May 1, 2025

a Brief History of Mexicans in the Mississippi

a Brief History of Mexicans in the Mississippi

Because of the movie Sinners, there has been a lot of talk about wy Mexicans were not in Mississippi in 1932. With many blaming Mexican repatriation, which took place from 1929 to 1939. But it seems the truth is more complicated than that.

Cristina...

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Because of the movie Sinners, there has been a lot of talk about why Mexicans were not in Mississippi in 1932. With many blaming Mexican repatriation, which took place from 1929 to 1939. But it seems the truth is more complicated than that.

Cristina tells Carmen about the brief history of Mexicans in the Mississippi.

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Music Credit: Hustlin (Instrumental) by Neffex

Sources
https://daily.jstor.org/jim-crow-affected-mexican-immigrants-too/
https://www.axios.com/2022/02/24/tamales-blues-latino-links-american-black-south
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.5149/9781469624976_weise.5.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Aeea05938c570713b8d1b39c47033e1e1&ab_segments=&initiator=&acceptTC=1
Different from That Which Is Intended for the Colored Race: Mexicans and Mexico in Jim Crow Mississippi, 1918–1939 Book Title: Corazón de Dixie Book Subtitle: Mexicanos in the U.S. South since 1910 Book Author(s): JULIE M. WEISE Published by: University of North Carolina Press. (2015)
https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/mexicans-and-mexican-americans-mississippi-delta/
https://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/jackson-county/article254921792.html#amp_ct=1745534488450&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17455342513681&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunherald.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fcounties%2Fjackson-county%2Farticle254921792.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Repatriation

WEBVTT

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Hi everyone. This is Carmen and Christina and this is

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Estodias Unknown, a podcast where we talk about Latin American history.

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Sometimes it's horrible and deals with tibe topics like it's

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corruption and genocide. But more than that, it's also about power,

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resistance and community. Resistance goes first, resistance, power on community.

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But okay, it's fine, it's fine, tam. Okay, Well, I

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tried to do it off at the top of my noggin.

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I mean, you said it, yeah, but it was wrong.

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It was wrong. It was wrong. Okay, Well, this is

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a me episode. I have the notes. I was very

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excited about this topic, so much that I changed last

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minute to this topic. So we both recently watched Sinners.

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What are you talking about today? You'll see? Okay, yes

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we did, and we loved it. Yeah, and I hate

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to bring this up again because it's a very tired,

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uh topic. Oh, but it's what inspired my topic today. Okay.

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But unsurprisingly, after Sinners came out one Latino in a

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very Gina Rodriguez fashion. There might have been more, but

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that's the one that went viral. Yeah, he's the only

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one that went viral. The what I saw, and then

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people are answering him again and again and again and again.

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So yeah, he made a video, you know, for there

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was more to the video, and he's very annoying in it,

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and he was like, where are all the Latinos? Understandably,

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so this sparked off internet discourse after discourse, a little tiring,

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but all with good reason. You know, some creators are

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calling out Latinos for their anti blackness, for only asking

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about Latino representation when it comes to black movies. Hm. Yeah,

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it's very much deserved criticism. Yes. And then another thing

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that has come up, which a lot of people are

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saying this we weren't missing from the movie, which I

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agree with. And these are all valid points. But this

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is a history podcast, and you might be wondering, why

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are you talking about Sinners? Yeah? Why are you bringing

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centers up? Well, because in all this discourse, I keep

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seeing one event in your's history mentioned again and again.

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It's given as a reason why there are no Mexicans

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in Sinners. Do you know that event? Repatriation? Yes, Mexican repatriation.

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Why did I think we talked about that already? I

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keep thinking we talked about it? And I was searching

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in my notes and I'm like, really, we don't have

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a full episode about this. Oh okay, it's because it's

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made appearances and various episodes, like a lot of episodes. Yeah,

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it has. And yeah, and you know what last time

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started to keep kidding off. Last time, I was like,

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have we talked about this already? And then you're like,

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we talked about it in episodes, but not as it's

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it's on topic. You're right, you're right, yeah, yeah, because

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it came up again in your payat episode. Yeah, that

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was the most recent time that I was wondering right

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about this topic. Yeah yeah, And uh so you know,

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my amateur historian obsessive brain, I was like, I need

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to figure out, is this really the reason why there's

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no Mexicans in the movie? Were we really not there?

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Were we even there during this time period? Hence today's

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episode a brief History of Mexicans and the Mississippi Oh wow? Okay, yeah,

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so still not directly about the repatriation. No, No, otherwise

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I would have called it a brief history of Mexican repatriation. No. Well,

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that's what give me the hint that it's not about it.

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I thought at first it was about going to be

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about that. Okay, Yeah, your assumption makes sense. I'm here

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for it. Yeah. So Sinners is set in nineteen thirty

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two in the Mississippi Delta, and as we know because

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we've talked about it, we've mentioned it in other episodes,

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Mexican Repatriation, which was the deportation and expulsion of Mexican

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and Mexican American citizens from the US. This took place

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between nineteen twenty nine and nineteen thirty nine, during which

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three hundred thousand, two two million Mexican and Mexican American

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citizens were deported. Wow, during the Mexican repatriation. So it

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makes sense to say, well, there were no Mexicans in

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Mississippi because of Mexican repatriation, but there weren't much Mexicans

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before that anyway, right, No, in the other way. And

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so the answer, of course is more complicated than that,

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because I think there's like there's videos with like a million,

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five hundred thousand likes on Instagram and TikTok as well

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as posts on all social media saying like, well the

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reason Mexicans are in centers is because of Mexican repatriation.

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But again, it's more complicated than that. And hence why

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I needed to look into this. So, if you recall

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from our episode episode fifty three, a short history of

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La Placita Vera and Operation Went Back Episode ninety, we

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talked a little bit more about Mexican repatriation then, and

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even outside of Mexican repatriation, there has been other mass

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deportations of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, and both of these instances,

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Mexican repatriation and Operation Wetback both included a lot of

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self deportations as well, which were included in that number.

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And again we have said this before, but these happened

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from that decade twenty nineteen twenty nine to thirty nine,

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and then in the nineteen fifties is Operation Wetback and

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the methods of deportation during Mexican repriatoration included mass raids.

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But these mass raids really only took place in La

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and California, as we know from like La Placita l

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Vera when we talked about the raid that happened there.

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These type of big publicized raids were only there, and

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there were also small scale workplace raids across the Southwest.

