Course Review: Devil In Silicon Valley By Stephen Pitti

Gutiérrez’s analysis spans almost a century worth of history between Mexican Americans and Mexicans and how their relationship developed. Throughout his discussion he argues that the root of the conflict between these two groups long existed. He argues that “although most Mexican Americans retained their Mexican cultural orientations and maintained strong affinities to Mexico,” factors of American assimilation and essentially ideals of nativism

In Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s book, Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network, she allows us to enter the everyday lives of ten undocumented Mexican workers all living in the Chicago area. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz refers to Chuy, Alejandro, Leonardo, Luis, Manuel, Omar, Rene, Roberto, Lalo, and Albert the ten undocumented Mexicans as the “Lions”. This book shares the Lions many stories from, their daily struggle of living as an undocumented immigrant in America, to some of them telling their stories about crossing the border and the effects of living in a different country than their family, and many other struggles and experiences they have encountered. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s book delves into

Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s, Labor and Legality is a book written on the Mexican immigrant network in the U.S. She centers it on the Lions, a group of Mexican men from Leon, Mexico that all share their lives and help explain the many networks and strategies that are used in order to excel and gain happiness. There have been many different sorts of misconceptions about immigrants, and in recent years about undocumented immigrants from Mexico. The U.S. has made a sort of war on illegal immigrants and has made it a seemingly high priority in the media and in politics. Therefore, many Americans have been mislead and ill-informed about the history of immigrants/undocumented immigrants. Gomberg-Muñoz’s Labor and Legality helps set us straight. She unveils undocumented immigrants for the people that they are instead of the criminals that the media leads many to believe. Although she doesn’t have a wide range of participants for her study, I believe that she addresses many of the misconceptions and just plain ignorance that American people have of people that are undocumented; why stereotypes are supported by the people themselves, why politicians include stronger illegal immigration laws, and everything in between. Many of her topics reveal a sort of colonialism that the U.S. practices on Mexico; the exploitation of undocumented peoples to the benefit of the U.S. through economics, hypocritical laws and campaigns, and the racist and prejudice consequences.

Even by the 1930s, this was particularly among young people who, “born and educated in the United States, demanded to be included in the city’s future … ” (Sanchez 226). At a crucial meeting of Mexican-Americans in 1927, facing an Anglo led municipal incorporation move that would have raised taxes and driven them out, many Mexican-American leaders opposed applying for U.S. citizenship. Even though it would have given them more of a target, specifically, the right to vote on a subsequent ballot measure. The affront to Mexico and their heritage was, for them, a crime that outweighed the benefits (Sanchez 4).

Around sixty ranchers submitted a petition to the Congress protesting the unfair legal process that each landowner had to go through to prove their claims to the lands. Although this petition did not stop the legal structures from continuing to exploit the vulnerability of the Mexicans, it undoubtedly reflected the stark contrast between the lives of Mexicans before and after entering the American society, served as a criticism and a challenge for the unjust legal system, and demonstrated that the Mexicans were very capable of standing up for themselves, as opposed to being submissive. Aside from this petition, many of the dispossessed Mexicans formed “a community of the dispossessed” where they shared their experiences and stories and showed support for each other (Takaki 169). Through sharing their stories with others, their stories were passed down to the future generations and through these stories, history was preserved. Both the petition and the community worked to shed light upon the inequality in United States, and how the legal system contradicted itself by serving as the tool of discrimination while advocating for the equality of all

The formation of segregated barrios and the development of a wealth of community-provided services showed that Mexican-Americans were not content to be marginalized by the United States. Instead, they were embracing an empowering new sense of self-determination and referring to themselves as “Mexicanos or as members of a larger, pan-Hispanic community of La Raza.” At this time La Raza referenced individuals of the Mexican “race”, whether they were in Mexico or in the United States, and was particularly important in the United States, where race was more important than citizenship. In the late 19th and early 20th century United States, race was determined by purity of blood, and there were only two races—white and black. White meant the individual had “pure blood” (European blood); black meant that the individual’s blood included indigenous or African influences. Being white meant being able to exercise one’s constitutional rights and being treated as a normal member of society’s dominant group. Being black meant that, regardless of whether he or she was a citizen, the individual would face discrimination similar to that which I described earlier. When the Spanish conquerors mixed with the people of Latin America, forming the mestizo, or mixed race, population that now composes most of the region, they removed themselves from a “white” classification in the United States. Thus, by engaging with the concept of La Raza, which connotes a mestizo race and population, Mexican-Americans rejected the binary nature of race in the United States and embraced what made them different—their indigenous-mixed blood and the cultural heritage that accompanied it. While the abuse directed towards Mexican-Americans may have

The question that will be investigated is, to what extent did the Tlatelolco Massacre affect Mexico politically and socially? To further analyze the question, the use of Sam Dillon’s article “Mexico City Journal; Anniversary of '68 Massacre Brings Facts to Light." was excellent due to the rich content that it contains as well as Patrick J. McDonnell’s article “1968 Massacre in Mexico Still Echoes across Nation: Activism: Killing of students just before Olympics radically changed country. And questions continue."

