Mexican-American Soldiers during the Second World War
This paper will discuss the experiences of Mexican-Americans during the Second World War. The first part of the paper will examine how Mexican-Americans, particularly soldiers, suffered from the effects of racism and discrimination prior to the Second World War. The second part of the paper will discuss how Mexican-American soldiers served valiantly during the war. The third part of the paper will discuss how Mexican-American soldiers were discriminate against while serving in the armed forces during the war. The fourth part of the paper will examine how these soldiers suffered from racism and discrimination after the war, in spite of their heroic service. The fifth part of the paper will look at some of the efforts of Mexican-American soldiers to fight such discrimination during and after the war.
Discrimination Prior to the Second World War
Prior to the Second World War, Mexican-Americans were treated as second-class citizens, because of their racial and cultural background. Since most Chicanos were of mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry, they were the subjects of discriminatory attitudes which had been held against the Spanish and the Indians. In addition, since they occupied territory which had been conquered by the United States during the Mexican-American War in the 1840s, they were treated as conquered peoples. Those whose families had lived in the southwest prior to the 1840s were not voluntary immigrants to the United States and did not wish to relinquish their culture, as did the European immigrants who arrived by boat. Those who immigrated from Mexico after the 1840s were treated as dirty foreigners who had little ambition or work ethic.
Mexican-Americans tended to live together in their own communities, as a result of this racism. These communities were dramatically poorer than Anglo communities, with little in the way of the sanitation facilities ...