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If you recall Jzuspayats. This was during Mexican repatriation and

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a lot of these deportations were to stop labor movements

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that a lot of them were workplace raids. And this

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happened yeah, across the Southwest, where there were more Mexicans obviously,

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and again the biggest number of deportees was from California,

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so much so that Los Angeles are and the state

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of California apologized for it. I didn't know they apologized. Yeah,

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I sit it in the Pleasitalbera episode. Oh I forgot,

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not for operation went back, but for the repretation they did.

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And then there's that monument. That's what that's there for

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for that time period, and that's where most of these

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deportations took place. But they also happened in Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Illinois,

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West Virginia, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Colorado. Oh wow, because

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Mexicans were there during this entire Yeah, I mean, you know,

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Mexicans follow the words. Yeah, outside of California, other than Texas,

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the states with the largest number of deported Mexicans. Can

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you guess which ones they were? Oregon, I would have

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guessed that too. I would have given Oregon in Washington. No,

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Indiana and Illinois, oh well, which are kind of next

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to each other. So unlike the raids in California, the

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raids in Indiana and Illinois were they were way more

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subtle and like even subversive you could say. And a

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quick reminder. But all of this the Mexican Repaid creation.

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This is happening during the Great Depression. The Mexicans were

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blamed for the Great Depression which led to the all

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the deportations, and yeah, Mexicans were being blamed for the

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lack of work, and so in Indiana and Illinois specifically,

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they made these relief programs to help those affected by

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the growing number of unemployment of the people unemployed because

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of the Great Depression. But this assistance was withheld from Mexicans.

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They couldn't use this assistance as well as as well

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as Mexican American citizens. They couldn't use this to encourage

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them to leave. And so this encouraged a lot of

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self deportations and those who did not self deport were

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forcibly removed. So like in the Indiana Harbor there was

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one thy eight hundred deported. Wow, in Gary, Indiana, there

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was one thousand, five hundred deported, and the governor of

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Chicago reported deportations as saving the city of Chicago to

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twenty one thousand dollars because they were these Mexican children

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were no longer attending public schools, and they were like, Wow,

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look at all this money we can save. I'm just like,

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every time we hear like a racist coming from back then,

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I'm like, it does it? It floors me by At

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the same time, like it wouldn't surprise me to hear

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somebody say at present day either, you know, especially right now. Yeah.

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On top of that, these areas, but they created programs

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where they made one way train rise to Mexicano go

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way cheaper to encourage self deportations, and a lot of

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people did take advantage of those lower fees. Mexican consulates

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in the US were willing to provide assistance to repatriate Mexicans.

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They were willing to work with getting them back and

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giving money to help them return. And this was coming

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all over the US except some locations where they were

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not willing to help. One of those places being Mississippi.

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They did not help Mexicans in Mississippi repatriate, like Mexico

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didn't help, like the Mexican consulates did not help Mexicans

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in Mississippi repatriot. So no, the reason Mexicans were not

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in Mississippi in the nineteen thirties was not Mexican repatriation

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because they were not helping them. Okay, I see what

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you're saying. Do you know what I'm saying? Yes, yeah, yeah,

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so yeah, I mean like all this to share Mexican

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Like I just said, Mexican repatriation is not the reason

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why Mexicans were missing from the movie. But this, you know,

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this leaves the question where there are even Mexicans there,

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And that's a yes, but not a lot. So Mexican

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labors were recruited to Mississippi as really as nineteen oh eight, wow,

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And this grew in nineteen ten and peaked in nineteen

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twenty five. And they were coming mostly from Texas. From Texas,

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they were being recruited to work in other places like Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky,

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and Mississippi. But most of these Mexicans or Techanos went

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to Mississippi to work by the Mississippi River the Mississippi

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Delta to pick cotton. And like with most Mexicans at

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that time and even like today, maybe not so much now,

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but Mexicans are seasonal workers. They travel, they're not afraid

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to pick up and leave to follow the work. Right,

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So the major already of these Texans that were going

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to Mississippi, it was seasonal work for them. So like

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thousands of them were in the area from September early September,

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which was the beginning of cotton picking season, and then

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by winter they would either return to Texas or to

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Mexico and then they would come back to work. And

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throughout the years, some of those thousands of workers that

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went from Texas to Mississippi did stay year round working

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alongside black sharecroppers picking cotton. And even though Mexican migration

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peaked in nineteen twenty five, there were small numbers of

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Mexicans in the area that stayed through even the Great Depression,

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through all of the nineteen thirties in the area. And

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so since the end of slavery in the US, white

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plantation owners they were dreaming, like feeding for a way

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to replace their formerly free labor due to the enslavement

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of black people. Of course, this dream of theirs and

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you know, combined with being so racist that they were

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not willing to negotiate with black shattercroppers. This led them

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to seek immigrants to replace their formerly free black labor.

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That's frustrating. Yeah, and they tried with Chinese workers first,

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but Chinese workers were not willing to put up with

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the abuse from the plantation owners. Most of them left

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right away. Those that stayed in the area opened up

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grocery stores. Instead of picking cotton, they owned stores, and

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these stores worked around Jim crow By s we were

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seeing both white and black people like we saw on

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Sinners with the own race. That's why they're in the

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movie because Chinese communities were essential in this time period,

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and they were the first to really bend the Like

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white people didn't know what to do with Chinese people.

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They're like, they do we include them with black people?

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Or we racist to them too, like they were. They

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didn't know how to treat them. Yeah, yeah, they were

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confused like this Jim crow strict era. But they worked

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with both people. So yeah, I mean that's the reason

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they're a big part of the movie because they were

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a big part of the community as well. And so

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Southern plantation owners then tried to use Italian immigrants to

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replace their free labor they had before, but this didn't

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work either because they were not willing to put up

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with the abuse, and most of them left the area

212
00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:30.879
as well because the pay was not worth the violence

213
00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:34.320
and tactics used by the white plantation owners. And this

214
00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:38.279
is where Mexicans enter the picture. So they started arriving

215
00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:40.519
in nineteen oh eight to work in the cotton fields,

216
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and a lot were unwilling to put up with the violence,

217
00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:46.759
and a lot of them left, and then they warn't

218
00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:50.159
other people not to go there because it was so violent,

219
00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:54.120
but a small amount did stay in the area. And

220
00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:57.960
the violence was so bad that Mexican revolutionaries were writing

221
00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:03.159
about the plight of Mexican immigrants in the South. Really wow. Yeah.