Gomberg-Muñoz’s book provides the reader with an inside prospective of the lives of undocumented Mexicans. It shows what it is like for people working to help forward themselves and their families in Mexico and The United States. Contrary to some Americans belief that Mexicans want to take over the United States, the majority of the Lions just

modules gives many examples how strong cultural pasts lead to identity problems in a new society. Also, the module shows us that many Mexicans were not happy with the stereotype formed about their identity. In Between the Lines, we see how Mexicans in America suffer through harsh discrimination, while trying to stay close to their relatives and culture. The letters talk about how Whites did not have concerns with family values or cultural beliefs. Whites based many of their values off succeeding in the economy. Whites in general had no regard for Mexicans as people.

The film Gringos at the Gate is a documentary about the interesting and dynamic relationship between the United States and Mexico. It uses the sport of soccer, futbol, to highlight the patriotism each country has for their respective country. The director also highlights the issue of identity for Mexican Americans. Many are conflicted with the idea of not knowing who they are supposed to (or in some cases allowed to) support. In this class we spoke about how through history Latin America has struggled with identity. As seen in Jake Silverstein’s article, “Grand Opening Ronald McDonald conquers New Spain”, and Gringos at the Gate, the interaction between two countries in Latin America can lead conflict in deciding one’s

The book ‘Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network’ by Ruth Gomberg-Munoz explains the hardships that surround the Mexican immigrant network. Over the years the ‘undocumented’ workers coming to America from Mexico has increased which has gained the attention of the American government and the media, as it is ‘illegal behavior’. Gomberg-Munoz attempts to create an understanding of the lives of these workers by telling individual’s personal stories. The author reports the workers undocumented lives rather than reviewing their status as this is already covered in society. The author’s main topic revolves around the principle that undocumented workers strive to improve their quality of life by finding employment in the United States (Gomberg-Munoz 9). Gomberg Munoz also presents the daily struggles the works face daily, and how these struggles “deprives them of meaningful choice and agency” which effects their opportunity and futures (Gomberg-Munoz 9). This ethnography shows their social identities through work, the reasons why their position is illegal and how they live their everyday lives under the circumstances.

The 1940’s inevitably signaled the beginning of the Mexican American civil rights era in the west as Mexican Americans rose to immeasurable heights in an attempt to terminate the de jure segregation they were unwillingly victims of. Their notable attempts to prove that they were worthy of the natural rights granted by the founding fathers brought light to the intense hatred shown towards Mexican Americans that was centralized in Los Angeles, California as

Throughout history, illegal immigrants have experienced judgments and challenges in America. In “The Border on Our Backs,” by Roberto Rodriguez, and in “Se Habla Entitlement,” by Star Parker, the two authors both address immigration and hold angry attitudes towards aspects of how it is handled even though the reason for their anger is very different. Rodriguez, an immigrant, uses a personal approach taking it to a more personal level unlike Parker, born into a minority family, who uses actual facts from American history as well as providing several factors of the topic and numerical statistics. At first, her essay has more validity to the reader, than Rodriguez’ essay by its objectivity. Demonstrations by immigrants are not as apartheid as Rodriguez or Parker describes, and although Latinos are a separate culture, they need such demonstrations for acceptance and for a voice to be heard.

The ethnic- Mexican experience has changed over the years as American has progressed through certain period of times, e.g., the modernity and transformation of the southwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, the labor demands and shifting of U.S. immigration policy in the 20th century, and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Through these events Mexican Americans have established and shaped their culture, in order, to negotiate these precarious social and historical circumstances. Throughout the ethnic Mexicans cultural history in the United States, conflict and contradiction has played a key role in shaping their modalities of life. Beginning in the late 20th century and early 21st century ethnic Mexicans have come under distress

The concepts of civil rights and citizenship are rooted in the Enlightenment and the liberal revolutions of the 18th Century, in which the individual was at the core of the intellectual, philosophical, and political concern. In that sense, these ideas should be historically and intellectually reviewed rather than naturalized as the only way to organize social life. Actually, the Westernized nature of this tradition cannot be neglected in order to better understand and enhance contemporary cultural thinking, particularly in communication and journalism. As Taylor (1994) states, liberalism can’t and shouldn’t claim cultural neutrality.