research, and to develop and graduate students dynamic course of study health programs targeting interested in better serving that has been developed to Latinos. The Historical the Mexican American advance the understanding and Applied Cultural population of the of the large Mexican. Studies strand offers a Southwest. American and Latino concentration dealing with A minimum of 19 core populations in the United contemporary scholarship, units, 9 elective units, and 6 States. Three thesis units are required for strands of HE UNIVERSITY O coursework are successful available: Latino completion of this Health; Historical degree. Students and Cultural are required to Studies; and Public TUCSON ARIZONA select one option Policy. from the three Once applicants are theory, and methodology in strands available in the MS accepted into this unique anthropology and history. program. After consulting post-graduate program, The concentration in with a faculty adviser, they choose the strand best Public Policy provides graduate students must suited to their educational students the qualitative and select 9 elective units from and professional goals, such quantitative background one of the three strand as going on to a doctoral necessary to both options. program, studying law, understand and implement Tuition fee waivers and medicine, public health, or policies aimed at Mexican Graduate Assistant and working in public- or Americans and the Teaching Assistant stipends private-sector organizations communities they live in. are available for qualified full- that serve the growing This program will provide time students.AZR Latino population. subject and research For application or more information on the graduate program in Mexican American Studies contact the MASRC: Mexican American Studies & Research CenterEconomics Bldg., Room 208The University of Arizona PO Box 210023Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 Phone: (520) 621-7551E-mail: [email protected]: http://w3.arizona.edu:180/masrc
BESTOW:Its/AVAILABLE 3 The Arizona Report: Winter 1999 5 Master of Science in Mexican American Studies Mexican American Studies & Research CenterThe University of Arizona LATINO HEALTH STRAND ANTH 536A Medical Anthropology (3) ANTH 532B Ethnomedicine (3) ANTH 570A Human Adaptability (3) ANTH 570B Human Adaptability (3) ANTH 571A Applied Medical Anthro. in Western Contexts(3) ANTH 571B Applied Medical Anthro. in Western Contexts(3) ANTH 675A Anthropology and International Health (3) ANTH 675B Anthropology and International Health (3) Ell PSY 500 Life Span Development (3) HLTH 530 Theory Based Health Educ. and Promotion (3) HLTH 535Multicultural Health Beliefs (3) MAS 597axThe Border Academy (6) MAS 680 Grantsmanship (3) NURS 587Poverty and Health (3) NURS 588Healing Systems in the Southwest (3) PHL 581 Introduction to Community Health (3) PSYC 584 Advanced Health Psychology (3) PSYC 556 Psychology of Death and Loss (3) PSYC 564 Methods in Psychosocial Research (3) WS 606 Women's Health in the U.S. (3)
HISTORICAL AND APPLIED CULTURAL STUDIES STRAND ANTH 577Discourse and Text (3) ANTH 600Survey of Cultural Anthropology (3) ANTH 605Professional Ethics and Skills (3) ANTH 608History Anthropological Theory (3) ANTH 696Cultural Anthropology (3) HIST 546 History of Arizona and the Southwest (3) HIST 552 American Ethnic History (3) HIST 557 The Mexican Revolution (3) HIST 567 Contemporary Latin America (3) HIST 569 History of Women in Latin American History (3) HIST 695aAdvanced Studies in U.S. History (3) HIST 695bAdvanced Studies in Latin American History (3) HIST 696cTwentieth Century U.S. History (3) HIST 696j Latin America: Modern Period (3) HIST 6961 Colonial Latin America (3) MAS 585 Mexicana/Chicana Women's History (3) MAS 596c Chicano Historiography (3) MAS 597axThe Border Academy (6) MAS 596a Advanced Topics in Chicano Studies (3)
The Arizona Report: Winter 1999 4 Master of Science in Mexican American Studies Mexican American Studies & Research Center The University of Arizona Public Policy Strand ANTH 613Policy Making and Organizational Culture (3) LAW 620* Immigration Law (3) LAW 670* Public International Law (3) MAS 510 Mexican American Labor (3) MAS 597ax The Border Academy (6) PA 501 Public Organization Theory (3) PA 502 Public Organization Behavior (3) PA 503 Politics and the Policy Process (3) PA 504** Public and Policy Economics (3) PA 513 Government and Non-Public Sector (3) PA 521 Social Policy (3) PA 522 Analysis of Health Systems (3) PA 523 Health and Public Policy (3) PA 524 Management of Long-term Care Facilities and Programs (3) PA 525 Comparative Management in Health Care (3) PA 527 Aging and Public Policy (3) PA 530 Aging and Social Sciences (3) PA 540 Theories of Crime and Public Policy (3) SOC 514 The State and Social Policy (3) SOC 556 Gender Issues in Organizational Behavior (3) SOC 560 Race and Ethnicity (3) POL 595g Public Policy Seminar (3)
* Open to law students and to graduate students with special permission from the Law and Graduate Colleges. ** Requires ECON 500 or intermediate Economics course. A total of 34 units are required for the MAS Master's degree.
MAS CORE COURSES MAS 508 The Mexican American: Cultural Perspectives (3) MAS 509 Mexican Immigration (3) MAS 525 Topics in Latino Health (3) MAS 560 Historical Perspectives on Chicano Thought (3) MAS 580 Advanced Research Methods on Latinos (4) MAS 587 Chicana Gender Perspectives (3)
Desert Lynx, the online University of Arizona catalog can be found at «http://catalog.arizona.edu».
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, a public, Land-Grant, research institution, is dedicated to preparing students for an increasingly diverse and technological world and to improving the quality of life for the people of Arizona and the nation. The University provides distinguished undergraduate, graduate and professional education; excels in basic and applied research, and creative achievement; and integrates these activities and achievements of regional, national and international significance into everyday life.
5 The Arizona Report: Winter 1999 MAS GRADUATE COURSES DEVELOPED AND TAUGHT BY MAS 585 Mexicana/Chicana Women's MASRC FACULTY History (3) Historical survey and sociological analysis of past and present MAS 508 The Mexican American: experiences of Mexicanas and Chicanas in the United States. Cultural Perspectives (3) Writing emphasis course; Cross-listed with Women's Studies. A critical examination of Mexican American culture as por- trayed in the social sciences. An assessment of the social,po- MAS 588 Chicana Gender Perspectives (3) litical, and economic factors influencing representations of A cross-disciplinary review of theoretical, empirical, and cul- Mexican Americans. Cross-listed with Anthropology & Latin tural perspectives of Chicana and Latina women in the U.S. American Studies MAS 596a Advanced Topics in Chicano MAS 509 Mexican Immigration (3) Studies (3) Examines immigration from Mexico to the U.S. The course This course serves two purposes: 1) to review and bring inte- focuses on current immigration issues such as the economic grative closure to the student's education in the MAS major assimilation of immigrants, as well as other immigration-re- and minor; and 2) to serve as a springboard to graduate and lated topics. professional education or to particular careers.Writing em- phasis course MAS 510 Mexican American Labor (3) Examines Mexican Americans in the labor force. Issuescov- MAS 596cChicano/a Historiography (3) ered include earnings, unionism, and labor force participa- A research seminar examining the development of Chicano/a tion. historiography from a comparative perspective. The course will provide a critical introduction to the development of MAS 525 Topics in Hispanic Health (3) Mexican American history, and examine influences upon its Covers topics in health and mental health as they relate to His- development from other fields of history and other disciplines. panics residing in the United States with particular emphasis on Mexican Americans in the Southwest. Cross-Listed with MAS 597ax Border Academy (6) Public Health An intensive two-week residential program that explores the political, economic, and social issues shaping present-day life MAS 580 Advanced Research Methods on the U.S.-Mexico border. on Latinos (4) This course is designed to provide students withan under- MAS 680 Grantsmanship (3) standing of qualitative and quantitative decision-making meth- This course prepares students to be competitive in the art of ods focusing on the Mexican American population. writing fundable research proposals.
MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER MISSION STATEMENT
THE MASRC IS COMMITTED TO CONTEMPORARY APPLIED PUBLICPOLICY RESEARCH ON MEXICAN AMERICANS. As the leading public policy research center addressing issues ofconcern to this minority group in Arizona, the MASRC works collaboratively with key community agencies iri promoting leadership and economicempower- ment of Mexican Americans within the state and the nation. The Center achieves these goals through its applied research agenda, through its publications, and through the comprehensive curriculumit offers students at the University of Arizona. As an intellectual center, it disseminates informationto a broad audience, which includes elected officials, educators, students, policy makers and other researchers.
Phone: (520) 621-7551E-mail: [email protected] 0 Web-site: http://w3.arizona.edu:180/masrc
The Arizona Report: Winter 1999 6 a fiom Minority Student Achievement and Workforce Success in Arizona: A Research Study THE DATA PRESENTED IN THIS foreign-owned firms, and research study highlights a OccupationsofMexican Americans its foreign exports rose to $13.5 billion in 1997. perplexing dichotomy: Ar- inArizona izona's potential for eco- Unfortunately, such en- nomic growth forecasts a Manager, couraging trends have not Operators, promising future, and yet Professional benefited large numbers of Laborers 9% Technician, minority individuals in the certain members of the 31% Sales state, and lack of educa- State's culturally diverse 17% population are not being tional attainment appears prepared to participate in to be a major factor. The Service that future. Education is the present study, Minority 10% key to full participation and Student Achievement and Precision,Craft Farming, there is clear evidence that Workforce Success in Ari- 27% Forestry .{ona, provides a wealth of the educational attainment 6% of Arizona's Hispanic, Af- evidence that increasing rican American, and Native educational attainment will American workers falls far be crucial to reducing the short of the level needed to Percent with At Least a Bachelor'sDegree significant earning dispari- reap the benefits of Arizo- ties between minority na's growing economy. 24% workers and those in the The negative consequences 8% majority population. 4% 2% 1% of this shortfall will be 3% Within Arizona's two uniquely personal for the in- largest minority groups, dividuals and families in- MexicanDescent Native American White Hispanics and Native volved and broadly perva- Americans, educational at- 0 Heads of Household Children sive for Arizona as a whole. tainment is particularly precarious ... Failure to in- From the preface by crease high school and col- Alfredo G. de los Santos Jr., lege graduation rates for AMEPAC Chair and Vice OccupationsofMexicanImmigrants minorities costs the state Chancellor of the Maricopa inArizona millions of dollars per year County Community College District Manager, in tax revenues. But the Operators, Professional Technician,Salesstate also loses other ben- 0 0 0 Laborers 4% 7% efits, since workers with higher levels of education ECONOMIC TRENDS IN 31% ....--- :::::::,::, Arizona have been broadly ,-- Service are less susceptible to lay- positive for most of this 18% offs, earn more, and are decadethe statehas less likely to be on welfare enjoyed the nation's second or use social services ... ill Farming, highest job growth rate, has Precision,Craft Forestry From the research study by one ofthe lowest 19% Arturo Gonrcile{, Adela de la unemployment rates, ranks 21% Torre, and John A. Garcia. high nationally in growth in Source: 1990 U.S. Census 5% PUMS file AZR
7 The Arizona Report: Winter 1999 Director frompage 2 Border Academy scheduled for July During the public presentations, sev- The 1999 Border Academy will be offered in July in three separate eral public school educators sug- sessions, each of which has its own subject and focus. The gested that the underlying problem sessions are: may occur at an even earlier age in o Border Health (July 2-4) Arizona for these "at risk" students. The first session will be held at the Rio Rico Resort near the Thus, having a clearer grasp of why international border. Cost: $425 our students are not "dropping in" o The Road to Tubutama: Urban Geographies of the Southwest to our public schools may be a first Borderlands (July 5-8) step to addressing the serious attri- Includes a 2-day tour through northwestern Mexico. Cost: $425 tion rates we are seeing at the high o Economic Development (July 9-11) school level, and in the low transfer To be offered at the Rio Rico Resort. Key themes are the border rate from community colleges to regional economy with special focus on transportation, tourism, four-year institutions. A critical goal agribusiness, and the maquila industry. Cost: $425 for the Center this year will be to The Academy's international faculty is made up of scholars and profes- garner funding to examine the ear- sionals from both Mexico and the United States. Extended field trips are lier grade experience of Hispanic stu- an integral part of the seminars. The session on Urban Geographies of dents Before they enter high school the Southwest Border- lands, for example, to determine what factors put them involves a two-day trip BORDER into northern Mexico. in danger of abandoning their edu- The Center hosted its first Border Academy cation. We hope this will aid both in June 1998 at Colum- ACADEMY bia University's elected officials and those in the edu- Biosphere II Center in Oracle, Arizona. An cation profession in developing tar- international group of participants including graduate students, journal- geted policies and programs that will ists, and professionals from the public and private sectors took part in the provide economic benefits to the two-week seminar. Speakers included Congressman Jim Kolbe, and state and region. Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano. Given the limited space available (only 20 participants for each work- shop) interested individuals should contact the Center at their earliest Adela de la Torre, Director convenience.AzR Mexican American Studies For more information contact the MASRC: & Research Center Phone: (520) 621-7551 ° E-mail: [email protected]
The Arizona Report NON-PROFIT ORG. Mexican American Studies & Research Center U.S. POSTAGE The University of Arizona PAID P.O. Box 210023 TUCSON, ARIZONA Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 PERMIT NO. 190
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
10 MASRC & College of Medicinewin $1.2 million, 3-year grant Hispanic Center of Excellence will beunique research, curricular unit In August the U.S. Health said Dr. James E. Dalen, dean of the The grant will help the College of Resources and Services Admin- UA College of Medicine. Medicine to augment and continue istration awarded the UA The AHCOE will include out- the efforts it has made to increase College of Medicine and the reach activities beginning in the Hispanic faculty and student Mexican American Studies & fifth grade and continuing beyond recruitment and retention. The Research Center a three-year, $1.2 the high school level, with a special college was ranked fourth among million grant to create an Arizona emphasis on community college public institutions for its percent- Hispanic Center of Excellence outreach. Previous research done age of under-represented minority (AHCOE). by the MASRC makes it clear that students in the 1994/ 95 entering The joint project is aimed at preparation for medical education class, and eighth among all institu- improving research on Hispanic must begin at the elementary level, tions. The Association of American health, and enhancing the Medical where academic progress for Medical Colleges recently reported College's ability to recruit and Hispanic students begins to falter. that the undergraduate campus of retain Hispanic students and That research has also found that the UA is one of the top 10 produc- faculty. community colleges are frequently ers of Hispanic medical students "I feel it is a great honor for the starting point for Hispanics and nationally. Arizona to be recognized as an other minorities in higher educa- Other objectives of the AHCOE Hispanic Center of Excellence," tion. include: Cultivating research opportuni- ties for Hispanic medical students Historian is newest MASRC faculty member Providing institutional support Gregory S. Rodriguez has for Hispanic health services re- joined the MASRC faculty, search increasing its number to six. Continued on page 8 He received, his Ph.D. in United States History from the University of California, San Diego, earlier this year, and was a University of INSIDE California Presidents Dissertation Boxing and the Fellow in 1998 and 1999. Formation of Ethnic His dissertation is entitled, Mexican Identities "'Palaces of Pain'Arenas of Mexican-American Dreams: Boxing Health, Economic and the Formation of Ethnic Development Examined at 1999 Border Academy Mexican Identities in Twentieth- Gregory S. Rodriguez Century Los Angeles." (See Mexicans and Mexican 5 excerpts on page 2.) history and public history in the Americans in the U.S. His research interests include the . Tucson area. Economy historical uses of popular culture Rodriguez was born in Los San Diego will be site of 7! C0 .1 for the mobilization of ethnic, Angeles and attended high school Summer 2000 Border 00 national, and gender identities in Sacramento, California. He lAcademy within Mexican national and earned a B.A. in history at Cal State, CN Mexican American communities. Sacramento, and an M.A. in history MASRC Working Paper re) He is also interested in advancing at UCSD, where he eventually #28: Cultural Values and N the fields and techniques of oral earned his doctorate. 1HIV Risk Reduction AZR
BFST COPY AVAILABLE BOXING AND THE FORMATION OF ETHNIC MEXICAN IDENTITIES IN 20TH-CENTURY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA by Gregory S. Rodriguez During the twentieth cen- census records, government linguistic, and class dynamics tury, professional boxing in documents, court records, inter- influenced Mexican Americans and southern California views, personal papers, academic Mexican immigrants in negotiating provided people of Mexican investigations, filmic representa- new urban identities through descent with a means of negotiating tions, and boxing ephemera. I seek popular culture. grievances within and beyond their to explain how a complex conjunc- This study offers a glimpse of the own group boundaries. The sport ture of structural forces sparked tensions evident in boxing rivalries has served as a mechanism of ethnic Mexican boxing, and how between social homogeneity and solidarity, promoting a sense of boxing contributed to the restructur-heterogeneity, ethnic unity and identity, unity, status, and esteem; ing or reproduction of ethnic, diversity, and national integration as an instrument of confrontation gender, and national identities over and fragmentation. From the between national and ethnic the course of the twentieth century. perspective of boxing history, groups, stimulating aggression, Boxing arenas became metaphors Mexican American identity forma- stereotyping, and images of inferi- for the struggles over the meaning tion in the evolution of United ority and superiority; and as a of race, gender, and citizenship thatStates culture is less recognizable cultural bond linking ethnic and has preoccupied United States in terms of a single causal explana- national groups across boundaries, society in the twentieth century. tionsuch as capitalism, racism, or providing common enthusiasm, An examination of Mexican Americanization but emerges as a opportunities for association, and American participation in boxing multi-causal, interconnected set of goodwill. illustrates another way in which processes. AZR This study made use of the ethnicity emerges as a means of techniques and insights garnered building a network of mutual From: "'Palaces of Pain Arenas of from recent advances in sports reciprocity and obligation to Mexican American Dreams: Boxing and history and Chicano studies to mobilize political and material the Formation of Ethnic Mexican analyze the history of Mexican resources. Like scholarly explana- Identities in 20th-Century Southern American boxing in southern tions of Mexican American contri- California by Gregory S. Rodriguez. California. butions in fashion, music, film, and Rodriguez is an assistant professor at Sources for this study include dance, an examination of Mexican the MASRC. His e-mail address is: original material from boxing clubs American boxing industries [email protected] and organizations, newspapers, highlights the ways ethnic, familial, Aurelio Herrera, Southern California's First "Mexican" Boxing Legend by Gregory S. Rodriguez In March of 1927, 51-year-old Aurelio Herrera was "His end was very sad," noted a correspondent for La arrested for vagrancy and sentenced to three monthsOpinion on the scene. Herrera, who had "thousands of in the San Francisco County Jail. As Herrera stood friends and admirers who once sang his praises," the before the judge, a sports writer rose in the courtroom newspaper reported, "today died alone." His obituary and asked to be heard. "This man is the amazing commemorated him as a "famous Mexican boxer and Mexican pugilist, Aurelio Herrera, whose name is premier lightweight who inflicted true terror in the inscribed in the annals of boxing history," he ex- boxers of his division." A United States citizen by claimed. After a closer inspection the judge also recog- nationality, Herrera was nevertheless deemed "Mexi- nized Herrera and decided to reverse his sentence. "Ancan" by the English- and Spanish-language press. As individual such as you," the judge admonished, "who the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out, "Herrera, a reached the maximum heights of your career, is pun- Mexican, was born in San Jose [California], June 17, ished enough just living with the knowledge that you 1876." alone are to blame for your destitute condition. Go with Herrera's boxing career, from 1898 to 1909, coincided God and reform yourself, for you have already created with both the rise of modern prizefighting in southern your own prison." Less than three weeks after his California and the rise of the "Mexican" hero in the release from jail, Herrera died with sports reporters by sport. His career marked the first of a long list of Mexi- his side but "neither family nor friend." Continued on next page
The Arizona Report: Fall 1999 2 12 Herrera from previous page can-descent prizefighters who caused by massive white American Herman in February of 1906, gained fame in southern California immigration, tried to preserve many of the Los Angeles Times repre- in the twentieth century and whose their former practices, but over time sented Herrera as the "Mexican careers are explored in this study. they began to adopt many of the habits villain" in order to appeal to Herrera, and the succession of raza imported by their Anglo neighbors. predominantly white fans. fighters who followed him, were Thus, although prizefighting as a Herrera's career provides a turned into commodities that often spectator sport in California was glimpse into the ways whites masked the conditions of their own dominated by working-class whites read "Mexican" boxers accord- production... from the 1870s until 1914, after that ing to the dominant racial As the first great "Mexican" time the sport gradually drew more referents of the day. By the time boxer in California history, Aurelio interest in the ethnic Mexican and of his death in 1927, a new Herrera provides the point of Filipino communities. By the early generation of Mexican immi- departure for an exploration of the 1920s, prizefighting had been trans- grants made Herrera into a evolution of the key relationships formed to the extent that the majority of boxing legend. Although by that have made ethnic Mexican participants and fans came from these 1910 Herrera had disappeared boxing history meaningful. By "key ethnic communities. from southern California relationships," I mean the relation- Beginning with Herrera we can also boxing, his reputation was kept ships of individual boxers to their read boxing as a sport that promoted a alive in the Spanish-language community audiences, of business strong class identification. Herrera press and among the swelling interests to individual boxers, and countered much of the racist labeling ranks of ethnic Mexican con- of culturally and linguistically prominent in his boxing world by tenders. Ethnic Mexicans distinct communities to each other. spreading a legend that his boxing invoked the memory of "The I argue that encounters in boxing success was due to a lifetime of Great Aurelio Herrera" every history offer us a window into the shearing sheep. Indeed, as his career time one of their boxers dis- memory and historical conscious- progressed, he would announce that played the "overhand right" ness of ethnic Mexicans. Boxing he had sheared sheep for several days attack that Herrera had reput- was much more than merely a form in preparation for a fight. Prominent edly made famous. Memories of of "sport"it was a complex set of boxers in the futurelike 1930s Herrera for many ethnic Mexi- relationships that were themselves champion Ceferino Garcia, who cans in the 1920sboxers and part of a larger process of social developed his bolo punch by cutting fans alikeevoked memories of self-definition for individuals and sugar cane, or 1950s champ Art conquest and a much longer communities. Aragon, who attributed his left hook to and larger struggle between As with many of the boxers I chopping wood pursued a "worker" Anglos and Mexicans for examine in this work, Aurelio image similar to Herrera's that more national sovereignty in the Herrera was a transitional figure in contemporary fighters, like Sugar Ray region. As tens of thousands of Mexican American history. Herrera Leonard (ca. 1970s-1980s) and Oscar ethnic Mexican boxing fans lived at a time when changes in the De La Hoya (ca. 1990s) would not. made Los Angeles into a mecca regional and local economy, Following Herrera, every ethnic of international boxing in the political institutions, and the social Mexican boxer that achieved fame in 1920s, their domination in the matrix of southern California were Los Angeles did so in a complex racial sport must have served as a transforming Mexican American order that proscribed or prescribed metaphor of a symbolic "Mexi- life. As tens of thousands of white modes of ethnic Mexican social can reconquest" of United States migrants fueled the growth of integration. In Herrera's case, the territory. In the years following metropolitan southern California racial order was registered in the Herrera's retirement from the between 1900 and 1920, they changing attitudes of his fans, who ring in 1909 much changed in brought with them a wide variety of were primarily white ethnics. Every the lives of ethnic Mexicans in leisure activities and sporting one of Herrera's fights generated Los Angeles. Los Angeles traditionsincluding amateur and stories, myths, and stereotypes that became the largest Spanish- professional boxingthat soon focused on his racial identity, ranging speaking community in the became attractive to Mexican in description from "Iberian" to United States, and the massive American youth. Mexican Ameri- "Indian." Journalists and promoters influx of Mexican immigrants cans, whose own leisure and built up and reacted to his fights with who fueled this demographic sporting practice were being stories that bespoke their own sense of transformation turned to boxing, displaced as part of the larger white racial superiority. As in most of and drew on the memories of processes of social dislocation his fights, in his bout with Kid Continued on page 4
