Occupied America

Author: Rodolfo Acuna
Book: OPR
Year: 2004

Summary:
This chapter is about how American occupation affected Mexico and its people. Acuna addressed how Americans don't want to aknowledge that the U.S. has an imperialistic history and how the Southwest was unjustly seized from Mexico. Acuna argues that "...Mexicans in the United States are still a colonized people, but now the colonization is internal - it is occuring within the country rather than being imposed by an external power". (Heldke and O'Connor 2004, pg 90) Mexicans are looked down upon and are treated as the inferior servants of the United States. This theory arises from the fact that many Mexican Americans are the children of immigrants who came to the United States to work as cheap labor. Also, the school system within the colonies were designed to teach Mexican children about Anglo-American history, not Mexican history. Acuna concludes by informing readers that his goal is to not bring tension and seperation among the Mexican and Anglo-Americans, but to bring awarness and understanding to help the Mexican American and immigration community.

My thoughts/reactions:
I liked the author's point of not trying to seperate the two groups through history but unite them by the understanding of history and current events. It's important for all Americans to learn about the history of different groups in the United States and how past actions and events influenced and made up the events and issues of today.

Currently, there is a large amount of ignorance and scape-coating toward the Mexican American and immigrant community. Mexican immigrant workers are portrayed as drug criminals who will leech of the country's resources. The United States government and public are taking extreme actions against immigrant workers by building a wall throughout the border and holding protests. Technically, these protesters and the U.S. government are trying to keep Mexican immigrants off of land that was rightfully theirs.