Teaching and Learning Guide for: Framing Latina/o Immigration, Education, and Activism
Authors: Ochoa Gilda L. , Ochoa Enrique C. 
Published: March 2009

Authors’ introduction

Although Latinas/os have a long history in the United States and represent a growing percentage of the population, they remain largely invisible or stereotyped in popular images and discourses. Ahistoric, fragmented, and individual‐level perspectives often frame Latina/o migration, education, and activism and thus negatively influence public perceptions and policy. Fortunately, over the past 30 years, scholars in disciplines such as sociology, history, Chicana/o–Latina/o Studies, and Latin American Studies have done much to remedy these gaps and misperceptions. However, for a broad and inclusive approach to understanding the structures influencing Latina/o lives and communities, we believe that more work is needed to connect these scholarly developments which are often separated by academic divisions. Thus, we recommend the following materials that together offer a multidisciplinary and multifaceted framework that highlights the significance of global capitalism and white supremacy on Latina/o immigration, education, and activism. Key to this framework is a movement away from individual‐level arguments and assimilationist perspectives to an emphasis on US imperialism, economic exploitation, and schooling within capitalism. By broadening the frameworks for analysis and linking together the factors shaping Latina/o migration, education, and activism, we emphasize the systems of power and inequality that influence the lives of marginalized communities, without losing sight of the legacy of resistance in Latin America and the United States.

Suggested texts

Tomas Almaguer, Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994).

Using primary and secondary sources, this book traces the distinct racialized experiences of Native Americans, Mexican Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and European Americans in late‐19th century California. Almaguer focuses on the material and ideological basis of group placement and delivers one of the few theoretical works on the factors shaping the multiracial hierarchy that characterizes the history of California.

Antonia Darder, Reinventing Paulo Freire: A Pedagogy of Love (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2002).

This engaging book roots contemporary schooling to global capitalism and racism. In it, Darder draws on the legacy of renowned Brazilian educator Paulo Freire to offer powerful reflections and examples from today's teachers who are practicing liberatory education in the struggle for social and economic justice.

Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Chicano Education in the Era of Segregation (Philadelphia, PA: Balch Institute Press, 1990).

This foundational book is devoted to the history of Chicana/o education and traces the roots of inequality in education from the early 1900s to Mendez v. Westminster, the landmark desegregation case in 1947. Gonzalez uses historical documents and dissertations to detail the historical relationships between capitalism, sociological theories, and school practices in reproducing a classed, raced, and gendered labor market. He placed particular attention on Americanization Programs, segregated schooling, vocational education, and the political economy. The book ends with an analysis of the role of parents, community, and various organizations in the eventual elimination of de jure segregation for Mexican American students in schools.

Juan Gonzalez, Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2001).

Employing a hemispheric approach, journalist Juan Gonzalez analyzes the close connection between US imperial expansion and Latino/a migration. As part of the harvest of empire, Gonzalez examines migration from various countries, including Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba, focusing on the macro‐structural factors that have led to migration.

‘History and Critical Pedagogies: Transforming Consciousness, Classrooms, and Communities’, Radical History Review, 102 (Fall 2008).

This special journal issue explores how scholars and activists have used critical pedagogies to challenge unequal power relations in classrooms and communities. A number of articles provide concrete reflections and strategies such as drama‐based pedagogies, service‐learning, and community‐based projects. Interviews with scholars and activists demonstrate how praxis has the power to transform society and popular education employs an asset‐based approach to education.

Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo, Doméstica: Central Americans Cleaning and Caring in the Shadow of Affluence (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001).

This qualitative study focuses on the lives and experiences of domestic workers and the people who employ them. After beginning with an important overview of the historical, economic, and political context shaping Central American migration and the service industry, Hondagneu‐Sotelo provides an in‐depth and nuanced analysis of domestic work and employee‐employer relationships. She ends the book with crucial strategies for improving the occupation and examples of labor organizing among Los Angeles‐area domestic workers.

Enrique C. Ochoa and Gilda L. Ochoa, eds., Latino Los Angeles: Transformations, Communities, and Activism (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2005).

This collection of articles examines diverse Latina/o communities in the greater Los Angeles regions and their formations and activism in the context of global capitalism. The first section examines how migration is connected to macro factors including US foreign policy and capitalist restructuring. The second section explores community and identity (re)formation. The final section examines multiple forms of activism, with articles on the struggle for Chicana/o Studies at UCLA, Justice for Janitors, and labor and community alliances with day laborers.