3 The Arizona Report: Fa111999 13 Health, Economic Development Examined at Border Academy
Federal government and state Border Health Ministry of Health. officials, scholars, profession- Speakers during the July 2-4 Much of the Border Health als, and policy makers offered session on Border Health issues session was organized by Prof. a' wealth of insight and opinion to included: Joseph Autry, Acting Alberto Mata of the Univ. of those attending the Center's Border Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Oklahoma Dept. of Human Rela- Academy in July. Substance Abuse and Mental tions, and Eva Moya, Project The Academy, now in its second Health Services Administration; Dr. Manager of Border Vision year, was organized around two Ciro Sumaya of the Texas A&M Fronteriza of the Univ. of Arizona major themesHealth and Eco- School of Rural Public Health; Dr. Rural Health Office. Mata and nomic Development on consecu- Guillermo Mendoza of the Pan Moya, both experts in public health tive weekends. During the first American Health Organization; and border health issues, were weekend, participants learned and Prof. David Warner of the presenters as well. about health status issues, health Univ. of Texas LBJ School of Public Susan Kunz, director of the systems, and community-based Affairs. Border Health Foundation in projects in the borderlands. In the A Mexican perspective on issues Tucson, headed a panel discussion following week regional develop- of public health and regional health of individuals working in health ment, cross-border development, planning was presented by Dr. care in Arizona border communi- trade with Mexico and Canada, as Fernando Herrera Fernandez, ties, which included Richard well as legal, law enforcement, and Director General of Teaching and Ramirez, a representative of the cultural issues were covered. Research for the state of Sonora in Tohono 0' odham Nation. The sessions took place at the Rio the Mexican Secretariat of Health; On the final day of the session, Rico Resort, north of the border and Dr. Federico Ortiz-Quesada, participants toured a health clinic town of Nogales. Special Advisor to the Mexican Continued on page 7
Herrera frompage 3 previous heroes like Herrera as a did not simply grow out of relation- and masculine identity in the way of performing and imagining ships in which stark group bound- context of a constrained public their own ethnic and gender aries were clearly drawn between sphere that offered delimited identities. Memories in boxing were Anglos and Mexicans or among opportunities for expressions of visualized, embodied, and prac- subjects that were either "assimi- "Mexicanness" and cultural ticedas in Herrera's overhand lated," "assimilable," and nationalism. After 1945, however, blowin a manner that valorized "unassimilable." The careers of boxing became an important arena Mexican courage resourcefulness, ethnic Mexican boxers stretching in where the wider social struggles skill, masculinity, and generally a long line from Herrera to Oscar that emerged between Mexican reinforced pride in being "Mexi- De La Hoya at the end of the Americans and Mexican immi- can." Expressions of Mexican twentieth century, reflected in part grants came to be enacted. Boxers ethnicity and masculinity in boxing the complex social and cultural now cleverly based lucrative exemplified the way these identities negotiations that diverse racial and careers on the emergent divisions themselves had to be assembled ethnic groups undertook as they among ethnic Mexicans over issues from often non-Mexican elements in learned to work together, even if at of nationality, ethnicity, and class. a region comprised of diverse social times they met in symbolic and The biggest-drawing fighter of his groups engaged in complex actual opposition. Ethnic Mexicans dayArt Aragon, "The Golden Boy cultural interactions. As part of this cultivated a culture of boxing as of Hollywood"proved this point. process, the ancestral claim to part of a much larger counter- He was a transitional figure who "Mexican" greatness in prizefight- hegemonic strategy that involved was both hated and loved because ing established attachments to the constant testing of new identi- of his apparent "assimilation." place and constituted a ties, senses of community, and Aragon's career foreshadowed the counternarrative that subverted political contestation as they problem of ethnic Mexican commu- dominant stereotypes ethnic struggled to control their "assimila- nity stratification that would partly
Mexicans confronted in their tion" into United States society... undermine the solidarities of 1960s everyday lives. Before World War II, people of and 1970s social movements. Famous ethnic Mexican boxing Mexican descent made boxing into AZR careers such as Aurelio Herrera's a performative expression of ethnic
The Arizona Report: Fa111999 4 14 Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the U.S. Economy by Arturo Gonzalez Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants March 1998 U.S. Current Population Survey. As the suffer higher levels of poverty than most table and graph indicate, the number of Mexican other ethnic groups. While the poverty rate of Americans with low levels of current and permanent Mexican-origin families has hovered just below 30% for income is undeniable. The question we seek an answer most of the 1990s, the average poverty rate in the U.S. is to is: Are large segments of the Mexican American 10%. This means that the Mexican population is about population in danger of becoming a permanent three times more likely to live in poverty than the underclass, or in the process of joining the ranks of the average American. For many social scientists, this is middle class? ample evidence that Mexicans are an "underclass" with reduced prospects for economic mobility. How- Income Distribution ever, the varied nature of the Mexican population The source of a family's income is varied, and includes makes such generalizations questionable. salaries; dividends (payoffs) from assets such as stocks, Income levels, poverty rates, and assets are all bonds, and real estate; inheritance; and public assis- indicators of the present economic status, as well as the tance and welfare programs. The amount of family future economic mobility, of families and individuals. income is a result of many factors. Not surprisingly, The Mexican American population is often perceived as employment accounts for a large portion of family being poor, in government transfer programs, and with income. As a consequence, families with more members few prospects for economic mobility. This perception is that work in high paying jobs will have greater incomes rarely challenged even though many non-economic than other families. Since one-third of the Mexican structural explanations exist. One of the most impor- American population is foreign-born, it is important to tant of these is generational status. Because the share of consider the possibility that immigrant families have U.S.-born Mexican Americans has declined from 85% in workers who earn less than U.S.-born workers. In the early 1960s to 61% in 1998, immigrants put more addition, immigrants who have acculturated will have weight on Mexican American statistics than ever before. had greater experience in the U.S. labor force, and Here, we explore the income distribution and the should consequently earn more than recently arrived extent of poverty, along with wealth and asset accumu- immigrants. Other factors, such as youth, English lation, across generations using information from the proficiency, education, and region of residence, will further affect family income. Time in the U.S.,
Figure1 to a greater extent, will Percent of Mexican-originFamilies capture many of the withTotal Incomeby Generation, 1997 differences that impact. total family income among Poverty Mexican-origin families. threshold, Median Median U.S. For these reasons, the family of four, Mexican-origin Emily income, percent of Mexican-origin 16% $16,276 family income, $44,766 $27,000 families with total income presented in the graph is 14% t broken down by genera- I N./ 12% tions, where the first generation is defined for 10%- --- -First Second - Third the family-reference person who is foreign-born 8% and whose parents are also foreign-born, the second 6% generation is a person who is born in the U.S., but who 4% has at least one foreign- born parent, and the third generation is a person who ^ is born in the U.S. (or 0% abroad) and whose parents <55 000 510,000 $20,000 530.000 $40,000 $50,000 $611000 570,000 180,000 $90.000 5100,000. Continued on page 6
BESTCOPYAVAILABLE 5 The Arizona Report: Fa111999 9C Mexicans in the U.S. Economy frompage 5 are also born in the U.S. For reference, the poverty of second-generation families have incomes in the thresholds for a family of four, the median income for $10,000 to $45,000 range, but this is due to the fact that all Mexican-origin families, and that of all U.S. families third-generation families are more likely than second- are also marked. generation families to have incomes greater than The graph shows that the three Mexican-origin $65,000. Therefore, while the income distribution of populations have incomes that are less than the rest of second-generation families is more flat and less the U.S. population. For all three groups, the income skewed to the left, third-generation families are more distribution is skewed towards the left, meaning that diverse in their incomes. There are a significant the median income is less than the average income. number of high-income families, just as there are a Since the median divides the population in half, this significant number of low-income families. Therefore, means that the majority of families are concentrated in while the table shows a decline in the third generation the lower end of the distribution. The table compli- in median incomes after increasing from the first to the ments the graph, as it lists the median and average second, there is a progressive increase in average income of the families, along with the median and mean incomes from the first to the third generation. family size. Income distributions that are "flatter" have In fact, Mexican Americans are not unique in the a more equal distribution of income, and second- decrease in incomes from the second to the third generation families have a lower kurtosis value (a generation. All second-generation families in the U.S. measure of flatness) than third- and first-generation average $58,569, but third-generation families average families. First-generation families, in particular, have $57,966. Although the difference is not statistically very a peaked and left-skewed distribution, implying significant, the fact that progress stalls from the second both inequality and a high number of families in the to the third generation requires further discussion, bottom of the income distribution. Comparing the particularly in light of the implications regarding incomes across generations shows that the second- poverty status. generation has the lowest percentage of families with AZR low incomes and below the poverty line, while the third generation has quite a few families in poverty, but also This article is an excerpt from Arturo Gonzalez's forthcom- many with large incomes. ing book, Dreams of 'Buenos Dias': Mexicans & Mexican About 40% of first-generation families have less Americans in the U.S. Economy. Gonzalez is an assistant professor at the MASRC. than $20,000 in total income, compared to about 30% of His e-mail address is: [email protected] second- and third-generation families. The median family income of first-generation families is $23,000 compared to Table 1 $32,000 for second- and third- Median and Mean Family Income and Size by Generation,* 1997 generation families. In addition to Income having less income, first-genera- Size Generation tion families are larger. Median Mean Median Mean U.S.-born Mexican Americans Total are at least twice as likely to have Mexican-origin $27,000 $35,262 4 3.9 incomes over $60,000 than those All U.S. $44,766 $57,099 3 3.1 born in Mexico. In total, nearly First Generation 110,000 second- and third-genera- Mexican $23,046 $29,667 4 4.2 tion families (or 5% of all families All U.S. $35,432 $50,205 3 3.6 in both categories) have more than $100,000 in 1997, while only 2% of Second Generation first-generation Mexican families Mexican American $32,200 $39,265 3 3.4 have over $100,000. All U.S. $43,430 $58,569 2 2.8 A disappointing finding is that Third Generation Mexican American more third-generation Mexican Mexican $32,008 $42,500 families have lower income levels 3 3.6 than the second generation. In All U.S. $46,000 $57,966 3 3.1 total number and percentage, as Source: March 1998 Current Population Survey. Notes: Only primary families are counted. Sample weights are used. Excludes those born in the graph and table show, more Puerto Rico or outlying regions of the U.S. third-generation families have less First Generation: person and both parents are foreign-born; Second Generation: person is than $10,000 than second-genera- U.S.-born and at least on parent is foreign-born; Third Generation: person and both parents tion families. A higher percentage are U.S.-born. The third generation also includes persons born abroad of U.S.-born parents.
The Arizona Report: Fa111999 6 1 G Border Academy frompage 4 in Nogales, Mexico, and met with (Oder), Germany; and Wieslaw members of META (Mujeres en Trabajo Czyzowicz, Commercial Consul of Medio-Ambiental) a group of women Poland's Consulate General in Los in Nogales, Mexico, who are working Angeles, presented issues of to improve environmental conditions borderlands development in global in the large, impoverished squatter perspective. communities in which they live. The Bill Bourland, Economic Develop- tour was conducted by Border Links, a ment Specialist for the City of Tucson-based ecumenical program Tucson; and Pablo Wong-Gonzalez that seeks to raise consciousness of the Center for Research on Food about border issues through experien- and Development (CIAD) in tial education. Since 1987, it has Hermosillo, Mexico, spoke about offered travel seminars along the U.S. tourism, trade and maquiladora Mexico border for groups from all industry issues. over the U.S. and Canada. BorderLinks again led partici- pants on a tour, this time through Border Economic Development several maquiladora parks in Dorothy Bigg, Deputy Director of the Nogales, Sonora. Later in the day, Arizona Department of Commerce, academy participants met with delivered the keynote speech in the community women who are Economic Development session, and Squatter community in Nogales, Sonora, working to create a micro-enterprise on the following day Consul Jerry where a women's group is trying to improvecommunity banking project, which Kramer, of the Canadian Consulate environmental conditions. will help the poor and people of General in Los Angeles, spoke on the limited means obtain credit in order topic, "How Canada Views NAFTA nomics at San Diego State Univ.; to improve their homes and neigh- After Five Years." Michael Nicely, Deputy Chief of borhoods. The growing squatter Other presentations were given by the U.S. Border Patrol; and John communities, such as the ones Bruce Wright, Assoc. Vice President Evans, Asst. Attorney General for visited in Nogales, Mexico, are a for Economic Development at the the State of Arizona, addressed relatively recent phenomenon, a Univ. of Arizona, and Vera issues of immigration, drug result of people moving to the Pavlakovich, Director of Borderlands interdiction and the environment. border from further south to find Economic Development at the UA, Prof. Oscar Martinez of the UA jobs in the maquilas or in the U.S. both of whom were instrumental in Dept. of History; Christian Scholarship funding for Border organizing the session. Pluschke, Executive Director of the Academy participants was pro- Lee Frankel, President of the World Trade Center in Frankfurt vided by the University of Arizona Fresh Produce Associa- Graduate College, tion of the Americas, Web Sites with borderlands information, contacts, and links Bank One of Arizona, and Stephen Joseph, an PROFMEX, the Consortium for Research on Mexico: and the Salt River Urban Planner based in <
Next Border Academy scheduled for July 2000 in San Diego The 2000 Border Academy will be offered in San Diego, July 13 and ends on the 16th. The Border Health session California, on consecutive long weekends in begins July 20 and ends on the 23rd. July. The academy is now jointly sponsored LAAAAAAAA Registration brochures with more specific by the MASRC and the University of Arizona 11- HE [1:,ORDER details will be available later in the fall. If you Office of Economic Development. ACADEMY would like to receive one, please contact the The sessions will again focus on health and WWWWW Mexican American Studies & Research Center economic issues in the U.S.-Mexico border by e-mail or by phone at: region. The Economic Development session starts on [email protected]/ (520) 621-7551.
17 The Arizona Report: Fa111999 Study examines cultural values and HIV risk reduction
Tie Influence of Cultural The findings suggest that and may hold promise for other Values On Self-Efficacy in culturally innovative populations affected by HIV/ Reducing HIV Risk Behaviors approaches can facilitate HIV/ AIDS as well. Among a Sample of Male AIDS risk reduction among The research was funded by Mexican-Origin Injection Drug male Mexican-origin drug a grant from the National Users is the 28th title in the injectors. The importance of Institute on Drug Abuse MASRC Working Paper Series. key cultural values like (NIDA), and is available from The authors, Antonio L. machismo is underscored by its the Center for $3.00.AzR Estrada, Barbara D. Estrada, association with HIV risk and Gilbert Quintero, examine reduction for both sexual and the influence of key cultural injection related risks. The values like machismo, authors note that culturally familism, traditionalism, and innovative approaches hold The Arizona Report is published by religiosity as a means of the promise of substantially the Mexican American Studies & helping reduce HIV risk among reducing HIV risk behaviors Research Center at the University of Mexican-origin IDUs. among Hispanic drug injectors, Arizona.
SEND CORRESPONDENCE TO: Center of Excellence from page 1 MASRC Providing stipend support for "The Center of Excellence Economics Bldg., Room 208 The University of Arizona three medical students annually provides the vital infrastructure to to participate in existing rural our state to increase the number of Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 health programs. culturally and linguistically sensitive physicians meeting the Phone: (520) 621-7551 Providing educational work- Fax: (520) 621-7966 shops. day-to-day health needs of the state's Hispanic community," said E-mail: [email protected] Adding a tutoring program for MASRC Director Adela de la Torre. The Arizona Report is published as a basic science courses and clini- "This program will not only public service and is free of charge.
cal workshops to help students support the growing medical care 1 perform better on the U.S. Medi- needs of this population, but also ISSN 1092-4213 cal Licensing Exam. serve as a model for medical Improving Hispanic health li- schools across the country. ©1999 The Arizona Board of Regents ZR on behalf of the University of Arizona brary resources.
The Arizona Report NON-PROFIT ORG. Mexican American Studies & Research Center U.S. POSTAGE The University of Arizona PAID P.O. Box 210023 TUCSON, ARIZONA PERMIT NO. 190 Tucson, AZ 85721-0023
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18 The History of the Tucson International Mariachi Conference Southern Arizona festival is showcase for classic Mexican ariform by Gregory S. Rodriguez Regionalism in the United Mexico border region by hosting States is thought to have the 18' Annual Tucson Interna- declined since the 1950s tional Mariachi Conference with the spread of interstate (TIMC). This event provides a highways, chains of fast-food telling example of the ways in restaurants, and television. But which music transforms, but does just as ethnicity never seems to not erase, attachments to place. dissolve into the so-called melting Although mariachi music has its pot, so regional differences have origins in Mexico, today this never disappeared in American musical tradition is symbolic of life. Local identities and affiliations Tucson culture, and increasingly, find powerful expression in the western United States. musical styles, like southern "What's more American than gospel, the Chicago blues, the mariachi music?" ask many who Detroit "Motown" sound, or in live in the West. Tucsonans Tucson International Mariachi Conference ethnic styles such as Appalachian April 27-30, 1988 deserve much credit for its bluegrass and Louisiana xydeco. Alerledd Vavas de M.N., Linda Remind sudden rise in popularity, and In April 2000, Tucson will pay Alevlachi CSec Los Canperos OweMaria., Altalian although the country is too large tribute to the music of the U.S.- 1988 TIMC poster Continued on page 2 The Segregation of Mexican Americans in Tucson Public Schools Chicanos in Arizona, Southwest have long history offighting discrimination by Maritza De La Trinidad Although segregation in U.S. public schools is of the Mexican American students. However, some most often thought of as a problem historically school districts in Texas simply barred Mexican Ameri- affecting the African American community, can children from attending the regular public schools Mexican Americans also experienced segregation in solely because of their ethnicity. These districts estab- public schools in Texas, California, New Mexico, lished separate schools, commonly referred to as Colorado, and Arizona. The practice of segregating "Mexican schools," which were inferior in construction, them began in the early 1900s and continued through resources, teaching materials, and equipment. Other the mid-1970s. Historian Gilbert Gonzalez has noted schools justified placing Mexican-origin students into that legally sanctioned segregation of Mexican Ameri- separate classes for "Americanization" purposes.' can children was extensive between 1900 and 1950, a This policy was evident in Tucson's notorious 1-C period he calls "the era of de jure segregation of Mexi- class, a one-year immersion program aimed at teaching can Americans in Southwest school systems." children with limited English-language skills, most of In most cases the practice was based on language andwhom were of Mexican descent. From 1920 to 1965, cultural "deficiencies," and was supported by adminis-many Mexican American students began their formal trative policies that justified segregating pupils who education in this program. "Everyone went to 1-C, then were linguistically and to first grade. ..We culturally different from INSI D E thought the whole world the mainstream Anglo was like that," said Gene population in order to Mexican Tucson: Remembering Barrio Libre Page 4 Benton, who is now an meet the "special needs" Continued on page 6
19 BEST COPY AVA I LAB LE the music or to hire groups to play traditionally performed in Mexican Mariachi frompage 1 for fiestas, serenatas (serenades), American communities across the and diverse to turn all music into casamientos (weddings), and other Southwest in restaurants, at national pastimes, Tucson's special occasions. In smaller parties, at weddings, and on other premier local legacyits cross- towns, they stroll around the main special occasions. One previous cultural and educational celebra- plazas and stop to play for anyone group, Mariachi Los Tucsonenses, tion of mariachi music has fixed who will pay. In the early 1930s, a achieved acclaim beyond Tucson in this musical tradition in the wider few mariachis went to Mexico 1954. But it was Los Changuitos American consciousness. City. They did well, so others Feos that would put the city on the In order to learn something about followed, establishing mariachis international mariachi map. the popularity of mariachi music in as the ubiquitous and quintessen- Rourke's intention was to Tucson, it is necessary to turn to its tial songsters of Mexico. Their provide interested Mexican origins in the mestizo folklore of rallying-ground in the capital city American youth with a rewarding Mexico. Almost two centuries old, remains to this day the Plaza experience that would also help mariachi music is world famous, Garibaldi. By the mid-20th cen- build pride in their culture. Al- and its production has been tury the spread of radio programs, though originally intended as a continuous and prolific, particu- recordings, and movies made the neighborhood project for Mexican larly in the Mexican state of Jalisco. itinerant mariachi, in full charro Americans, Los Changuitos Feos It was there that the mariachis regalia, one of the most enduring almost immediately attracted the originated and began to spread out symbols of Mexican culture. interest of local Anglo Americans. to other regions. Traditionally, The roots of the Tucson Interna- As part of their experimentation mariachis have been strolling folk tional Mariachi Conference are with Mexican culture, local Anglos orchestras. Originally, they were solidly embedded in the hired Los Changuitos Feos (or the composed of stringed instruments multicultural communities of Changos, as they became known) only guitarra (guitar), guitarron southern Arizona, particularly for parties and other special (or large guitar), violin, and the those of Tucson's Mexican Ameri- occasions. Eventually, Anglo tiny four-stringed vihuela. By the cans. According to John Huerta, patronage helped establish the 1920s, innovative mariachis one of the founders of the TIMC, it Changos college scholarship fund. introduced comets and trumpets was in the early 1960s when a For some of the Changos, the that have now become a standard priest with a vast collection of musical abilities developed part of the ensemble. mariachi music, Father Arsenio through their participation in the In Guadalajara, Jalisco's largest Carrillo, played a few songs for group helped pay for college city, mariachis are to be found his colleague, Father Charles educations, and led to success later around the old, well-known Rourke. An accomplished jazz in life. Members Macario Ruiz and markets where people go to hear pianist in another life, Rourke was Bobby Martinez graduated college immediately struck by the and became teachers at local high The Arizona Report is published by mariachis' unique tempo. schools. Another member, Randy the Mexican American Studies & Rourke began working with Carrillo, along with other local !Research Center at the University of Carrillo's two nephews, Randy musicians, formed what would Arizona. and Stevie Carrillo, who were become Tucson's premier mariachi already learning mariachi songs. troupe, El Mariachi Cobre.
