The Oxnard Strike of 1903: Breaking Barriers of Racial Representation in the Labor Force Historical Background Thesis Long-Term Impacts During the late nineteenth century, immigrant workers faced “I’m not one of those so-called ‘big shots’ … I merely want to see Oxnard’s racial labor representation barriers. However, the Oxnard Strike of government serve all the people, all the time.” 1903 (the first successful interracial strike) broke these barriers, - Charles Collins Teague, Politician Ventura County, 1941, "Charles Collins Teague." Barajas, 2012, “Curious Unions.” inspiring future multiethnic walkouts. This became significant in Denshō, 2016, “Agricultural Allies.” the nation’s history of instigating change for laborers. Local racial representation improved after subsequent interracial events The agriculture industry of forced Oxnard’s politicians to Ventura County (a Californian support racial equality (fearing region by the Santa Clara River) Ventura County, 1941, "Charles Collins Teague." strikes’ detriment to the economy). was booming. Breaking Barriers Barajas, 2012, “Curious Unions.” “The most effective method of protecting the "The Japanese and Mexican strike established "Owing to the many false statements printed in the working man and his standard of living is by the better racial and labor representation for the Los Angeles Times and other daily papers about universal organization of the wage-worker laborers of the sugar beet fields…" our organization and the murderous assault made regardless of his race or his national distinction.” - The San Francisco Examiner upon the union men last Monday afternoon…" - Los Angeles City Council of Labor The San Francisco Examiner, 1903, "Revelation of Oxnard." - J. M. Lizarras Los Angeles County Council of Labor, 1903, "In Response to the Events in Oxnard." Lizarras, 1903, “A Statement to the Public.” Hawaii Strikes, 1946, "The Great Hawaii Sugar Strike." Hawaii Strikes, 1946, "The Great Hawaii Sugar Strike." “The significance of this particular skirmish, in “Charles Arnold, after his life was threatened, the great class war, lies in the fact that workers fled to the office of the Justice of the Peace, Daniel, 1982, "Bitter Harvest.” from the Occident and Orient, strangers in where a number of white men kept guard, tongues, manners and customs, gathered together surrounded by muttering, half-drunk natives. The Oxnard Strike inspired Hawaii’s Schulman, 1897, “Dingley Tariff Act.” in a little western village [Oxnard, California], The officers... [being] the defenders of civilized 1946 Sugar Strike, uniting several should so clearly see their class interest rise society, protected Arnold against these races in striking for better pay. above all racial feelings of distrust.” savages.” - John Murray - The Oxnard Courier The 1897 Dingley Tariff Murray, 1903, “A Foretaste of the Orient.” The Oxnard Courier, 1903, "Trouble Intensifies in Oxnard." Act taxed foreign goods, The Los Angeles Times, 1903, "New Labor Departure." raising demand for sugar. Hawaii Strikes, 1946, "The Great Hawaii Sugar Strike." The laborers broke The laborers’ triumph over Although prejudiced newspapers significant ethnic labor representational barriers portrayed the union scathingly, the barriers by interracially proved that interracial unity union overcame media-imposed uniting. was effective. discriminatory barriers. Schulman, 1897, “Dingley Tariff Act.” “This sugar factory will become the model for the agricultural factories of the future - a mammoth, ultramodern, superefficient, February 11, 1903 March 6, 1903 UFW, 1997, "Strikes of the US." three-million-dollar plant that will make all other facilities look primitive…” UFW, 1997, "César Chávez." - Henry T. Oxnard Street, 2004, “Beasts of the Field” Daniels, 1977, “The Politics of Prejudice.” Oxnard’s interracial ideals inspired “Japanese and Mexicans, side by side, activist César Chávez (who was 700 laborers formed the The JMLA celebrated dumb through lack of a common speech, raised there) to implement them in Japanese-Mexican Labor increasing membership yet eloquent in expressions of fraternity, the 1965 Delano Grape Strike and Association (JMLA) to by parading. WACC Sensing profitable marched through the streets of Oxnard… 1970 Salad Bowl Strike. strike against WACC for resented this, opportunities, Henry [yet] tension grows in Sugar Town paying less than promised. heightening tension. between strikers and employers…” Oxnard built a - Ventura Daily Democrat Denshō, 2016, “Agricultural Allies.” sugar-beet company in Ventura Daily Democrat, 1903, “Japs and Mexicans March.” Ventura County; UFW, 1995, "The Salad Bowl Strike." business prospered, and the town “Oxnard” was Ichioka, 1988, “The Issei.” established. March 23, 1903 March 30, 1903 Chávez