Historia de braceros sería materia de estudio

San Diego (Notimex) – El senador Kevin de León presentó una iniciativa para que las escuelas públicas estudien la historia de braceros, luego de que un grupo de esos extrabajadores mexicanos participó hoy en una audiencia en la legislatura de California.

Los braceros hablaron en reunión con el Comité de Educación del senado de California en apoyo a la iniciativa SB993 del legislador.

Si la propuesta se aprueba, todas las escuelas públicas de California integrarán a partir de enero próximo en sus programas de estudios de la materia de historia la aportaciones de campesinos mexicanos a la agricultura estadounidense entre las décadas de los años 40 y 60.

El senador comentó que “la historia del Programa Bracero es ignorada y excluida de los libros escolares, a pesar del impacto que tuvo en el mercado laboral de Estados Unidos durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial y en las tendencias de inmigración en este país”.

Dijo que los californianos deben conocer la historia del programa de trabajadores huéspedes establecido a través de una serie de acuerdos bilaterales entre Estados Unidos y México que cubrió la escasez de fuerza de trabajo estadounidense durante la guerra.

Insistió en que los trabajadores braceros apoyaron al país en tiempos difíciles y alimentaron a los estadounidenses.

El senador De León, representante ahora de Los Angeles, creció en el barrio de trabajadores latino Logan de San Diego, cerca de la frontera en una comunidad inmigrante.

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TESTIMONY BY

PROF. ARMANDO VAZQUEZ-RAMOS, PRESIDENT

CALIFORNIA-MEXICO STUDIES CENTER AND THE

MEXICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES

TO

THE CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Alan Lowenthal, Chair (2011-2012 Regular Session)

IN SUPPORT OF SB 993 (De Leon): The Bracero Program in School Curriculum  

APRIL 11, 2012

Dear Senator Lowenthal and members of the Senate Education Committee:

I am pleased to testify before you in support of Senator De Leon’s SB 993 on behalf of the California-Mexico Studies Center and the Mexican Cultural Institute of L.A., and as an immigrant with ties to a Bracero family. My father and both of his older brothers first came to the U.S. through the Bracero Program in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

I also testify today as a professor in the CSULB Chicano and Latino Studies department, and as someone that has been immersed in the development and teaching of this discipline for over 40 years, having been involved in the founding of our department at CSULB in 1969 as a student leader, and then as one of the first students to graduate with a B.A. in this field.

I am also honored to present this testimony in support of legislation introduced by Senator Kevin De Leon, one of my former students at Pitzer College, at a hearing chaired by Senator Alan Lowenthal, my advisor and Master’s committee chair at CSULB.

Notwithstanding that collegial relationship, I am here today to reaffirm the support expressed by Abelardo de la Pena, Executive Director of the Mexican Cultural Institute of L.A., and my own letter in support of Senate Bill 993, which calls for California public schools’ curriculum to include comprehensive instruction on the legacy and the socioeconomic impacts of the Bracero Program upon the U.S. and California’s economy, our nation’s railroad system, and the agricultural industry.

Thus, I would like to attest that our public school system will be greatly enhanced by teaching future generations that the Bracero Program was a guest worker program set up through a series of bilateral agreements between the United States and Mexico, intended to fill the shortage of American labor during the war years.

In addition, students should learn that the Bracero program brought to the U.S. almost 5 million Mexican workers from 1942 to 1964, and undoubtedly helped the U.S. economy to survive and flourish during a critical period of our history. This is particularly important, given that during the 1930’s “repatriation era” the U.S. deported or forced to leave almost 2 million Mexicans during the ‘Great Depression’, many of them U.S. citizens.

Unfortunately, the Bracero Program was also marred by abusive working conditions. Not only were worksites unsafe, but Braceros were often deported without receiving payment for their labor and hundreds of thousands did not receive their pension benefits. This is a plight that continues to be waged and we are proud to provide access for the Braceros’ Bi-national Association headed by Baldomero Capiz, to meet and organize at the Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles.

Although the Bracero Program helped shape contemporary trends in immigration, its history is rarely taught in California public schools.  Future generations of H.S. students should have a historical understanding of how immigration trends have come to shape California’s demographics and economy.  And we should honor the struggles of the Braceros, who worked tirelessly in the fields, often under terrible conditions and meager pay, to support their families.