222
00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:06.480
They wrote things like and a quote the abuse is

223
00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:11.879
evidence of the evils of Yankee capitalism. Here here. In

224
00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:16.399
an article from La Requeeneracion from nineteen twelve, Ricardo Floris

225
00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:20.879
Magone wrote the following, The treatment of Mexicans is worse

226
00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:23.080
than the blacks. It pierces the heart and makes the

227
00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:26.320
blood boil. To see the lives of our brothers in Texas,

228
00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:30.399
Louisiana and Mississippi. Seeing the treatment that is given to

229
00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:33.440
Mexican workers in the South and witnessing how they are

230
00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:39.399
humiliated and degraded makes the shed tears and yearn for vengeance. Wow,

231
00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:43.600
it was bad, and these articles in Spanish newspapers led

232
00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.240
many Mexicans to not even try and go there for work,

233
00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:50.279
except for Mexicans in Texas who were used to similar abuses.

234
00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:53.039
Like there was a whole period in Texas known as

235
00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:58.120
La Matanza, a ten year period where the what the

236
00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:00.000
fuck are they called the Texas Rangers were out here

237
00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:04.600
murdering Americans. Yeah, which is another topic for another day.

238
00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:08.039
So they were more used to this violence and they're like,

239
00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:11.840
I can't be worse in Texas. So because of that,

240
00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:14.399
that's why you see most of the Mexicans that ended

241
00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:17.840
up in Mississippi were from Texas, which is very interesting

242
00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:20.600
to me just to see where people like, you know, go,

243
00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:23.000
I think it makes sense because Texas is kind of

244
00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:25.360
like more in the middle and like easier to get

245
00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:29.799
from Texas to over there. Yeah. And so then World

246
00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:33.960
War One led to increased cotton production, which led planters

247
00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:36.879
to ask the government for a new workforce. They needed

248
00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:39.679
more workers. They didn't have enough. Because all this is

249
00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:43.639
also happening, there's a great migration of black people from

250
00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:48.639
the South to the West and north, including Brian Googler's family.

251
00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:52.919
That's how they went arrived to Oakland. So they needed

252
00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:57.279
a new workforce, and they obtained Mexican workers, and so

253
00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:02.279
five thousand contracted workers to Arkansas, New Orleans and Mississippi.

254
00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:06.279
And this wasn't a better setup program yet, but contracted

255
00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:09.000
workers through the brow set of program did end up

256
00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:11.519
going to Mississippi, but this wasn't until the nineteen forties,

257
00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:15.360
but yeah, they were sent there too. In the nineteen twenties,

258
00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:20.440
many plantation owners used tactics like illegal debt pinage, making

259
00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:23.399
people rack up so much that they campaign, all right

260
00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:26.480
and it's illegal, and convict leasing, which we did see

261
00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:30.399
convict leasing in the movie Centers. And so the combination

262
00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:35.559
of these violent tactics with the former enslavers plantation owners

263
00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:40.240
not wanting to negotiate with black workers, this encouraged that

264
00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:43.879
the great migration that I mentioned earlier, and so they're

265
00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:47.200
still looking for a workforce to replace black people. Because

266
00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:50.320
the Chinese immigrants didn't work out, Italian immigrants didn't work out,

267
00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:53.600
and so this is when they really tried to re

268
00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:57.600
up their attempts to recruit Mexicans. And this is you know,

269
00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:01.519
now like nineteen ten to nineteen twenty five, they used

270
00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:05.920
what they what's called in ganchallo is labor recruitment agencies

271
00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:10.359
in Texas. And so most of the Mexican laborers who

272
00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:15.640
did leave Texas for Mississippi were creating contracts with these

273
00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:20.119
ganchalloes and they were expecting to find better wages and

274
00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:23.119
working conditions than what they were used to in Texas,

275
00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:25.440
but they quickly learned that that was not the case.

276
00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:29.519
In Mississippi, Mexican sharecroppers were forced to purchase food on

277
00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:33.359
credit at the plantation stores. And that's that what I mentioned,

278
00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:36.480
the illegal debt pionage, that's what that is. Yeah. And

279
00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:39.519
it's also like similar to like what company towns do,

280
00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:43.960
yes or as ciendas right over Madam dacam, same system.

281
00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:48.200
And so this credit they would be forced to pay

282
00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:51.680
when they sold their cotton back, but they did this

283
00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:54.720
at a higher costs, so making them work longer to

284
00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:58.160
pay off this supposed debt collected from their food and

285
00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:01.880
again very enough to go on legal. Yeah. And so

286
00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:05.960
when encountering these conditions. Some Mexicans refused to work, but

287
00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:08.160
then their food Russians were cut and they're like, all right,

288
00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:11.000
you guys don't get to eat anymore, damn. And so

289
00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:14.599
there's this one plantation owned that was owned by a

290
00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:19.000
Richard Neely in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. There was thirty Mexican

291
00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:22.680
families working in this plantation and twenty three of the

292
00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:27.960
thirty Mexican families protested working conditions after the food Russians

293
00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:31.799
were cut, and they these twenty three families just grabbed

294
00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:33.839
their things on left. They're like, this doesn't work so well,

295
00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:38.200
they said, fuck this shit. Yeah, And one of these

296
00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:41.839
twenty three workers wrote a letter to a sister in Texas.

297
00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:46.759
She alerted the Laredo Mexican Consulate, who then alerted the

298
00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:50.160
New Orleans Consulate, which is the closest Mexican consulate to

299
00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:55.119
Mississippi at the time, and then the New Orleans Consulate

300
00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:59.079
sent someone to investigate the mistreatment of Mexicans. But when

301
00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:02.000
they arrived, the seven in Mexican families that had stayed,

302
00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:04.359
they were gone, no, no, no, They said they weren't

303
00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:07.519
being forced to work and that everything was fine. So

304
00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.680
the case was closed. But I think it's because they

305
00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:13.000
were leaving anyway, because as soon as they sold their

306
00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:17.640
cotton they left right away too. But in other plantations,

307
00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:23.039
like one in Issequina County in Mississippi, Mexicans faced even

308
00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:27.559
worse treatment than like this one. So here, white plantation

309
00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:30.000
owners used those same tactics that were they were used

310
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.680
to using on black workers, violence, you know, just punishment

311
00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:39.279
after punishment. When Mexicans tried to leave the plantations because

312
00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:43.160
of this mistreatment, owners used search parties to track them down.

313
00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:46.759
Oh wow. And they would find Mexicans at train stations

314
00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:49.400
and roads, beat them up and force them to return

315
00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.039
to work. Oh wow, what if they weren't even working

316
00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:59.000
there right right. One Mexican couple tried to flee along

317
00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:02.039
the Mississippi River and a search party found them, shot

318
00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:04.559
the husband and then forced her to return into the field.

319
00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:09.640
Oh wow. That's I don't even have words. That's ridiculous.

