Critical thinking Assignment
Cubans versus Mexicans: Differences in Access to Assets and Cultural Capital
Why have Cuban Americans had more political and economic success than have Mexican
Americans? In particular, consider differences in access to economic assets and cultural or social
capital for the Golden Exiles and for post-1848 Mexican-Americans. Does game theory help to
explain these differences and how were they ideologically justified? For example, how did the
zero-sum fight over access to land and its resources (e.g., loss of Mexican land grants,
competition for unskilled agricultural jobs) shape the social construction of storylines about
Mexicans (with racist “Bandido” and “greaser” images)? How was this similar to the zero-sum
struggle over land (forcible removal, Allotment Act 1887, etc.) shaping the social construction of
storylines about Indians (featuring racist images of “savages” or of “children” needing
guidance)? In contrast, in what sense did the Cold War and the Cuban-American enclave
economy create a non-zero sum game shaping Cuban-American images? Use the definitions
below, lectures 13 and 14, and the excerpts that follow: “Golden Exiles” versus “Victims of
Manifest Destiny and Conquest.”
Asset: Any item of economic value owned by an individual or corporation, especially that which
could be converted to cash. Examples are cash, securities, accounts receivable, inventory,
office equipment, real estate, a car, and other property. [I]ntangible assets [include]
trademarks, patents, copyrights, goodwill. (http://m.investorwords.com/273/asset.html )
The term cultural capital refers to non-financial social assets that promote social mobility beyond
economic means. Examples can include education, intellect, style of speech, dress, and even physical
appearance, et cetera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_capital )
Douglas Massey (2007: 17) Categorically Unequal: “The possession of cultural capital makes an
individual more productive not because he or she can perform a given operation better or faster,
but because he or she can navigate structures of power with greater ease, feeling relaxed and
comfortable in the social setting they define and thus interacting with other persons of influence
to get things done. Cultural capital represents a symbolic resource that privileged groups can
manipulate through opportunity hording to perpetuate stratification and increase inequality.”
“Social Capital” comes into existence whenever a social connection to another person or
membership in a social organization yields tangible benefits with respect to material, symbolic,
or emotional resources, such as getting a job that offers higher income, greater prestige, and
more attractive sexual partners.” Most “good” jobs are not found through formal mechanisms
such as paid advertisements but through informal connections with other social actors who
provide information and leads (Granovetter 1974).” (excerpt from Massey, 2007: 17)
Capital: “In classical economics, of course, capital refers to anything that can be used in
production of other resources, is human-made, and it not fully consumed in the process of
production (Ricardo 1996). Common examples are financial capital, which can be invested to
generate income, and physical capital, which can be applied to production to increase output.
Economists later generalized the concept by defining human capital as skills and abilities
embodied in people, notably through education and training (Schulz 1963). By investing in
education, parents and societies thus create human capital in their children. . . . “ (excerpt from
Massey, 2007: 16).
The Golden Exiles
Modified extract from:
Garcia-Pedrosa, David. 2010. “The Evolution of the Cuban-American Decline in Influence
in U.S. Policy toward Cuba.” Political Science Thesis. Haverford College.
(http://thesis.haverford.edu/dspace/bitstream/10066/5433/1/2010garcia-pedrosad.pdf )
. . . [It] is important to understand the history, support, and success of Cubans who
emigrated to the United States after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The early Cuban exile
population. . . [that] fled the Castro regime was met in Miami with unprecedented political,
social, and economic support. The first wave of exiles, known as the "Golden Exiles", who
arrived between 1959 and 1963, entered the United States during the time when the 'red scare'
was sweeping throughout the US. "Immigration in the [post World War II] period attempted to
maintain the foundational . . . [framing or ideology] of the Cold War whereby the United States
was a 'beacon of freedom' to oppressed and appropriate people. At the same time, immigration
policy was charged with screening out 'undesirable immigrants' who would not make good (p. 3)
citizens."1 During the Cold War period, this 'foundational . . . [framing or ideology]', privileging
particular immigrants over others, also equated notions of progress with assimilation and
national harmony2.
