Harvest of Empire, Essay Example

Mexican Americans as Presented in Harvest of Empire

Racism is a belief that has long plagued the United States of America. Although this nation is great, its history is filled with injustices. In Harvest of Empire, the viewer learns that even in an area such as Los Angeles, where diversity is great, racism still abounds.

The documentary addresses Mexican Americans who have become the largest population in the nation. Although many have incorrectly credited their status as the majority to the group entering the country illegally, few understand that Mexicans occupied many areas of the United States centuries before America broadened its horizons. Many Mexicans did not migrate South after the United States conquered Mexico and expanded its boarded Southwest. In fact, hundreds of  residents already living in the conquered region stayed in their homes and, in so doing, became American citizens.

It is for this reason that the great deportation during the Great Depression was so devastating. In its haste to improve the economy, the American government decided to send hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans back to Mexico. Unfortunately, some of these deportees were United States citizens, and were hence sent out of their native land.

Although Guatemalans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans came to the United States for different reasons than Mexicans, all of the Latin groups represented in Harvest of Empire had the sole mission of having a better life in their new land. These immigrants were neither looking for a handout nor striving to drain the society that they were entering. In fact, those who migrated wanted to become a part of the new culture, and work hard towards obtaining the American Dream. Unfortunately, their differences were too grand to be accepted by the European masses.

One central problem that America, in all of its liberalities, has toiled with for decades is the concept of whiteness. As Lipsitz points out in his article about racism and society, regardless of how great cultures have been, the white race in the United States has always managed to criminalize their practices and, in doing so, present its ideologies as supreme. From laws that seek to punish minority groups to the unequal distribution of wealth that seems to always lead to Europeans having more and others coping with less, minorities appear to be simply getting by in a society created for the superior white race.