SEND CORRESPONDENCE TO: According to Huerta, Father The TIMC has developed a larger MASRC Rourke "began working with audience and wider reputation Economics Bldg., Room 208 these really simple songs, and he since the first conference in the The University of Arizona called [the performers together early 1980s, and a street fair, music Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 with their rudimentary repertoire] workshops, and Mexican folklorico 'The Ugly Little Monkeys,' and dancing and instruction, are part of Phone: (520) 621-7551 that's the way this group started." the mix of things that make it so Fax: (520) 621-7966 The group known by their appealing. The idea for the street E-mail: [email protected] Spanish moniker, Los Changuitos fair was to re-create Plaza The Arizona Report is published as a Feoswould become by 1964 one Garibaldi, home of Mexico City's public service and is free of charge. of the most influential mariachi strolling mariachis. ensembles to emerge in Tucson. Finally, all was in place for a ISSN 1092-4213 Before the emergence of Los program that would bristle with Changuitos Feos, Tucson's electricity and artistic flourishes. L 2000 The Arizona Board of Regents mariachi culture was confined to John Huerta outlined the daily on behalf of the University of Arizona those places where mariachis had events: Continued on next page
The Arizona Report: Spring 2000 2 20 The conference opened at the Tuc- District has a formal mariachi health clinic in Arizona. son Convention Center on curriculum that works with us," Nevertheless, the organizers in Wednesday [April 10, 1983] with explained Delfina Alvarez, a long- Tucson continue to stay on the the Mariachi Vargas [de Tecalitlan] time TIMC volunteer, "as do a cutting edge of innovation. conducting the workshops for stu- number of schools that have Fernandez explained some of the dents from all over the West. Trav- eling with Mariachi Vargas was mariachi groups...And that's a changes for the 2000 conference: direct result of the mariachi the founder of the group, Silvestre We're providing a revolving stage Vargas, and Ruben Fuentes, one of conference." in the center of the arena. This is Mexico's leading composer /ar- "Initially we drew most of the the first time ever that a mariachi rangers and manager of Mariachi mariachis from out of state," said concert will be held on a revolving Vargas ... OnFriday evening the Celestino Fernandez, a University stage. This change brings every- concert was held in the arena of the of Arizona professor of Sociology body closer to the stage. Instead of convention center; on Saturday who is the current president of the being at one end of the arena, we morning the mariachi competition TIMC board of directors. are bringing the stage out to the (the Student Showcase) was held middle and this allows everybody in the music hall; and at noon on Richard Carranza began attend- ing the conference while still in to be a little closer. This change Saturday a street fair called permits us to create a more inti- "Garibaldi" started. mate program. Another important development The effects of the Tucson Inter- in the history of the conference was national Mariachi Conference have securing the contribution of indeed been profound and wide- Tucson's distinguished, home- spread. Yet nowhere are they more grown artist, Linda Ronstadt. deeply-felt than in Tucson's up- Along with Huerta, Maria and-coming generations. For Urquides played an influential role example, at the age of nine, Nicole in bringing Ronstadt to the confer- Martinez was "awestruck" by a ence. Urquides was one of the performance of Mariachi Cobre. founders of bilingual education in "Singing is what I want to do," the United States, and also Ron- announced Martinez, now a stadt's high school teacher. fourteen-year-old freshman at Besides her great popularity and Tucson High Magnet School. name recognition, Ronstadt "Mariachi is what I'm reaching contributed to the conference for." She knew immediately that program in other profound ways. she would pursue mariachi music She was instrumental in introduc- the first time she heard its unique ing Mexican folklOrico dancing sound. "It just grabs you," she into the conference program. Fol- claims. klOrico dance is now an integral At age thirteen she was one of part of the TIMC, and is both 1985 TIMC poster three chosen to be a featured performed and taught during the soloist at the 1998 mariachi conference. conference in Las Cruces, New Over the years, the mariachi grade school. Today, he teaches Mexico. Mariachi music moti- tradition became a vehicle for mariachi music at Pueblo High vated her to succeed in her fourth- instilling pride in Mexican cultural School where he leads a highly grade guitar group and in her heritage. It is notable that when an successful touring mariachi violin-playing and singing in her all-female group, Mariachi Las orchestra. Indeed, many former school mariachi orchestra. Adelitas, emerged on the scene, the conference students have returned "I didn't have many problems TIMC was its first major showcase. to the conference and their commu- getting her motivated to sing," One important effect of the nities as successful mariachis in explained Alfredo Valenzuela, the TIMC has been the introduction of their own right and as certified director of the Davis Bilingual mariachi music into the curricula instructors. Learning Center's mariachi troupe, of Arizona elementary and second- A key aspect of the conference is Las Aguilitas de Davis. Davis, an ary schools. A number of Arizona that all the money earned goes to elementary school, has had a schools, especially in Tucson, now the non-profit La Frontera Center, mariachi group for about five offer mariachi music instruction as and to scholarships for young years. Up to 40 second- through a choice, along with classical and people. Tucson's La Frontera fifth-graders perform at various jazz music. "Tucson Unified School Center is the only free mental Continued on page 8
The Arizona Report: Spring 2000 3 21 Mexican Tucson: Remembering Barrio Libre by Lydia Otero In the war with the United rise to what became Barrio Libre, of tourist and business interests States, Mexico lost a vast but people that lived there simply since the 1930s, and the federally expanse of land that contains called it "el barrio." The plaza was sponsored Urban Renewal legisla- the present-day states of Arizona, the focal point of the displaced tion of the 1960s provided them California, Nevada, New Mexico, Mexicans, and the neighborhood with a windfall opportunity to most of Colorado, and parts of became more than a place of legitimately eliminate it. Tucson's several others. Five years later, in residence, and served to nourish a Pueblo Center Project was Arizo- 1853, the U.S. bought from Mexico sense of community and identity na's first attempt at so-called urban 30,000 square miles of land in what among Tucsonenses.2 The plaza renewal, which was sometimes is now southern Arizona and site is now partially taken up by a referred to as "Negro removal" by southwestern New Mexico. That grass-covered median between African Americans in other cities transaction, known as the Gadsden Congress Street and Broadway just where such projects were undertak- Purchase, and the eventual arrival west of Church Street. en. Tangible reminders of Mexican of the Southern Pacific Railroad in The destruction of Tucson's accomplishments in the founding Tucson in 1880 ushered in monu- oldest barrio in 1969 was the and building of Tucson were mental changes.' culmination of extended efforts relinquished to those empowered to dictate policy and frame definitions of poverty, "blight," and "urban
11'71111111r, decay." Alternative locations for a nntPN91 If 11.1[1111i civic center were not considered, If f AMOUR/ /If 1 inlyla raut1101111 II r clUITugly 41110 I even though a quarter of all the 5.0 SIM I 11- 1.1, land within city limits remained 111111 11-11I vacant until 1980.3 Federal guide- r 114 1111 NI 14 lines required citizen participation 1 1 1; in "revitalization" efforts, but this was initially interpreted by the city simply as people outside govern- ment, and top business leaders were selected to serve as advisers on urban renewal issues, effectively Barrio in the foreground (c. 1948). The Pioneer Hotel, converted into an office denying barrio residents any voice building in the mid- 1970s, is in the upper left. Roskruge Elementary School, to the or participation in the program. northeast, is in the upper right corner. Photo Courtesy of Arizona Historical Society. There were no loud public protests. Policies of exclusion, as Tucsonenses faced a decline in toward erasing a strong Mexican well as cultural and language their economic, social, and cultural presence near the city's central barriers, discouraged barrio resi- status due to the imposition of a business district. The Tucson dents from fighting back. Inexperi- new racial and ethnic hierarchy. Sunshine Club, established in 1922, ence fighting city hall, and fear of After the completion of the rail- and the Chamber of Commerce law enforcement a result of past road connecting Arizona to worked in tandem, manipulating encountersalso were deterrents to California and the commercial the city's image as a white haven action. Many former residents, in centers of the East, this former and resort to attract tourist dollars. particular the elderly, did not take Mexican town found itself inun- These two organizations were relocation lightly. One, whose dated with new arrivals. Segrega- interconnected, shared goals, husband died shortly after leaving tion occurred soon after. As members, and enjoyed a close the barrio said, "If the city wants to Anglos arrived, they acquired the relationship with city officials. kill old people, they should shoot most commercially desirable and Promotional material frequently them and not take their homes and established sections in Tucson. referred to Tucson as "the gateway families and friends away from Most Mexicans moved south, near to old Mexico," but the unavoid- them." 4 Unfortunately, by the time the Plaza de la Mesillaa large able presence of a thriving Mexi- the community rallied and effec- open square to the west of the can community so close to down- tively mobilized to save some original San Augustin cathedral, town contradicted the image they historic sites, most of the barrio was which was razed in 1936. It was were trying to promote. gone. this settlement pattern that gave Barrio Libre had been the target Continued on next page
The Arizona Report: Spring 2000 4 22 The strongest foes to the descendants of the the project were Alva original settlers of the Torres and the La Plaza Santa Cruz Valley. de la Mesilla Committee, Unfortunately, both otherwise known as the for them and the rest La Placita Committee.' of the city's residents, One day in 1967, Alva we must continue to Torres happened to run suffer the conse- into an elderly Roberto quences of the un- Soto, who said to her, sound, culturally "Ay Alvita, I am sad- biased decisions made dened regarding what thirty years ago. Those they are doing down- decisions obliterated a town. They are going to vibrant neighborhood forget everything. They and replaced it with a are tearing down Barrio colorless, often vacant Libre and La Placita. civic center and Nobody's going to La Placita Plaza, 1969, looking southeast across Congress St. and Broadway commercial "village."* remember the barrio andNote barrio area already cleared to the west of San Augustin Cathedral AZR in upper right corner. Photo Courtesy of Arizona Historical Society. they are going to forget about us."6 This simple conversa- It was the real thing. "' Lydia Otero is a graduate student in tion sparked Torres' activism and There is a sense of pride that the UA Department of History. Her e- she organized friends to save La only a knowledge of the past can mail address is: [email protected] Placita, the site of many traditional bestow. This knowledge, of place * The reference is to "La Placita Village" Mexican celebrations. The La and people, is an important part of and itsadjacentfive-story "La Placita Placita Committee garnered more both our individual and commu- Parking Garage" There is no actual dwell- than 10,000 signatures in its nity identity. An appreciation of ing of any sort in this village. petition drive, but was unable to the contributions of those who ' Oscar J. Martinez, Troublesome Border (Tuc- defeat city hall. came before gives us a sense of son: University of Arizona Press, 1988). The once bustling barrio was belonging and ownership. For soon an open wound in the center more than a century in Tucson, 2 Thomas E. Sheridan Los Tucsonenses: The of the city. The changes were Mexican Americans have been Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854-1941 (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1986). dramatic and hard to ignore, characterized as recent arrivals or forcing people finally to face outsiders when in fact many are Bradford Luckingham, The Urban South- reality and reconsider the west: A Profile History of Albu- cost of "progress." Yet, querque, El Paso, Phoenix and Tuc- son (El Paso: Texas Western Press, there is more to lament. 1982). Important historic sites that could presently serve 4 Patricia J. Clark and Martha M. to celebrate and honor the Fimbres, "A Study to Identify and Access the Psychological Ramifi- contributions of the cations Inherent in the Process of Mexican-descent popula- Relocation Regarding Census tion were destroyed. A Tract I in Downtown Tucson, Ari- prime example is the zona" (Masters Thesis, Arizona building that housed La State University, 1978), 25. Alianza Hispano-Americana, 5 La Placita was what was left of the nation's first Mexican the church plaza or Plaza de la American mutual-aid Mesilla in the 1960s.It was a society, founded in 1894. combination of park and town Former Barrio Libre square, and had a kiosk for spe- cial events. resident Henry Garcia said the barrio "would 6Alva Torres, interviewed by au- have made a fantastic thor, Tucson, AZ, 12 November place. Tourists would 1998. have flocked there... 7 Henry Garcia, interview, Ari- Almost Gone: Barrio Libre, 1969. North facing aerial shot taken because they knew it zona Historical Society (AHS). just before construction of the Tucson Community Center. Photo wasn't phony, you know. Courtesy of Fred Wehrman Photography.
5 The Arizona Report: Spring 2000 23 California and Texas, rose signifi- of MALDEF and the Pima County Segregation frompage 1 cantly and continued into the mid- Legal Aid Society. The latter suit area superintendent for the Tucson 1970s. Most were filed with the claimed that the district maintained Unified School District. Although a assistance and financial support of a "triethnic" segregated school large number of Mexican American organizations such as LULAC, the system, tracked students in a dis- students had sufficient knowledge ofMexican American Legal Defense criminatory manner, provided an English, they were almost always Fund (MALDEF), and the Alianza inferior curriculum and facilities to placed in 1-C classes. Some were Hispano-Americana, a mutual-aid minorities, failed to offer hot lunch held there for two or three years, by society founded in Tucson in 1894. and special education programs to which time they were eight or nine The most notable of these was the minorities on an equal basis, failed to years old when they entered first 1946 case of Mendez v. Westminster recognize linguistic differences and grade. Ultimately, the 1-C program School District, which abOlished long-provide bilingual notices, and did resulted in psychological trauma andstanding segregation and other not employ or promote Chicanos in a educational retardation for many, discriminatory practices in Califor- fair and equitable manner. This and contributed to high dropout nia after LULAC successfully lawsuit was a culmination of events rates among Mexican Americans. challenged illegal educational that took place during the late 1960s Moreover, because there were no policies in Orange County that were and early 1970s, a period marked by clear methods of assessing language condoned by the state board of increased activism by both Chicanos skills and no set class structure or education. This case was later used and African Americans, especially in curriculum, the program failed to to challenge and overturn the the area of education. promote English proficiency among Supreme Court's 1896 "separate but By 1968, the Chicano Movement the students, which was its intended equal" doctrine (Plessy v. Ferguson) was in full swing as the high school purpose. The program ended in in the Brown v. Board of Education "blowouts" took place in Los Ange- 1965 after the passage of the federal case.' les and other cities. Like other Elementary and Secondary Educa- Mexican American parents in Chicano youths in the Southwest, tion Act, which provided additional Arizona also challenged segregation.those in Tucson also began to funding to schools, especially those For example, in 1952 a group of challenge the racism and discrimina- in low-income areas, for the de- Mexican American parents in the tion prevalent in the public school velopment of programs to improve town of Tolleson contested the system, including the practice of educational quality for impoverishedsegregationist policies of the local segregation. Under the leadership of children.2 school district, claiming that their Salomon Baldenegro, the Mexican Although it is not commonly children were receiving substandardAmerican Liberation Committee known, Chicanos fought discrimina- educations and being forced to (MALC) mobilized youth around tory policies long before the historic attend inferior schools. With the aideducational issues by organizing 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that of Alianza Hispano-Americana walkouts and boycotts to protest ended legal segregation (Brown v. thelawyers, the parents filed a lawsuit discriminatory school practices and Board of Education of Topeka), and the against Tolleson School District. policies. Policies in regard to civil rights era. As early as 1918, After finding that the district had corporal punishment, suspensions, Mexican American parents in deprived Mexican Americans of and tracking were grossly unfair to California challenged school districtstheir equal protection rights under minority students, who were disci- that segregated their children from the Fourteenth Amendment, the plined more severely, and routinely Anglos. In 1930, the nation's first judge ordered that Mexican childrenplaced in less challenging classes successful desegregation lawsuit wasbe integrated into the regular regardless of individual ability. The filed by Mexican American parents schools and abolished segregation inMALC was a Chicano activist group in Lemon Grove, California, after a that district (Gonzales v. Sheeley).4 initially headquartered at the separate school was built for the In 1974, a group of African Ameri-Westside Neighborhood Center in "Mexican" children. That same year,can parents alleged that racial Barrio Hollywood. By 1973, the the first class-action suit supported segregation and discrimination MALC had obtained the support of by a civil rights organization was persisted in Tucson School District the Pima County Legal Aid Society filed against a school in Del Rio, No. 1 and filed a lawsuit through theand MALDEF and filed lawsuits that Texas, by the League of United LatinNational Association for the Ad- would succeed in ending corporal American Citizens (LULAC) in vancement of Colored People punishment of students, and chang- Salvatierra v. Independent School (NAACP). That same year, Mexicaning the school board's election District. American parents followed with a process to make it conform to the After World War II, the number ofsimilar, more expanded, lawsuit in Voting Rights Act. A year later these lawsuits filed by Mexican Americans Mendoza, et al. v. Tucson School organizations filed a lawsuit against in the Southwest, especially in District Number 1, et al. with the help Continued on next page
The Arizona Report: Spring 2000 6 24 Tucson School District No. 1 on students to certain schools, thus 'Tucson Public School News. February 1959, behalf of Mary Mendoza and Terry creating "minority" schools, mostly vol. 1, no. 2; The Arizona Daily Star, January Trujillo, whose children attended on the city's west side. Among other21, 1965, Vol. 124, No. 21, B1/3, p.1; Ari- neighborhood schools on the west things, the court ordered the district zona Daily Star, 24 June, 1996; Eugene side of town.' to remedy the ill effects of past Benton Regional AssistantSuperintendent for Tucson Unified School District, inter- MALC leaders were already policies for several schools, but it view by author, 20, November 1998, Tuc- planning to take legal action against did not address the issues of equal son. the district when Mendoza and educational opportunity or the Trujillo told them of the poor qualityquality of education that Mexican 3 Cinema Guild and KPBS: San Diego, schooling their children were getting.Americans had received over the California, The Lemon Grove Incident (Pro- Among the problems they cited wereyearsissues that Mexican Ameri- duced by Paul Espinosa and Directed by Frank Christopher 58 min.); Gilbert G. that their children were having can parents were most concerned Gonzalez, Chicano Education in the Era of trouble reading, that the practice of with in this case.' Segregation,13-27; Guadalupe San Miguel, tracking was relegating their chil- Despite the decrease in lawsuits Let All of Them Take Heed, 54-90; Oscar dren to substandard classes, and thatchallenging segregation since the Martinez, The Chicanos of El Paso: An As- there was a lack of college prepara- late 1970s, Mexican-origin students sessmen t of Progress, Southwestern Studies tion courses. These complaints continue to experience high levels of Monograph No. 59 (El Paso: Texas West- helped propel the MALC lawsuit segregation, particularly in the ern Press, The University of Texas at El since the concerns of Trujillo and western parts of the United States.' Paso, 1980), 30. Mendoza mirrored those of many Moreover, equal education opportu- 'Bradford Luckingham, Minorities in Phoe- Mexican American parents. In nity, tracking, high dropout rates, nix: A profile of Mexican American, Chinese essence, the women served as and low levels of college attendance American, and African American Communi- symbolic catalysts. Their children's continue to be serious issues. ties, 1860-1992 (Tucson: The University of experiences with school discrimina- Although scholars such as Gilbert Arizona Press, 1992), 49-69. tion aided the lawsuit by showing Gonzalez, Guadalupe San Miguel, 5 SalomOn Baldenegro, Officeof specifically how district policies wereand George I. Sanchez have docu- Multicultural Programs, The University working against Chicano students.' mented the history of segregation of Arizona, interview by author, 10 De- This timely lawsuit also coincided and other inequalities experienced cember 1998, Tucson; Other MALC mem- with a U.S. Health, Education and by Mexican Americans in Texas, bers were Guadalupe Castillo, Raul Welfare Department report, issued inCalifornia, and New Mexico, Grijalva, Santiago Martinez, Yolanda January 1974, which accused Tucson relatively little research on the Rodriguez, and Herminio Rios. School District No. 1 of maintaining educational experiences of Mexican 6 Ibid. segregated schools in the cases of Americans in Arizona has been Spring Junior High and Holladay done. This study, which utilized Arizona Daily Star, 12 January 1974, B, 1; and Richey elementary schools, and government documents, newspaper Arizona Daily Star, 15 January 1974, B, 1/1. promoting de jure segregation via its articles, interviews with local 8 Fisher, Roy. In the United States District administrative policies. The report educators, and various secondary Court for the District of Arizona: Fisher, et al, further alleged that the district failedsources, was conducted to provide a plaintiffs, United States of America, Plain rift: to meet the educational needs of foundation for future investigations Intervenor, vs. Lohr, et al, Defendants, and Mexican American students, which into that history. Sidney L. Sutton, et al, Intervenors-Defen- resulted in low test scores and an AZR dants, no. CIV 74-90-TUC-WCF Order: Mendoza, et al, Plaintiff United States of over-representation in lower aca- America, Plaintiff-Intervenor, vs. Tucson demic tracks.' Maritza de la Trinidad is a graduate student in the UA Department of School District Number 1, et al., Defendants, The U.S. District Court issued a History. Her e-mail address is: no. CIV 74-204-TUC-WCF Order. (1978); ruling in June 1978. Although it did [email protected] SalomonBaldenegro,Officeof not find evidence of de jure segrega- Multicultural Programs, The University tion, it concluded that: "defendants ' Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Chicano Education in of Arizona, interview by author, 10 De- have failed, to a limited extent, to the Era of Segregation ((Philadelphia: Thecember 1998, Tucson. dismantle the dual system and have Balch Institute Press, 1990) 13-27;9 Gary Orfield, Susan E. Eaton and the Guadalupe San Miguel, Let All of Them instead, created 'minority' schools." Harvard Project on School Desegregation, Take Heed: Mexican Americans and the Cam- The court found that the school Dismantling Desegregation: The Quiet Re- paign for Educational Equality in Texas, 1910- district promoted de facto segregation versal of Brown v. Board of Education (New 1981 (Austin: The University of Texas York: The New Press, 1996), 53-71. in the way it set district boundaries, Press, 1987), 54-90; George I. Sanchez, and in how it placed new schools. It Concerning the Segregation of Spanish-Speak- also found the district at fault for in g Children in the Public Schools (Austin: assigning large numbers of African The University of Texas, Austin, 1952), American and Mexican American 9-75.