The Cuban golden exiles were very much considered 'desirable immigrants'; they not
only "represented the only pro-US elite of Latin America whose loyalty to US interests", but they
also shared the determination to defeat communism with the United States. Early Cuban exiles
were not only ideal Latin Americans, but also ideal Americans; they fled from communist Cuba and therefore also the grip of the socialist Soviet Union - to the United States, where they were
finally 'free'. It is in this regard that most Cuban exiles received greater private and public
assistance when they arrived in the United States than any other immigrant or refugee group
had historically.
The political background and the social construction of the Cuban exile's
journey to the United States and their life in the US has given them advantages that
no other Hispanic group has experienced. "Mexican and Latin American immigrants who live in
Los Angeles have been constructed almost exclusively in economic terms, as desperate people
fleeing their own countries to take advantage of the economic opportunities in the US. Cuban
immigrants, on the other hand, have been represented almost exclusively as political refugees,
thus legitimating the global dominance of the United States as a place of political refuge." 3
The United States government created the Cuban Refugee Program, which spent
nearly $1 billion between 1965 and 1976. Through this program, the federal
(p. 4) government paid transportation costs from Cuba and offered financial assistance to
needy refugees and to state and local public agencies that provided services. 4 The
Cuban exiles also took advantage of programs in Miami not specifically designed for
Latinos. From 1968 to 1980, Latinos (almost all Cubans) received 46.9% of all Small
Business Administration loans in Dade County.5
Furthermore, Cuban exiles in Miami were given social support in order to
incorporate themselves into the United States. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- an agency of the US government - employed as many at 12,000 Cubans in Miami.
The state of Florida also passed laws that made it easier for Cuban professionals to
work in the United States. "In the late 1970s and early 1980s, 53% of minority
contracts for Dade-County's transit system went to Latino-owned firms. Dade
County schools led the nation in introducing bilingual education for the first wave of
Cuban refugees in 1960. The Dade County Commission also designated the county
officially bilingual in the mid-1970s."6
The Cuban experience did not only occur because of the support that was
given to the exiles in Miami, but also because of their appearance and backgrounds.
The first wave of exiles was different from other minorities in the United States. The
"Golden Exiles" were predominantly white, middle to upper class professionals; they
were the tops of Cuban society who wanted to flee the socialist revolution. "The
presence of entrepreneurs and professionals in the Cuban refugee flow provided a
trained and experienced core who knew how to access and use the extraordinary
(p. 5) benefits provided by the US government." 7
Also, the "Golden Exiles' success and their ability to use resources given to
them allowed them to establish a footing in Miami and in the United States. The
roots laid by the earlier-arriving, higher-status refugees helped lead to the success
other waves of Cubans incorporating into the culture of Miami and the US.
Economically successful Cuban refugees would hire other Cubans newer to Miami to
jobs with a real possibility of economic growth. This is evident in a comparison of
Cubans and Mexicans "who came to the United States in the mid-1970s [that]
revealed that the Cubans not only had higher wages than the Mexicans, even Cubans
with the same educational level as Mexicans received higher wages." 8 This led to
many later-arriving Cubans, who were not as educated or wealthy, becoming part of
the middle and even upper class.
The political, social, and economic support given by the US government to
Cuban exiles, as well as the foundation set by the "Golden Exiles" led to "Miami
Cuban immigrants [achieving] economic and political power unprecedented in the
entire history of U.S. immigrants." 9 The success that Miami Cubans have had is
visible: "Miami has proportionally the largest concentration of Latino businesses (over 55,000).
Although Miami-Dade County has only 5% of the total U.S. Latino population, 31 of the top 100
Latino businesses in the United States are located there. U.S. Cubans' rate of business ownership
is more than 3 times that of Mexicans and nearly 6 times that of Puerto Ricans." 10
(p. 6) U.S. support of Cubans as well as the exiles' ability to take advantage of the opportunity
given to them led unexpected and unprecedented success. . . .The early support given by the
United States to the Cuban exiles led to the success of the Cuban community in the United
States. (p. 7)
References
1. Buff, Rachel. Immigration and the Political Economy of Home: West Indian Brooklyn
and American Indian Minneapolis, 1945-1992. Berkeley: University of California, 2001,
pgs. 128-129.
