Before the class begins analyzing the different art forms in the Latino culture, I will give a brief history of the different Latino populations in this country. The earliest of Latinos to come to the United States was Christopher Columbus in 1492. In his three other trips he discovered Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Bahamas. In 1542, approximately 300,000 Spaniards came to what they called the New World. They divided the land into four sections: what is now the United States, Nueva Galica, Mexico, Guatemala, and Santa Domingo. Racial lines blurred over a number of years, due to the fact that the Spaniards were reproducing with the indigenous people and women. This racially mixed group was called Mestizos. An important issue to cover in this introduction is how over 4000 Spaniards died in the American Revolution, which is too often forgotten or not included in our history. Hispanics also fought during the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. Further, in WWII, between approximately 250,000 and 500,00 Latinos served in the armed forces, making up 2.5 – 5% of all enlisted (Hispanic America USA, Inc.). In American history, we tend to downplay the role of all our American citizens in the participation of war.
Mexicans are some of the oldest residents of our country. In fact, in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the Spanish southwest was annexed to the United States, and many Mexicans instantaneously became American citizens. California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, and New Mexico became part of the United States. The now Mexican Americans found themselves members of a society that did not have laws that protected them. Most had their land taken away from them and became bankrupt. In the 1930’s about half a million Mexicans were deported, due to prejudice and discrimination. Then starting in 1948 many Mexicans were brought back to the United States, hired to farm the land. This was called the Bracero Program. Many of these workers were mistreated and poorly paid. Racism continued to plague the lives of Mexican Americans. Even though America treated them like second-class citizens, over 500,000 Mexican Americans served in World War II and in the Korean War. Even after they served, they were still treated poorly. Mexican Americans, Chicanos, have been ridiculed and oppressed throughout our history, and it wasn’t until the 1970’s that Chicano literature began to flourish. It is important to discuss Cesar Chavez and his contribution to the Latino civil rights movement. The civil rights movement is what helped spark this Latino literature influx. Traditionally, the Chicano population wanted to gain political power through education, but this was and still is difficult when the incoming immigrants are largely uneducated (Augenbraum and Stavans).
Cuban-American history is a bit different, but the immigrants still encounter the prejudice of the other Latino groups. Cuba was a Spanish colony until the Spanish-American war in 1898. America felt its victory was a great achievement, because Cuba was in a great location and offered economic opportunities for many Americans, especially in sugar, tobacco, and coffee. The 19th century brought the first wave of immigrants to America, but because of Fidel Castro’s dictatorship in Cuba, in the late 1950’s and throughout the 60’s the first truly big wave of Cuban immigrants entered the country as refugees. They had to leave in Cuba all of their money and possessions, but they brought along with them a rich culture as is seen in their literature, art, and music. The Cubans that arrived were mostly well-educated, middle class citizens who rose in society and also economically. Many Americans, as well as Castro, called them Gusanos, which means worms, showing prejudice that was sometimes shown towards them. Many Cuban refugees were Caucasian, though, so they didn’t receive as much prejudice as many other Latino immigrants did. The second big wave of immigrants came to Miami in the 1980’s. These immigrants had lower incomes than their predecessors. They were also more rural, less urban; in fact, some were convicted criminals released from Cuban jails. Most were political prisoners, but about 3,700 were dangerous criminals or criminally insane (Novas). Many, though, were blue-collar workers looking for the economic opportunities America had to offer. Also included in this wave were people looking for their relatives from whom they were separated during the revolution. Many Cuban-Americans expect to go back to Cuba when Castro’s reign comes to an end.
Latinos from Puerto Rico have a different story. They are American citizens, without the right to vote unless they live on the mainland. In 1898 in the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American war, America came to possess Puerto Rico. For a long time, America was directly involved in the affairs of the island. Puerto Rico was in a state of dissatisfaction about being a United States protectorate. About 20,000 Puerto Ricans served in World War I. Even though they fought for the U.S., the U.S didn’t help their poverty until Eleanor Roosevelt and Luis Munoz Marin raised awareness of the struggling island. President Roosevelt then made helping the island one of his priorities and conditions improved. Puerto Rico became a commonwealth in an election in 1952, and voted to maintain that status in 1993. There is still great debate on the island about the commonwealth status. If Puerto Rico were to lose this status and become a state, the unemployment rate would skyrocket. This would be due to the fact that companies don’t have to pay federal tax on profits there. Residents would also have to pay federal income tax, and since one third of all islanders live in poverty, it would be unbearable (Novas). Because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, movement to the mainland is not considered immigration. The Puerto Rican population on the mainland grew to large numbers in the 1940’s. The immigrants were mostly concentrated on the East Coast, especially in New York. They were the first population to be able to easily return to their original country, which put them at an advantage over many other Latino populations. Many came for better economic opportunities, for they had the lowest standard of living compared to other Hispanics in the United States (Augenbraum and Stavans). The Puerto Rican community stuck together, often living in barrios, as many Latino cultures do.
Dominican Republicans live under poor economic conditions. Under the rule of Joaquin Balaguer, over half the residents live in poverty. In the 1960’s, due to the civil war going on in the Dominican Republic, immigration into the United States rose greatly. An economic depression caused another wave of immigration in the 1980’s, which has continued into present day. Because they are one of the newest Latino groups to enter the U.S., they are not economically well off, yet. They have met a lot of prejudice and discrimination, the kind that Latinos and African-Americans have run into. They have a reputation for being poorest from the island, but they are in fact quite educated professionals, but most can only get low-income jobs (Novas).
Central and South Americans are also immigrating into the United States. I will give a brief history of the different cultures represented in these regions, but will not go into as much detail as the others, unless students show great interest or request more information.
With knowledge of the different Latino populations, students will then begin to compare and contrast the similarities and differences of each culture and its art and literature with a greater understanding. The Latino community in The United States is split in many ways, besides the origin of country from which people came. One way the Latino community is split is that many Latinos are here temporarily and may return to their original country when they retire. Others are here permanently, and still others have been here before there even was a United States of America. Further, there is a conflict with Latino authors. If they write in Spanish, less Americans will read the work, although more in the country of origin would read it. If these writers write in English, the Spanish speaking readers often attack the text. It is seen as selling out to White America (Augenbraum and Stavans). Another problem that many Hispanics share is combating stereotypes, both positive and negative in literature. When Anglo-Americans use Latinos as main characters, it usually reinforces stereotypes. The one element that most Latino writers have in common is that writers combine both English and Spanish, called Spanglish or code switching.