In fact, I often find college students that have grandfathers or uncles that toiled as Braceros and whose families were spawned by this historically important workforce that fed our country and helped to build the infrastructure that we still enjoy today.

The CMSC and the MCILA are honored to be sponsoring organizations of SB 993, and we respectfully request your committee’s approval of this truly historic legislation. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, President and CEO

California-México Studies Center, Inc.
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TESTIMONY BY PROFESSOR CANDIDO GONZALEZ PEREZ, UNIVERSITY OF GUADALAJARA

TO THE SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

APRIL 11, 2012

It’s a great honor to address you in such an important landmark, and to comment on the importance to our countries of the Bracero Program.  Due to time constraints, I want to refer to four aspects that I consider to be most relevant to the migration of Mexican Workers to the United States during 1942-1964.

First, this represented a great economic gain to our country since 4.6 million workers from marginalized areas gained employment at 10 times greater pay rate and greatly improved their living conditions.

Secondly for the U.S. this represented having access to cheap labor to replace young  men that were required to fight in World War II and for two decades thereafter. The 4.6 million migrants hired and 4.8 million that were deported during 1942-1964 represented an enormous work force that toiled for some times as much as 10 hours under the sun.

Thirdly, this working opportunity represented the sacrifice of family separation and separation from their homeland for a long time. While for U.S. men it meant risking their lives aboard to protect liberty.

Lastly, the Bracero Program reflects one of the most important chapters of our mutual history because it gave us the social fabric of our contemporary dual cultures, languages, foods, and traditions. The history of California and the U.S. should honor their memory in the textbook that reflect the millions of U.S. youth that fought in World War II, and the Mexican labor that build with their hands an important part of this country and Mexico.

Thank you very much.

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Sacramento, California, a 11 de abril del 2012

Cándido González Pérez (1)

Es para mí un gran honor poder dirigirme a ustedes en este recinto tan importante y hablar de lo que significó el Programa Bracero entre nuestros países.

            Por la brevedad del tiempo, quiero referirme a cuatro aspectos que considero de lo más relevante en relación a la migración de trabajadores mexicanos a los Estados Unidos entre 1942 y 1964 del siglo pasado.

            Primero, representó para nuestro país un gran avance económico ya que 4´600,000 trabajadores pobres provenientes de las áreas más atrasadas, obtuvieron un empleo con una remuneración 10 veces más alta que en México y con ello fue posible que mejoraran sustancialmente sus precarias condiciones de vida.

            Segundo, para los Estados Unidos significó tener a la mano una excelente solución para la utilización de mano de obra que sustituyó a los jóvenes que se vieron obligados a ir a la Segunda Guerra Mundial y por dos décadas más de cuando terminó el conflicto. Los 4´600,000 migrantes contratados y los 4´800,000 que trabajaron y luego fueron repatriados, significaron un enorme ejército de excelente calidad que realizaba sus labores doblando la cintura y en ocasiones en jornadas de más de 10 horas bajo el sol.

            Tercero, estas grandes bondades tuvieron un alto costo que representó para los mexicanos, la necesidad de abandonar a su familia, su lugar de origen y sus costumbres durante largas temporadas. Para los estadounidenses, ofrecer sus vidas en las regiones más alejadas del mundo por preservar la libertad amenazada.

            Y finalmente, porque el Programa Bracero significó ni más ni menos el haber escrito una de las mejores páginas de nuestra historia compartida porque además del gran valor que tuvo el trabajo de aquel entonces, como resultado hemos tejido una mixtura de culturas en las que combinamos lenguas, alimentos y tradiciones. La Historia de California y en general de los Estados Unidos, debe honrar su memoria al darle un lugar en los libros de texto a los millones de jóvenes norteamericanos que fueron a la guerra y a los mexicanos que construyeron con sus manos una parte importante de este país y del nuestro.

Muchas gracias.

