Takaki Chapter 12

In chapter 12, “El Norte”, Takaki talks about the struggles of the Mexicans and how immigrating wasn’t always what it seemed to be. The Mexicans were not shown respect and their children were not given a valuable education. Throughout the struggle the Chicanos fought for higher wages and equality.
Many Mexicans left Mexico to escape from starvation but others went to America to be with family that had already settled in and established themselves. They wanted to find jobs and have their own wealth. But another factor that forced the Mexicans to move was the civil war in Mexico. The war forced numerous industries to shut down, such as mines and factories, leaving the Mexicans out of jobs and no money to support their families. Inflation was also a problem because it made the cost of food rise up to 2,000 percent. The development of transportation was also another reason why the Mexicans moved to the north. Although there are numerous reasons why the Mexicans crossed the boarder they were soon being welcomed because their labor was needed. “Mexicans represented about 75 percent of all the construction labor in the state.” A Mexican worker talked about his view on the jobs the Mexicans have and how they are not able to succeed in getting promotions. He stated, “I know that if I want to amount to something in any work I will have to do it in Mexico.” The Chicanas had horrible jobs and get the lowest wages and most Chicanas worked as waitresses, cooks, and maids. Most Chicanos worked in agriculture and really had no other choice but to work on the railroads. Most of the workers in agriculture could not leave their employers because the employers set up a system to put the Mexican workers in debt. During that time the workers had to pay off all their debts before leaving.
The Mexicans would send their children to school, but when they sent their children to school they would only learn about jobs that their parents were doing and how to take over those jobs when their parents could no longer work. A teacher even told one of her students, “Your people are here to dig ditches and to do pick and shovel work….I don’t think any of you should plan to go to high school.” Why would someone ever say this to a child? People really did not have respect for the Mexicans even though they were the ones who did the hard labor that others did not want to do. It not that white people were incapable of doing work it is just they wanted the Mexicans to do it for them.
I thought the reading was sad for the facts about the education the children got and how they were not respected. No one deserves to be treated that way but everyone deserves to be treated with respect.