Suggested videos

El Norte (1983)

This now‐classic feature length film by Gregory Nava traces the harrowing experiences of a young brother and sister as they migrate from Guatemala to the United States. Along with capturing their trying experiences crossing multiple borders, the film also details the struggles they encounter as they try to adjust to the hardships of life in the United States, including their distinct gendered experiences. We recommend combining this film with a discussion of the increased border deaths accompanying the growing criminalization of immigrants and the militarization of the Guatemala–Mexico and the Mexico–United States borders.

Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary (1997)

In this documentary, Director Laura Angelica Simon details the contemporary impact of anti‐immigration policies and debates on students and teachers at a Los Angeles elementary school. The documentary was made during the 1990s when California was in the midst of an economic recession and citizens were voting on Proposition 187, an initiative that sought to deny social services to undocumented immigrants. It is a powerful teaching tool that includes students’ voices and experiences; however, we suggest combining the video with some historical background on US military, economic, and political involvement in Latin America. Viewers might also be encouraged to deconstruct some of the director's images, interview questions, and racially loaded language.

Made in L.A. (Hecho in Los Angeles) (2007)

This documentary follows the lives of three inspiring Latina garment workers originally from Mexico and El Salvador and their participation in the 3‐year struggle for labor rights. In the process of organizing through the Garment Worker Center for basic labor protections from the trendy clothing retailer Forever 21, the women become increasingly empowered – resulting in one who separates from her husband and another who becomes an organizer. Woven throughout their narratives are the historical struggle of garment workers, the role of nation‐states in dividing families, and the power of coalition building.

Salt of the Earth (1954)

This feature‐length move is based on an actual labor struggle of the era. It examines the intersections of class, race/ethnicity, and gender as a primarily Mexicana/o community goes on strike and struggles with historic patriarchy to unify against the large mining company that dominates their lives. The movie deals with the legacy of US conquest of the Southwest and capitalist expansion in the region, while showing how communities have struggled to challenge inequalities. Salt of the Earth was made by artists shunned during the McCarthy era and the movie was not played widely in the United States. Much of the cast were not professional actors but were workers and union activists involved in the strike.

Taking Back the Schools (1996)

This documentary focuses on the 1968 Chicana/o School Blowouts where over 10,000 East Los Angeles students walked out of their high schools demanding bilingual‐bicultural education, more Mexican American teachers, relevant curriculum, accurate textbooks, and the end of curriculum tracking and prejudiced teachers who steered Mexican Americans into vocational classes. It uses original footage from the walkouts and contemporary interviews with the student organizers. It also highlights the precursors to the walkouts such as a history of Spanish language repression and de jure and de facto segregation in schools.

Voces inocentes/Innocent Voices (2005)

Set in 1980s El Salvador, the movie follows the life of a young boy during the Civil War. It deals with the impacts of war and US intervention on youth.

Suggested websites

David Bacon, ‘Uprooted and Criminalized: The Impact of Free Market on Migrants,’Backgrounder The Oakland Institute (Autumn 2008)

http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/pdfs/backgrounder_uprooted.pdf

Renowned journalist and activist David Bacon provides a lively analysis of the link between free trade policies and migration. Drawing on his years of activism and journalism, Bacon underscores the human toll of free trade and migration while laying bare the system that undergirds it. Several powerful photographs complement the report.

In Motion Magazine‐Education Rights Section

http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/er.html

In Motion Magazine is a multicultural progressive on‐line magazine dealing with democracy. Harvard education professor Pedro Noguera co‐edits the Education Rights section to provide ‘a forum for activists, educators, parents and students who are searching for alternative ideas to the challenges confronting education today.’

Mexican Labor News and Analysis (MLNA)

http://www.ueinternational.org/Mexico_info/mlna.php

MLNA publishes the latest news on labor and social justice issues in Mexico. It emphasizes labor and working class struggles and does an excellent job of tracking strikes, demonstrations, and demands for social justice. MLNA is published in conjunction with the Authentic Labor Front in Mexico and the United Electrical Workers in the United States.

ICED (I Can End Deportation)

http://www.icedgame.com

This an educational game deals with combating deportation. It focuses on several New York City youth and their struggles. Players must answer a series of questions on immigration and avoid ICE agents. Background lesson material is provided and is aligned with the New York State Standards.

