JE #4 El Paso's Cultural Schizophrenia

The Chinese Exclusion Act, the Mexican Revolution and the Bath Riots all contributed to El Paso’s identity cirisis. The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited Chinese immigration into the United States. Because of this law that was enacted, many Chinese folks would migrate to Mexico and then hire coyotes to cross them over. Many times, in order to disguise themselves, they would try to look like Mexican@s. They would cross the border from Juarez into El Paso. In reading Romo’s book, I was able to learn that there was a huge Chinese community in El Paso at the time. Also, as the decades passed by, there were many Japanese and African Amercian folks living there too. Many folks crossed over during Mexican Revolution to escape the conditions of that time. The Bath Riots were an even bigger shock to me. I never knew that the mujeres and men were stripped and sprayed down with pesticides in order to defumigate them from any diseases or illnesses. This was one of the most inhumane things I learned about. There was a large disconnect between the Anglos and Mexican folks in El Paso. Clearly the Anglo folk wanted to get rid of the Mexican@s at any expense. The photos were extremely shocking and definitely contributed to my own cultural schizophrenia. On page 204, there is a photo of African American and Mexican folks hanging out. It was shocking to see this civil engagement because of the historical tension that I have been taught regarding their uncivil relationships, especially here in California. Another schoking photo I found was on page 236. In this photo there are public health officials inspecting Mexican@s before they cross over from Mexico. What I found shocking, is that this was an everyday routine for the border crossers. In the photo, they separate the folks to not only physically inspect them but also psychologically inspect them. The caption says, if they had a low IQ, the were considered homosexual and therefore were not allowed to cross the border. It is beyond me to see this history of homophobia. To read that Mexican@s were classified as homosexual by their IQ’s angers me. These two chapters opened up a new attitude towards the U.S. educational system. I had no idea that this had even happened or that Adolf Hitler borrowed from the Government official’s acts of dehumanizing peoples and executing those acts or worst on the jewish folks. The use of Zyklon B, a powerful and destructive pesticide was known by its use in Nazi Germany, and no where in the books did we learn the it was first used against Mexican@s in the United States. I understand El Paso's cultural schizophrenia, so much went on, and so much has to be learned about this history that will shock many other Mexican@s, Tejan@s and other people of color.