7 The Arizona Report: Spring 2000 25 Mariachi frompage 3 public events. Another 100 pupils are working their way up to performance level. As for Martinez, she is now in demand as a musician and singerat professional boxing matches in Las Vegas, Dodger baseball games in Los Angeles, and other gigs. "We don't have to go looking for them. All the kids want to perform mariachi," Valenzuela observed. "They say this is the mariachi center of the world." itcsowTArrt 411011/41,, AZR Nt4ial/lcui c4AritaXet 4PFirt,, 19%5' From: The History of the Tucson Aida Cuevas, Marinelli Los Compenn de Nail Cano, International Mariachi Conference. This Mariachi Cohn! 1987 TIMC poster oral history is part of the Library of 1995 TIMC poster Congress' Bicentennial Local Legacies by students from Drexel Bilingual Project. Copies are available from the Elementary School MASRC for a nominal charge.
Gregory Rodriguez is an assistant professor at the MASRC. His e-mail address is: [email protected]
TUCSON INTERNA310X1i, MAR/A011 CONEENENCE. MAY 7 to 10, 1986
1986 TIMC poster 1993 TIMC poster
The Arizona Report NON-PROFIT ORG. Mexican American Studies & Research Center U.S. POSTAGE The University of Arizona PAID P.O. Box 210023 TUCSON, ARIZONA Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 PERMIT NO. 190
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
2 Mental Health and Mexican American Adolescents by Andrea J. Romero There is a critical need to "Why are the rates so high, and language preference, ethnic address the mental health what can we do about it?" identity, and sociocultural stress. issues of adolescents in the There is very little research that My first question about mental Mexican American community. has explored the cultural context health and culture was "Are there Recent national health surveys of stress, depression, and self- any unique stressors that Mexican indicate that Latino adolescents esteem for Mexican American American adolescents experience have the highest rates of depres- teens. In order to fill this gap in that may be contributing to the sive symptoms and suicide the research, I have conducted higher depressive rates?" Under- attempts.* In fact, Latina teens several studies, and I am prepar- standing the stressors unique to have the highest rates of depres- ing a series of publications that Mexican American adolescents is sive symptoms compared to other further investigate the relation the first step to providing better ethnic and gender groups.* These between culture and mental mental health services. In order high rates are reflective of the health in Mexican-descent adoles- to respond to this question, my Mexican American adolescent cents. Two recent articles from article, entitled "Sociocultural community, since Mexican these studies are based on ques- Stress and Depression in Adoles- Americans comprise more than 60 tionnaires completed by 881 rural cents of Mexican Descent," percent of the pan-ethnic Latino middle school Mexican-descent investigates the relation between group in the United States. adolescents. The questionnaire stress and depressive symptoms. Depression in teenagers is par- was provided in English and Previous studies have not ad- ticularly important to understand Spanish and included measures of dressed the bilingual and bicul- because it is associated with many demographics, economic status, tural experience of Latino adoles- risky health behaviors, such as self-esteem, coping, loneliness, cents as this new sociocultural smoking, drug use, and alcohol and depression. Several cultural stress measure does. For example, use. The first questions I asked measures also were included such it includes questions concerning when I saw these statistics were as perception of discrimination, discrimination by teachers and Continued on page 2 INSIDE Tucson Is Site of 2001 NACCS Conference New faculty member 2 MASRC will host 28th annual gathering in April Andrea Romero he Mexican American Studies & Research Center is hosting the 28th Border Academy 2000 3 1 annual National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Con- San Diego, California ference that will take place in Tucson in April 2001. Psychosocial factors 4 The conference title is: and Latino adolescents I-uan g ceksan, Tucha Aria Wa Frontierapo, Associate Research 4 Borrando Fronteras, Erasing Borders: Professor Scott Carvajal La Educacion, Salud, Inmigracion, e Historia del Pueblo New volume of 5 Perspectives in Mexican As noted by the 2001 NACCS Conference Site Committee: American Studies The title reflects the continuing presence of the Tohono O'odham, Yoemi (Yaqui), and Mexicanas/ os on the Arizona-Mexico border.It is the very "Mexican Baseball 5 strength of these communities that opens the door to a discussion of borders Teams in the Midwest, as real, as metaphors, as imagined, as imposed, as delineations of choice or 1916-1965" coerced divisions. Border Academy 2001 8 As we prepare for the upcoming conference, we are reminded of the issues McAllen, Texas affecting our diverse communities, particularly those along the U.S.-Mexican Continued on page 3
27 Andrea Romero is newest member of MASRC faculty Andrea J. Romero joined cent health, and health promo- the MASRC in the fall as an tion programs for under-served assistant professor. She com- communities. Her research has pleted her doctorate in Social focused on social, psychologi- Psychology at the University of cal, and cultural factors influ- Houston in 1997, where she also encing the mental and physical received an M.A. in Psychology health of adolescents. in 1995. She is currently working on From 1998 until joining the UA developing culturally based faculty, Romero was the project health promotion programs for director of a large school-based Mexican American youth and cancer prevention program at their families. This research the Center for Research in Andrea J. Romero will focus on developing Disease Prevention at the Stanford innovative strategies for re- University School of Medicine. Her cruitment and creating positive research interests include Latino adoles- health behavior change.
Adolescents frompage 1 peers, cultural differences within data was only collected at one Diverse Group of Adolescents," I families, and monolingual stress time point. A longitudinal study found that ethnic pride was both for those who speak only is necessary to understand the associated with more positive English, and for those who speak cause-and-effect relation between attitudes towards other ethnic only Spanish. Teens reported that cultural factors and mental groups. Thus, culturally based family obligations and derogatory health outcomes. My future prevention programs may have -ethnic jokes from friends were the research plans include a longitu- multiple benefits for Mexican most stressful. Additionally, dinal study of mental health and American adolescents. youth with more sociocultural culture, with measures taken at My research program combines stress reported more depressive multiple time points from the elements of unique stress and symptoms. same group of teens. coping techniques of Mexican The second question I asked The findings from these articles American youth to address mental about culture and mental health suggest that high levels of ethnic health issues within the commu- was "What can we do to change pride may prevent low self- nity. My research program at the these high rates of depression and esteem and depressive symptoms, University of Arizona will con- suicide?" To answer this ques- even in the face of sociocultural tinue efforts to develop scientifi- tion, the second article, "Ethnic stress. The implications for cally proven, culturally based Identity & Self-Esteem: A Test of counseling Mexican American prevention programs to address the Social Creativity Hypothesis," youth are that unique stressors, the issue of the high rate of explores the positive aspects of such as discrimination, should be depressive symptoms and suicide culture associated with mental taken into account. The implica- among Mexican American youth.AzR health in Mexican American tions for prevention programs are teens. Teens with high levels of that elements of ethnic pride ethnic pride had higher self- should be included in programs * Centers for Disease Control, 1999. esteem, even when they reported for Mexican American youth. intense sociocultural stress. Teens Culturally based prevention Andrea J. Romero is an assistant with less ethnic pride were more programs may not only increase professor at the MASRC. likely to have lower self-esteem self-esteem, they may also foster Her e-mail address is: when they experienced sociocul- positive interactions between [email protected] tural stress. However, the cause- ethnic groups. In a previous and-effect relationship between publication, "Perception of ethnic pride, self-esteem and Discrimination and O depression is not clear because the Ethnocultural Variables in a
The Arizona Report: Spring 2001 2 28 Tuberculosis, Cervical Cancer studied at 3rd annual Border Academy The July 2000 Border Academy director of Preventive Services at focused on public health the Maricopa County (Arizona) issues in the U.S.-Mexico Department of Public Health; Dr. border region, and medical doctors Ciro Sumaya, dean of the School of from both countries presented case Rural Public Health at Texas A & studies on tuberculosis and cervical M University; Dr. Marion Moses, cancer. The intensive four-day ZONA DENINOS president of the Pesticide Educa- .71 ENTIr CON (ARNO j COO AMOR seminar also featured a tour of tion Center in San Francisco; Dr. health care facilities in Tijuana, 4 Eduardo Perez-Cruz, head of Mexico, including Fronteras Unidas Programa de Solidaridad for the Pro Salud, which provides health care and sexualand Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) in reproductive education to families in the impover- Mexico City; and Dr. Manuel Cano Rangel, head of ished rural and urban areas of Baja California. the Infectious Disease section at the Hospital Infantil The Academy, which was attended by medical del Estado de Sonora in Hermosillo, Mexico. students, nurse practitioners, and other health care The Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the Univer- professionals, took place in historic Old Town San sity of California, San Diego, provided assistance in Diego at the Ramada Limited setting up the conference. The Hotel. Speakers included Dr. tour was conducted by Lori James E. Da len, vice president Senini of the San Diego County for Health Sciences at the Department of Health Services University of Arizona's Health Office of Border Health. Sciences Center and dean of the AZR UA College of Medicine; Dr. Francisco Garcia, assistant Photographs on this page are from a professor of Obstetrics and children's clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, one Gynecology at University ofseveral facilities visited on the tour. Medical Center in Tucson; Dr. Doug Campos-Outcalt, medical Photos by Juanita Francis
NACCS frompage 1 border, such as education, health, the hotel's conference discount, and immigration.Thus, the above contact the Marriott University title reflects our community's com- Park Hotel directly by March 2. The Arizona Report is published by mitment to improving both Mexi- Please do not make your hotel the Mexican American Studies & can American and Native Ameri- reservations on the Internet or at an can communities by integrating Research Center at the University of Chicano Studies programs into 800 Marriott number! If you Arizona. the elementary and high school register via those methods, NACCS will not be credited with grades as a bridge to higher edu- SEND CORRESPONDENCE TO: cation, improving the overall your stay, and you will not MASRC health status of Mexican Ameri- receive the discounted NACCS Economics Bldg., Room 208 can and Native American com- room rate. The registration form munities, and preserving our pub- The University of Arizona is currently available on the Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 lic history, which cannot be ac- conference web site, complished without challenging, (www.naccs.org), and interested crossing, and erasing existing bor- Phone: (520) 621-7551 ders. individuals are encouraged to Fax: (520) 621-7966 register as soon as possible. AZR E-mail: [email protected] The Marriott University Park The Arizona Report is published as a Hotel, one block west of the UA Marriott University Park Hotel public service and is free of charge. campus, is the conference site. (520) 792-4100 NACCS 2001 will begin on For more information contact the ISSN 1092-4213 Wednesday, April 4, and continue NACCS 2001 Committee at through Sunday, April 8, 2001. For [email protected] or visit the © 2001 The Arizona Board of Regents on hotel reservations, and to receive NACCS web site: www.naccs.org behalf of the University of Arizona
The Arizona Report: Spring 2001 Psychosocial factors and MASRC Associate Latino adolescent behavior Research Professor Scott Carvajal . Two recent studies by Scott Sexual Intercourse by Adoles- cott C. Carvajal, who joined Carvajal examined, respec- cents," Carvajal and colleagues at the Center as an associate tively, acculturation and the University of Texas School of research professor in August, drug use in Latino adolescents, Public Health examined factors received his doctorate in Social and psychosocial factors related related to sexual activity in a Psychology from the University of to the delay of sexual intercourse. diverse sample of high-school Houston in 1996. While he was In the first study, titled "Relat- students.' The predictors exam- involved in post-doctoral study in ing a Social Influence Model to the ined included demographic Health Education and Statistical Role of Acculturation in Sub- variables such as age, ethnicity, Methods at the University of stance Use Among Latino Adoles- and gender, in addition to factors Texas School of Public Health, he cents," Carvajal and colleagues at consistent with a psychological also received an MPH degree the University of Houston exam- theory called the Theory of from that institution. For the last ined the way acculturation Planned Behavior. affected substance use in Latino The factors included the youths' three years he has been a senior (predominantly Mexican Ameri- and their peers' attitudes about research associate and senior can) middle school students) sex, and refusal self-efficacyor analyst at ETR Associates, a Acculturation was measured in the degree to which these adoles- leading health education research two ways: language use (fre- cents were confident they could and publishing firm in Santa quency of using Spanish and refrain from having sex in a Cruz, California. English), and interactions with pressured situation. The results He has led or collaborated on peers (Latinos and non-Latinos). showed that psychological factors numerous projects that foster Though acculturation was not were better predictors of delay of health behaviors in diverse youth found to be directly related to use intercourse than demographic populations. Much of this work of alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana variables, and in fact were rather has been published in applied among these adolescents, the consistent predictors for all psychology and public health researchers did find that for more groups of adolescents regardless journals. Carvajal's research at acculturated youth peer pressure of gender or race. These findings the MASRC includes developing appeared to be an important are significant in that youth new Latino-focused health factor in decisions whether or not programs that include a goal of education studies in adolescent to use drugs. For less acculturated delaying sexual intercourse substance use prevention and youth, what their peers wanted should foster positive attitudes juvenile justice, as well as con- them to do wasn't particularly toward abstinence, address peer ducting analyses of ongoing important, but their own attitudes views about sexual activity, and about using drugs were. engage youth in practice scenarios projects. He has recently taught These results have implications where they learn to resist pres- Research Methods in the UA for the development of future sures to have sex before they are Dept. of Psychology. drug prevention programs. For ready.AZR programs with more acculturated Latino youth (e.g., those who use more English), a focus on activi- ' Published in Journal of Applied ties helping to boost peer pressure SocialPsychology(Carvajal, resistance would be an effective Photiades, Evans & Nash, 1997). strategy for preventing drug use. 2 Published in Health Psychology For programs with less accultur- (Carvajal, Parcel, Basen-Engquist, ated Latino youth, creating Banspach, Coyle, Kirby & Chan, educational materials in Spanish 1999). that address the consequences of drug use would be an effective Scott C. Carvajal is an associate strategy. research professor at the MASRC. In the second study, "Psychoso- His e-mail address is: [email protected] cial Predictors of Delay of First Scott C. Carvajal
The Arizona Report: Spring 2001 4 130 From 'Mexican Baseball Teams in the Midwest, 1916-1965" by Richard Santillan published in volume 7 of Perspectives in Mexican American Studies Sports have been a major presence in the lives of Studies Mexican Americans since the early 20th century. This has The newest volume of Political Activism, Ethnic Identity, been particularly true of Mexican IL Perspectives in Mexican and Regional Differences Among Americans in the Midwest, where American Studies features articles Chicano and Latino College sports such as baseball took on a by several new voices, and by Students in Southern California special significance. More than others who have a long list of and Northern New Mexico by Elsa merely games for boys and girls, published works to their credit. 0. Valdez the teams and contests involved They provide us with information nearly the entire community, and of interest, and offer fresh obser- Chicano Pedagogy: Confluence, often had political and cultural vations of the Mexican American Knowledge, and Transformation objectives ... experience. The authors include by Raymond V. Padilla Sometimes, a thousand people, veterans of el movimiento, experi- representing dozens of small enced scholars, and some who are Mexicans in New Mexico: Mexican communities, would newer on the scene ... Deconstructing the Tri-Cultural gather to watch baseball games in "The topics covered in this Trope- by Anne Fairbrother the years prior to World War II. volume, from sports in the Mid- People socialized and discussed west to small town life Mexican Baseball community issues at the games, in Central Mexico, seem Teams in the Midwest, and strengthened their sense of to have little in common 1916-1965: The Politics racial and ethnic solidarity. In the except for their focus on of Cultural Survival post-war period sports continued Mexican-descent and Civil Rights by to play a major part in the overall people, but on closer Richard Santilltin cultural and political agenda of inspection, one can see the Mexican American popula- that the idea of labor tion. runs like an arroyo Perspectives is pub- In addition to community unity, through this book. Sometimes it is lished by the Mexican American two other key benefits of athletics on the surface. At other times it is Studies & Research Center and have been the leadership skills a subterranean channel, unseen, distributed by the University of and survival tactics that young but still the reason for the shape Arizona Press. people developed by participating and placement of the dry wash in team sportsskills that have ORDER: been useful in the political arena above...." To from the Introduction Write the University of Arizona and in the fight for social justice. Press, 355 S. Euclid Ave., Suite Many parents, in fact, encouraged 103, Tucson, Arizona 85719. The CONTENTS their children to join teams to UA Press website is: develop such skills. Thus, besides Digging the "Richest Hole on www.uapress.arizona.edu Earth": The Hispanic Miners of the sheer fun of playing and competing, sports served as a Utah, 1912-1945 by Armando FOR SUBSCRIPTION ORDERS: Solorzano and Jorge Iber Contact the Mexican American means of establishing community Studies & Research Center, solidarity, developing leaders, and El Laberinto de la Comunidad: A Economics Building, Room 208, imparting a sense of fair play ... View of Rural Mexico by John the University of Arizona, In the early part of the 20th Hardisty Tucson, Arizona 85721-0023. century, a handful of Midwestern Subscriptions (2 issues) are $25 Anglo charitable organizations for individuals and $35 for The Cucamonga Experiment: A and churches offered recreational institutions. Foreign individual activities for Mexican youth. In Struggle for Community Control subscriptions are $28 and foreign and Self-Determination by institutional subscriptions are addition, a few of the YMCA clubs Armando Navarro $44. Continued on page 6
5 The Arizona Report: Spring 2001 BEST COPYAVAILABLE 31 work, and in 1962, almost 40 years of Iowa and Illinois formed Baseball frompage 5 after his father's efforts, spear- several sports clubs, including the permitted Mexicans to join and headed the creation of the Mexi- Quad-Cities Martial Arts Center, use their facilities as members. can American Recreation Club. Pena's Boys Club, and the Silvis Nevertheless, Mexican American World War II disrupted the Youth Organization. In addition communities chose to build their sports movement in the Midwest to developing their own clubs, own sports networks according to as young men and women de- Mexican Americans became several individuals who came of fended the nation both on the active in various city sports and age in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. battlefield and in defense plants. leagues, said Elmer Vega of They noted that the Mexican Nevertheless, the post-war period Newton, Kansas: community established an elabo- witnessed a movement to recap- rate web of athletic associations ture the athletic spirit and superb Prior to the war, the Mexican com- during the 1920s and 1930s. talent of the community. Both the munity established its own sports These included the Aztec Social second generation of Mexican network of clubs, centers, teams, Americans and recent arrivals and tournaments. The second and Club, Los Gal los Athletic Associa- third generations have continued tion, El Club Azteca, and El Club from Texas and Mexico enjoyed this rich tradition into the 1980s. Deportivo Internacional. The sports sports immensely in the Midwest. There is, however, a significant clubs of East Chicago and Gary, In retrospect, the pre-war sports difference. Unlike before, the sec- Indiana, El Club Deportivo activities among Mexicans was ond and third generations have Internacional and the Gary Ath- only a prelude to far more signifi- becomedirectly involved with letic Club, sponsored a host of cant sports participation between Little League, Pop Warner, sum- sporting events including tourna- 1945 and 1965. mer sports programs, high school ments in soccer, basketball, and There was an incredible growth sports, and other mainstream in organized sports in the Mid- sports activities. We felt that, as baseball. taxpayers and citizens, our com- In Kansas City, the Mexican west Mexican community after munity and children were entitled Athletic Club was established in 1945. Before the war, major sports to these recreational benefits. 1922 and organized numerous were limited primarily to baseball, boxing events, bowling tourna- boxing, and basketball. After- Thus, intergenerational coop- ments, and track-and-field wards, however, more Mexican eration was a powerful social competitions. In the larger urban Americans began taking part in adhesive that brought together Mexican communities, parents bowling, tennis, golf, soccer, people of all age groups playing pooled their meager finances and football, and wrestling. Women's sports. Alex Cruz of Parsons, purchased buildings and con- sports came of age during this Kansas, noted that: verted the structures into recre- period as well. Whereas women ational centers. The smaller were mainly involved with I was the manager of the Parsons Mexican communities generally softball prior to the war, they later baseball team from 1952 to 1954. rented buildings for sports activi- became active in baseball and Our team was sponsored by sev- ties. These centers and the land basketball leagues, and bowling eral companies, including "Big tournaments. Women's teams in Heated Red" and Coca-Cola. We around them were the locations of played Chanute, Kansas City, To- weight rooms, boxing rings, all sports sprung up all over the peka, Coffyville, and Fredonia. basketball courts, and baseball Midwest. My father played baseball for the diamonds. The Mexican American commu- MKT railroad company during the A handful of Mexican athletic nity followed its rich sports 1930s. It was not uncommon to clubs even had swimming pools tradition by resurrecting several havethreegenerationsof according to Lando Velandez of sports clubs and recreational ballplayers from the same family Des Moines, Iowa. Lando's father centers after World War II, in the Midwest. was active with sports activities including El Club Deportivo Azteca, The most popular sport among and tried unsuccessfully to build a the Mexican American Youth Mexicans in the U.S. has been gym for the Mexican community Association, El Club de Deportivos baseball. The rise of baseball as a in Des Moines. The Anglo power de Joliet, the Azteca Club, the spectator sport in the Mexican structure prevented the Mexican Wichita Mexican American community simply reflected the community from developing a Athletic Club, the Pan American rise of mass spectator sports in the sports center in the early 1920s. Club, the Mexican American nation. Nearly every Midwest His father, nevertheless, did Athletic Club of North Platte, the Mexican community, small or establish the Mexican Athletic Argentine Center, El Club Colonia large, had baseball teams to Club in Des Moines in 1925. Mexicana, and La Sociedad represent it. The sport became Deportivo. The Quad-Cities area Lando continued his father's Continued on next page