320
00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:11.519
And then they just left him there on the side

321
00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:14.880
of the road. Oh my god. And this was not

322
00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:19.039
an uncommon practice. Wow. And then any Mexicans that tried

323
00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:22.000
to write about these abuses to their families or to

324
00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:25.400
the Consulate, they were stopped because the foreman inspected every

325
00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:31.000
letter leaving these plantations. Wow. Other Mexicans tried to leave,

326
00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:33.400
and when they tried to leave, they were arrested in

327
00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:35.880
the town jail and then they were put into the

328
00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:41.079
same convict leasing system used on black people. Wow. Foremen

329
00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:44.279
were known to kill Mexican workers and nothing never happened

330
00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:47.839
to them. They never faced any chargers charges nothing. Wow.

331
00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:52.759
But even with these abuses, Mexicans were leaving Texas for

332
00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:56.960
Mississippi in record numbers. In the fall of nineteen twenty five,

333
00:20:57.400 --> 00:21:01.000
there were at least five thousand Mexicans in the area,

334
00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:04.440
and at one point there was Mexicans on every plantation

335
00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:10.359
in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Wow. And even though Mexicans were being

336
00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:14.920
treated the same way black shirtcroppers were being treated, they

337
00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:19.279
unfortunately did not work together to try and fight, unite

338
00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:21.519
to fight the suppression, which is not surprising to me

339
00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:26.359
knowing you know the history of anti blackness everywhere. Yeah,

340
00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:29.240
and white supremacy in all of Latin America, which of

341
00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:32.400
course includes Mexico and Mexicans, which we know to this

342
00:21:32.519 --> 00:21:36.480
day persists. Right. So, during all this research that I

343
00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:39.559
was doing for this episode, I learned that in other places,

344
00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:43.759
not California or Texas, but like in other places like

345
00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:49.319
New Orleans, Mexicans quickly assimilated into whiteness. Really, yes, they

346
00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:51.920
were not segregated. They were. They even started like a

347
00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:55.480
Mexican middle class. Like they were very successful in New Orleans,

348
00:21:56.160 --> 00:22:00.920
which is interesting because yeah, places where I think it

349
00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:03.920
has to do with like places where settlers, like you know,

350
00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:08.559
white settlers went into other places and found Mexicans there,

351
00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:10.960
and then they were very hostile towards those Mexicans and

352
00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:14.640
treated them the same way they treated other segregated groups.

353
00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:17.960
Like white people are sending upon an area like California, Oh, okay,

354
00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:22.079
as opposed the Mexicans coming to an already established area. Yeah,

355
00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:24.480
I don't know. That's just the theory of mine. We

356
00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:27.000
can't say the same about Mississippi right when they got there,

357
00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:29.759
I guess because I was later they were going specifically,

358
00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:31.200
And I think it it also has to do with

359
00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:34.359
the type of work they were doing, because I mean,

360
00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:38.279
farm work is like considered one of those like low

361
00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:41.039
like oh, those are like peasants, right, like they're like

362
00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:44.079
nobody's And in New Orleans they were able to take

363
00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:47.480
up again the middle class. So I think it's a

364
00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:50.279
difference in the type of work that people were doing too.

365
00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:54.039
I've met two people so far here that they're like

366
00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:59.519
second or third gen and their families like their parents.

367
00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:04.599
Our grandparents are from the Bayu. Oh and I'm gonna

368
00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:07.720
sound ignorant as hell, but I didn't know that there

369
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:12.079
was Mexicans the Bayu. Well I'm learning. I learned this

370
00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:20.440
during all this research. So yeah, I found that very interesting,

371
00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:22.440
but I didn't look more into that. I wanted to,

372
00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:25.279
but again I was I wanted to focus on Mississippi,

373
00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:28.000
and I even didn't fully focus on misisipp because I

374
00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.519
also talked about other places. Yeah, in Mississippi, that was

375
00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:35.200
not the case. White plantation owners treated Mexicans just like

376
00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:37.720
they treated black workers, just like they tried to treat

377
00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:41.119
other immigrants that were arriving in the areas. The Mexicans

378
00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:44.319
were not excluded from this. But Mexicans did not want this.

379
00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:49.279
They even nobody wanknew to know. Nobody wants that. Even

380
00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:51.920
being new to the US. They knew we cannot be

381
00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:58.000
classed with black people, which is terrible. Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry.

382
00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:00.440
The way you were saying that, I thought they were

383
00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:04.440
it was going to be something different. No, it's horrible

384
00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:09.200
and racism. I forgot because you know, we started talking

385
00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:12.279
about like like Mexicans in the New Orleans and I

386
00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:18.160
forgot you before that you were talking about their anti blackness. Yeah. Yeah,

387
00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:21.279
they they knew they couldn't be classed with them because

388
00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:24.160
it would come with the same treatment. And so again

389
00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:29.480
just trying to be closer to whiteness, to be accepted

390
00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:33.599
by whiteness and to assimilate. Okay, yes, exactly. And so

391
00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.559
it was even like this was the case so much

392
00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:39.640
so that when Mexican workers died, plantation owners tried to

393
00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:43.000
bury them in black cemeteries, and this caused outrage with

394
00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:45.079
the rest of the Mexican migrants because they did not

395
00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:47.599
want to be buried in the black cemetery. You guys

396
00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:53.920
are dumb, Like it was so like undignifying. Is that

397
00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:56.759
a word indignifying? I don't know what the word is,

398
00:24:57.160 --> 00:25:00.880
not sure. It was such a like they did. They

399
00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:03.039
didn't want this so much so that a Mexican man

400
00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:06.720
remained where he died three days because nobody everyone refused

401
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:10.720
to bury him in the black cemetery. The white plantation

402
00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:12.680
owners didn't want to bury him anywhere else. And the

403
00:25:12.680 --> 00:25:16.000
Mexican didn't want to bury him. Yeah. Uh, then they

404
00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:19.400
asked to bury him at some random river bed instead

405
00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:25.200
of the already established black cemetery. That's ridiculous, it really is.