Rethinking Schools

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/

Rethinking Schools is a monthly publication committed to educational equality and the vision of the public school as foundational in a democratic society. Articles are published by teachers, activists, parents, and students on a wide range of issues affecting schools. In addition to the monthly magazine, it publishes a broad range of progressive educational materials dealing with educating working class students of color.

Sample syllabus

Most general courses should include materials on Latinas/os especially given the historical presence and the contemporary growth of the population. For example, the following sections, topics, and reading could be incorporated into any of the following courses: Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of (Im)Migration, Sociology of Education, Race and Ethnicity, Social Movements, and Chicanas/os‐Latinas/os in the United States.

Section 1: Chicana/o‐Latina/o Identities in the U.S.

Topics: Latina/o Heterogeneity; Pan‐ethnicity; Identity Formation; Multiple Identities; Racial Formation

Readings:

Aurora Levins Morales, ‘Child of the Americas,’ in Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, ed. Paula Rothenberg (New York, NY: St. Martin's Press 2001), 660–661.

Pat Mora, ‘Legal Alien’ in Making Face, Making Soul, Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Feminists of Color, ed. Gloria Anzaldúa (San Francisco, CA: Aunt Lute Foundation, 1990), p. 376.

Martha E. Gimenez, ‘Latino/Hispanic – Who Needs a Name?’ in Latinos and Education: A Critical Reader, eds. Antonia Darder, Rodolofo D. Torres, and Henry Gutiérrez (New York, NY: Routledge, 1997), 225–238.

Gilda L. Ochoa, ‘ “This is Who I Am”: Negotiating Racial/Ethnic Constructions’ in Becoming Neighbors in a Mexican American Community: Power, Conflict, and Solidarity (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2004), 70–97.

Anulkah Thomas, ‘Black Face, Latin Looks: Racial‐Ethnic Identity among Afro‐Latinos in the Los Angeles Region’ in Latino Los Angeles: Transformations, Communities, and Activism (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2005), 197–221.

Bernadete Beserra, ‘Negotiating Latinidade in Los Angeles: The Case of Brazilian Immigrants’ in Latino Los Angeles: Transformations, Communities, and Activism (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2005), 178–196.

Cherrie Moraga, ‘La Güera’ in Loving in the War Years (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1983), 50–59.

Nicholas De Genova and Ana Y. Ramos‐Zayas, Latino Crossings: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and the Politics of Race and Citizenship (New York, NY: Routledge, 2003).

Section 2: Theorizing and (De)Constructing Popular Conceptions of Latinas/os and Latin America

Topics: White Supremacy; Manifest Destiny; The Social Construction of Race; Dominant Conceptions of Immigration; Linking Migration, Education, and Activism

Readings:

Tomás Almaguer, Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994).

Clara E. Rodríguez, Changing Race: Latinos, the Census, and the History of Ethnicity in the United States (New York, NY: New York University Press, 2000).

Leo R. Chavez, Covering Immigration: Popular Images and the Politics of the Nation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001).

Gilda L. Ochoa and Enrique C. Ochoa, ‘Framing Latina/o Immigration, Education, and Activism’, Sociology Compass. 1/2 (2007), 701–719.

Section 3: US Imperialism and Capitalist Expansion in Latin America

Readings:

Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Culture of Empire: American Writers, Mexico, Mexican Immigrants (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2003).

Laura Briggs, Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, and Science and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico (Berkeley, CA: UC Press, 2002).

Robert G. Williams, Export Agriculture and the Crisis in Central America (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1988).

Juan Gonzalez, Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2001).

Greg Grandin, Empire's Workshop: Latin America, The United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism (New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 2006).

Walter LaFeber, Inevitable Revolutions: The U.S. in Central America (New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1993).

Héctor Tober, Tattooed Soldier (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2000).

Judith Adler Hellman, Mexican Lives (New York, NY: The New Press, 1995).

David Bacon, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2007).

Video: Voces inocentes/Innocent Voices (2005)

Section 4: Politics, Economics, and Latin American Migration to the U.S.

Topics: The ‘Revolving Door Strategy;’ Economic Restructuring; Transnational Ties; Gender and Migration; Undocumented Migration

Readings:

Saskia Sassen, Globalization and Its Discontents: Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money (New York, NY: New York University Press, 1998).

