World War IIs Influence on Mexicans Essay Example for Free

World War IIs Influence on Mexicans Essay It is without a doubt that World War II had a great impact on our nation as a whole. This is because the war required changes and sacrifices for most individuals and was viewed as one’s patriotic duty. As with any life changing event, there were bad and good consequences that were a direct result of World War II. Significant changes took place during World War II that directly affected Mexicans in the United States. Although there were some positive effects on a national level, most remembered are the negative ones that impacted the Mexican communities in Los Angeles, California. It is what became to be known as the Zoot Suit Riots. To understand the Mexican community’s point of view of their treatment during the riots, one first needs to know how the Mexican community became established in Los Angeles along with contributing factors that heightened the general public’s hatred towards them. World War II had drafted a large amount of young men that left jobs such as farm hand and factory labor unfilled. The Federal Government then started the Bracero Program that recruited and transported Mexican nationals to the United States to fill these positions. Many Mexican nationals had children while here in America and these children were Mexican-Americans. These youth had a hard time identifying with anyone and were looked at as degenerates. Adding to this viewpoint was the living conditions of their neighborhoods called barrios. The barrios popped up quickly near major employers and were known for dirt streets, small huts, no sanitation, no running water, or other city services. Since the youth were unable to establish themselves among other youth they formed their own groups called gangs. The gangs were formed by young men that shared common circumstances. This usually included their low social status, poor and overpopulated neighborhoods, minimal supervision by parents, and their little trust in or from the law. Typically they were looked at as disturbed youth. However, within their social system, their gangs were made up of a select membership and specific attire which Martinez 2 they viewed as first class. The attire they chose was the Zoot Suit which consisted of colorful long coats, baggy pants, a hat, a long key chain and thick soled shoes. Adverse views of Mexicans were on the rise during World War II. One contributing factor was the pro war posters placed for all to view. The posters encouraged community effort to support the war through gardening, carpooling, rationing and purchasing bonds. The people portrayed in these posters appeared to be of Caucasian descent while the enemies were portrayed with color and black hair. Suspicion of who to trust was also put in the public’s mind with a poster illustrating a woman with dark hair and eyes that had a grim stare. No doubt the color of people illustrated on the posters guided the public’s mind to believe that people of any color other than white were the enemy (Prater 2014). In addition, while the country was at war there was a constant fear and talk of spies and traitors among civilians. This fear led to the suspicion that secret agents of the enemy had successfully influenced the Mexican-American youth making them traitors. Of course signs posted at various locations around town stating things such as â€Å"No Mexicans† and â€Å"No Dogs, Mexicans, Negros† not only served as a reminder to Mexicans on how they were viewed, but also made the White people feel justified in their prejudice towards Mexicans. In August of 1942, teenagers from the 38th Street Gang were heading for a popular swimming hole called Sleepy Lagoon. Earlier two teenagers in that gang, Hank Leyvas and his girlfriend Dora, had been beaten by another neighborhood gang at the Sleepy Lagoon swimming hole. Although they had left after the fight, they were now returning with a large group of friends to look for their attackers to defend their honor. As they neared the swimming hole and found no one, they decided to go to a party that could be heard through the trees. They thought that they would find their attackers at this party. Although the fight that followed resembled a Martinez 3 classic teenager fight that lasted only ten minutes, the discovery of a dead body would change the lives of many Mexicans. When the dead body of Jose Diaz was found, six hundred Mexican-American youth were rounded up by the Los Angeles Police Department. This eventually led to twenty-two alleged members of the 38th Street Gang being accused of murder. On October 13, 1942 People v. Zamora went to trial and lasted through January 12, 1943 (Tovares 2002). One powerful tactic that amplified hatred towards Mexicans and eventually led to the enactment of the riots, was the information printed in the newspapers. Anytime a Mexican was arrested, it made the headlines and was used as a source to provoke the police to arrest more. Of course it didn’t help that these articles would be placed next to articles regarding Japan’s threatening actions in World War II which seemed to hint that the Mexican-American youth were a local threat. Tensions were further heightened when as many as 50,000 servicemen were on leave and flooded their Los Angeles playground. In Los Angeles they would seek booze, women and fights to have some fun. Many civilians endured the drunken Servicemen to show their support of the war and some did not. Unfortunately, most fights were instigated with Mexicans as they were the biggest minority group in Los Angeles. As animosity grew between the Servicemen and Mexican-American youth, so did the rumors. The rumors in the barrios said that Sailors were looking for Mexican girls while stories on military bases told of brutal retaliation enacted on soldiers who dared to associate with Mexican females. The consequence of all these factors exploded on May 31, 1943 when a group of servicemen passed a group of young Mexican-American boys. One serviceman thought he was going to be attacked and grabbed the arm of a young Mexican-American boy. The serviceman immediately fell to the ground unconscious from a strike on the head. The Zoot Suit Riots had Martinez 4 begun. On June 3, 1943, about fifty servicemen with homemade weapons headed downtown looking for â€Å"Zoot-Suiters†. They ended up in a Theater, turned on the lights and found 12 and 13 year old boys wearing Zoot Suits. The servicemen tore off their suits, clubbed the boys and set fire to the remains of their suits. Despite the fact that reports of the incident had reached the Armory Watch Commander, the servicemen about to be jailed were released without any charges. On both dates, the Servicemen were only focused on finding and attacking anyone wearing a Zoot Suit. However, subsequent riots on June 4, 5, 6, and 7 now included entire Mexican neighborhoods. They would storm into any public place within these neighborhoods and attack all Mexicans. Police did not attempt to stop any of the violence and the Military seemed to be cautious of potential negative press if the servicemen were arrested more than the violence they were committing. The press, on the other hand, would promote the riots on June 6 and 7 by publishing a warning that Zoot-Suiters were planning to retaliate. Not only did this ensure increased sales, but it also certified that a large crowd would be there for the show (Williams 1943, 818-820). The rioting was finally under some control when on the morning of June 8, Senior Military Officials announced that Los Angeles was off limits to Marines, Sailors and Soldiers (Zoot Suit Discovery Guide 2014). Although Mexicans endured much prejudice and persecution during World War II, there were some positive aspects that came as a result of their suffering that continued developing even after the war. The Office of War Information promised to furnish political information in Spanish. They also were going to inform English speakers of the contributions in war that Mexicans made. This would most likely include acknowledgement of the 350,000 Mexican-Americans that not only served in the Armed Forces, but won seventeen medals of honor. Also, Los Angeles County gave teachers of Mexican students a workshop so that they Martinez 5 could provide better assistance to them. Political organizations would now support Chicano candidates as well as assist Mexican’s with language and citizenship classes and help in obtaining government services. In conclusion, it would do our nation good if we all could remember and apply the words of Martin Luther King in his speech entitled â€Å"The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness† on September 6, 1960. â€Å"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Therefore, no American can afford to be apathetic about the problem of racial justice. It is a problem that meets every man at his front door. † (Jr. 1960) Martinez 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY Jr. , Martin Luther King. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Paper Project. September 6, 1960. http://mlk-kpp01. stanford. edu/primarydocuments/Vol5/6Sept1960_TheRisingT ideofRacialConsciousnessAddressattheGold. pdf (accessed April 7, 2014). Prater, Carrie. Module 8: World War II Powerpoint Presentation. San Jose, April 3, 2014. The Zoot Suit Riots. Directed by Joseph Tovares. 2002. Williams, Carey Mc. The Zoot-Suit Riots. The New Republic, June 21, 1943: 3. Zoot Suit Discovery Guide. 2014. http://research. pomona. edu/zootsuit/en/riots/ (accessed 4 7, 2014).

