Compare_and_Contrast_Mx_and_Cubans

Mexicans, even though they come from a bordering attached nation to the U.S. they “face a frustration identity problem similar to that of Puerto Ricans. They are both native born and immigrants, pioneers and aliens” (Gonzalez pg 97). Mexicans, whether born in America or immigrate to America. They have quickly been the “2nd leading population of immigrants in the United States” (Gonzalez pg 97). Even though the wave of Mexicans has been great and steady, being big in numbers has not prevented the society from being taken advantage of. The Mexicans, quick to defend their belongings with force, always have seemed to have allowed themselves to be taken advantage of. Many Mexicans lacked basic skills, such as reading and writing. In certain instance, “thirteen Anglos had gobbled up 1.3 million acres in “legal” sales from 358 Mexican landowners” (Gonzalez pg100). What may or may not have seemed legal to Mexicans, their fear and lack of basic social skills prevented them from fighting the Anglos for their land. What land was left, was quickly taken by some of the newly landless Mexicans. Even in the Rio Grande Valley, and as close by as Kingsville, Mexicans faced great racism and segregation. Establishments in Kingsville where Mexicans were allowed to work, but not to eat, or the young lady from Brownsville who stated “I met a black person for the first time when I moved to Kingsville to teach at Herrel Elementary School” (Gonzalez pg 102). What the Mexicans lacked in book smarts, was compensated by making up for it by brute force. Ranches that were still under Mexican control, at times stock piled ammunition and rifles to defend their land and property to the death.