The Arizona Report: Spring 2001 6 32 one of the major forms of recre- Lyman, and Minatare. Other room only crowd of over 3,000 ation, and was played before migrant teams could be found in spectators. Large crowds were overflowing crowds. Most of the Kansas, Minnesota, South and common in the Great Lakes area. teams selected names from their North Dakota, and Colorado. This beautiful baseball diamond in rich historical past, such as the There were women's teams that East Chicago was eventually Aztecas, Mayans, Cuauhtemocs, and played prior to and after World destroyed during the Depression Aguilas. The choice of these War II as well. There was also an because the wooden seats were names was a way of respecting informal network of Mexicans used as firewood during the cold and reaffirming the Mexican who played pickup games be- winter months. Also, someone culture. tween regular games and tourna- discovered that beneath the There were Mexican teams in ments. surface of the field were deposits the Topeka area as early as 1916, Unfortunately, for those trying of coal. Apparently a coal or and by 1919 several Mexican to organize baseball games, it was railroad company had left it there. baseball teams in the Kansas City often true that Mexican teams The news spread quickly, and and East Chicago areas were were not allowed to play on city soon the leveled, desolate field already playing. Additional clubs diamonds or in parks owned by became a center of activity with were organized and various local businesses or cities . men, women, and children leagues formed during the 1920s. Because they were barred from digging for the precious fuel with Some of the early Mexican teams some public parks before the war, shovels and sticks ... included Los Obreros De San Jose of Mexicans made their own ball Sunday was baseball day in East Chicago; the Osage Indians of fields, frequently in vacant lots or Mexican communities across the Kansas City; the Mexican All- in pastures near the railroad Middle West. Residents first went Stars of Silvis; the Moline tracks, roundhouses, or steel to church and then breakfast
Estrellas; Los Mayans of Lorain, factories.. . before heading to the game. The Ohio; Las Aguilas Mexicanas and The Mexican communities players, on the other hand, ran Los Cometas of Topeka; and Los constructed baseball fields with home after church changing Nacionales of Wichita, Kansas. colorful names such as La Yardita, quickly into their uniforms and In fact, there were several El Huache, and Devil's Field. hurried to warm-up before the popular types of baseball leagues Another was known as Rabbit fans arrived, said Phillip Martinez in the Mexican Middle West: Field because players continu- of Dodge City, Kansas. The industrial, Catholic, community, ously had to chase rabbits off baseball games started around one migrant, and women's leagues. It during games. Sometimes, cars in the afternoon. The people wore was not unusual for a remarkable were used in the outfield as their Sunday best to the games. player to participate in two or bleachers, with people sitting on Some of the games in more of these different leagues. the hoods, trunks, and roofs, said Hutchinson drew better than a Moreover, being an outstanding Perfecto Torrez of Topeka. Eva thousand people from in town player was oftentimes a ticket to Hernandez of Hutchinson re- and the surrounding communities employment for Mexicans, called, "Our baseball team ... said Bacho Rodriguez. Rodriguez because businesses wanted to played near the National Armory. was an outstanding pitcher for the have winning baseball teams. Both the Morton Salt and the Hutchinson team during the Companies went out of their way Carey Salt Company had baseball 1930s. He remembers games that to find outstanding Mexican teams with Mexican players. We usually drew 1000 to 1500 specta- players. Furthermore, many played in the cow fields, which we tors. He noted that he and a few Catholic schools had baseball affectionately called Las Vegas." other players were scouted by the teams composed largely of Hernandez's husband, Matt, was New York Yankees ... Mexican players and called an outstanding baseball player AZR themselves the Guadulupanos. and she often watched him play Likewise, most Mexican commu- before and after World War II. Richard Santillan is a professor of nities had their own teams that El Parque Anahuac, for example, Ethnic and Women's Studies at represented them in statewide had a seating capacity for 500 California Polytechnic University at competitions. people. It was not unusual for Pomona. His e-mail address is: Migrants had their own baseball large crowds to show up to see the [email protected] teams during the summer months. better Mexican teams. When Los These migrant teams and leagues Aztecas de Chicago came to play were found in Western Nebraska, against the East Chicago team O for example, in Scottsbluff, during the first week of June of Bayard, Bridgeport, Morrell, 1927, the game drew a standing
7 The Arizona Report: Spring 2001 33 BORDER ACADEMY 2001 WILL CONVENE IN MCALLEN, TEXAS
The 2001 Border Academy, a U.S. health care facilities in the The Border Academy offers 23 collaborative effort involv- McAllen-Reynosa area. Continuing Medical Education ing the UA College of Most of the speakers at the 2001 (CME) credits for this program, Medicine, the MASRC, and the Academy will be practicing and attracts a broad range of Texas A & M School of Rural clinicians with regional and participants from the U.S. and Public Health, will take place next national reputations in the field. Mexico. It will begin on July 19 July in McAllen, Texas, and is The Border Academy features a and end on July 21, 2001. titled, "Clinical Issues in Diabetes highly interactive style of instruc- The Border Academy seeks to Affecting Diagnosis and Treat- tion with extensive dialogue promote an understanding of ment of the Mexican-Origin between speakers and workshop health care issues on the Mexican Patient." participants. and U.S. sides of the border. It The intensive three-day seminar By the close of the Academy, it offers a dynamic curriculum, and will explore health and health- is expected that attendees will be brings together medical profes- related policy issues affecting able to: sionals who share the border as a individuals and communities in common subject and focus. It also the U.S.-Mexico border region. Its Identify and diagnose at least two seeks to create a network of international faculty is made up major clinical issues in the Academy alumni and faculty who of scholars, clinicians, and profes- management of diabetes within will continue to share insights and sionals from both Mexico and the the U.S.-Mexico border region resources, thus fostering a greater United States. Attendees will 4. Recognize the limitations of sense of community on the border. include medical students, nurses, treatment modalities given The 2001 seminar will be the public health professionals, resource constraints on the fourth annual Border Academy. medical doctors, and others border Previously, it has taken place at interested in working with Understand the impact of the the Biosphere II Center in Oracle, Hispanic and border populations. Mexican and American health- Arizona; in Rio Rico, Arizona; and One day of the seminar will be care delivery systems on the San Diego, California. devoted to clinical case study health of border residents, and Those interested in attending presentations on various topics how this may impact the quality the Border Academy or learning related to the treatment and of care for diabetes patients more about the Arizona Hispanic prevention of diabetes in the Center of Excellence (AHCOE) border region. The Academy also should contact: Jannine Valcour at includes a one-day tour partici- (520) 626-2160. AZR pants will visit the immigrant HE BODE,R colonias on the U.S. side of the ACADL1MY. The AHCOE web site is: border, as well as Mexican and www.hispanichealth.arizona.edu
The Arizona Report NON-PROFIT ORG. Mexican American Studies & Research Center U.S. POSTAGE The University of Arizona PAID P.O. Box 210023 TUCSON, ARIZONA Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 PERMIT NO. 190
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34 Border Academy Travels to Lower Rio Grande Valley Medical professionals and students attend diabetes seminar in South Texas
Diabetes, its effects, and methods of treatment and prevention were closely examined at the 2001 Border Academy that took place last July in McAllen, Texas. Type II diabetes, also known as Adult Onset and Non-Insulin Dependent diabetes, is most common among Hispanics, Native Americans, and African Americans. The disease is wide- spread in the border region, and is approaching epidemic status in the United States, said several Border Academy speakers. The intensive four-day seminar was hosted by Texas A&M University's South Texas Center BlancaJuarez ofColonias Unidas talks to Border Academy participants about issuesfacing residents for Rural Public Health, and of the impoverished colonias in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Colonias Unidas is a grassroots non- sponsored by the Arizona His- profit organization dedicated to serving colonia residents. Photo by Tom Gelsinon panic Center of Excellence (AHCOE), which is part of the Galveston, Stanford University, lacking such basics as potable University of Arizona College of and Temple University. water, wastewater systems, paved Medicine. Physicians from both Type II diabetes can be pre- streets, adequate drainage, proper the U.S. and Mexico spoke on a vented or delayed by adhering to Continued on page 5 range of topics related to a diet that is low in fat and diabetes, including renal AAAAAAAAAA refined sugars, and by function, vision loss, THE BORDER exercising regularly. INSIDE neonatal health, treat- ACADEW. Several Academy MAS Graduate Student VVVVVVVVVV ment measures, and speakers noted that 80 Profiles 2 prevention strategies. percent or more of Type II cases New Health Book by Dr. Maria Alen, a clinical are preventable through diet and MASRC Faculty 3 consultant for the South Texas exercise. Those over age 40, and Scott Carvajal Leads Center for Rural Public Health overweight persons have the Substance Use Study 3 and former chair of the Texas highest risk of developing the Diabetes Council, was instrumen- disease. Book Review: tal in organizing the 2001 Acad- The Border Academy included a Hecho a Mano 4 emy, now in its fourth year. one-day tour of Mexican and U.S. Telemedicine Study The sessions were attended by health care facilities, and several Funded 6 D about 30 people, including physi- immigrant colonias on the U.S. UA Degrees by Gender cians, health professionals, and side of the border. Colonia is and Ethnicity 7 medical students from the Uni- Spanish for neighborhood, but in Phoenix Vets Fight versity of Arizona, the University the Texas border region "it refers Discrimination in 1940s 8 of Texas Medical Branch at to a residential development
BEST COPY AVAILABLE. 35 Graduate Student Profiles MAS Graduates Aiming to Serve Latino Community
FAO 11 Earlier this summer, The Arizona Report interviewed two graduates of the Mexican American Studies Master of Science program in Latino Health to find out what led them to enroll in the program, and how they planned to use their degrees. The students, Ada Wilkinson-Lee Lisa Lapeyrouse and Ada Lisa Lapeyrouse Wilkinson-Lee, have Could you provide a little Could you provide a little information on your background? distinguished themselves as information on your background? I'm from Douglas, which is a scholars, and each received I was born and raised in San border town in the Southeast campus-wide recognition in Jose, California. I obtained my corner of Arizona, and it actually the Spring 2001 semester. undergraduate degree from the borders Agua Prieta, Sonora. Wilkinson-Lee won the "Best University of California, Davis. When first started thinking about There, I majored in Women and college, I wanted to stay close to Master's Project" award Gender Studies with an emphasis home and I wanted to go to a presented by the UA Graduate in reproductive health issues of university that was well-known in and Professional Student Chicana and Latina women. I the sciences. And so to me the UA Council in April, and also minored in Native American was the best place. Initially I came Lapeyrouse won the Studies both of which have been in as a Pre-Med student. I have a invaluable to me studying here in bachelor of science in Molecular "Outstanding Graduate southern Arizona! and Cellular Biology, and I also Student Leader" award have a bachelor of arts in Mexican presented by the UA Center for What led you to major in MAS? American Studies. Student Involvement and What strand did you focus on? Leadership in March. In the During my senior year at UC What made you change from Pre- Davis, I wrote an honors thesis on Med? fall, Lapeyrouse will enter the the untold stories of children born Dr. (Antonio) Estrada. I took his doctoral program in Public to teen parents. This project Latino Health class I think it Health at the University of really focused my interest in was my junior or senior year, and Michigan, while Wilkinson- studying more about adolescent got really interested in what he Lee begins work on a doctorate pregnancy in my community and, was doing. I had never even what a great mentor of mine has heard of public health. So, I talked in Family Studies and Human termed, the "racialization of to him and I decided that (Public Development here at the reproduction." This area critically Health) was a better fit for me. University of Arizona. examines topics such as teenage Wilkinson-Lee was pregnancy from health, cultural, What led you to major in MAS? interviewed at the offices of the feminist, and political perspec- What strand did you focus on? tives. Coming to Arizona to study I started taking Mexican Ameri- Mexican American Studies & in MAS was a logical move. The can Studies classes as a relief, Research Center. Lapeyrouse program concentration in health almost, from science classes, just sent in her responses via issues among Latinos was a because they interested me and I e-mail correspondence. perfect match for my interests. wanted to learn more about my Also, the fact that it is the only culture and the history of Mexican program nationwide to offer a LN%1 Continued on page 6 Continued on page 7
The Arizona Report: Fall 2001 2 36 Center faculty author book on health issues Carvajal Leads Teen
MASRC Director Ade la de la Torre and Professor Antonio Substance Use Study Estrada are the authors of Mexican Americans and Health: iSana! MASRC Associate Research iSana!, published by the University of Arizona Press.* Professor Scott Carvajal is As noted by the Press: heading a new project that will in- vestigate adolescent substance Mexican Americans and Health explains how the health abuse. The project, titled "Determi- of Mexican-origin people is often related to sociodemographic conditions and genetic factors, nants of Latino/ Euro American while historical and political factors influence how Youths' Substance Use," has been Mexican Americans enter the health care system approved for funding by the Na- and how they are treated once they access it. It tional Institute on Drug Abuse considers such issues as occupational hazards for (NIDA). Mexican-origin agricultural workersincluding The aim of the two-year study is pesticide poisoning, heat-related conditions, and to identify factors contributing to musculoskeletal disordersand women's health substance use by Latino and Euro concerns, such as prenatal care, preventable can- American youth, two adolescent cers, and domestic violence. groups at high risk for using vari- The authors clearly discuss the health status of Mexican Americans relative to ous drugs. the rest of the U.S. population, interweaving voices of everyday people to Major objectives of this study are explain how today's most pressing health issues have special relevance to the to test a causal model predicting Mexican American community. ... tobacco, marijuana and other sub- The book also addresses concerns of Mexican Americans regarding the health stance use, and to test hypotheses care system. These include not only access to care and to health insurance but linking cultural orientation and other
also the shortage of bilingual and bicultural health care professionals. . .. socio-cultural factors to adolescent substance use. This timely book gives readers a broad understanding of these complex issues The aims will be accomplished and points the way toward a healthier future for all people of Mexican origin. through secondary data analyses of cohorts from two studiesthe Mexican Americans and Health is one of the first volumes in the UA Press Middle School Healthy Kids and series The Mexican American Experience, a cluster of modular texts Tobacco Survey (N =1622), and the designed to provide greater flexibility in undergraduate education. Each Add Health Study (N=12,118). The book deals with a single topic concerning the Mexican American popula- former was led by Carvajal; the lat- tion. Instructors can create a semester-length course from any combina- ter is a national study of adolescent tion of volumes, or may choose to use one or two volumes to complement health sponsored by NIDA and other texts. other federal agencies. AZR Available through the UA Press The Arizona Report is published by (520) 621-1441 the Mexican American Studies & [email protected] www.uapress.arizona.edu Research Center at the University of Arizona.
"The unfortunate fact is that there are relatively few health care professionals of SEND CORRESPONDENCETO: Mexican descent. Thus, it is incumbent on us to pursue a dual strategy of educating MASRC all health care professionals in the area of cultural competency while increasing the Economics Bldg., Room 208 pool of qualified Hispanic health care professionals. As the Mexican-origin popula- The University of Arizona tion in the Southwest and other parts of the country continues to grow, bettering its health and access to health care is vital to the overall health of the nation." Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 From the Introduction by Adela de la Torre and Antonio Estrada Phone: (520) 621-7551 Mexican Americans and Health: 190 pp./ 2001/ Paper (0-8165-1976-5)/ $14.95. Fax: (520) 621-7966 E-mail: [email protected] * The subtitle refers to the dicho "Sana sana/ colita de rana/ si no sanas hoy/ The Arizona Report is published as a sanards manana" (Get well, get well/ Little frog tail/ If today you don't get public service and is free of charge. well/ Tomorrow you will be well) a traditional saying recited to comfort a child while rubbing the site of a pain or injury. ISSN 1092-4213 2001 The Arizona Board of Regents on 0 behalf of the University of Arizona
The Arizona Report: Fall 2001 Book Review Tucson's Mexican American Artisans and Folk Art Portrayed in Hecho a Mano by Tom Gelsinon For more than 30 years, Jim. smith whose Tucson," which work from a half Griffith has been investigating C 1C; Griffith and the cultures of the Pimeria Alta, a century ago can folklorist Cynthia large geographic area comprising be seen at San a. 0In:\ it) 1 o , Vidaurri pre- %ik-w10 klOVIU1170 the northern state of Sonora, Xavier in the ,(01910118013,CC sented at the James S. Griffith Mexico, and Southern Arizona. snake-shaped University of An anthropologist by training, he handles on the Arizona Museum has amassed a large amount of mission's front of Art in 1996. information on Mexican, Mexican door and other The book is not American, and Native American wrought iron a buyer's guide. history and traditions. Hecho a embellishments As the author Mano, written in a highly read- at the church. notes, "[it] is able, non-academic style, docu- We soon meet intended to serve ments the arts noted in the title, famous as a report of their history in Tucson, and their songwriter and what the tradi- relationship to the city's Mexican musician Lalo tional arts of American community. Guerrero, who Tucson's Mexican Those of us who are interested was born in American com- in Tucson's history and cultures Tucson's Barrio munity looked are lucky that Griffith has been Viejo in 1916, and Mexican-born like at a certain time to a specific busy documenting the unique Nicolas Segura, founder of the group of investigators." features of the region's folk arts. Poblano Hot Sauce Company, The foreword is by Tucson Among the interesting things he who got his start in the 1920s. author Patricia Preciado Martin, has found is that all the stores The three sections of the second who aptly sums up the book's specializing in paletas (frozen fruit chapter are titled el hogar (the subject: "It is an expressed exuber- bars) in Phoenix and Tucson share ance that arises spontaneously a connection to the Mexican state from the wellsprings of heritage, of Michoacan. He also points out Hecho a Mano: The Traditional Arts history, culture, and spirituality that the baroque style serves as a of Tucson's Mexican American that is boundless." model for the low rider aficiona- Community by James S. Griffith. Hecho a Mano offers ample dos who cruise South Sixth The University of Arizona Press, 2000 evidence of how folk artists create 105 pages; 24 color plates; 27 b & w Avenue today just as it did for the half tones; Includes bibliographical the practical, celebratory, and builders of San Xavier Mission in references and index. religious objects that enrich the the eighteenth century. entire community. In a very few Hecho a Mano has three chap- pages, Griffith and noted photog- ters: The Community, The Arts, home), el taller (the workshop), and raphers Jose Galvez and David and Patterns and Processes. In the la comunidad (the community). The Burckhalter acquaint us with a first, Griffith introduces readers to objects made in these different central part of Tucson's Mexican Tucson's traditional arts, which locations, from knitted works to and Chicano cultures. It is a date back to 1775, when the neon lights, all contribute to the sensitive and instructive presenta- Spanish presidio, or cavalry fort, community in their practical value, tion of the work and people was established near the current as cultural enrichment, or both. In involved in Tucson's traditional site of city hall. As Tucson heads the short final chapter Griffith arts.AZR into the 21st century as a sprawl- touches on the themes of religion ing Sunbelt city on the make, the and ethnic identity, and the cross traditional arts remain, as do the cultural connections that have This review will appear in Vol. 5 of the descendents of the original made these crafts a "rich and Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural craftsmen and women, who were complex body of art." Studies, published by the UA Dept. of of Spanish, Mexican, and Native Hecho a Mano is a result of the Spanish and Portuguese. American origin. exhibition, "La cadena que no se One of the first artists we meet corta: las artes tradicionales de la is the late Raul Vasquez, a black- comunidad mexico-americana de
The Arizona Report: Fall 2001 4 38 Border Academy frompage 1 house construction and standard Dr. William J.Riley, Vice- mortgage financing," according to President of Medical Education, the Las Colonias Project of South- Driscoll Children's Hospital; west Texas State University. The Dr. Charles A. Reasner II, Chief tour was organized by the Texas of Endocrinology at the Univer- A&M Center for Housing and sity of Texas Health Science Urban Development, Colonias Center at San Antonio; Program, and conducted by Dr. Dr. Jose de Jesus GOmez Mario M. Jimenez of the Family AlarcOn, Past President and Health Center in Rio Grande Founder of Mexico's Northeast City, Texas. Association of The clinical Gynecology and sessions took place "ypeII Diabetes Obstetrics; and at El Milagro Clinic, High Risk: Dr. Cristela a community Hernandez of the medical center in Overweight University of McAllen that serves 4Family history of diabetes Texas Health the indigent and 4Over age 40 Science Center at uninsured patients San Antonio. and educates public Prevention: Type II diabetes health profession- Al Early Screening accounts for 90 to als. 4Low-fat, High-fiber Diet 95 percent of The Border Exercise diabetes cases Academy featured nationally, and is clinical presenta- an underlying tions by: cause of significantly higher Dr. V.K. Piziak, Chief of Endocri- mortality rates in the Lower Rio nology, Scott and White Hospi- Grande Valley, according to the tal and Clinic; Texas Dept. of Health. It is the Dr. Salil Mangi of South Texas sixth leading cause of death in the Kidney Specialists; U.S., as reported by the Centers Dr. Luis G. Hernandez Zarco, for Disease Control and Preven- Chief of the Nephrology Depart- tion (CDC). The CDC report, ment at Reynosa (Mexico) Chronic Diseases and Their Risk Regional Hospital; Factors, also notes that diabetes Dr. Victor H. Gonzalez of the may be underreported on death Dept. of Ophthalmology at the certificates, both as a condition University of Texas at San and as a cause of death. Antonio; Approximately 16 million
Dr. Virgilio Morales-Canton of Americans have diabetes, and as CO=IINITY CalECIMD the Mexican Association for the many as five million are unaware _ 14,13UC HEALTH CLINIC Prevention of Blindness in that they have it, according the &, ./..(4.0 sakah [Ett.111 Mexico City; American Diabetes Association. cc.r_ma, CSC AZR OnlineInformation TexasC14:11. c0 HAM YegvoDiabetesCouncil From Top: Dr. William Riley of Driscoll W.tdh.9tate.tx.us/cliabot&s/tcic.htm Children's Hospital; Drs. Cristela Hernandez and Jose de Jesus GOtnez Alarcon answer CentersCte Clam@ Cawice drri Reurarhav questions about gestational diabetes; Dr. Virgilio Morales-Canton (left) and Dr. Victor .cdc.gov [email protected] Gonzalez delivered presentations on the effects diabetes has on vision; Keynote firalgColoniasProject,Southwest R&M Slag akk speaker Dr. Charles Reasner; AHCOE .swt.e-source-sour@e-s/las@olonias Director Adela de la Torre addresses Border Academy participants at reception; El Milagro 77ReCter)gegailfili Clinic in McAllen, where most of the medical '[email protected] presentations took place.