Relationships And The Importance Of Communication Essay -- Communicati

Thesis Statement: The success of any relationship relies on one's ability to communicate well. Communication is important in relationships as it allows us to share our interest, concerns, support each other; organize our lives and make decisions; and it allows us to work together. Effective communication is based on the way we talk and listen, how we respond and our body language. We can all learn how to improve the way we communicate. It takes more than words to create a safe, exciting and secure relationship. Too often the signals we send are not those we intend to send. When this happens, both connection and trust are lost in our relationships. When we communicate, we can say a lot without speaking. Our body, our posture, tone of voice and the expression on our face all display a message. If our feelings don’t fit with our words, it is often the body language that gets heard and believed. Nonverbal communication is a rapidly flowing interactive process. Self-awareness and an understanding of the cues you may be sending are paired with the cues others send and pick up from you. To do this effectively, it is necessary to clear your mind of all distractions. Try planning, creating, talking to yourself, thinking about the other person or what to say, then you won't be paying attention to the moment-to-moment experience, have the presence of mind to pick up on nonverbal cues, or fully understand what's really going on in the conversation. Savvy nonverbal emotional communication is also an extremely important resource for managing and avoiding conflict. No part of nonverbal communication speaks louder than your emotions – and nothing can have greater influence over others. Communication is something we all should know is ne... ...ong with those words. Listening means that your interested in learning more about what the people in your life making an effort to tell you and making the efforts needed in order to achieve your relationship goals together. However, it is very important to know all communication between partners has to be open, honest, non-judgmental and patient, if you are to succeed and maintaining a happy and healthy relationship. The importance of being a good listener has brought me to realize the consciousness of how to be more considerate of my friends and family when they are trying to communicate with me and I am in turn trying to communicate with them. Communication has taught me to remove myself from the picture sometime and see in the eyes of people around. I find that when I am more attentive to the needs of those who are trying to connect with me, life is much easier.