 

Honorable Kevin de Leόn

California State Senate

State Capitol, Room 5108

Sacramento, CA 95814

March 21, 2012

RE: SB 993 (De Leόn) The Bracero Program in School Curriculum—SUPPORT

Dear Senator De Leόn:

I am pleased to confirm that the California-Mexico Studies Center has adopted a support position on your Senate Bill 993, which calls for California public schools’ curriculum to include instruction on the legacy and the socioeconomic impacts of the Bracero Program, upon the U.S. and California’s railroad system, agriculture, and immigration and that directs instruction to include a component drawn from personal testimony.

The Bracero Program was a guest worker program set up through a series of bilateral agreements between the United States and Mexico that was intended to fill the shortage of American labor during the war years.  The program brought to the U.S. about 5 million Mexican workers from 1942 to 1964, and helped the U.S. economy to survive and flourish during a critical period of our history.

Unfortunately, the Bracero Program was also marred by abusive working conditions. Not only were worksites unsafe, but Braceros were often deported without receiving payment for their labor and hundreds of thousands did not receive their pension benefits.

Though the Bracero Program helped shape contemporary trends in immigration, its history is rarely taught in California public schools.  Students should have a historical understanding of how immigration trends have come to shape California’s demographics and economy.  And we should honor the struggles of the Braceros, who worked tirelessly in the fields, often under terrible conditions and meager pay, to support their families.

The CMSC will be honored to be a sponsoring organization, to promote and provide testimony in support of your SB 993 legislation when it is considered. Please contact me if I can be of further assistance or if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos, President and CEO

California-Mexico Studies Center, Inc.

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SB 993: The Bracero Program in School Curriculum
PURPOSE:
Promote a critical and analytical understanding of the importance of the Bracero Program in United States History by calling for school curriculum to include instruction on the impacts of the Bracero Program on the railroad system, agriculture, and immigration in the United States and by directing instruction to include a component drawn from personal testimony.
BACKGROUND:
Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12 to include instruction in the social sciences that provides a foundation for understanding the history, resources, development, and government of California and the United States of America. Over the years, the Legislature has authorized instruction in specific topics that it deemed important and, in some cases, left out of school curriculum, including the role of Filipinos in the war effort and the role of Southeast Asians in the Vietnam and Laos Wars. Issues such as these are important to the history of our state and nation.

The history of the Bracero Program has also been frequently ignored and left out of school textbooks, despite the program’s impact on the U.S. labor market during World War II and on immigration patterns in this country. The Bracero Program was a guest worker program set up through a series of bilateral agreements between the United States and Mexico that was intended to fill the shortage of American labor during the war years. Established in 1942, the program continued in the post-WWII years because of the demand for labor in the agriculture business and the railroad maintenance system. The program helped the US economy flourish, though it was criticized for the mistreatment of Mexican workers. The program also marked a turning point in Mexican immigration to the U.S. by influencing unauthorized immigration trends.
Though the Bracero Program helped shape contemporary trends in immigration, its history is rarely taught in California public schools. Given the impact of immigration on this state, it is important for students to have a historical understanding of the immigration trends that have come to shape California’s demographics and economy. For that reason, we need to ensure that students learn about Bracero Program.

PROPOSAL:
The measure amends Section 51221.3 to the Education Code, authorizing instruction in social sciences for grades 7 to 12 to include instruction on the Bracero Program.
SUPPORT:
California-Mexico Studies Center, Inc.
Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles
Union Binacional de Exbraceros 1942 – 1967
Asociación de Loncheros L.A.
Familia Unida de California
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Asociación Retalteca
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of LA
California Association for Bilingual Education
California Communities United Institute
California Immigrant Policy Center  
Californians Together
Casa de La Cultura Maya
Consejo Binacional de Organizaciones Comunitarias, Inc. Federación Chihuahua
Fraternindad Cotzumalguapa
League of United Latin American Citizens
Los Angeles Produce Market Association
National Association of Social Workers
Schools for Integrated Academics & Technologies
Union de Guatemaltecos Emigrantes
University of Colima in Los Angeles
For more information, please contact: Alexandra Salgado, Senate Fellow, at (916) 651-4022.

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 SB 993

Page  1

 

Date of Hearing:   June 27, 2012

 

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Julia Brownley, Chair

SB 993 (De León) – As Amended:  May 21, 2012

 

 SENATE VOTE  :   31-1

 

          SUBJECT  :  School curriculum: social sciences: Bracero program

 

 SUMMARY  :   Authorizes social science instruction in grades 7-12,

inclusive, to include instruction on the Bracero program.