2. Pg. 167, Banet-Weiser, Sarah. "Elian Gonzalez and "The Purpose of America": Nation,
Family, and the Child-Citizen." American Quarterly 55.2 (2003): 149-78.
3. Ibid.
4. Stepick, Alex. "Power and Identity: Miami Cubans", pg. 76, in Grenier, Guillermo J., and
Alex Stepick. Miami Now!: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Social Change. Gainesville:
University of Florida, 1992.
5. Ibid.
6. “Power and Identity: Miami Cubans” Stepick, pg. 77
7. Ibid.
8. “Power and Identity: Miami Cubans” Stepick, pg. 78
9. “Power and Identity: Miami Cubans” Stepick, pg. 75
10. “Power and Identity: Miami Cubans” Stepick, pg. 77
(http://thesis.haverford.edu/dspace/bitstream/10066/5433/1/2010garcia-pedrosad.pdf )
Victims of Manifest Destiny and Conquest
Below is extract from “1848 Mexican American War” at
http://www.umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects06/magsylje/history.html
The Mexican American War was mainly driven by the idea of “Manifest Destiny”; the belief that
the U.S had a God-given right to occupy and civilize the whole continent. As increasingly large
number of Americans migrated towards the west in search of land, . . . [a] belief that democratic
English-speaking America would do a better job of running the lands than the Native Americans
or Spanish-speaking Catholic Mexicans prevailed. President Polk shared and led the vision of
Manifest Destiny, and did offer to buy much of the southwest land from Mexico. However the
Mexican government refused the offer, and an unyielding desire to populate those southwestern
lands caused tensions to continue to rise.
(http://www.umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects06/magsylje/history.html )
In 1848, at the conclusion of the U.S.- Mexican War, the two countries signed the Treaty of GuadalupeHidalgo. The treaty called for Mexico to give up almost half of its territory, which included modern-day
California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and parts of Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. . . . At the time of the
treaty, approximately 80,000 Mexicans lived in the ceded territory. . . . Only a few people chose to remain
Mexican citizens compared to the many that became United States citizens. Most of the 80,000 residents
continued to live in the Southwest, believing in the guarantee that their property and civil rights would be
protected. Sadly, . . .[by] the end of the 19th century, most Mexicans had lost their land, either through
force or fraud. . . . In Texas, Mexicans were restricted from voting. In New Mexico, Mexicans were the
victims of violence, while in California, laws against them were passed, some of which were known as the
Greaser Laws. (http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/6.html )
In 1855, California adopted the Vagrancy Act, known popularly as the Greaser Act, addressing
“all persons who are commonly known as ‘Greasers’ or the issue of Spanish and Indian blood . .
. and who go armed and are not peaceable and quiet persons.” Targeting the supposed “idle
Mexican,” this antiloitering law was the precursor to modern laws directed at loitering, gang
activity, and other apparently race-neutral offenses that in practice are often used to justify
interrogatory stops of persons of color. . . .Originating in the mid-1800s, . . . “Greasers” was a
popular reference by U.S. troops in the U.S.-Mexico war of 1846–1848, as well as by settlers in
gold rush California. Its original usage appears to have been sexualized, a way to describe a
“treacherous Mexican male who was sexually threatening to and desirous of white women.”
Although the term continued to be associated with Mexican men in its Hollywood usage,
“greasers” came to refer to Mexicans generally, encompassing both sexes as well as both
Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Further, the term originated as a derogatory reference toward
those of Mexican origin, but its use expanded over time . . . to describe anyone of Spanish origin.
. . . the Hollywood greaser image of the 1900s was the villain of such films as The Greaser’s
Gauntlet (1908), Tony the Greaser (1911), The Girl and the Greaser (1913), The Greaser’s
Revenge (1914), Bronco Billy and the Greaser (1914), and, simply, The Greaser (1915).7 . .
.Hollywood resurrected the greaser from time to time, beginning with the 1961 western One
Eyed Jacks. Particularly in the 1940s, Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Los Angeles,
especially young boys, were labeled “pachucos” or “zoot suiters.” Later, Mexicans and Mexican
Americans became “wetbacks,” “aliens,” and “illegals” as the U.S.-Mexico border was fortified
against entry by undocumented Mexican immigrants.