created United Farm Workers (UFW) in 1962 to instigate change. Even today, they employ the JMLA’s interracial UFW, 1962, “¡Si Se Puede!” ideals. WACC deputy Charles Arnold killed The JMLA now two JMLA members; however, he controlled Oxnard’s Oxnard Courier, 1902, “Western Agricultural Contracting Co.” Wroblewski, 2004, “Violence, Vice, and the Media.” remained unpunished. The incensed entire workforce, forcing JMLA performed the mens’ funerals WACC to increase wages; and redoubled its efforts. a victory for the JMLA. The San Francisco Examiner, 1903, "Shots Fired in Oxnard." Barajas, 2012, “Curious Unions.” Oxnard’s main labor-contracting company - WACC (Western Agricultural Contracting Company) - consisted largely of Japanese and Mexicans laborers. UFW, 2012, "Modern Strikes and the Multiracial Fight for Change." Short-Term Events “Instead of paying each worker a ten-hour-day's wage of $1.50 as they had been promised, the WACC gave them a piecework rate Conclusion "At this juncture, the Los Angeles County Council “We therefore petition the AFL to grant us a returning them considerably “The union [JMLA] may enter the AFL… of Labor passed resolutions favoring the charter under which we can unite all the laborers less.” [However], your union will, under no organization of all Asiatics now in California. circumstance, accept membership of any of Oxnard without regard to their race. We will - John Murray refuse any other kind of charter, except one The San Francisco Call, 1902, “Japanese Laborers Fight With Mexicans.” Because of this success, the JMLA considered Chinese or Japanese.” Murray, 1903, “A Foretaste of the Orient.” joining the American Federation of Labor which will wipe out race prejudice and recognize (AFL)..." - Samuel Gompers, President of the our fellow workers as being equal to ourselves.” During the late nineteenth century, immigrant American Federation of Labor - John Murray - J. M. Lizarras Gompers, 1903, “A Letter to Secretary J. M. Lizarras.” Murray, 1903, “A Foretaste of the Orient.” Lizarras, 1903, "A Letter to the AFL." workers faced racial labor representation Farmers heightened barriers. However, the Oxnard Strike of 1903 “All efforts that we made in opposing the Japanese-Mexican WACC were truly ineffective… because (the first successful interracial strike) broke opposition by racially we acted separately. Had we collaborated separating boarding, before, they [the WACC] would have Lauded by the Los Angeles Labor Prejudiced against Asian-Americans, Many criticized these conditions, these barriers, inspiring future multiethnic which prevented conceded to our demands long ago.” Council for breaking barriers, the the AFL told the JMLA to expel its because the JMLA’s ideals revolved potential collaborative walkouts. This became significant in the nation’s - Kosaburo Baba, President of the JMLA decided to petition to join the Japanese-American members before around interracial unity. The JMLA Japanese-Mexican Labor Association strikes while keeping AFL (American Federation of Labor). joining. dissolved without the AFL’s support. history of instigating change for laborers. Street, 2004, “Beasts of the Field” wages artificially low. A NOTE TO THE JUDGES: This picture (displaying houses by a river), is meant to be an “artifact” for our board. It displays the setting of the Oxnard sugar beet fields during the strike. A caption for this artifact is also provided below the image (this caption is also in Student-Composed Words). This artifact is not meant to be a picture on the exhibit board itself - it’s meant to be displayed in front of the exhibit board as a 3-dimensional visual of this event in order for the project to be an interactive visual. Please take this into account while viewing our exhibit. The Oxnard Strike of 1903: Breaking Barriers of Racial Representation in the Labor Force Yashas Mattur, Anthony Noce, Ankit Rath Junior Division Group Exhibit Student-Composed Words: 499 Process Paper: 494 Process Paper We are a group of students who love learning about the development of groups who fought for rights in history. That is why our initial historic question before researching our topic was, “How did the labor force evolve as workers’ representation in society grew more and more important?” This was what we had started with, because although we had done a short Social Studies lesson on the development of labor unions in the late 1800s to the early 1900s, we were still intrigued about them. However, as we conducted more research, we found out that minority laborers barely had any labor representation during the early 1900s, but had significantly more representation towards the later half of the twentieth century. Because of this, our question became, “What barriers separated the minority groups