406
00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:28.079
But that's how they how much they were trying black

407
00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:31.079
they were. Yeah, like it's like trying to survive but

408
00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:34.599
at the expense of the black workers, which it's not

409
00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:38.480
surprising to me. Yeah, then like if only who knows

410
00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:40.680
what they could have they could have achieved if if

411
00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:44.480
they worked together. But it's not easy, and they're trying

412
00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.920
to survive, right, Like, I can see both sides of it,

413
00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:52.000
but it is messed up. It is like Mexicans wish

414
00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:54.400
to be included in whiteness. White plantation owners did not

415
00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:57.440
want them included in whiteness. They only wanted them for

416
00:25:57.559 --> 00:26:00.839
their labor, which is continues like a trend that is

417
00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:04.039
still going on today. Right. Yeah. The following quote is

418
00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:08.960
from the Sunflower County newspaper from white people. If the

419
00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:11.680
Mexican cotton pickers are ever needed here again, it will

420
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:15.240
mean the beginning of another race problem. These fellows butt

421
00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:18.480
into exclusive white places and make themselves at home in

422
00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:22.200
Negro places. They marry Negro women and try to marry

423
00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:25.000
among the lower class of whites. We hope they will

424
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:27.079
all leave this part of the delta and never come

425
00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:30.519
back here. Wow, that's how you really feel. Yeah. But

426
00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:37.680
they wanted the cheap labor. And despite these abuses, many,

427
00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:41.480
well some of the thousands that were doing seasonal work,

428
00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:44.759
they still stayed in the area year round, so many

429
00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:48.279
that of Mexican school was built because the white schools

430
00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:51.599
didn't want them, and the Mexican families didn't want to

431
00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:55.319
send their kids to the black school Wow. Of course, yeah,

432
00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:58.799
so they made Mexican schools. There was even a big

433
00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:03.119
Sinco the Myo celebrate in nineteen twenty eight. Wow. And

434
00:27:03.400 --> 00:27:05.920
in nineteen thirty there was at least one thousand, two

435
00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:09.480
hundred Mexicans in the area. How many one thousand two

436
00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:13.440
hundred that were permanently there, not part of the seasonal work.

437
00:27:14.599 --> 00:27:18.839
And despite not wanting to be categorized with black people

438
00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:22.400
in terms of like you know, these racial social hierarchies,

439
00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:27.279
Mexicans were usually neighbors with black people. They formed intimated

440
00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:31.640
relationships with black people more than white Mississippians. Of course,

441
00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:35.640
of course they did. White people didn't want them. Yeah,

442
00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:38.200
Black families. It was common for them to make extra

443
00:27:38.279 --> 00:27:41.920
money by housing single Mexican labors for a fee. Oh wow.

444
00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:46.119
I read a separate article of a family that they

445
00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:48.680
had two Samuels in the family, that one of the

446
00:27:48.759 --> 00:27:51.960
children of the black family and then one of the

447
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.400
people that were that was being boarded by them. So

448
00:27:55.279 --> 00:28:00.599
they called the Mexican one Mexican Sammy. That's funny. Yeah,

449
00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:03.960
And it's also hard to know how many Mexicans were

450
00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:08.000
in the area because sometimes these Mexican single Mexican laborers

451
00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:11.799
living in these black households were counted in the census

452
00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:15.920
as black. They weren't counted as Mexican. Oh interesting. Yeah,

453
00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:19.559
Like this Mexican Sammy that I'm mentioning, he was counted

454
00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:23.920
as black in the census. Oh wow. Yeah, so just

455
00:28:23.960 --> 00:28:28.599
a I mean fascinating to me reading all this. And

456
00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:31.440
Mexican families in the area even won their own fights

457
00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:36.680
stored injustices. So in nineteen twenty eight, Huertina became the

458
00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:40.480
first Mexican student to finish a whole school year at

459
00:28:40.519 --> 00:28:44.319
Gunnison's white school. Oh wow, And like, yeah, it's a victory.

460
00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:47.119
But again it's also like not amazing because they were

461
00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:49.599
refusing to send their children to the black school because

462
00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:52.000
they didn't want their kids in that either. Yeah. So

463
00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:56.400
it's like they advanced their rights while stepping down on

464
00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:01.240
the black people that were already there. Yeah, yes, exactly,

465
00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:06.920
so like a like a bitter suite of victory there. Yeah.

466
00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:10.400
Another family the it looks like land Rows, but it's

467
00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:16.000
in Spanish, so maybe Landrobe. But this family, the Landrobe family,

468
00:29:16.599 --> 00:29:21.400
they fought to enroll their daughter or Dancia Landrobe, in

469
00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:24.400
the white school and they were able to and there

470
00:29:24.440 --> 00:29:26.960
was a lot of like legal fights, which was more

471
00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:31.000
difficult because in this area there was no nice liberal

472
00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:36.240
white lawyers to take up the cause like in California,

473
00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:41.000
and there was no established Mexican consulates in the area.

474
00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:44.160
The closest one was New Orleans. They also tried to

475
00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:47.880
get help from the Catholic Church to help them, like

476
00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:51.839
you know, assimilate. But the Katholic Church, many of them

477
00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:54.759
at the time like they're like, oh, these they're they're

478
00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:57.119
hardworking people, but they're dumb, like that's how they viewed

479
00:29:57.160 --> 00:29:59.400
Mexicans and so they didn't want to help them either. Wow.

480
00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:05.279
So yeah, but in nineteen thirty one, with the crash

481
00:30:05.319 --> 00:30:08.799
of cotton prices, the majority of Mexicans, including these two

482
00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:11.559
families I just mentioned, were forced to leave to look

483
00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:15.440
for work elsewhere and either back in Texas or returning

484
00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:18.839
to Mexico. And so Mexicans were leaving the area, but

485
00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:21.920
it was not due to repatriation. It was because there

486
00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:24.519
was no more work. And like in other parts of

487
00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:27.640
the US, Mexicans were encouraged to sell to port and

488
00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:31.559
to repatriate, often with federal and state assistants. This did

489
00:30:31.640 --> 00:30:35.039
not happen in Mississippi, the land of a family Like

490
00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:37.759
many of the other Mexican families in the area, they

491
00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:41.079
tried to get assistance from the New Orleans consulate because

492
00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:44.240
it was the closest one to repatriate. But Mexico was

493
00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:48.279
not interested in repatriating people from levers, from New or

494
00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:52.599
Lean or from Mississippi, because in Mexico they wanted like

495
00:30:53.559 --> 00:30:56.880
what they're calling, like the nice Mexicans, the middle class Mexicans.

496
00:30:57.000 --> 00:30:59.000
Oh my god, that's what they wanted. Back in Mexico.

497
00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:05.039
They didn't want the them either, the lower working class. Yeah. Yeah.

498
00:31:06.119 --> 00:31:10.119
So they were denied financial assistance to repatriate. Wow, And

499
00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:15.640
so most of them stayed through the Great Depression in Mississippi,

500
00:31:15.960 --> 00:31:19.200
including the land rope. They stayed another eight years after

501
00:31:19.559 --> 00:31:24.319
they requested assistance, which was in nineteen thirty two, so

502
00:31:24.839 --> 00:31:29.440
they were not repatrited. They just left eventually to California.

503
00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:32.279
I want to say, after eight years of being in Mississippi,

504
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:35.240
so I think nineteen thirty two. They were there another

505
00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:39.960
eight years, So nineteen forty is when they returned to California.

