Adiós Espalda Mojada
date: label: Date made
content: 1951
label: Associated Date
content: 1951
name: label: printer
content: Kistler, Lynton R.
label: graphic artist
content: Barrios, B.
notes: label: Description
content: For centuries in both Mexico and the United States, racism has organized society and regulated the work and aspirations of Europeans, Africans, Native peoples, and their mixed descendants. Though inhabiting segregated spaces, Mexican American communities expanded by the 1960s, stretching from the Yakima Valley of Washington to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, and into the Midwest, particularly Chicago. The people living in these towns and cities represented a mix of multigenerational U.S. citizens, new residents, and temporary Mexican workers. While their experiences varied, all these communities were shaped by a legacy of discrimination in school, housing, and employment. Economic exploitation, in the form of race-based wages and substandard working conditions, particularly in fields, mines, and factories, were their daily realities. Despite the participation of Mexican American soldiers in all major U.S. conflicts since the Civil War, and the contribution of Mexican workers to the American agricultural and mining economy (and the vast economy of the West generally), the citizenship and human rights of their communities were contested and continue to be today. This lithograph, titled <i>Goodbye Wetback,</i> was designed by artist B. Barrios and printed by Lynton Kistler in 1951 in Los Angeles. It depicts a rural Mexican family confronting, with a mix of fear and stoicism, the racist encounter implied in the title. Kistler printed the work of many artists, some of whom specifically depicted Latino, Native American, and East Asian subjects. Over 2,700 of his prints are housed in the Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History.
label: Description (Spanish)
content: Durante siglos la ideología del racismo ha afectado la organización de la sociedad, regulando tanto el trabajo como las aspiraciones de europeos, africanos, pueblos nativos y sus descendencias mestizas. Pese a habitar en espacios segregados, en la década de 1960 las comunidades mexicoamericanas se expandieron, extendiéndose desde el Valle de Yakima en Washington hasta el Valle del Río Grande en Texas, adentrándose en el medio oeste, particularmente en Chicago. La gente que vivía en estos pueblos y ciudades constituía una mezcla de múltiples generaciones de ciudadanos estadounidenses, nuevos residentes y trabajadores mexicanos temporarios. Aunque sus experiencias eran variadas, todas estas comunidades sufrieron los efectos de un mismo legado de discriminación escolar, habitacional y laboral. La explotación económica, traducida en salarios basados en la raza y condiciones de vida por debajo de lo normal, particularmente en los campos, las minas y las fábricas, era para ellos una realidad diaria. Pese a que los soldados mexicoamericanos participaron en todos los conflictos importantes de Estados Unidos desde la Guerra Civil, y los trabajadores mexicanos aportaron una contribución fundamental a la economía agrícola y minera americana (y en general a la vasta economía del oeste), la ciudadanía y los derechos humanos de sus comunidades han sido combatidas y aún lo son. Esta litografía titulada <i>Adiós Espalda Mojada</i>, fue diseñada por el artista B. Barrios y grabada por Lynton Kistler en 1951 en Los Ángeles. Representa a una familia rural mexicana, transmitiendo una mezcla de miedo y estoicismo, con el conflicto racial implicado en el título. Kistler grabó las obras de una gran variedad de artistas, algunos de los cuales representaron específicamente a latinos, americanos nativos y temas del Asia Oriental. Más de 2.700 de sus grabados están alojados en la Colección de Artes Gráficas del Museo Nacional de Historia Americana.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: California, Los Angeles
label: place made
content: Mexico
title: label: Title
content: Good Bye Wetback
topic: label: Subject
content: Latino
label: Subject
content: Immigration
label: Subject
content: Prejudice
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
label: See more items in
content: Cultures & Communities
label: See more items in
content: Mexican America
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content: Art
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Kistler Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1978.0650.0968
label: accession number
content: 1978.0650
label: catalog number
content: 1978.0650.0968
label: catalog number
content: 78.0650.0968
objectType: label: Object Name
content: print
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
label: Other Terms
content: print; Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 43 cm x 32.5 cm; 16 15/16 in x 12 13/16 in