The Arizona Report: Fall 2001 5 39 BEST COPYAVAILABLEr' Telemedicine Study Funded by Health Care Financing Administration MASRC Director Ade la de la "Understanding the Role of Culture profile of the different ethnic Torre is the Co-Principal in the Access and Utilization of populations, and the impact these Investigator on a $249,000 grant Telemedicine Health Services services have on the quality of care. from the Health Care Financing Among Hispanic, Native To achieve this end, the researchers Administration (HCFA) that will Americans, and White Non will conduct a two-year community- fund a study on telemedicine use in Hispanic Populations." The project based intervention evaluation study Arizona. received funding earlier this year. to identify key differences across the Dr. Ana Maria Lopez, Medical The aim is to develop a three targeted groups, and assess Director of the Arizona comprehensive understanding of the role of cultural competency in Telemedicine Program at the the effect of culture on access and the delivery of telemedicine utilization of telemedicine services services. Arizona Health Sciences Center, is AZR heading the project, titled by evaluating the overall utilization Wilkinson -Lee from page 2 have to work at being realize is that they've given me Americans. When I ended up my multicultural. You come in that strong background of know- senior year, it turned out that I thinking "Oh I know it all," and ing the community that I have had enough credits to get both you find out that you have a lot of a better overall sense of what the degrees. But the intention wasn't work ahead of you. community looks like. And so my to get two degrees. I was just The most useful I would have to goal in the future is to be able to taking the MAS classes for enjoy- say is probably not one of the most use that knowledge to adequately ment. interesting classes, but the Re- address important health issues. search Methods class that I took And I've learned that when you What are the most important things through the Public Health Dept. do research in the community it's you have learned as a result of (taught by Dr. Eng) shows you always good to get input from the following this curriculum? how to complete a research community, because you want to The interesting thing about the proposal and how to do it in a work for people, not against them. MAS program is that it's interdis- correct manner. He takes you, ciplinary, so you learn a lot in step by step, through it ... It's a Do you have any advice for new or different concentrations. You very systematic way of learning younger students? learn a lot about history. You how to write well and how to Really begin thinking about learn about anthropology. You present your findings. what you want to do in the future, learn about the (Latino) health and start setting goals for your- component. So you get a well- Where are you headed now? self. Sometimes when people rounded picture of the Latino The Ph.D. program here at the come to the university as community and what's going on UA in Family Studies and Human undergrads the only thing they out there. Even though my Development. want to do is graduate, and I concentration was Latino Health, would say that you need to start I realized that the core classes that What are your present goals? looking into graduate schools as I took helped me expand my Ultimately, I would like to soon as you come in to really knowledge, so I'm not just focused teach, to be a professor at a start thinking "what do I want to on Latino Health. I can see the university. I feel it's really do?" If you want to get an ad- overall picture of the community important for Latinos who are vanced degree then start looking at and I think that's real important getting a higher education to be what it is that you need to do. If when dealing with health issues. role models, and to be in those that means getting good grades You have to look at the overall positions as mentors . . .If (my and starting a GRE or LSAT or community to be able to assess it studies) led me to a research whatever (preparation) program, correctly. position focusing on Latinos, that do that early on. Think about
would be fine as well . . .I tend going beyond a bachelor's or even Most interesting? Most useful? to focus on Latinas because I feel a master's degree, because we The class that I found most that there's not a lot of research need those numbers, we need interesting was "Multi-Cultural on the topic. more representation in those fields Health Beliefs." We think we in every field. I think we can't know how to be multicultural, but How will your degrees in MAS help let perceived or set barriers get in the class (showed) how people you achieve those goals? our way. Stay focused on what it is you want to attain. have biases and how hard you Well, with both degrees what I AZR
The Arizona Report: Fall 2001 6
14 DegreesAwarded by Ethnicity& Genderat theUniversityof Arizona 1999 2000 Black White Amer. Indian/ Asian or Non-Hispanic Hispanic Non-Hispanic Alaskan NativePacif. Islander Degree M W M W M W M W M W
Bachelors 46 66 267 431 1,588 1,904 34 65 111 138
Masters 11 9 29 46 365 483 12 10 19 23
Doctorate 2 0 9 6 141 114 0 0 4 7
Specialist 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 0
Pharmacy 0 0 3 2 13 23 0 1 3 10
Medicine 1 0 6 7 25 22 2 1 5 6
Law 3 2 14 8 53 58 2 3 7 3
Total by Gender 63 78 328 500 2,186 2,607 50 81 149 187 Total by Ethnicity 141 828 4,793 131 336
In1999-2000,a total of 6,906 individuals3,678 women and 3,228 mengraduated from the University of Arizona.Source: 2000-01University of Arizona Fact Book (p. 57) published by the UA Decision and Planning Support Office. Available onlineat: www.daps.arizona.edu."Nonresident Alien," and "Race/Ethnicity Unknown" categories not included in above table.
Lapeyrouse frompage 2 in the Southwest and elsewhere, heart is loyal to West Coast and Masters in Mexican American we are under-researched and the sun. Studies in Latino Health, made underserved by the health care the choice to apply and come here system. This means that there is a How will your degree in MAS help easy. lot of work out there to be done. you achieve those goals? So, hopefully I will have many job My degree in MAS will assist me What are the most important things offers when I am finally through in achieving my goals, as I wish to you have learned as a result of with my studies! teach or at least have an appoint- following this curriculum? ment in a Chicana/o Studies One of the most important skills Where are you headed now? department. I plan to continue to I have gained from studying in In the Fall of 2001, I will begin a serve my community through the MAS is developing an under- doctoral program in the School of work I do as a scholarsomething standing of community and Public Health at the University of MAS has helped me to realize can community-based research. Michigan. My new department, be accomplished. Learning how language, culture Health Behavior and Health and acculturation, and immigra- Education, offers an interdepart- Do you have any advice for new or tion create communities has been mental concentration on women younger students? significant to my studies as these and reproductive health that will The only advice I have for are all areas that greatly affect the allow me to continue my current younger students is to keep their health status of Chicano and work on adolescent pregnancy grades up. Too many Chicanos Latino communities. among Latino populations as well are left at the margins because as pursue other interests. their grades were not high enough Most interesting? Most useful? to be admitted into a university, If I had to select the most What are your present goals? let alone graduate school. Start interesting and useful information My lifelong goal is to make a talking to people now and never I have learned while studying positive difference in my commu- be scared to dream. And for all here, it would have to be the fact nity, to serve the underserved. students, I would just suggest that that the health literature on My immediate goals are to we begin to take better care of Chicano and Latino populations is complete my doctoral degree and ourselves. We need our mind, severely limited. Despite our obtain a teaching position at a body, and soul in balance (in order growing population and our university, either here in Arizona to) serve our communities well historical and continued residence and to achieve our goals. or back home in California. My AZR
7 The Arizona Report: Fall 2001
LI 1 Civil rights struggles in 1940s Phoenix detailed in latest MASRC publication
LLILAC and Veterans Organize for Civil Rights in Tempe and Phoenix, 1940-1947, written by Christine Marin, is the 29th title in the MASRC's Working Paper Series. Marin is the curator and archivist of the Chicano Research Collection in the Department of Archives and Manuscripts at Arizona State University's Hayden Library. "World War II had a dramatic impact on Americans, includ- ing Mexican Americans in Arizona. It challenged families and communities to make sacrifices during wartime. Mexican Americans served in large numbers and with distinction in the war, and after it ended they sought to defend their rights as Americans, and to eliminate the discriminatory behavior and acts that kept them within ethnic boundaries. The segre- - gation at Tempe Beach, the "brilliant star in Tempe's crown," and its "No Mexicans Allowed" policy, initiated in 1923, was one of them. Another ethnic boundary was the segregated housing policy for veterans established by the City of Phoenix in 1946. "In Tempe and American Legion Post #41 Officers. Phoenix, 1942 Phoenix, the League Courtesy Jean Reynolds. of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council 110, led by Placida Garcia Smith, and the American Legion Thunderbird Post 41, led by Ray Martinez, were at the front lines in the fight against racism and discrimination in the 1940s. Mexican Americans con- fronted public elected officials over racist practices and policies of exclusion, and utilized the court system to provide them equal justice under the law. They exercised their right to seek equality after years of segregation, and to secure their civil rights as Americans." Post #41. Parade in Phoenix, 1948. McLaughlin Photograph. Arizona Collection, ASU Library. From LULAC and Veterans Organize for Civil Rights in Tempe and Phoenix, 1940-1947 by Christine Marin O Available from the MASRC for $3.00.
The Arizona Report Mexican American Studies & Research Center The University of Arizona P.O. Box 210023 Tucson, AZ 85721-0023
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
42 Women and Environmental Protest in a Northern Mexican City by Anna Ochoa O'Leary, Ph.D. In March of 1997, residents of exposed to the open air, situated 25 kilometers from several Hermosillo, the capital of approximately eight kilometers colonias populares (working class the state of Sonora, Mexico, from the Rio Sonora and less than residential areas): Costa del Sol, became aware of a toxic waste Cuauhtemoc, Altares, Palo Verde, dump six kilometers outside the and Nuevo Hermosillo. Among city. Hermosillo, with a popula- the toxic substances being tion of more than 600,000.* is dumped were lead, cadmium, located 275 kilometers south of cyanide, and other waste materi- the U.S.-Mexico border on Mexi- als believed to have come from can Highway 15. Community American-owned maquiladoras. concern about the dumpsite They found that the company emerged after a truck driver, responsible for managing the hired to transport wastes from deposit of toxic materials was California across the international Continued on page 4 border, came in contact with soil contaminated with a toxic sub- INSIDE stance and soon developed a burn Tucson's Southsiders Battle 2 on his leg. Pollution and Power When reports of the driver's Mexican Americans & the 6 injury spread, concerned residents Alianza women in New York City, U.S. Economy (excerpt) of Hermosillo came together to where they met with representatives of MASRC Working Paper #30 7 investigate the dumpsite. They the United Nations Environmental TraumaCare is Focus of 8 Programme. (Photo: Rosa Maria Border Academy 2002 found a dump of toxic waste lying O'Leary de Lizarraga) MASRC's Gonzalez authors latest volume in UA Press series he University of Arizona Press tion Reform and Control Act of time in one volume a detailed has just published Mexican 1986, legislation from the 1990s, economic analysis of three genera- Americans & the U.S. Economy: and the problems faced tions of Mexican Ameri- Quest for Buenos Dias, by MASRC by immigrants today cans. These statistics frlexican Assistant Professor Arturo Education, stressing Americans reveala people who are Gonzalez. (See excerpt on page 6.) the importance of the U.S. Economysteadily improving The book is the newest volume economic incentives . economically and provide in the UA Press series The Mexi- to invest in education evidence that stereotypes can American Experience, a Wealth and Poverty, of Mexican Americans are cluster of modular texts designed evaluating opportu- outdated or erroneous." to provide greater flexibility in from the cover notes nities and roadblocks ) undergraduate education. Each as Mexican Ameri- book deals with a single topic cans aspire to Available through the UA Press concerning the Mexican Ameri- middle-class status ua press@ua press. arizona edu can population. www. uapress. arizona.edu Gonzalez's analysis, which The Labor Market, covering covers several generations, such topics as employment, Mexican Americans & the U.S. examines four major topics: income, and discrimination. Economy / 165 pp./ 2002 Paper (0-8165-1977-3) / $14.95 Immigration, reviewing the "Gonzalez has drawn on recent Bracero Program, the Immigra- census data to present for the first
43 ry .r--s-r COPY AVAILABLE MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTERTHE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA [email protected] The Chicano Battle Against Pollution and Power in Tucson by Daniel E. Reyes III Today's environmental justice exposure levels before then are parks, and flowed into street movement is indebted to unknoWn. AccOrding to the EPA, gutters, swimming holes, and other minority communities;many- "Prior to 1981, groundwater wells drainages. "Large-scale" waste of which have learned over the years within the (10-square mile) TIAA disposal began in the 1950s, when that they were and are exposed to (Tucson International Airport Area) Hughes Aircraft built a plant near disproportionately high levels of site boundaries provided drinking the airport in 1951.3 Hughes, which toxicity. -In the last 20 years-these water for over 47,000-people."' later became Hughes Missile communities: have spearheaded TCE is a volatile organic corn- Systems, was purchased by movements for environmental pound that historically has been Raytheon in 1997. Hughes began justice, and deyeloped their own used by aircraft industries as a keeping records of TCE dumping as unique understandings about -the degreaser and for other purposes. early as 1951. environment, litigation, politics, For decade& the resulting indus- Wartime and commercial indus- organizing, and, most importantly, trial waste-fluid contaminated the tries in the area dumped the waste the effects of spollution-on public aquifers that supplied South, Side for decades, and throughout the
health. :' : ; residents with drinking water, and history of TCE dumping, private A number of` Mexican- origin despite cleanup efforts, Volatal firms, as well as the U.S. Air Force communities in, the United States Organic COmpounds, or .VOCs, and the Air' National Guard, en- have Suffered from the ill effects of remain, often in high concentra gaged in indiscriminate disposal of unregulated dumping of pollutants tions; in the South Side's water. the chemical., as well as other types of environ-, today. It was in the 1950s that area mental degradation. A significant European researchers discovered residents first discovered problems case in point;occUrred on Tucson's trychloroethylene in 1890, and with their drinking water, and the South Side; Where toxic industrial' medical doctors began using it as a matter soon ended up in litigation. solvent§ contaminated aquifers, and general anesthetic, but its use for On December 29, 1953, residents of where inforthation about this danger: this purpose came to an end after a the South Side settled out of court. was Withheid'from residents, who i' number of patients could not be South Side residents were then, for Were predominantly of Mexican revived, frbin TCE-iriduced uncon- the most part, not Mexican, but most origin. Through mobilization sciousness. A short time afterward; fled soon after learning of the water litigation, and Other' efforts, people Manufacturers and industrialists problem. The area was soon from; the area helped shape history, -began Usingthechemical in other marked by "white flight," and added to our .knowledge of a capacities 1TCE:diseasewas soon workers were suddenly in short serious health_ threat. ,- reported Wherever it was Used. supply. Home sellers and 'realtors
' According tO many experts, the People from places as far flung as failed to inform the newly arrived Consuniptionnf:Contaminated water Shanghai, Eastern, Europe, and Mexican buyers of the tainted water. in TUcSon beginning in the mid-20th Japaii, reported-ailments they _As the South Side industrialized and Century produced disproportionate belieyed, and subsequent studies grew, jobs became abundant and rates of illness among people living suggested/ were related, to TCE new workers came to the area. The in the area where aCiuiferS were exposure.?' Studies Conducted in majority were predominantly of Contaminated. The-inain solvent that Japan conyincedthe:gOvernment Mexican'descent. Chicanos who contaminated the water is :there to bad all TCE use. moved to -the, area to work and trYchloroethelyene (TCE), which was Beginning about 1942, industries attain the American Dream ended used by the U.S.,Air Force and located at and around TuCsori up making their homes in a toxic companies-in the aviation industry. International Airport (then Tucson . environment. In 1981 Pimaounty, and state Airport) began' daily dumping of \ In 1984, South Side residents and investigators discovered contami- TCE and-other toxic-solvents into city officials, in conjunction with the nated aquifers in a large area on the the surrounding dry washes, which EPA, began work on designing a south side of Tucson. The pollution were thought to be filters that plan for cleaning the polluted included TCE and Other hazardous would naturally clean the liquids aquifers. That year, the under- chemicals identified by the U.S. as they seeped into the aquifer: ground pollUtion "plume" officially Environmental Protection Agency Workers immersed their hands in- measured four and a half miles (EPA). TCE also was found in TCE, poured it out of barrels into long, and 3,500 feet wide, and was production wells used by Tucson vats, and later onto the sandy, then moving northwest at 500 feet a Water, and these were shut down ground. Eventually, the toxin year.4 The industries that dumped shortly after the contamination was made it into the aquifer that the solvent included the Air Force, discovered. No ground water data supplied the South Side.It issued Air National Guard, Grand Central exists for the:years prior to 1981, and from taps in homes, schools and Continued on next page
The Arizona Report: Spring 2002 2 42 1 MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER o THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA a HTTP://W3FP.ARIZONA.EDU/MASRC
Aircraft, Hughes Aircraft, Burr- countered resistance from govern- Medicine. Brown Corporation, and other ment officials charged with address- On February 18, 1991, Hughes smaller "probable responsible ing their needs ... Asthey became announced a $84.5 million out-of- parties," or PRPs, as defined by the increasingly tenacious in their court offer to settle, with other 1980 Superfund Act (the Compre- pursuit of a remedy, they found few firms, the five-year-old Tucson hensive Environmental Recovery, allies along the way who were not South Side TCE lawsuit. The Clean-up, and Liability Act). themselves Southsiders. In local plaintiffs agreed. The PRPs, know- Chronic diseases, which were later government, Raul M. Grijalva, a ing well that they were facing EPA found to be related to TCE expo- South Side member of the Pima punitive measures, did everything sure, struck primarily working-class County Board of Supervisors, they could to use the settlement as a and ethnic Mexican people from the became a loud critic of what in his means of avoiding blame for the South Side. eyes was a clear case of environ- damages their TCE dumping TCE water contamination pro- mental racism, but few in govern- caused. For example, a key part of duces relatively large clusters of ment listened. the settlement was that the plaintiffs leukemia-stricken As South Side residents had to agree to have all court children, but developed records about the case sealed it is also the strategic plans indefinitely. result of in seeking In Tucson, indiscriminate TCE disparities in answers to the dumping caused a large part of the social power many difficult Mexican-descent community to as it relates to questions become ill, and contributed to many the environ- related to the deaths. Although the South Side ment and the ravaging effects community continues to experience people who . of TCE con- an environmental disaster, its live in that %DA/ tamination, people courageously and tena- environment. 111101VE they became ciously averted a larger one. The Investigative specialists in people of this story made interna- reporter Jane mom deciphering tional scientists, the legal commu- Kay, whom rman 1111111Vcizig and influenc- nity, the general public, and the the commu- ing the latest world aware of TCE and the health 2ThAWAIIII nity identified health-related hazards it poses. Many others can as a person Three studies and now benefit from their struggle who could liana Hangers clean-up 41111111&, aid its cause, R. technologies. "ritiI Airport Daniel E. Reyes III is a graduate conducted Property The efforts to student in Mexican American Studies. surveys with San'X rev understand His e-mail address is: the help of Reset on what happened [email protected]. mostly female and what community residents, in order to needed to be done brought together Notes identify forms of illness in a over twenty-five community-based 1. Tucson International Airport Area (TIAA) Arizona, EPA ID# AZD980737530. "Site square-mile area just west of the organizations, which in turn helped DescriptionandHistory."U.S. airport. In 1984, The Arizona Daily to shape new organizations such as Environmental Protection Agency. Online Star began publishing some of her Tucsonans for a Clean Environment, at(http://yosemite.epa.gov/r9/sfund/ findings. In a four-month survey of the Health Advisory Board, and the overview.nsf).The TIAA is an EPA some 500 South Side households, Unified Community Advisory Superfund CleanupSite, and is in Region 9, which includes Arizona, California, Kay reported six diseases occurring Board .. . These efforts, which Hawaii, and Nevada. at levels so far above the national continue today, have led directly to 2. "Acute phases of TCE ingestion on some norm that experts considered the new forms of knowledge about the biological markers in dogs,"Aslan R., findings remarkable. Specifically, effects of TCE on people and the Tutuncu M., AslanS.O., Dundar Y. Turkish there was a much higher than environment. Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 24: The contaminated area, now (2) 109-122. 2000. average occurrence of Lupus 3. Tucson International Airport Area (TIAA) Erythematosis, and five types of home to fifty to sixty thousand Arizona, EPA ID# AZD980737530. "Site cancer: leukemia, testicular cancer, residents, is one of the largest such Description and History." See note 1. cancer of the bone, floor of the communities in the world. Activ- 4. The Tucson Citizen, Tom Shields, 19 Nov. mouth, and sinuses. ism has enabled the community to 1985 article. South Side residents many of obtain local and state funds to Background graphic on opposite page, and detail whom had long suspected that an support a health clinic with a on this page, "March 1999 Plume Outlines and external problem was to blame knowledgeable board of directors TIAA Site Area," is from the Arizona soon mobilized themselves for that includes specialists from the Department of Environmental Quality, action. From the outset they en- University of Arizona's College of Southern Region Office.