506
00:31:40.039 --> 00:31:45.440
So they were most of these huh they were from California. No,

507
00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:48.079
they just went there after. So they said they returned

508
00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:51.680
to California. My bad. I did say that they were

509
00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:56.720
from Texas. Oh, okay, they left this area not during

510
00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:00.640
Mexican repatriation, but after and again and it was for

511
00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:05.000
better financial opportunities and they headed to California. Oh and

512
00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:08.640
some people again didn't leave, and those that remained were

513
00:32:08.680 --> 00:32:11.599
again still subject to the same similar treatment they had been,

514
00:32:11.640 --> 00:32:14.720
which was the same treatment that was given to black sharecroppers.

515
00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:18.160
They were buried in black cemeteries. They attended black churches

516
00:32:18.200 --> 00:32:21.240
because guests the Catholic Church didn't welcome them, but black

517
00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:26.720
churches did welcome them. Wow. Yeah, And though I will

518
00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:31.640
say sometimes when Mexican neighbors were in these same fields

519
00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:34.359
as black sharecroppers, and then it was like time to eat.

520
00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:36.519
Sometimes they would try to eat with black people and

521
00:32:36.519 --> 00:32:38.400
they would be like, no, you're white, you don't get

522
00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:42.559
to sit here, like oh so, but more often than

523
00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:45.960
I was Mexicans trying to avoid Yeah, but yeah, it

524
00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:51.000
didn't always happen. Sometimes they were very intertwined cultures. So

525
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:55.279
sometimes Mexican workers and their or sometimes the children of

526
00:32:55.319 --> 00:32:58.640
Mexican workers were allowed into white schools. Sometimes they were not.

527
00:32:58.799 --> 00:33:02.359
It was just like, however the administration felt like, no,

528
00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:04.799
you're not white, or fine, I guess you're not black,

529
00:33:04.839 --> 00:33:06.559
so you can be in the school. Like it was

530
00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:10.240
very random. And the Barrasceto program did bring more Mexicans

531
00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:13.920
into the area in the late nineteen forties, but even then,

532
00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:17.279
like friends and descendants of even the family I mentioned,

533
00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:20.119
the land Roba family remained in the Delta and they're

534
00:33:20.119 --> 00:33:22.559
still in the Mississipi Delta. They never left the area

535
00:33:22.599 --> 00:33:25.920
once they arrived. Yeah, that's cool to be able to

536
00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:30.200
being one place that long. Yeah. Yeah, And so it

537
00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:33.960
was never a huge population. But to say Mexicans were

538
00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:38.079
never there or Mexicans simply weren't there because of Mexican

539
00:33:38.119 --> 00:33:43.240
repatriation is incorrect. Interesting, and the reason they weren't in

540
00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:46.000
the movie is because the movie was not for us sick,

541
00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:50.319
that's the real reason. Okay, anyone can enjoy this movie. Okay,

542
00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:53.400
you don't have to see yourself in it. Mm hmm.

543
00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:56.519
I will say though, if you were watching the movie,

544
00:33:56.599 --> 00:34:00.640
there's a sign that says Tamalis, Yeah, hatamalis, and a

545
00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:02.559
lot of people try and point to that, saying that

546
00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:05.000
was representation. Other people are like, no, those are not

547
00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:07.359
Mexican at all, That's what I've heard. But they are,

548
00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:12.159
Oh they are, yes, hot tamalies. So there's a couple

549
00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:15.119
several theories on how they arrived to the area, but

550
00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:20.559
the most accepted one is that Mexican migrant laborers brought

551
00:34:20.599 --> 00:34:22.559
them to the field with them to eat for lunch,

552
00:34:23.159 --> 00:34:27.039
and you know, working alongside black people, they were introduced

553
00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:30.239
to the regular tamal which then they adapted. So what

554
00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:32.519
the hot tamala is. What they are is they're made

555
00:34:32.559 --> 00:34:36.000
the same with like you know, massa. They have meat inside,

556
00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:39.320
they're wrapped in corn shocks the same way, but they're

557
00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:41.960
simmered in a spicy brine. That's the biggest difference. That

558
00:34:42.039 --> 00:34:44.920
actually sounds bombed. I want to eat some hot tamales,

559
00:34:45.079 --> 00:34:48.800
doesn't it sound delicious? They're usually filled with ground beef

560
00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:51.320
or pork though Oh okay, I think I could do pork,

561
00:34:51.400 --> 00:34:55.079
but I cannot do I don't care much for ground beef. Yeah,

562
00:34:55.119 --> 00:34:57.440
I can't do ground beef. Yeah. And they're a lot

563
00:34:57.519 --> 00:35:00.800
smaller than the traditional really as well. And are they

564
00:35:00.920 --> 00:35:02.960
like all over the south or just like Mississippi Do

565
00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:06.519
you know the hot taman specifically Mississippi Delta It seems

566
00:35:06.679 --> 00:35:08.639
oh okay, I don't know if I'm ever going to

567
00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:14.119
be there. Same they're known as either the Mississippi Delta

568
00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:18.480
tamal or hot Tamal. Wow. So some people say they

569
00:35:18.519 --> 00:35:21.320
came from the indigenous people in the area, because again,

570
00:35:21.400 --> 00:35:24.360
a lot of indigenous cultures have very similar foods and

571
00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:28.159
including tamalis, like they're everywhere in meso America. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

572
00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:32.559
I mean Mexican, A lot of Mexican, Like, I don't know,

573
00:35:34.159 --> 00:35:39.280
the border is made up, okay, So yeah, the quote

574
00:35:39.320 --> 00:35:46.360
Mexican indigenous groups used to migrate all up and down, Yeah,

575
00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:51.159
throughout you know between what's now Mexico and the United States. Right,

576
00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:54.079
So that's why a lot of the culture is similar,

577
00:35:54.199 --> 00:35:57.920
why the food is similar, and why even some tribes

578
00:35:58.039 --> 00:36:02.800
are they're split by the border, like several Abacha tribes

579
00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:07.679
have like their Mexican yeah counterparts. I don't know how

580
00:36:07.679 --> 00:36:11.000
you would call it, but you know what I mean. Yeah,

581
00:36:11.079 --> 00:36:16.199
especially yeah in the southwest, yeah area, California, Texas, Arizona,

582
00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:19.599
New Mexico, all those places. Yeah. So some people say

583
00:36:19.639 --> 00:36:23.519
it was actually like a Choctaw food that was then

584
00:36:23.719 --> 00:36:27.199
you know, black people loved it, changed it a little bit.

