Geraldo L. Cadava: Arizona's Long History of Scapegoating
[Geraldo L. Cadava, a native of Tucson, teaches Latino history at Northwestern University. Harvard University Press will publish his forthcoming book on the Arizona-Sonora border region since World War II.]
Responding to the controversy sparked by Arizona's new immigration law, Frank Rich of the New York Times wrote, "don't blame it all on Arizona," because the state's "hysteria" is only a symptom of the "political virus" sweeping America -- from the birthers movement to Tea Party activism. Lost in this and other efforts to explain the law in light of recent politics is a deeper understanding of Arizona's long history of discrimination, xenophobia and scapegoating.
The inclination of Arizonans to target Mexicans as the cause of their political and financial problems has shaped the state's history for at least a century. In the middle of World War I, employers used fears of socialism as an excuse to fire Mexican workers, even as agricultural employers cited wartime labor shortages to justify hiring more. During the Great Depression, when Mexicans were seen as competition for jobs and burdens to public welfare, Arizonans used threats and scare tactics to pressure Mexicans to return to Mexico.
Fears of invasion by an Axis "Fifth Column" preoccupied Arizonans during World War II, so Mexicans had to register with local officials and state their loyalties....
Read entire article at SF Chronicle
Responding to the controversy sparked by Arizona's new immigration law, Frank Rich of the New York Times wrote, "don't blame it all on Arizona," because the state's "hysteria" is only a symptom of the "political virus" sweeping America -- from the birthers movement to Tea Party activism. Lost in this and other efforts to explain the law in light of recent politics is a deeper understanding of Arizona's long history of discrimination, xenophobia and scapegoating.
The inclination of Arizonans to target Mexicans as the cause of their political and financial problems has shaped the state's history for at least a century. In the middle of World War I, employers used fears of socialism as an excuse to fire Mexican workers, even as agricultural employers cited wartime labor shortages to justify hiring more. During the Great Depression, when Mexicans were seen as competition for jobs and burdens to public welfare, Arizonans used threats and scare tactics to pressure Mexicans to return to Mexico.
Fears of invasion by an Axis "Fifth Column" preoccupied Arizonans during World War II, so Mexicans had to register with local officials and state their loyalties....