World War II and Mexican American Civil Rights

World War Ii Marked A Turning Point For Mexican Americans That Fundamentally Changed Their Expectations About How They Should Be Treated By The Greater U.s. Society. The Experiences Of Fighting Alongside White Americans In The Military, As Well As Of Working In Factory Jobs For Wages Equal To Those Of Anglo Workers, Made Mexican Americans Less Willing To Tolerate The Second-class Citizenship That Had Been Their Lot Before The War. Having Proven Their Loyalty And Americanness During World War Ii, Mexican Americans In The Postwar Years Wanted To Have The Civil Rights They Knew They Had Earned. In This Book, Richard Griswold Del Castillo And Richard Steele Investigate How The World War Ii Experiences Of Mexican Americans Galvanized Their Struggle For Civil Rights And How The U.s. Government Responded To The Needs And Aspirations Of Mexican Americans. The Authors Demonstrate, For Example, That The U.s. Government Discovered Mexican Americans During World War Ii And Set About Addressing Some Of Their Problems As A Way Of Forestalling A Sense Of Grievance And Disaffection That Might Have Made The Mexican American Community Unwilling To Support The War Effort. The Authors Also Show That, As Much Or More Than Governmental Programs, The Personal Wartime Experiences Of Mexican Americans Formed Their Civil Rights Consciousness. The Book Concludes With A Selection Of Key Essays And Historical Documents From The World War Ii Period That Collectively Gives A First-person Understanding Of The Civil Rights Struggles Of Mexican Americans. Introduction / Richard Griswold Del Castillo -- Mexican Americans In 1940 : Perceptions And Conditions / Richard Steele -- The Federal Government Discovers Mexican Americans / Richard Steele -- Violence In Los Angeles : Sleepy Lagoon, The Zoot-suit Riots, And The Liberal Response / Richard Steele -- The War And Changing Identities : Personal Transformations / Richard Griswold Del Castillo -- Civil Rights On The Home Front : Leaders And Organizations / Richard Griswold Del Castillo -- Epilogue : Civil Rights And The Legacy Of War / Richard Steele And Richard Griswold Del Castillo. Edited By Richard Griswold Del Castillo. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

world War Ii Marked A Turning Point For Mexican Americans That Fundamentally Changed Their Expectations About How They Should Be Treated By The Greater U.s. Society. The Experiences Of Fighting Alongside White Americans In The Military, As Well As Of Working In Factory Jobs For Wages Equal To Those Of Anglo Workers, Made Mexican Americans Less Willing To Tolerate The Second-class Citizenship That Had Been Their Lot Before The War. Having Proven Their Loyalty And Americanness During World War Ii, Mexican Americans In The Postwar Years Wanted To Have The Civil Rights They Knew They Had Earned.
In This Book, Richard Griswold Del Castillo And Richard Steele Investigate How The World War Ii Experiences Of Mexican Americans Galvanized Their Struggle For Civil Rights And How The U.s. Government Responded To The Needs And Aspirations Of Mexican Americans. The Authors Demonstrate, For Example, That The U.s. Government Discovered Mexican Americans During World War Ii And Set About Addressing Some Of Their Problems As A Way Of Forestalling A Sense Of Grievance And Disaffection That Might Have Made The Mexican American Community Unwilling To Support The War Effort. The Authors Also Show That, As Much Or More Than Governmental Programs, The Personal Wartime Experiences Of Mexican Americans Formed Their Civil Rights Consciousness. The Book Concludes With A Selection Of Key Essays And Historical Documents From The World War Ii Period That Collectively Gives A First-person Understanding Of The Civil Rights Struggles Of Mexican Americans.

This historical study examines how Mexican American experiences during WWII galvanized the community’s struggle for civil rights. World War II marked a turning point for Mexican Americans that fundamentally changed their relationship to US society at large. The experiences of fighting alongside white Americans in the military, as well as working in factory jobs for wages equal to those of Anglo workers, made Mexican Americans less willing to tolerate the second-class citizenship that had been their lot before the war. Having proven their loyalty and “Americanness” during World War II, Mexican Americans began to demand the civil rights they deserved. In this book, Richard Griswold del Castillo and Richard Steele investigate how the wartime experiences of Mexican Americans helped forge their civil rights consciousness and how the US government responded. The authors demonstrate, for example, that the US government “discovered” Mexican Americans during World War II and began addressing some of their problems as a way of ensuring their willingness to support the war effort. The book concludes with a selection of key essays and historical documents from the World War II period that provide a first-person perspective of Mexican American civil rights struggles. The first book-length account of how World War II galvanized Mexican Americans of the “Greatest Generation” to seek full rights and inclusion in American society.