( www.nyupress.org/webchapters/081479887Xpref.pdf )
Below is an extract from “Land Loss in California” Digital History ID 570 Author: Hutchings
California Magazine (Date:1857)
(http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=570 )
The consequence of the system [the Land Commission instituted in California 1852-1855]
was, that a large portion of the most valuable farming land in the State was occupied by
[Anglo] squatters. This occupation contributed greatly to injure the value of the property.
The land owner [a Mexican who received title to land before 1848] could not sell his land,
nor use it, and yet he was compelled to pay taxes. His ranch brought serious evils upon
him. It was the seat of a multitude of squatters, who--as a necessary consequence of
antagonistic pecuniary interest,--were his bitter enemies. Cases we know, where they
fenced in his best land; laid their claims between his house and his garden; threatened to
shoot him if he should trespass on their inclosure; killed his cattle if they broke through the
sham fences; cut down his valuable shade and fruit trees, and sold them for firewood; made
no permanent improvements, and acted generally as though' they were determined to make
all the immediate profit possible, out of the ranch. Such things were not rare. . . . Blood was
not unfrequently spilled in consequence of the feuds between the land holders and the
squatters; the victims in nearly every case, belonging to the former class.
(http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=570 )
Excerpt below is from: Jon Michael Haynes. 2001. “Saying We're Sorry? New
Federal Legislation and the Forgotten Promises of the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo.” 3 Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Minority Issues 231-264, 232236 (Spring), (http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/guadalu7.htm )
Recently in Texas, Mexican-American families have begun to fight for the return of their
ancestral lands, lands taken from them throughout decades of injustice at the hands of
predominantly Anglo courts. . . . Only a handful of these claims have resulted in successful
outcomes for Mexican Americans; and of these, none were based on the seemingly
forgotten promises of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. . . .Under the terms of the Treaty,
Mexican property holders were to retain full enjoyment and protection of their property as
if they were citizens of the United States. . . .[It] is significant to note that Mexican
Americans are the only minority group in the United States, other than Native Americans,
to be annexed by conquest and to have their rights allegedly safeguarded by treaty. . . .
[T]he United States, through an unwritten policy of territorial expansionism. . .has denied
Mexican Americans their Constitutional rights both as landowners and as citizens in
general. . . . [T]he acquisition and control of land was the primary factor behind the
disenfranchisement of Mexican Americans at the precise moment that they became a
substantial component of the population of the United States.
(http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/guadalu7.htm )
Lecture 14
Anthropology of Ethnicity and Race
ANT3451
Mexican-Americans: The Legacy of Conquest vs. Cuban Enclave
Treaty of Guadeloupe Hildago (1848): Mexico surrenders over 1/3 territory to U.S. (See figure 1)
View Video
A. Mexico must accept after U.S. armies invade during Mexican-American War
B. 75,000 Mexican nationals: treaty says their land grants are protected & official documents bilingual
C. Language not respected; within 10 years, much property lost through Anglo duplicity
1. Mexican tradition, based on vague landmarks, is manipulated in Anglo courts
2. Key to assault on Mexicans: Anglo hunger for Mexican’s land (physical capital) fuels conflict
Mexican resistance to abuse, land seizures in Southwest labeled as criminal (See figure 2)
A. Bandito image used to denigrate rebellions (later, in 1970s, “Frito Bandito” ad revives image)
B. Example of Cortina Wars and Red Robber Barron of the Rio Grande
1. Wealthy Juan Cortina had large land grant, was incensed by Anglo treatment
2. Cortina kills sheriff seen pistol-whipping one of his mother’s workers
3. Frees Mexican prisoners from Brownsville jail; to delegitimize, is labeled a bandit by Anglos
C. Many Mexicans are lynched
Mexicans exploited as cheap, temporary workforce to be expelled when not needed
Does not contain significant entrepreneurial class with business capital and skills (unlike Cuban Golden Exiles). (See figure
3)
A. Early 1920s: exempted from restrictive immigration laws since essential as cheap labor in Southwest
B. Depression fuels repatriations in 1930s: 1 million returned 1926-1939
C. Bracero program 1942-1964: cheap guest agricultural workers popular with growers