3 The Arizona Report: Spring 2002 45 MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA [email protected]
ated token guarantees. However, Environmental Protest frompage 1 the women were well aware of the Confinamiento y Tratamiento de Derechos Humanos), and the limitations inherent in this Residuous (Confinement and national environmental agency, process because of the corruption Treatment of Residuals, CYTRAR), Procuradoria Federal de that pervades all levels of Mexi- a subsidiary of the Spanish-based ProtecciOn del Ambiente in can government. The corruption company, TECMED. It appeared Mexico City. They also began a of public authorities is generally that TECMED was contracted by vocal campaign to bring public acknowledged in Mexico as an various U.S. corporations to attention to the dumpsite through intrinsic feature of the political manage the disposal of toxic newspaper editorials and a system. In this, however, the materials. TECMED then subcon- sympathetic radio talk show public found official malfeasance tracted CYTRAR for its waste program. They organized rallies and corruption intolerable. disposal needs in Mexico. at the dumpsite and in front of the Community sentiment was The community groups, a Palacio del Gobierno (the munici- nothing less than outrage: public coalition of several nongovern- pal and state government com- authorities had grossly over- mental organizations, complained plex in Hermosillo). On March 7, stepped the boundaries of basic about the dumping to local 1998, the women of Alianza human decency by allowing the authorities, pointing out that the Civica, along with community dumping to continue. When the toxins were being improperly conventional petition- disposed of. The photographs and ing process failed to videos taken of the site showed force administrators that the wastes were uncontained into action, the and exposed to the elements. They community struggle questioned why the waste gener- began to include a ated in the U.S. was being brought radical form of to Mexico and why residents had activism. With this not been notified. The waste strategy, the women material also leaked from the crossed boundaries of trucks in which it was being what is considered shipped, and these traveled over appropriate political public highways as well as resi- action. They brazenly dential streets. They argued that confronted officials at failure to adhere to the legal every opportunity. requirement for the confinement The oppositional and processing of hazardous View of solid and liquid wastes lyingexposedanddiscourse that devel- waste materials posed threats to uncontained at the CYTRAR dump site. oped began to include the environment, to the health and (Photo: Ruben Duarte) a public and conspicu- welfare of residents, and jeopar- supporters, formed a human ous denunciation of the overt dized the underground water chain and physically blocked the collusion between government supply. entrance to the dumpsite. Local officials and those in private One of the more vocal groups law enforcement units were industry, which by design allowed was Alianza Civica (Civic Alli- deployed to remove the protest- the officials to feign innocence ance), composed primarily of ors. The next day, newspapers about dump management irregu- women. They lodged formal sported photographs of women larities.Information gathered complaints against government being physically threatened by about these officials was used to administrators, charging them tractor-trailer drivers in a failed challenge their integrity in public. with violating laws regulating the attempt to drive into the dump. Those not directly associated with importation, transport, and The steady stream of waste- the matter were challenged to dumping of toxic wastes. Their carrying trucks resumed later, take a stand for the community. petitions at the local levels of facilitated by law enforcement Those that hesitated or neglected public administration were officials and military personnel. to act were assumed to be collabo- ignored for the most part, so they The women of Alianza contin- rators and risked being targets expanded their campaign to ued to petition officials through whenever they appeared in include agencies at the state and conventional statutory channels public. The number of political federal levels, such as the National with the hope that this strategy targets grew with the escalation of Commission for Human Rights would eventually bring an end to public activity, and protestors (ComisiOn Nacional de los the dumping. At best, this gener- Continued on next page
The Arizona Report: Spring 2002 4 4 G MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER o THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 0 HTTP://W3FP.ARIZONA.EDU/MASRC continued gather- But the women ing information persisted. Each that could be used day, the women to pressure those and other com- in office. munity members The information gathered in front gathered about of the palacio, politicians and where, during the public adminis- summer, the daily trators came temperature primarily through commonly social networks. reaches 38 As these networks degrees centi- became roused grade (110° F). into action under Alianza's protest the stimulus of lasted for two activity and years, with assertions, more successes and information was Sequenceof photos showing a truck approaching the CYTRAR site and dumpingfailures material- generated. With materials, as winds scatter the toxic dust into the wind. Note lack ofprotective gear on izing in various this information, man operating hydraulic dumper.(Photo: Ruben Duarte) ways. In 1999, the women the dumpsite at attempted to further humiliate York, and filed a petition with the Hermosillo was closed, signaling officials, disrupting public ap- United Nations Environmental success for the group's efforts, pearances with outcries of Programme. However, at the although the issue of clean-up for iTraidores! (traitors!), iVendidos! meeting with UN officials, the the site has not yet been resolved. (Sell-outs!), iCorruptos! (cor- women were told that the UN was The community activism served rupted!),Sin verguenzas! (shame- unable to "intervene" in contracts to raise the consciousness of less!), and 1Nos hen hecho el between countries. In the spring residents of nearby municipalities, escusado del mundo! (You have of 1999, another petition was filed resulting in the blocking of made us the toilet of the world!). with the Comision de Coopera- proposed dumpsites at Benjamin The verbal attacks in public, ciOn Ambiental (Commission for Hill, Trincheras, and CarbO. especially on high-ranking Environmental Cooperation, Through these efforts the officials, was unprecedented. In CEC), an agency created by the Alianza women became self- addition to displaying signs at North American Free Trade educated on the interrelationship these outings, the women as- Agreement (NAFTA) to address of systems that converged with sembled life-size dummies por- environmental issues and regula- the toxic dumping in their com- traying well-known officials. tions. In response to this com- munity: globalization, free trade, Local presses couldn't resist the plaint, they were told: international subcontracting political satire, and the effigies none of which allowed for the generated even more publicity [T]he Government of the United inclusion of the opinions of those and humorat the expense of the States of Mexico is not legally able experiencing the negative and officials. The protesters, however, to respond to the matter in ques- potentially harmful effects of were then counter-attacked in tion, since it is subject to arbitration unrestrained commercialism. proceedings for resolving an inter- AZR newspaper editorials as unpatri- national dispute with the Tecnicas otic, disloyal citizens. These Med ioa mbientales Teemed, S.A. Ana Ochoa O'Leary is an adjunct attacks became even more furious company [the investment partner faculty member in the Department of when the women began to seek ofCytrar S.A. de C.V.] over al- Social and Cultural Studies at Pima foreign audiences for their com- leged noncompliance [the dump Community College in Tucson. Hcr e- plaints, and there were rumors closure] with the Agreement for mail address is: [email protected]. and threats that the women the Reciprocal Promotion and Pro- would be arrested or beaten, tection of Investments (Acuerdo * This figure is from the official website for the municipality Hermosillo ("Municipio de following the well-established para la PromociOn y ProtecciOn Reciproca de InversionesAPRI) Hermosillo: Hermosillo en Linea," 2001, practice of governmental suppres- reached with the Spanish Crown wwwhermosillo.gob.mx). Official estimates sion of critics. (Commission for Environmental Co- arc conservative due to the continual influx of migrants who settlein unregulated In October 1998, several women operation 2002). from the Alianza traveled to New shantytowns.
5 The Arizona Report: Spring 2002 47 MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA [email protected] Mexican Americans & The U.S. Economy: Quest for Buenos Dias by Arturo Gonzalez
Economic Impact of Immigration society in many ways other than economically, it would In 1994, Jesse Laguna wrote in the Los Angeles be a mistake to base policy decisions solely on economic Times that "the state of California can no longer estimates. be the Department of Health, Education and Moreover, it is difficult to estimate the exact fiscal Welfare for the rest of the world." He stated that he impact because it is impossible to measure the full and many other Hispanics supported Proposition utilization of services as well as the total taxes paid 187 which was intended to deny educational and by immigrants. In addition, both studies limit their social services to undocumented immigrants analysis to one year, 1992, and do not consider the because immigrants were "hollering for freebies." future impact of immigration. This is important given The argument that immigrants come to the United the likelihood that young immigrant workers will States primarily to receive social services, and that help sustain programs such as Social Security at a they abuse these services, is a common one among time when the American workforce is aging (Hayes- those who support restrictive immigration policies Bautista 1993). such as Proposition 187. A second common anti- More importantly, however, both studies examine immigration argument is the so-called displacement what immigrants paid and what they received, not effect, which argues that immigrants take jobs away the fiscal impact on public finances. To better assess from or reduce the wages of native workers. Even the fiscal impact of immigrants, it is necessary to though these two arguments contradict each other, consider the present and future impact of immigra- they share a common thread that immigrants have a tion on all segments of society, including households, negative impact on the U.S. economy (Funkhouser employers and employees, consumers, government, 1996). and landlords... Several attempts have been made to assess the In the case of the impact on native wages and economic impact of immigrants (Funkhouser 1996; employment, the majority of studies find that immi- Smith and Edmonston 1997). Unfortunately, the first grants do not have an overall displacement effect on conclusion reached is that it is impossible to measure the labor market outcomes of natives (Funkhouser the full impact"of immigration on the trillion-dollar 1996). In the studies where an effect is found, there is U.S. economy, partly because of its sheer size. A a small negative impact on both employment and strategy used by researchers, therefore, is to examine wages of similar workers (low-skilled native workers, the impact of immigration on specific segments of the similarly educated Mexican Americans). However, economy, such as labor markets (specifically employ- the displacement argument made by anti-immigra- ment and wages) and utilization of government tion supporters ignores the positive effect on other services. types of workers, such as females or more educated The majority of studies examine the fiscal impact of workers, and the positive employment effects caused immigrants by comparing the taxes paid and services by greater consumption of consumer products by received by immigrants. One of the studies most often immigrants. For the displacement theory to be true, cited by anti-immigration supporters totaled particu- the following conditions must hold: (1) the number of lar taxes paid by immigrants and the costs of provid- jobs must be fixed; (2) immigrants must substitute for ing various services to conclude that immigrants cost natives in production; and (3) immigrants must be taxpayers nearly $44 billion in 1992. The consensus willing to work for lower wages than equally produc- among the majority of researchers was that this study tive natives. Economists find none of these conditions had many flaws, however, including inaccurate is met in theory or in practice. population, tax, and cost estimates. Another group of The accusation made by Jesse Laguna that immi- researchers remedied these shortcomings by using grants are "hollering" for welfare and social service more precise estimates of the undocumented popula- benefits is exaggerated. Although it is true that recent tion, as well as improved tax and cost figures, and immigrants are more likely than previous immigrants concluded that all Mexican immigration benefited to receive some type of public assistance, it is also the natives by the amount of $31 billion in 1992 case that natives are more likely than immigrants of (Funkhouser 1996). identical characteristics to use any type of social Both studies fall short of providing the necessary welfare (Borjas and Trejo 1991; Smith and Edmonston information to make reasonable policy decisions, 1997). Because only permanent residents and citizens however. Even if it were possible to examine all are eligible for public assistance programs, undocu- sectors of the economy, the social, noneconomic mented immigrants, who were the target of impact is still ignored. Since immigrants affect U.S. Continued on next page
The Arizona Report: Spring 2002 6 4 8 MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER 0 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 0HTTP: / /W3FP.ARIZONA.EDU /MASRC
California's Proposition 187, are not likely to be a ENVIRONMENTAL STRUGGLE IN burden in this regard ... One of the largest areas of spending on immigrants SONORA, MEXICO, CHRONICLED IN is education. In addition to schooling, immigrant children require some English-language instruction NEW CENTER PUBLICATION and may require more time to complete their educa- Of Information Highways and Toxic Byways: Women and tion because they are more likely to be held back Environmental Protest in a Northern Mexican City is the (Delgado Bernal 1998; Vernez, Abrahamse, and newest title in the MASRC Working Paper Series. (See Quigley 1996). The growing number of immigrant excerpt on front page.) Written by anthropologist Anna children prompts some to argue that children of Ochoa O'Leary, it is the 30th title in the series, which undocumented immigrants be denied a free public began in 1981. education. California and Texas crafted legislation Women's involvement in collective struggles for envi- with this goal specifically in mind (Delgado Bernal ronmental quality has surged in recent years, as has 1998). On the other hand, given that these children research focusing on this phenomenon.Consistent are very likely to remain in and eventually work in with this research, a feminist lens is useful in revealing the United States, it is in our national interest to a model of community struggle that features women's encourage all immigrant students to attain as much activities and strategies to expose environmental insult. education as possible (Gonzalez 2000). Educated I use a case study of community protest in Hermosillo, workers are more likely to earn higher wages, to be a city in the Mexican state of Sonora, to feature social promoted, to suffer shorter spells of unemployment, networks as a means of politicizing the placement of a toxic waste dump six kilometers outside the city. A and to experience other positive labor market out- feminist perspective reveals these social networks to be comes. The net effect is that educated Mexican more than a way to mobilize resources. It allows us to immigrants will contribute more in taxes over their see the ways in which gender interacts with globalized lifetime than the cost of their education. relations of power, political ecology, and environmen- AZR tal policy, and to validate a creative way in which From Chapter 3, "Aqui Estamos: Mexican Immigrants in the women can out-maneuver the gendered constraints to United States Today," pp. 48-51. political participation. An analysis of how social net- Arturo Gonzalez's e-mail address is: [email protected]. works served in this particular struggle suggests that they are an important component in the process through Citations which women gained voice and authored oppositional Borjas, George J., and Stephen J. Trejo. 1991. Immigrant discourse in contexts where these have been previously Participation in the Welfare System. Industrial and Labor denied, and ultimately deconstructed the political au- Relations Review 44, 195-211. thority that sanctioned the dump. Delgado Bernal, Dolores. 1998. Chicana/o Education from the from author's abstract Civil Rights Era to the Present. In The Elusive Quest for Equality: Available from the MASRC for $3.00. For a full 150 Years of Chicana/Chicano Education, edited by Jose F. Moreno. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educational Review listing of MASRC publications, visit our website Publishing Group. at: http://w3fp.arizona.edu/masrc. Funkhouser, Edward. 1996. The Fiscal Impact of Immigration on the States: What Have We Learned? Paper presented at the 88'h Annual Conference on Taxation. Held under the auspices The Arizona Report is published by of the National Tax Association-Tax Institute of America, San the Mexican American Studies & Diego, CA, Oct. 1995, 53-58. Research Center at the University Gonzalez, Arturo. 2000. The Education of Immigrant Children: of Arizona. The Impact of Age at Arrival. MASRC, The University of Arizona. Working Paper. SEND CORRESPONDENCE TO: Hayes-Bautista, David. 1993. Mexicans in Southern California: MASRC Societal Enrichment or Wasted Opportunity? In The California- Economics Bldg., Room 208 Mexico Connection, edited by Abraham F. Lowenthal and The University of Arizona Katrina Burgess. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 Smith, James P., and Barry Edmonston, eds. 1997. The New Phone: (520) 621-7551 Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigra- tion. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Fax: (520) 621-7966 E-mail: [email protected] Vernez, Georges, Allan Abrahamse, and Denise Quigley. 1996. How Immigrants Fare in U.S. Education. Santa Monica, CA: ISSN 1092-4213 Rand Corporation. © 2002 The Arizona Board of Regents Excerpt from Mexican Americans & the U.S. Economy, by Arturo on behalf of the University of Gonzalez. Copyright 2002 The Arizona Board of Regents. Reprinted Arizona by permission of the University of Arizona Press.
7 The Arizona Report: Spring 2002 BEST COPY AVAILABE 49 2002 Border Academy Will Focus on Emergency Medicine Annual summer seminar returns to Southern Arizona The Border Academy, a Attendees include The program, summer seminar for medical students, now in its fifth health care professionals public health year, is coming and students, is returning to the professionals, back to South- Tucson area. The program paramedics, ern Arizona starts on Thursday, April 25, nurses, and after two years and ends on Sunday, April 28. physicians. away in other The intensive, four-day The tour will be border states. seminar, which will focus on conducted by Last year's emergency medicine, will take Border Links, a Border Acad- place at the beautiful Westward Tucson-based emy in McAllen, Look Resort in the Catalina organization that Texas, focused foothills overlooking Tucson. began providing on diabetes; the A full-day tour of health- educational 2000 seminar in related facilities and colonias in seminars on U.S. San Diego, the ambos Nogales area of the Mexico border California, U.S.- Mexico border will be an issues in 1987. Arch in central plaza of Camargo, focused on the integral part of the academy. The Academy isTamaulipas, Mexico, visited during treatment of sponsored by the the 2001 Border Academy.(Photo: cervical cancer, The Border Academy's faculty Tom Gelsinon) includes practicing physicians Arizona Hispanic and prolifera- and other medical and public Center of Excellence tion of communicable diseases, health professionals from such as tuberculosis, in certain Mexico and the United States. THE BORDER ACADEMY areas along the 2000-mile-long Clinical case study Seminar on Emergency Medicine border. presentations will cover a range Treatment & Policy For more information about of subjects in the trauma care April 25 28, 2002 the 2002 Border Academy, field. The Border Academy Westward Look Resort contact Jannine Valcour at: features a highly interactive Tucson, Arizona (520) 626-8134 or via e-mail at: style of instruction with Includes tour of colonias and health care facilities [email protected];zR extensive dialogue between in Sonora, Mexico, and Arizona speakers and participants. O
The Arizona Report NON-PROFIT ORG. Mexican American Studies & Research Center U.S. POSTAGE The University of Arizona PAID P.O. Box 210023 TUCSON, ARIZONA Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 PERMIT NO. 190
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50 A
Antonio L. Estrada Takes On Directorship of MASRC
In July, Antonio "Tony" affects the health status and access Estrada, a noted expert in to health care among Hispanics. public health, was appointed as Estrada follows Adela de la the director of the Mexican Ameri- Torre as director. An agricultural can Studies & Research Center by economist, de la Torre directed the UA Provost George Davis and Center for six years, beginning in Diana Liverman, Interim Dean of 1996. She departed for the Univer- the College of Social and Behav- sity of California, Davis, in the ioral Sciences. summer. Estrada first came to the Univer- Estrada and de la Torre are the sity of Arizona in 1986, and has authors of Mexican Americans and been a faculty member in the Health, published in 2001 by the MASRC since 1991. He received University of Arizona Press as part his master's and doctorate degrees Antonio Estrada of its Mexican American Experi- in Public Health, graduating from ence series of college text books. the UCLA School of Public Health of HIV/AIDS, and on ways to Before his appointment, he in 1986. prevent the spread of the disease. served as associate director of the His primary interests are in Additionally, Estrada is interested Center and chair of the Mexican Hispanic health, focusing on in applied public health policy as it American Studies graduate health promotion and disease program. prevention within this population. See 'From the Director' In 1998, he earned the UA Much of his work has analyzed on page 3 College of Social and Behavioral the cultural and behavioral aspects Continued on page 3 New Booklet Has Useful Advice for Latinos in Higher Education The Mexican American Studies roundtable discussions, that were attend college, racism on campus, 1 & Research Center has pub- held at the 2002 annual conference and practical matters like time fished a handbook of useful advice of the National Association for management and applying to for Hispanic students Chicana and Chicano graduate school. planning on going to Studies (NACCS) in First convened at the 2000 college or to graduate Chicago. NACCS conference and held every school. The 16-page Continued on page 6 MASRC Assistant handbook project was Professor Andrea Romero funded by the INSIDE and MAS graduate Committee on Ethnic Grads Seek Success in Med student Veronica M. Minority Recruitment, School, Doctoral Studies 2 Vensor authored the Retention and Training publication, titled in Psychology from the From The Director "Consejos Para Su Futuro American Psychological Book Excerpt: Chicano en Educacion: Association. Pupular Culture: Que Habla El Suggestions for Your Future in The charlas were open discus- Pueblo Higher Education from Chicanos sions on topics of particular and Chicanas." (An excerpt relevance to students of color. The Incoming MAS Graduate appears in this issue on pages 6 discussions covered a wide array Class has Varied Interests. 5 and 7.) The handbook was of issues, such as the difficulty in Trauma Care is Focus of developed from charlas, or being the first in the family to 2002 Border Academy .... 8
BEST COPY AVAILABLE 51 MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA [email protected] Master's Program Graduates Seek Success in Doctoral, Medical Studies
Carlos Reyes and Patricia Rodriguez graduated last spring from the Mexican American Studies master's program. Reyes studies were concentrated in the Latino Health strand of the program, while Rodriguez focus was on History and Culture. (The MAS MS program also offers a concentration in Public Policy.) Reyes in now beginning his first year of medical school at the University of Iowa, and Rodriguez has been accepted into the doctoral program in history at the University of Arizona. The Arizona Report corresponded with both of these outstanding graduates to find out their motivations for enrolling in the MAS graduate program, their plans for the future, and to learn what advice they might have for those just starting college or graduate school.