Jonathan Wild †Henry Fielding Essay

The History of the life of Jonathan Wild is the philosophical disposition of a criminal in a right sense belonging to the group of â€Å"Thief Takers†, he emerged as one of the â€Å"Greatest man† in the world of Crime. With the irony as a tool and a satirical disposition, English novelist Henry Fielding’s bought the real Jonathan Wild into his words who was great but goodness was not his vocation and caliber. Jonathan Wild belonged to the genre of Thieve Takers of London. Thieve takers were the ordinary men and women who were rewarded by the police man if they successfully capture highwaymen or law breakers and hand over them to the police or prosecute them themselves. Majority of them were men and they find this work very lucrative. The rates of each Highwaymen, coiners and burglars were worth ? 40 and additional ? 100 was rewarded to them if the crime was committed within the range of five miles of Charing Cross. Jonathan Wild was the most popular and clever of all thief takers at his contemporary period. In the beginning of the eighteenth century he had caught and put before the magistrate many criminals of London. Besides, he would also help in recovering the stolen goods and would demand hefty sum from them. His disposition towards crime created before him an image of a respected citizen in front of not only the authorities but also of whole of London. This attitude in him narrator defined as â€Å"Greatness†, but what nobody knew behind his Greatness lies a most clever and hard-core criminal and a thief. Here the complexity in the nature of protagonist comes in as confined within his nature was a hidden â€Å"bad man†. The recovery of the stolen goods was the part of his great plan. He build up his own empire, with several gangs who had their bases in several districts of London. These gangs had the only business of robbing and pick pocketing. He had also set up specialized gangs for looting churches, gangs over prostitutes, gangs who used to collect protection money from but he never came forward to head the gang but only give them direction. Anyone found neglecting his work or cheated him was immediately reported to police with solid evidences and witnesses who were themselves Wild’s man and in return Wild would get cash reward, therefore narrator abruptly described him as not â€Å"Good. † He was a great hypocrite and was so clever that he always go himself scotch free as no one could prove him guilty. He always would show his gratitude to those who would favor him and show his loyalty towards him and would go to any extent to punish those who would show disloyalty towards them. He would also give protection to those who would seek his to escape from law but also in several cases would himself hand these very people to the authorities not found worthy of him or if get tired. He would never handle the stolen goods himself but had large warehouses where the goods can be altered or repaired and would himself pass the information about the travelers to highwayman. Authorities had complete knowledge about all his illegal activities but were not able to lay their hands on him because of lack of proof. But as there is an end of every bad man, Wild end had also come near and he was finally arrested and given death sentence. Fielding showed Wilde as a courageous soul. At Newgate prison he asked prison clergyman about the â€Å"Theological consequences† of suicide, as he attempted to kill himself by drinking laudanum. Fielding crafted Wild as a bold character with preposterous energy and unswerving disposition. As said by Claude Rawson â€Å"We must not however omit one circumstance, as it serves to show the most admirable conservation of character in our hero to his last moment, which was, that whilst the ordinary was busy in his ejaculations, Wilde in the midst of the Shower of Stones, which played upon him, applied his hands to the Parson’s pocketr, and emptied it of his bottle screw, which he carried out in the world with his hand. â€Å"(Rawson, pg 75). Jonathan Wilde was bold, and had a very strong attitude that he remained with it until the death which narrator aptly termed â€Å"Conservation of Character. †, and truly he was. Works Cited Julien Rawson Claude, The Cambridge Companion to Henry Fielding, Cambridge University Press, 2007. Fielding, Julien Rawson Claude, Bree Linda, Jonathan Wild, Oxford University Press, 2003.

Battle of Poitiers in the Hundred Years War