1. Objective was to exploit labor then send back to Mexico
2. Created infrastructure of illegal migration
D. Operation Wetback in 1954: response to recession is to send back 3.8 million Mexicans in 5 years
E. Message of “Born in East LA:” US citizens without papers sent to Mexico
F. IRCA (Simpson-Rodino bill) in 1986: Hispanics at disadvantage - employer checks ID
Discrimination (See figure 4)
View Video
A. Example of Zoot Suit Riots in 1943: 200 sailors beat up pachucos (Mexican youth) wearing Zoot suits while drive
through LA barrio in taxis; 4-day rampage; police do not stop & even arrest victims
B. Los Angeles city council makes wearing a zoot suit misdemeanor: baggy pants, long coats of youth
C. Sleepy Lagoon Trial: Mexicans labeled criminal; teens jailed on evidence that is later thrown out
Mexicans deprived of cultural and physical capital
View Video
A. Physical capital: land, factories, other property that embodies or produces income and wealth
1. Anglos take land, which is a major source of wealth in 1800s, from Mexicans
B. Cultural capital: education, experience, skills, social contacts, reputation, etc. that get income/wealth
1. Language as cultural capital: Guadeloupe-Hidalgo Treaty not honor, but enclave keeps for Cubans
2. Segregation in barrios: cuts off from cultural capital—contacts with elites, good schools, jobs, etc.
3. Importing & then returning cheap labor to Mexico: no access to education and U.S. avoids costs
Contrast with Ethnic Enclave of Cubans, built from Cultural and Physical Capital
Institutionally complete ethnic subeconomy permits Cubans to avoid temporary, low-pay jobs in secondary labor market.
View Video
A. Institutional completeness (Breton 1964): ethnic group’s needs met by institutions within the ethnic community—
businesses, churches, newspapers, schools, etc.—so no need to use those in host society
1. Shields from discrimination outside enclave: @ 10% of Hispanics say police/other authorities stop them in 2007
and asked about their immigration status; same % for US & foreign-born Latinos!
B. Successes: >25,000 businesses in 1990; 40% of wealthiest Hispanics; small manufacturing sector employs Cuban
immigrants; empowerment allows election of Cuban mayors/legislators
C. Key: Golden exiles use cultural, physical capital to build economic enclave
1. Provide ingredients for society in embryo absorbing future migrant waves
2. Cubans from all classes come voluntarily to create better way of life
3. Exile status, language, common experience create strong bonds; example of this is Elian Gonzalez affair in
2000, in which all Cubans oppose return of 6-year old to father in Cuba, but most in U.S. disagree, creating
polarizing 5-month standoff with U.S. Justice Department
View Video
D. 3 Components of Enclave Economy (Alejandro Portes): in Miami, established by Golden Exiles
1. Ethnic solidarity transcending economic, contractual ties
a. Rotating credit associations: informal credit based on reputation, not collateral or $ assets
b. Informal benefits counteract lower wages: creates niche for Cubans as new competitors
i. On the job training
ii. Rapid promotions
iii. Help in establishing own business later on
2. Some business--e.g., banking--competes with Anglos; not just on periphery of economy
3. Geographic concentration: close to ethnic clients, ethnic labor, other ethnic businesses
a. upshot: can succeed in enclave without having to speak English (preserves cultural capital)
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Lecture 15
Anthropology of Ethnicity and Race
ANT3451
Slavery: Brutal Incarnation of Colonial Expansion
The Slave Trade as part of the Atlantic Triangle in European Colonial System (See fig. 1)
View Video
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Modern period of enslavement begins: Spanish and Portuguese in 14th century
8-10 million African slaves brought to Western Hemisphere, about 5% to N.America
Slavery before colonialism, but powerful sys needed for massive transcontinental transfer
Slave trade outlawed by England and U.S. in 1808
If no more than ½ million brought to U.S., why 4 million slaves by 1860?
What caused slavery?
View Video
A. Why slavery in South Africa, West Indies, southern U.S., but not in Europe itself? Economics rather than prejudice
explain:
1. Slavery develops where land is abundant and labor scarce
2. Profitable Cotton, sugar, and tobacco require back-breaking gang-type labor
a. Where land available for squatting, wages for labor driven up
3. Involuntary labor therefore needed for profitable plantations
a. Unskilled, gang-type labor easily supervised by horseman with a whip
4. Not for delicate, interdependent, easily sabotaged work (factory)
B. Why were Blacks (Africans) enslaved?: power/privilege (control, security, profit) explain
View Video
C.