585
00:36:27.400 --> 00:36:30.079
So that's what some people say. Other people say that

586
00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:33.760
it was black soldiers during the Mexican American War who

587
00:36:33.800 --> 00:36:36.119
were introduced to Tamalis that way and then they brought

588
00:36:36.119 --> 00:36:38.280
back the reci being changed it a little bit. But

589
00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:43.480
the most accepted theory is Mexican migrants working alongside the

590
00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:48.239
fields with black sharecroppers and then just these coaches mixing,

591
00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:52.199
and that's how the Hattamal was born. That's the most

592
00:36:52.239 --> 00:36:56.280
accepted way, and that's what that sign was and so honestly,

593
00:36:56.480 --> 00:37:03.119
that was the representation and that's fine. Today though Latinos

594
00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:06.800
make up three point six percent of the population in Mississippi,

595
00:37:06.840 --> 00:37:09.440
so it's still not still a little bit. Yeah, yeah,

596
00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:12.719
and I didn't know this, but I just wanted to

597
00:37:12.760 --> 00:37:16.559
mention this. One of the largest single workplace raids in

598
00:37:16.599 --> 00:37:19.800
all of US history took place in central Mississippi in

599
00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:26.679
twenty nineteen. Really. Yeah, seven hundred employees were detained. Wow. Terrible,

600
00:37:28.039 --> 00:37:29.960
and it really pisses me off because it's like we

601
00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:35.679
mentioned in the histoos Piatas video that these companies have

602
00:37:35.760 --> 00:37:38.360
been known to do it on purpose during an off season.

603
00:37:38.440 --> 00:37:42.199
They'll call ice to get their workers supported because they're

604
00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:44.800
no longer you know, beneficial to them. But they have

605
00:37:44.880 --> 00:37:51.159
no problem hiring undocumented workers. They have no problem breaking

606
00:37:51.159 --> 00:37:58.840
the law when it comes to that. Yeah, and that's

607
00:37:58.880 --> 00:38:02.760
the brief history of Mexicans in Mississippi. Wow, that was

608
00:38:02.800 --> 00:38:05.039
so interesting, And I'm glad you brought that up because

609
00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:09.519
I wasn't wondering really, but it's always interesting to know. Yeah.

610
00:38:09.800 --> 00:38:11.440
I don't know why I needed to say that. I

611
00:38:11.519 --> 00:38:20.119
really wasn't wondering about this. I really wasn't asking, but no,

612
00:38:20.199 --> 00:38:23.760
I mean it was super interesting. Nonetheless, I do wish

613
00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:27.000
I wasn't as fucking dead as I am today. So

614
00:38:28.440 --> 00:38:31.519
but yeah, I was, so it was interesting. But yeah,

615
00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:34.280
it's a little different than our normal episodes where it's

616
00:38:34.280 --> 00:38:37.400
not about a single person or an event. Yeah, but

617
00:38:37.480 --> 00:38:39.760
I just I really was like, I need to know, like,

618
00:38:39.960 --> 00:38:44.239
is it really Mexican repatriation? Is that why Mexicans aren't

619
00:38:44.440 --> 00:38:48.079
weren't in the area. I know it's not. It wasn't. Yeah, yeah,

620
00:38:48.320 --> 00:38:50.800
you know what I figured it wasn't and now I know,

621
00:38:51.079 --> 00:38:54.239
so interesting. Yeah, and yeah, I was supposed to have

622
00:38:54.280 --> 00:38:56.920
another topic. But again I was just like, I'm obsessed.

623
00:38:57.039 --> 00:39:01.679
I wasn't even expecting this. I know, I know so,

624
00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:04.039
but yeah, I was. I need to mention one of

625
00:39:04.039 --> 00:39:06.519
my sources because it's a very fascinating. I read chapter

626
00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:08.239
two of the book. That's why my notes took longer

627
00:39:08.239 --> 00:39:11.320
because I read chapter two of this book. But you

628
00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:14.920
can find it on you know, the jsto R like

629
00:39:15.559 --> 00:39:21.000
catalog of like articles, like scholarly articles. Yeah, so it's there.

630
00:39:21.599 --> 00:39:23.280
All the chapters are there. You can read everything a

631
00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:28.159
one but the book is called grasson the Dixie. Oh

632
00:39:28.360 --> 00:39:32.280
then colon different from that which is intended for colored race.

633
00:39:32.400 --> 00:39:34.679
And then chapter two is Mexicans and Mexico in the

634
00:39:34.760 --> 00:39:38.079
Jim Crow Mississippi nineteen eighteen to nineteen there nine. Wow,

635
00:39:38.280 --> 00:39:42.000
that sounds so interesting. It was that chapter alone was

636
00:39:42.039 --> 00:39:44.000
so fascinating. That's why I'm like, I need to mention it.

637
00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:46.039
All our sources are always in the show notes, but yeah,

638
00:39:46.440 --> 00:39:49.239
this one particularly was very interesting. I really want to

639
00:39:49.280 --> 00:39:51.960
read the other chapters because it's like other things in

640
00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:56.039
Mexican US history that I just didn't know that this

641
00:39:56.119 --> 00:39:59.320
book specifically talks about, because like we're very invested in

642
00:39:59.320 --> 00:40:01.920
like California, because that's where we're from. We talk a

643
00:40:01.960 --> 00:40:07.400
lot about California and Texas, like the west, the West coast. Yeah,

644
00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:10.000
not that Texas in the west coast. It's like Midwest, right,

645
00:40:10.119 --> 00:40:11.440
or half of Texas is in the West coast. I

646
00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:15.559
don't fucking know. It's considered the southwest, Southwest. I guess

647
00:40:15.599 --> 00:40:18.039
we talk about the Southwest a lot, we do. We

648
00:40:18.159 --> 00:40:21.679
do because that's what we're more familiar with. But yeah,

649
00:40:21.719 --> 00:40:24.960
what a fascinating book. I tried. I spent way too

650
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:28.760
long yesterday because I wrote these notes in like a day,

651
00:40:28.800 --> 00:40:32.840
because again, I was obsessed. This is the power of ADHD, y'all.

652
00:40:33.559 --> 00:40:38.079
This is the only way that it benefits me. So yeah,

653
00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:42.360
in all other ways. That's not a superpower. But I

654
00:40:42.440 --> 00:40:44.760
found the book through like on page five of Google

655
00:40:44.800 --> 00:40:47.199
when I looked up Mexicans and the Mississippi or some shit.