Maria Cristina García, Seeking Refuge: Central American Migration to Mexico, the United States, and Canada (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006).

Jonathan Fox and Gaspar Rivera‐Salgado. Indigenous Mexican Migrants in the United States (San Diego, CA: Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, 2004).

Joseph Nevins, Dying to Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid (San Francisco, CA: City Lights Publishers, 2008).

Robert Courtney Smith, Mexican New York: Transnational Lives of New Immigrants (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006).

Cecilia Menjívar, Fragmented Ties: Salvadoran Immigrant Networks in America (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000).

Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo, Doméstica: Central Americans Cleaning and Caring in the Shadow of Affluence (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001).

Leon Fink, The Maya of Morgantown: Work and Community in the New South (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2003).

Gloria González‐Lopez, Erotic Journeys: Mexican Immigrants and their Sex Lives (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005).

Video: El Norte (1983)

Section 5: Latinas/os and Education: Schools as Reproducers of Inequality

Topics: Americanization Programs; De Jure and De Facto Segregation; Curriculum Tracking; Education and Globalization; Raced and Gendered Experiences; Undocumented Youth

Readings:

Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Chicano Education in the Era of Segregation (Philadelphia, PA: Balch Institute Press, 1990).

Antonia Darder, Reinventing Paulo Freire: A Pedagogy of Love (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2002).

Michael W. Apple, Educating the ‘Right’ Way: Markets, Standards, God, and Inequality (New York, NY: Routledge Falmer, 2001).

Gilda G. Ochoa, Learning from Latino Teachers (San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass Publishers, 2007).

Angela Valenzuela, Subtractive Schooling: U.S.‐Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1999).

Nancy Lopez, Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys: Race and Gender Disparity in Urban Education (New York, NY: Routledge, 2003).

Gabriela Madera, Angelo A. Mathay, Armin M. Najafi, et al. Underground Undergrads: UCLA Undocumented Immigrant Students Speak Out (Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education, 2008).

Videos:

The Lemon Grove Incident (1986)

Mendez v. Westminster (2004)

Taking Back the Schools (1996)

Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary (1997)

Section 6: Latina/o Resistance and Activism

Topics: Responses to U.S. Imperialism; union and grassroots activism; school integration; cross‐border organizing

Willia V. Flores and Rina Benmayor, Latino Cultural Citizenship: Claiming Identity, Space, and Rights (Boston, MA: Beacon, 1997).

Mary Pardo, Mexican American Women Activists: Identity and Resistance in Two Los Angeles Communities (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1998).

Ruth Milkman, L.A. Story: Immigrant Workers and the Future of the Labor Movement (New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2006).

Milagros Peña, Latina Activists Across Borders: Women's Grassroots Organizing in Mexico and Texas (Duke University Press, 2007).

Guadalupe San Miguel Jr., Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston (College Station, TX: Texas A.M. Press, 2001).

Kara Zugman, ‘Autonomy in a Poetic Voice: Zapatistas and Politics Organizing in Los Angeles’, Latino Studies. 3 (2005): 325–46.

Videos:

Salt of the Earth (1954)

Bread and Roses (2000)

Made in L.A. (2007)

Focus questions

What are the dominant images of Latina/o migration, education, and activism? From where do these images emerge? Why do they exist? Who benefits from them? How have they changed over time? What are their impacts? How are these images being challenged?

What connections can be made between Latina/o migration, education, and activism? What theoretical frameworks can be used to understand each one individually and the three of them collectively? What are the relationships between Latina/o migration, education, and activism?

Discuss the value of adopting a historical, economic, and political framework of Latina/o migration, education, and activism. Assess the value of applying a similar framework to other contemporary topics.

Compare and contrast the similarities and differences that exist among Latinas/os in the United States.

How does centering the history and experiences of Latinas/os enhance your understanding of race/ethnicity, class, and gender?

Looking toward the future, what do you think will be the state of Latina/o migration, education, and activism in the next ten years? What led you to these hypotheses? What do you need to know to address this question? What do you hope will be the state of Latina/o migration, education, and activism in the next 10 years? Why? How does your desire compare with the desires conveyed in the videos or readings? What might account for these shared or different hopes?

Note

* Correspondence address: Pomona College. Email: glo04747@pomona.edu