Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1943-01-21
Pan Americanism
Begins At Home

The article below, from World
over Press, is one of series list
ing steps that can be taken by
countries of the Western hemiS-
phere, comparatively, to create
a culturally rich, economically
secure and spiritually united New
World in postwar reconStruc-
ton.
First of the series, the follow
ing is by Professor George l.
Sanchez, now on the faculty of
the University Of Texas. He has
written and lectured extensively
on Pan American questions and
his book, Mexico: A Revolution
by Education" is one of the most
useful studies of our neighbors
to the south.
One Of the most encouraging de-
VelopmentS in the United States is
the growing attention being given
by state and national agencies to this
country's Latin American population.
AT long last, the official attention of
the nation is being directed towards
the problems presented by cultural
minority, largely Spanish-speaking,
which, in the past, was left at the
mercy of distressing practices and
conditions
In continental United States there
are some 100000 people, largely
citizens, who are, culturally, Latin
American. In the main these people
constitute seriously underprivileged
and maladjusted minority sector of
our population. In addition, in so
far as institutional or governmental
solicitude for their situation is con-
cerned, these Latin Americans have
been, until recently, an orphan peo-
pie. This has been particularly true
of those who are citizens of the United
States. They are without benefit of
lobby because of the very nature of
their social and economic status.
These people have no paid spokes-
men or pledged sponsors. They are
often segregated and bemeaned
Even the descendants of the Span
ish colonials, who have belonged
here for three centuries and more, are
forgotten people on the other side
of the railroad tracks" Mexican
has become term of opprobrium,
applied Unfortunately to citizens
and alien alike, and it is associated
with discriminatory practices in wage
scales and employment procedures,
in education, in the exercise of civil
rights, and the like. In effect, many
of these people have lived, and many
still live, in veritable concentration
camp. Even Federal funds, intended
for the public welfare, have some
times been used in the past to heigh-
ten their isolation and ostracism and
to accentuate inequalities and their
position of underprivilege.
Long before France and England
arrived upon the scene, Spanish
speaking people had established last
ing settlements in this country. ST.
Augustine, Florida, was founded AZ
years before Jamestown, Virginia,
and SIS years before the landing of the
Pilgrims. The missions and settle
ments in and around Sante Fee, New
Mexico, had been laboring for two
decades before the arrival of John
Smith and his hardy fellow pioneers
in Virginia. From the time of Juan
de Onate in New Mexico, of Junipero
Sierra in California, and of the early
Franciscans in Texas until the days
of '49 and even later, the southwest
ern portion of the United States was
Spanish in custom and language, in
industries and social practices. To
this day, the people of these areas
reflect their heritage, while the South
Atlantic and Gulf states-much more
subject to intensive incorporation into
the English tradition than other for
mer Spanish provinces-still show
many evidences of the Spanish COL
onial influence. .
The southwestern states present a
number of issues of special signi-
ficance to this question of the social
and economic incorporation of minor
ity groups. In the first place, what
is true for other rural areas in the
United States is, in general, true for
the Southwest. Here, too, soil erosion,
sharecropping, tenancy, and related
questions are an important part of the
picture. Here, too, deficiencies in edu-
cation and intellectual leadership are
very much in evidence. In addition,
the frontier character of much of this
region makes these issues stand out
in bold relief. The economic and
social immaturity of the Southwest
makes the region peculiarly suscept-
IDLE to the weaknesses of our national
social and economic order.