656
00:40:47.599 --> 00:40:50.920
You have to go deep, you do. It took me

657
00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:55.159
to the Oxford Academy and I could not access the

658
00:40:55.199 --> 00:40:59.840
book through my library through Kyle's university logon. It was like,

659
00:41:00.079 --> 00:41:02.239
you're not you don't have access to this. And then

660
00:41:02.280 --> 00:41:05.000
I tried to make an account and I was even

661
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:06.960
going to buy it, and it's like you can't buy this,

662
00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:08.480
and I'm like, what the fuck? How do I find this?

663
00:41:08.519 --> 00:41:10.800
So I just looked up the title and it was

664
00:41:11.000 --> 00:41:18.159
all free public access on JSTO R oh, so good

665
00:41:18.199 --> 00:41:20.280
to know. Get up there, you know, if you're going

666
00:41:20.360 --> 00:41:23.760
to read it. It's like five chapters, all different eras

667
00:41:23.840 --> 00:41:27.519
in that area of the US so and it's all

668
00:41:27.800 --> 00:41:32.679
different eras and Mexicans in that area or okay, okay, gotcha, gotcha.

669
00:41:33.880 --> 00:41:39.519
But yeah, that's I know. It's fun. Actually, it was

670
00:41:39.599 --> 00:41:42.159
kind of nice to not although obviously we talked about

671
00:41:42.239 --> 00:41:50.320
mass raids, immigration raids and abuse, uh, work abuse whatever,

672
00:41:50.639 --> 00:41:53.880
like it was a little bit lighter than other episodes.

673
00:41:55.400 --> 00:41:58.960
It was yeah, yeah, and yeah again like not a

674
00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:01.960
single person or event, but like, I don't know, I

675
00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:05.400
find it very interesting to learn about. Yeah, this kind

676
00:42:05.400 --> 00:42:08.199
of stuff. So hopefully no one else found it, Like

677
00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:10.360
why are you even doing an episode on this? No,

678
00:42:10.480 --> 00:42:13.400
it was super interesting. If anything, I appreciated it, but no. Yeah,

679
00:42:13.480 --> 00:42:15.679
this is a reason another reason why I love historical fiction,

680
00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:18.440
because I love to learn about like people in that era,

681
00:42:18.519 --> 00:42:22.559
in that time, and you can tell, like just like

682
00:42:22.639 --> 00:42:26.639
in centers, like you can tell how much research Ryan

683
00:42:26.719 --> 00:42:30.639
Kugler put into it. You can tell in historical fiction books. Yeah,

684
00:42:31.800 --> 00:42:38.360
how much research they they put into it. Yeah, all right.

685
00:42:38.400 --> 00:42:40.159
Do you have anything else to add before we end

686
00:42:40.159 --> 00:42:44.519
the episode? No, other than I guess plugging our Patreon

687
00:42:44.639 --> 00:42:48.719
where we yap we have been yapping about the horrors

688
00:42:48.800 --> 00:42:50.880
of the world. What does that mean? It's say it

689
00:42:50.960 --> 00:42:56.039
says the horrors persist, but so do I. Yeah, that's

690
00:42:57.039 --> 00:43:01.800
the vibe of twenty twenty five. The whores persists, and

691
00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:05.800
we were here to yap about them on Patreon. Yeah, yes,

692
00:43:05.880 --> 00:43:09.639
if you're interested, check it out. Oh, I guess, and

693
00:43:09.679 --> 00:43:12.519
we said it. We mentioned it on the Patreon episode

694
00:43:12.639 --> 00:43:18.599
about doing our defectors Chat along Read Along, whatever, we

695
00:43:18.599 --> 00:43:26.199
were calling it discussion, discussion the normal word, yes, and

696
00:43:26.280 --> 00:43:30.199
we're looking at doing that. We decided on discord, right

697
00:43:30.360 --> 00:43:33.519
then book tells discord. Yeah, oh, I'll put the link

698
00:43:33.559 --> 00:43:36.320
in the show notes as well. There's everyoneo there that

699
00:43:36.360 --> 00:43:39.400
says has a known related stuff and then one that

700
00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:43.119
Saystonia has a known book club and we're looking at

701
00:43:43.280 --> 00:43:45.800
we said mid May or the end of May something

702
00:43:45.880 --> 00:43:49.519
like that. Yeah. So yeah, if anyone wants to join

703
00:43:50.360 --> 00:43:54.000
and talk about Defectors, that is free to anyone write

704
00:43:54.039 --> 00:43:57.880
the book club aspect of the Patreon. Yes, and that

705
00:43:57.960 --> 00:43:59.679
is correct. It's not really a book club. We just

706
00:43:59.760 --> 00:44:01.599
you know, we decided to read We happened to be

707
00:44:01.679 --> 00:44:03.519
reading Diffactors around the same time, and we're like, hey,

708
00:44:03.519 --> 00:44:06.000
does anyone want to talk about it? Because it's such

709
00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:11.119
an important book. It really really helps us understand to

710
00:44:11.400 --> 00:44:15.400
like how we got here. M Yeah, and yeah. A

711
00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:17.599
couple of listeners were like, oh I was going to

712
00:44:17.679 --> 00:44:20.159
read that or oh I did read that, so that's

713
00:44:20.159 --> 00:44:23.559
how that happened. Yeah. Another thing though, if you join

714
00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:25.960
the Patreon, not only are you supporting us, you're helping

715
00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:29.320
us support other causes, Like we donated to a pro

716
00:44:29.960 --> 00:44:34.719
an organization called that helps migrants with lowyer fees as

717
00:44:34.760 --> 00:44:37.880
well as a water drop program where they go into

718
00:44:37.920 --> 00:44:41.079
the desert and leave things that will help migrants survive

719
00:44:41.119 --> 00:44:45.000
out there. So that's one organization we've already donated to,

720
00:44:45.159 --> 00:44:48.480
and we're always looking for different ones to you know,

721
00:44:48.639 --> 00:44:51.400
donate to, and not joining the Patreon helps us do that,

722
00:44:51.599 --> 00:44:54.719
So that's another thing that you would be helping us with.

723
00:44:54.760 --> 00:44:57.880
So yeah, other than that, we hope that this was

724
00:44:57.920 --> 00:45:05.119
one list Estoria known for you. Bye Bye. Estoria's Unknown

725
00:45:05.400 --> 00:45:08.880
is produced by Carmen and Christina, researched by Carmen and Christina,

726
00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:11.960
edited by Christina. You can find sources for every episode

727
00:45:11.960 --> 00:45:15.519
atias unknown dot com and in our show notes. Creating

728
00:45:15.519 --> 00:45:16.840
the podcast has a lot of work, so if you

729
00:45:16.880 --> 00:45:19.039
want to help us out financially, you can do so

730
00:45:19.079 --> 00:45:22.960
by supporting us on Patreon at patreon dot com. Slash

731
00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:24.079
studio as an own podcast