D.
E.
F.
1. White involuntary labor (indentured servitude) volatile: potentially dissatisfied. Class of whites dangerous; also
fraternized with blacks to escape, rebel
2. Preference goes from white to black involuntary labor because of control, profit
Control: Blacks can't escape to Africa; don't know terrain; easily identified
Profit: growth of slave trade makes cheaper; own for life plus children
1. Indian slavery in South Carolina (1/3 of slaves in early 1700s) not successful
Overblown: nomads poor slaves; many Indians engage in agriculture
Security problem: know terrain, can escape to tribe; military threat
Institutionalization of Slavery (See figures 2, 3 & 4)
View Video
A. First blacks indentured servants; four decades before become slaves
B. Slave system: slavery for life/inherited; property to be sold; no rights; based on force
C. Slave codes: control belies ideology of "happy" slaves; white fear of rebellion, escape
1. Dependence: slaves can't buy/sell, inherit, make contract, have will or property
2. Slave cannot quarrel with or use abusive language toward whites
3. Cannot travel without pass
4. Fear of blacks organizing: against law to teach to read, even Bible, or write
D. Slave Breeding: especially after trade banned in 1808, becomes very profitable source
E. Major economic engine: 12,000 Southern plantations (12% of total) have ½ of slaves
1. White big landowners profit; poor scared by prospect of cheap labor pool if freed
F. Not simply prejudice of individuals, but institutionalized at core of American society
1. Constitution counts slaves as 3/5 of person
2. Fugitive slave law of 1793 required all citizens to help return slaves
G. Economics supercede Northern conscience in shaping Civil War
1. William Lloyd Garrison represents minority; abolitionists not free of prejudice
2. Northern factories and import barriers conflict with Southern-European trade
3. Emancipation Proclamation does not include 800,000 slaves in border states
H. Political and economic forces shape slavery: belief in happy slave did not reflect reality
1. Numerous slave revolts: New York City 1712, Cato 1739, Nat Turner 1831
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Lecture 16
Anthropology of Ethnicity and Race
ANT3451
Residential Segregation (mostly from Massey and Denton, American Aparthied, 1993)
Massey and Denton claim: Blacks only ethnic/racial group to be ghettoized in U.S.
View Video
A. Ghetto became permanent, enduring feature of black life by 1940
1. Inhabited exclusively by members of one group (connotation of being trapped)
B. Puerto Ricans are only Hispanics whose segregation as great
1. Possible explanation: greater African heritage
2. Not so in Miami-Dade; Mexicans most segregated (Homestead)
U.S. Trends
View Video
A. Do blacks have less residential segregation today than in 1900? No!
1. In 1900 blacks still on white plantations as tenants (debt slavery)
2. Ghetto a 20th century creation: occurs as blacks move North, esp. WWI / WWII
B. Northern whites respond by boycotting businesses catering to blacks and violence
C. After 1910, restrictive (racial) covenants insure segregation
1. Only 3/4 of residents need sign; all bound not to sell, lease, or rent to blacks
2. South-African style apartheid in U.S. legal until Supreme Court eliminates in 1948
D. Residential segregation peaks between 1950 and 1960 (See Figure 1)
E. Dissimilarity Index measures segregation:% that would have to move for racial balance
View Video
1.
2.
3.
4.