Specifically,  this bill  :

 

1)Provides that the instruction may include a component drawn

from personal testimony, especially in the form of oral or

video histories of individuals who were involved with the

Bracero program, and stipulates that oral histories used as

part of the instruction regarding the Bracero program may do

all of the following:

 

a)   Exemplify the economic and cultural effects of the

Bracero program during and after World War II, including,

but not limited to, its effects on the railroad system,

agriculture, and immigration in California and the United

States of America (U.S.); and,

 

b)   Contain the views and comments of their subjects

regarding the reasons for their participation in the

Bracero program and their immigrant story, generally.

 

2)Requires this bill to be carried out in a manner that does not

result in new duties or programs on a school district.

 

3)States that the Legislature finds and declares that this bill

does not mandate costs to local agencies or school districts

and that materials used to comply with this bill shall be part

of normal curriculum materials purchased by school districts

in their normal course of business and purchasing cycles.

 

 EXISTING LAW  :

 

1)Requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12,

inclusive, to include instruction in social sciences, drawing

upon the disciplines of anthropology, economics, geography,

history, political science, psychology, and sociology,

designed to fit the maturity of the pupils.  (Education Code

Section (EC) 51220)

 

2)Requires social studies instruction to provide a foundation

for understanding the history, resources, development, and

government of California and the U.S.; instruction in our

American legal system, the operation of the juvenile and adult

criminal justice systems, and the rights and duties of

citizens under the criminal and civil law and the State and

Federal Constitutions; the development of the American

economic system, including the role of the entrepreneur and

labor; the relations of persons to their human and natural

environment; eastern and western cultures and civilizations;

human rights issues, with particular attention to the study of

the inhumanity of genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust, and

contemporary issues.  (EC 51220)

 

3)Authorizes social studies instruction to include instruction

on World War II and the roles of Americans and Filipinos in

that war, and encourages this instruction to include, but not

be limited to, a component drawn from personal testimony,

especially in the form of oral or video histories, if

available, of American and Filipino soldiers who were involved

in World War II and those men and women who contributed to the

war effort on the homefront. (EC 51221.3)

 

4)Requires instruction in social sciences to include the early

history of California and a study of the role and

contributions of both men and women, Native Americans, African

Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific

Islanders, European Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and

transgender (LGBT) Americans, persons with disabilities, and

members of other ethnic and cultural groups, to the economic,

political, and social development of California and the U.S.,

with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these

groups in contemporary society.  (EC 51204.5)

 

5)Requires instruction in the area of study of social sciences

to provide a foundation for understanding the wise use of

natural resources.  (EC 51221)

 

 FISCAL EFFECT  :   This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the

Legislative Counsel

 COMMENTS  :  Current law specifies courses of study for pupils in

grades 1-12, and also requires instruction on various specific

topics.  Within the social sciences, there are various specific

requirements, including instruction on the early history of

California and a study of the role and contributions of both men

and women and various minority groups to the economic,

political, and social development of California and the U.S.,

with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups

in contemporary society.

 

The Legislature has previously passed measures requiring or

encouraging instruction on specific subjects it deems important

and noteworthy.  Most recently, AB 199 (Ma & Cook), Chapter 607,

Statutes of 2011, encouraged social studies instruction to

include instruction on the role and contributions of Filipino

Americans in the U.S. army in World War II.  In a similar

manner, this bill authorizes instruction in social studies to

include instruction on the Bracero program.

 

 The Bracero program  :  The Bracero Program was a guest worker

program that spanned the years of 1942-1964.  The economic and

social issues that resulted from the Great Depression and World

War II compelled the U.S. to seek a source of inexpensive labor

to meet its labor demands in both agriculture and railway

maintenance.  The U.S. and Mexican governments entered into a

treaty to allow Mexican workers to enter the U.S. on a temporary

basis in order to address the shortage of labor in the U.S.

According to information provided by the author, “The program

helped the U.S. economy flourish, though it was criticized for

the mistreatment of Mexican workers, especially because in many

instances Braceros were never paid their due wages.”