What made you decide to study What led you to major in MAS? medicine? I learned about the program I came into the UA feeling from my husband, Jonathan, that it was a pleasure just to be who participated in the first here. Becoming a physician Border Academy. Dr. Adela appeared to me to be an de la Torre had just then unreachable dream, but a announced that the Board of dream nonetheless. I wanted Regents had approved the to help people, and I thought master's program. I was medicine would provide an thrilled to know that a major opportunity to help people in a Latino group was the focus of Carlos Reyes way that other professions Patricia Rodriguez a master's degree. I had done could not Apart from provid- graduate work in public ing mental and emotional help, medical doctors are policy years earlier, but Latinos were often an after- able to alleviate physical problems through their thought. I wanted to learn about the experiences of expertise in diagnosing ailments, prescribing medi- Mexican Americans, and to contrast or draw parallels cines and other interventions. with Salvadorans, like myself, in the United States. Even though I was unsure about my ability to be a physician, I took it bit by bit without thinking about What was the focus of your studies as an MAS graduate the competitiveness or length of time I would be in student? school. First, I took the required courses and wor- I was in the history and culture track In my re- ried about passing those, then I took a practice search, I focused on the gender and intergenerational MCAT, the test needed to apply to medical school, relationships among Salvadoran refugees in Tucson, and I felt that I would never be a physician. I gave particularly among women, who are most often left up for a while until I took a course on the psychol- out of the literature. I have also researched other ogy of death and dying, and it sparked my interest topics such as the 1969 Salvadoran-Honduran "Soccer again. From then on, I had to figure out how I was War," post traumatic stress disorder, and political going to get in. asylum policies.
What was the focus of your studies as an MAS graduate What did you major in as an undergraduate? student? My major was political science, and my minor was Under the Latino Health concentration, I focused on Spanish. HIV/AIDS intervention among Hispanic injection drug users. I looked at the relationships between Did you belong to any groups or organizations while at the acculturation and high-risk behaviors and HIV/AIDS UA? knowledge. In addition, I conducted research on Yes, I was a founding member and served as co- curanderismo (Mexican folk medicine) and its relevance chair of the jAqui Estamos! Graduate Student Collec- to the clinical setting. tive.I also participated in activities and events put on by the Chicano/Hispano Student Affairs Office. What did you major in as an undergraduate? Psychology. Could you provide a little bit on your personal background? I was born in El Salvador and raised in the Washing-
Continued on page 7 Continued on page 6
The Arizona Report: Fall 2002 2 52 MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA HTTP://FP.ARIZONA.EDU/MASRC
Hispanic community. border demands it. However, From The Center must work the Center must maintain its with community- academic excellence and be the based organizations to responsive to community issues assist them, where where it can. The struggle for Director possible, in meeting equality is far from over, but the needs of the with your help we can succeed. Hispanic population. The Center can bring its ism Welcome to the start of a collective expertise to bear on new academic year! many social and health issues There is much work facing the Hispanics in southern ahead of us, but we are fortunate Arizona. Estrada frompage 1 that our former director, Dr. Beyond the many pressing Ade la de la Torre, left us with a issues facing our community, the Sciences distinguished teaching solid foundation on which to Center must also maintain its award. His health-related grants build. The MASRC has come a academic excellence in both the have brought more than $8 million long way since its inception in undergraduate and graduate to the UA since 1987. Shortly after his appointment he 1981, but we have much work curricula, and continue to referred to the recent budget crisis, still to do. generate external funding to saying, "I never again want to see This past year the MASRC was assist with infrastructure needs the MASRC on the fringes of being the focus of yet another attempt and targeted community cut or its programs downsized. In to diminish its status within the projects. order to accomplish this, we must university. Thanks to MASRCs One of my goals as the new integrate ourselves with other Community Advisory Board, director is to increase our exter- departments and colleges while and the renewed commitment to nal funding by at least 50 per- maintaining our uniqueness, the Center from the UA Adminis- cent in order to support the refocus our mission to encompass tration, the Center will continue Center's growth and mission. the Hispanic community, and to represent the interests of the Additionally, over the next maintain our academic excellence Hispanic community in Arizona several years, I would like to in teaching and research. It is our and the Southwest. increase departmental resources responsibility as Chicano faculty to My vision for the Center for faculty, staff, and students; represent our community in the includes building on our increase the number of students academy and to assist the commu- strengths and strengthening our majoring in Mexican American nity in achieving its goals of weaknesses. Integration and Studies; continue to enhance our empowerment and vitality." synthesis with other university graduate program; develop a departments and colleges (while doctoral minor in Mexican WeeetV070... maintaining our uniqueness) is American Studies; and, eventu- The Arizona Report is published crucial to our mission. I envision ally, develop a doctoral pro- by the Mexican America Studies & Research Center at the Univesity a comprehensive center focused gram. of Arizona. on three complimentary areas: In order to accomplish these public history and cultural goals, the Center must hire SEND CORRESPONDENCE TO: studies; public policy, especially additional faculty. I am happy MASRC Economics Bldg., Room 208 that which is related to immigra- to report that the university has The University of Arizona tion; and Hispanic and border committed to hire three new Tucson, AZ 85721-0023 health. faculty members in MAS during The major focus of my tenure the next several years, which Phone: (520) 621-7551 Fax: (520) 621-7966 as director of MASRC will be to should enable the Center to E-mail: [email protected] enhance our community out- accomplish its goals. reach, and research dissemina- The Center is here to stay. The ISSN 1092-4213 tion activities in each of the sheer number of Hispanics in 2002 The Arizona Board of Regents above areas. The Center must southern Arizona and the loca- on behalf of the University of find innovative ways to take its tion of the University of Arizona Arizona research and scholarship to the only 60 miles from the Mexican
The Arizona Report Fall 2002 BEST COPYAVAILABLE 3 53 MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA [email protected]
Book Excerpt: Chicano Popular Culture Chicano Popular Culture: Que Hable el Pueblo by Charles Tatum, was published by the University of Arizona Press last year as part of its series The Mexican American Experience. Written primarily for undergraduate instruction, Chicano Popular Culture was one of just 35 titles recognized as "The Best of the Best from the University Presses" for 2002 by the selection committee for "University Press Books Selected for Public and Secondary School Libraries." By Charles M. Tatum Chicano Music on the West Coast tracted Lou Gehrig's disease through the 1950s. At the same Tf Texas was the most important (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). time, he recorded a parody of the Icenter for the development of Guerrero and his brother Frank "Ballad of Davy Crockett," which Chicano popular music from the relocated from Tucson to Los had been popularized by Bill late nineteenth century through the Angles when he was eighteen. He Hayes and Fess Parker. Guerrero's 1990s, it was not by any means the recorded exclusively in Spanish for version, which was called the only site of musical activity. a few years, and his records sold "Ballad of Pancho Lopez," was a Especially since about 1960, modestly in the southern Califor- success and eventually sold more Californiaparticularly Los nia market His first recording as a than 500,000 copies. He performed Angeleshas produced several solo singer was in 1948, and his it on the "Tonight Show" hosted in musical genres and numerous songs began to get airplay on the mid-1950s by Steve Allen as groups, musicians, songwriters, Spanish-language radio stations in well as on the "Art Linkletter and individual singing artists. This the Los Angeles area. His popular- Show." is not to say they all were from ity grew and he was soon perform- Twenty years later, cultural California, only that many of them ing in many venues as the featured nationalists and others would eventually ended up in the Los artist harshly criticize Guerrero for this Angeles area because it was the song because it appeared to make center of the recording industry fun of Chicanos (Reyes and and had a huge and enthusiastic Waldman 1998, 8). Some argued Chicano population that supported that he was merely satirizing its musical artists. Eduardo "Lalo" Chicano Valvular American icon Crockett while Guerrero and Ritchie Valens Cullum others resented the humor being (Valenzuela), were two Mexican directed at Chicanos. Guerrero also Americans who broke into the 0, Quo tiabla Putzbto ./.4:4P7 wrote and recorded other parodies California recording industry in late 1950s, including "Tacos for early, the former in the 1940s and Two" (a parody of "Tea for Two"), the latter in the 1950s. Although T.Tra-tod. "There's No Tortillas" ("Yes, We they were different in their musical Have No Bananas"), "Pancho tastes, both of them should be Claus," and "I Left My Car in San considered pioneers in terms of Francisco" (a parody of the Tony their success in an Anglo-domi- Bennett standard "I Left My Heart nated industry. in San Francisco"). In 1960, he was able to open his own nightclub, Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero Despite the predominance of Lalo's Place, in Los Angeles Guerrero was born in Barrio Libre Spanish-language recordings he financed from the proceeds of his (the Free Barrio) in Tucson in 1916. made during the late 1940s and recording and performing successes. His father, head boilermaker in the 1950s, Guerrero desired to be Despite the criticism of his roundhouse of the Tucson South- primarily a performer of stock "Pancho Lopez" parody, Chicano ern Pacific Railroad, worked American tunes of that era. His students of the Chicano Movement tirelessly to support his family of idols as a high school student had era generally considered Guerrero five children, which was to grow to been Rudy Vallee, Al Jolson, Eddie to be a pioneer the music field, and seventeen children by the time Cantor, and later, Bing Crosby Chicano organizations invited him Guerrero was a young man. His (Reyes and Waldman 1998, 7). to speak on college campuses mother, Doris Conchita, taught Imperial Records asked Guerrero during the 1960s and 1970s; now Guerrero to play the guitar when to begin recording in English and more than eighty years old, he is he was fourteen years old, but he to change his professional name to still performing on college cam- began his career as a performer Don Edwards. The experiment puses. At the same time, Guerrero when he was in grammar school. flopped, however, and he went has continued to perform for His mother died when he was a back to recording and playing for largely Anglo audiences at venues young man and his father con- Mexican American audiences Continued on next page
The Arizona Report Fall 2002 4 54 MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA FITTP1 /FP.ARIZONA.EDU/MASRC such as luxurious restaurants in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and New MAS Graduate Students Have elsewhere. Guerrero has never considered Varied Interests, Career Plans himself a militant, but he has taken strong stands on occasion in order Eight new students have been accepted into the Mexican American to combat negative stereotyping Studies Master of Science program for the fall of 2002.The and overt racism. For example, he incoming class five men and three women is a diverse group of composed and sang "No Chicanos individuals, with backgrounds and career goals that range from on TV" as a protest against the education to health care to literature. The MASRC is proud to television industry's practice of welcome them. Below are profiles of four of our new graduate relegating Chicano characters to students. minor (and usually negatively stereotyped) roles. Salvador Acosta was born and grew up in Mexico Guerrero received numerous City, and has attended San Jose State University and awards throughout his career, not UCLA. He has academic backgrounds in Latin only for his contribution to Ameri- American Literature, Chicano Literature, and History. can musical culture but also for his He will follow the Culture and History strand, and public stands on social issues. The upon graduation, hopes to join a Mexican American Latino organization Nosotros Studies department in a two- or four-year college. (founded by actor Ricardo Montalban) awarded him two Fran Brazzell is taking the Latino Health strand. She Golden Eagle Awards in 1980 and has worked in healthcare since 1984, and almost from 1989. The Smithsonian Institution the beginning worked with Latino patients. She spent declared him a "National Folk 5 of the last 71/2 years working in Latin America; 2 Treasure" in 1980... Perhaps years in Nicaragua with the Peace Corps as a commu- Guerrero's crowning honor was nity health promoter, and 3 years in Mexico helping receiving the National Medal of prepare healthcare providers to work with Latino the Arts awarded at a White patients in the United States. "I realized very quickly House ceremony on February 7, that working with this population is much more 1997. In making the award, complicated than Spanish language competency. I'm very excited President William Clinton said, about continuing my own journey to understanding the cultural "Presented by the president of the components of healthcare delivery specific to the Latino population United States of America for a and contributing to the knowledge base for other healthcare provid- distinguished music career that ers," she says. Upon completion of the program, she plans to pursue a spans over sixty years, two cul- Ph.D. in Cultural Studies with an emphasis on healthcare delivery. tures, and a wealth of different musical styles. With humor, Jose de Jesfis Muftoz Serrano, was born in Leon, passion, and profound insight, he Guanajuato, Mexico, and his study concentration is in has entertained and enlightened the MAS Public Policy strand. He is interested in generations of audiences giving studying the causes of Mexican migration to the powerful voice to the joys and United States during the last three decades. After the sorrows of the Mexican American completion of his master's degree, he plans to enroll experience." in a PhD. program either in Spanish literature or From Chapter 2, pp. 31-34. Sociology.
Citation Rick Orozco graduated from the UA with a degree in Reyes, David, and Tom Waldman. 1998. Political Science, and currently teaches Mexican Land of a Thousand Dances: Chicano Rock 're American Studies at Sunnyside High in Tucson. He Roll from Southern California. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. will be studying in the History and Culture strand of the MAS graduate program. He is interested in Excerpt from Chicano Popular Culture: pursuing a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology after Que Hable El Pueblo, by Charles M. completing the program, and creating a Department Tatum. Copyright 2001 The Arizona Board of Regents. Reprinted by permis- of Mexican American Studies in the Sunnyside sion of the University of Arizona Press. Unified School District
5 The Arizona Report: Fall 2002 55 MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA [email protected]
page 1 From "Consejos Para Su Futuro Tailor your reward system to your Booklet from en Education: Suggestions for hobbies or maybe find new ones. year since then, the charlas were Your Future in Higher Education You may also find a group of facilitated by students and faculty from Chicanos and Chicanas" friends or classmates that you can who had personal experience in study with on a regular basis. This various aspects of higher How do I balance my time between can help you structure your studies family, friends and studying? education. The discussions, which and provide some socialization at Balancing time between family were open to all conference the same time. Studying with other and friends while in college can be students and sharing notes can be attendees, were taped and later difficult. Studying can be very time- summarized. highly beneficial and help improve consuming, usually lonely, and your understanding of class mate- In the booklet, both students and tiring. You need to find a balance faculty share their valuable rial. between family, friends, and study Balancing time between extracur- experiences in higher education in time. Finding your own daily the hope that their observations ricular activities and school is rhythm with the demands of school difficult also. The best advice is to will motivate and help others. is key. It also helps to do other not take on too many projects. This One of the primary missions of things that are not academically will help ensure that you can NACCS is to advance the related. For example, you can make produce all required work in a professional interests and needs of it a point to have dinner once a week timely fashion. If you work best at Chicanas and Chicanos in the with fellow students where you have your studies at a particular time of academy. all agreed NOT to talk about school AZR day, try to schedule your activities or anything related to your studies. accordingly. Everything else should You can get to know this group be put aside during your study/ outside of class and find it to be writing/homework time. Once you relaxing. Think of these techniques figure out a daily schedule, you will as somewhat of a reward system. Continued on next page
Rodriguez frompage 2 What has been your biggest challenge professor of U.S. history. As the as a student? field grows to include immigration ton, D.C, area from the time I was One of the biggest challenges I of groups from Latin America and seven years old. I lived in the area faced was balancing a demanding Asia, I hope to contribute to the until moving to Tucson with my teaching assistant position with my emerging and exciting specializa- husband about six years ago. I own schoolwork. I had to remind tion of Central American studies. have a sister who still lives in the myself that my classes and re- D.C. area. My father remarried search were as important. I also How will your degree in MAS help after my mother's death in 1994; he tried to maintain a balance among you achieve those goals? and his wife reside in Santa Clara, these and my family life. My degree in MAS provided the CA. I also have family in groundwork from which I can now Montreal, Canada, and in El What have you found to be most build on in the history department Salvador. After enjoying a 12-year rewarding in your studies? The opportunity to explore my career in the non-profit sector, Do you have any advice for new or own interests. I felt encouraged working for local and national younger students? and supported by my professors to organizations, I returned to school You cannot succeed as a gradu- because I was ready for a career do research on a group that was ate student alone. You should try not Mexican American. I also change. to establish a good, working valued the sharing and learning relationship with your adviser and from other students. Since we all your classmates. I found it useful What are the most important things come from different experiences, to pair up with a more experienced you've learned as a result of following we each bring a unique perspec- student through our Comparenas/ this curriculum? tive to our class discussions. One of the most important things Compareiios program. You can serve as a resource to each other. I've learned is to take an interdisci- Where are you headed now? Get involved with activities plinary approach to my research. This fall, I am starting in the around campus so that you don't People of color are generally doctoral program in history at the feel isolated. You will always have under-represented in any field of UA. more work than is humanly study, so this type of approach can possible to complete, so do your provide a broader picture of what What are your present goals? best and enjoy it! is happening in our communities. My present goal is to become a
The Arizona Report: Fall 2002 6 56 MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES & RESEARCH CENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA HTTP://FP.ARIZONA.EDU/MASRC
see that it is easier to get your work your family a class and studying do not live on campus. This is a done, and to reward yourself later schedule at the beginning of the good opportunity to meet other for working hard. A regular work semester so that everyone knows students in your same situation. routine has the added benefit of when to expect that you will be in Don't forget to recognize and reducing stress. class or studying. It might also be appreciate how your family is helpful to plan a chores schedule helping you. They are probably What should I expect if I decide to with your family so that you also are saving you money on rent and live at home and go to school? helping around the house. utility expenses, and helping you by Living at home and going to Some students find that it is providing home-cooked meals. school can be difficult because of the difficult to find a quiet place at home Your family may be helping in many different demands of college and to get studying done, and decide to other ways as well, and it is good to home life.It can be challenging to rent a study carrel at the library for a recognize and appreciate the balance spending time with family small fee. You can keep your books support. and time studying. Often, other and papers in the study carrel, so family members are not in school you will not have to carry [them] and thus have different schedules from school to home as much. Also, Copies of the handbook are available than yours. They may expect you to look for any programs on campus from the Mexican American Studies & spend more time with them when that cater to commuter students. Research Center you are home, or to have a similar Oftentimes, programs will offer schedule. It can be helpful to give coffee get-togethers for students who
Reyes frompage 2 What are the most important things Right now, I think it might be you've learned as a result of following primary care, but I may change my Did you belong to any groups or this curriculum? mind. organizations while at the 11A? I learned that the research Sigma Lambda Beta, a Latino- process has many details that are How will your degree in MAS help based fraternity, and F.A.C.E.S. not noticeable until you go through you achieve those goals? (Fostering and Achieving Cultural it. I also learned about he impor- Presenting my research to Equity and Sensitivity), a pre- tance of student mentoring and faculty and other graduate stu- health professions club. professionalism. dents helped me develop intellec- tually and professionally. Attend- Could you provide a little bit on your What has been your biggest challenge as a student? ing conferences exposed me to personal background? other professionals around the I am the middle of three boys. Reading comprehension and country. These experiences will organizing my studies so that I'm My mother and father are from allow me to think less narrowly able to retain knowledge that I can Mexico. I was born in Torrance, and, perhaps, make me a more use in the future. Another big California, then I lived in Sonora, flexible and well-rounded physi- challenge was applying to medical Mexico, a few years and then in cian. Arizona. I briefly went to elemen- school - there are a lot of hoops to tary school in Tucson, then I jump through. Do you have any advice for new or moved to Mesa, where I grew up. I younger students? graduated from Dobson High What have you found to be most Never give up on your dreams, rewarding in your studies? School and returned to Tucson for even if they seem unreachable. Mentoring from the faculty. my undergraduate and graduate Many believe that there is a secret education. They were outstanding, I could not to success, but any successful have asked for anything more. person will tell you, when you are VVhat led you to major in MAS? Small group discussions were key passionate about something and What led me to apply to the to learning more from the class you love what you are doing, you Masters program is that I was not readings. Also, the opportunity to cannot help but to be successful. accepted to a medical school after travel to conferences enriched my applying the first time. I wanted to studies Also, don't let anybody tell you stay in the health field and I heard what you want to be, follow your about the MASRC Latino Health Where are you headed now? feelings and don't be afraid to take concentration. I loved my MAS I will attend the University of the hard road. Even I begin each classes as an undergraduate where Iowa College of Medicine. day with some fear, but that's just life I became enlightened about AN? Chicano scholarship on the South- What area of medicine do you plan to west. practice?
7 The Arizona Report: Fall 2002 57 Richard Carmona Gives Keynote Speech at Border Academy Trauma Care Is Focus of Fifth Annual Summer Seminar The Border Academy, a summer seminar for health care professionals and students, took place in Tucson during the summer at the Westward Look Resort. The Border Academy's faculty included practicing physicians and other medical and public health professionals with expertise in trauma care from Mexico and the Dr. Richard Carmona is flanked by Border Academy students. Medical students attending United States. the four-day seminar came from the UA,Stanford University, the University of California, Dr. Richard Carmona, who was Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, and UC San Francisco. (Photo: Tom Gelsinon) later named United States Surgeon General, delivered the keynote address to the audience of medical medicine in the U.S.-Mexico students, physicians, health care border region, included a day-long workers, researchers, and other tour of health-related facilities and members of the Tucson colonias in the ambos Nogales area of community. southern Arizona and northern Other speakers included Drs. Sonora. The tour was conducted Terence Valenzuela and Frank by BorderLinks, a Tucson-based Walter of the University of Ari- organization that began providing zona Dept of Emergency Medi- educational seminars on U.S. - cine; Dr. Miguel Fernandez of the Mexico border issues in 1987. University of Texas Health Sci- The Academy was sponsored by 0+4 kittion4 IVO= ences Center, San Antonio; Drs. the Arizona Hispanic Center of Juan Miguel Reyes Amezcua and Excellence, which was a joint Dr. John Porter, director of Maricela arate GOmez of the project of the MASRC and the UA Trauma and Critical Care at Universidad AutOnoma de Nuevo College of Medicine. University Medical Center, and Leon; and Gerald Perry, head of profesror of clinical surgery at the Information Services at the Ari- UA College of Medicine, spoke zona Health Sciences Library. about Pediatric Trauma. (Photo: The intensive, four-day seminar, Tom Gelsinon) which focused on emergency
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