30-60 moderate range
Reduced only 2.3% in North during 1980s; need 60 yrs to reach moderate range
10 points lower in South than in North; Cleveland, NY, Chicago above 80
Currently in mid-60s to 70 nationwide
Trends in Miami
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
1940, 1950, 1960, Miami most segregated major metropolitan area in U.S (Index=98)
In 1920s, 25,000 crowded in 50 blocks called "colored town" because of racial zoning
1956 plan for I-95 purposely displaces blacks, destroys "Harlem of the South"
Invasion-succession in Northwest quadrant: creates black belt to Opalocka, Carol City
By 1950s,10 black pockets in South Miami, Goulds, Perrine, Homestead, Florida City, etc. (See Figure 2)
1951, KKK organizes bombing of Carver Village,m urders Harry T. Moore of NAACP
1960, 96% of blacks in 10 pockets, by 1980 down to 71% (see Boswell, 1993)
Hispanics' chain process creates 2 wedges:Hialeah;from Little Havana to Sweetwater. (See Figure 3)
Hispanic black/white residential separation is less; many black Hispanics in Allapatah
Causes of Segregation
A. Redlining: HOLC 1933,FHA 1937 "security maps" code black areas red & deny loans
1. Private banks, mortgage cos. use maps - stops capital inflow in black areas
2. no financing for mortgages, home improvement causes property values decline
a. Causes pattern of disrepair, deterioration, vacancy, abandonment (1993:55)
3. Denies blacks appreciating home values--one of the pillars of middle class status
B. Atlanta Constitution study (1989): 11% rejection for whites, 24% blacks for loans (See Figure 4)
1. In 3 out of 5 years, high income blacks rejected more than low income whites
C. Not black choice: 95% willing to live in neighborhoods 15-70% black
D. Cause racial steering: audit studies show guiding to black areas by real estate agents
Effects of Segregation: (See Figure 5.1 & 5.2)
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Poor schools and inferior services
Blocked socioeconomic mobility via increased property values
Effect of oppositional ghetto culture on black educational performance (Rosenbaum)
Black English vernacular (Ebonics) causes job discrimination - employers see as disrespectful and undependable
Oppositional culture devalues work, schooling, marriage
Ticking time bomb behind explosive race riots.
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Lecture 17
Anthropology of Ethnicity and Race
ANT3451
Discrimination Against Blacks in Miami and Race Riots
(from Marvin Dunn, Black Miami in the 20th Century)
Discrimination
View Video
A. Economic: black business banned in white areas, including downtown/ Flagler St. but whites have businesses in black
areas (from 1896)
1. Also denied entry labor unions until 1960s
2. 1995: first banking services - Republic National Bank - in overtown
B. Education: blacks must leave county for high school; Booker T. Washington 1st in 1927
1. Whites believed blacks suited for manual or domestic work
2. Segregation in 1969: 1/5 public schools all black
a. Board rules black schools not good enough for whites, infuriating blacks
3. U of Miami bans blacks 1920s-1961; 1st black instructor 1962; 1st athlete 1967
a. Until 1960, must go to Florida A & M
C. Criminal justice: black patrol officers 1st hired 1944; couldn’tarrest whites until 1963
1. Shock treatment: electric wires applied to genital areas in 1920s (outright torture)
2. Kier case: El Comodoro doorman shot for telling guest that white wants to meet
D. Public facilities (See figure 1)
1. No beaches; Virginia Key opened for blacks 1945
2. Banned from Manor Park Pool (city swimming facility) until 1960 Court order
3. Could not use public parks until 1960s (See figure 2)
a. Crandon Park 1958
E. Political: Could not vote in Democratic primary,1904-1946 (1946 separate voting boxes)
F. Consumers: couldn’t try on clothes in department stores, eat at lunch counters
1. Also, required to sit at back of bus
G. Residential:
1. 1920s, blacks 1/3 of pop, occup 1/10 area in 50 blocks in “Colored Town”
a. By 1940s, no plumbing, electricity in most houses
b. 1930-1960, Harlem of the South--NW 2nd St. (Great Black Way)
2. Whites invade area to see famous black performers
3. Jackie Robinson in Colored Town; rest of team in Miami Beach
H. Bus segregation ended 1957
1. Charles Nesbitt (black passenger) hit by money changer; suffers lacerated face
Four Major Riots in Miami
I. 1968 Republican convention; before police hold Robert Owens naked over Miami River
II. 1980: Arthur McDuffie beaten to death for traffic violation; all white jury doesn’t convict (See figure 3)
III. 1982: unarmed Nevel Johnson shot by Luis Alvarez in game room (See figure 4)
i. After riot, In 1984 all-white jury finds innocent
IV. 1989:William Lozano kills Clement Lloyd, Alan Blanchard on motorcycle;later acquitted (See figures 5 & 6)
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