 

 Curriculum frameworks  :  The processes for reviewing frameworks

and adopting instructional materials have been suspended since

July 28, 2009.  The State Board of Education (SBE) is

specifically prohibited from reviewing frameworks and adopting

instructional materials until the 2015-16 school year.  The

history-social science framework (H/SS) was last adopted in

2005, and a review and update of this framework was underway and

nearly complete when the state suspended the process due to

fiscal constraints.  The 2010 draft of the H/SS framework

includes in the grade 11 course descriptions a reference to the

Bracero program.  Specifically, it is included in the

“Transformation of Post-World War II America” section of the

framework and it states, in relevant part:

“Meanwhile, immigration continued, especially to

California, which depended upon agricultural labor

provided by immigrants, particularly Mexicans, who

continued to come through the Bracero Program. This

1942 government-sponsored program, designed primarily

to replace interned Japanese-American farmers and

native-born agricultural workers who were mobilizing

for war with imported Mexican laborers, continued

until 1964.”

 

This bill is consistent with the 2010 draft H/SS framework.

 

 Permissive bill  :  This bill does not require this instruction

but rather authorizes it.  Some may argue that this bill is

unnecessary as districts currently have the discretion and

flexibility to include this content in social studies

instruction.  However, others would argue that adding the

permissive language gives districts the explicit authority to

include this content and raises awareness as to the importance

of these events and may encourage districts to integrate them

into social studies instruction.  The author further points out

that the history of the Bracero Program has been frequently

ignored and left out of school textbooks, despite the program’s

impact on the U.S. labor market during World War II and on

immigration patterns in this country.

 

 Arguments in support  : The National Association of Social Workers

– California Chapter (NASW-CA) writes, “This bill would promote

a critical and analytical understanding of the importance of the

Bracero program in the United States and California, with the

impact the Bracero Program had on the railroad system,

agriculture and immigration.  NASW-CA believes that supporting

this bill, it would allow students to have a culturally

competent and full education on the history of California.”

 

 Related legislation  :  AB 1756 (Knight) eliminates the

requirement for instruction in social sciences to include the

early history of California and a study of the role and

contributions of both men and women, Native Americans, African

Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific

Islanders, European Americans, LGBT Americans, persons with

disabilities, and members of other ethnic and cultural groups,

to the economic, political, and social development of California

and the U.S., with particular emphasis on portraying the role of

these groups in contemporary society, and instead makes these

provisions permissive.  AB 1756 failed passage in this

Committee.

 

SB 1540 (Hancock) requires the SBE to consider, by June 30,

2014, the adoption of a history-social science framework.  SB

1540 passed this Committee on June 13, 2012, on an 8-0 vote, and

is currently pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

 

SB 994 (Vargas) requires the CDE to establish the California

Latino Curriculum Committee for the purpose of developing a

California Latino curriculum for inclusion in the H/SS

curriculum framework. SB 994 was held in the Senate

Appropriations Committee.

 

 Previous legislation  :  AB 199 (Cook and Ma), Chapter 607,

Statutes of 2011, encouraged social studies instruction to

include instruction on the role and contributions of Filipino

Americans in the U.S. army in World War II.

 

HR 29 (Reyes) of 2001 resolved that September 29, 2001 be

proclaimed Bracero Workers’ Day and urged all Californians to

observe Bracero Workers’ Day by taking time to remember and

honor the Bracero workers and their contributions to California.

HR 29 was adopted by the Assembly Rules Committee.

 

 REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

 

 Support

 

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Asociación de Loncheros L.A. Familia Unida de California

Associacion Retalteca

California Association for Bilingual Education

California Immigrant Policy Center

California-Mexico Studies Center, Inc.

Californians Together

Casa de la Cultura Maya

City of Bell Gardens

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles

Consejo Binacional de Organizaciones Cumunitarias Inc.

Federacion Chihuahua

Fraternidad Cotzumalguapa

Los Angeles Produce Market Association

Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles

National Association of Social Workers

Schools for Integrated Academics and Technologies

Union de Guatemaltecos Emigrantes

Universidad de Colima

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by  :    Marisol Aviña / ED. / (916) 319-2087