00:00:01.126 --> 00:00:02.877
VIEWERS LIKE YOU MAKE
THIS PROGRAM POSSIBLE.

00:00:02.961 --> 00:00:05.380
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PBS STATION.

00:00:09.592 --> 00:00:12.262
Narrator: FROM 1836 TO 1914,

00:00:12.345 --> 00:00:16.766
OVER 30 MILLION PEOPLE
IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES,

00:00:16.850 --> 00:00:18.852
THE TIRED, HUDDLED MASSES

00:00:18.935 --> 00:00:22.272
THAT MADE ELLIS ISLAND
A BEACON OF HOPE.

00:00:22.355 --> 00:00:24.691
AMONG THE CROWDED FACES
IN NEW YORK HARBOR

00:00:24.774 --> 00:00:29.112
IN JANUARY 1880
AS A 27-YEAR-OLD POLITICAL EXILE

00:00:29.195 --> 00:00:32.282
FROM CUBA--JOSE MARTI.

00:00:32.365 --> 00:00:34.576
Man as Marti: ELSEWHERE,
THEY MAKE MEN FLEE,

00:00:34.659 --> 00:00:39.205
BUT HERE, THEY WELCOME
THE FLEEING MAN WITH A SMILE.

00:00:39.289 --> 00:00:41.249
Narrator: MARTI WOULD JOIN
THE EARLIEST COMMUNITY

00:00:41.332 --> 00:00:44.043
OF LATINOS IN NEW YORK--
PUERTO RICANS AND CUBANS

00:00:44.127 --> 00:00:46.004
WHO HAD ARRIVED
ALONG THE TRADE ROUTES

00:00:46.087 --> 00:00:50.550
THAT BROUGHT TOBACCO, COFFEE,
AND SUGAR INTO THE U.S.

00:00:50.633 --> 00:00:52.844
[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS]

00:00:52.927 --> 00:00:55.513
AS THE NEW CENTURY DAWNED,
MANY MORE LATINOS

00:00:55.597 --> 00:00:58.725
WOULD VENTURE NORTH FROM PLACES
LINKED TO AMERICA BY TRADE

00:00:58.808 --> 00:01:01.436
OR TAKEN BY CONQUEST.

00:01:01.519 --> 00:01:04.439
Man: THIS HUGE LATINO PRESENCE
IN THE UNITED STATES

00:01:04.522 --> 00:01:09.611
IS A DIRECT RESULT OF OUR OWN
NATION'S TERRITORIAL EXPANSION.

00:01:09.694 --> 00:01:12.906
Narrator: TENS OF THOUSANDS
WOULD COME FROM PUERTO RICO...

00:01:12.989 --> 00:01:14.240
[EXPLOSION]

00:01:14.324 --> 00:01:17.702
AN ISLAND ACQUIRED BY WAR
IN 1898.

00:01:17.786 --> 00:01:20.914
THEY WOULD BUILD A COMMUNITY
THAT, IN TIME, WOULD SEE MORE

00:01:20.997 --> 00:01:24.459
PUERTO RICANS IN THE UNITED
STATES, THAN ON THE ISLAND
ITSELF.

00:01:26.085 --> 00:01:29.047
NEARLY ONE MILLION
WOULD COME FROM MEXICO

00:01:29.130 --> 00:01:30.924
FOLLOWING THE TRACKS
THAT BROUGHT SILVER

00:01:31.007 --> 00:01:33.927
AND COPPER TO AMERICA
AND NOW PROVIDED

00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:38.264
THE ONLY ESCAPE
FROM A VIOLENT REVOLUTION.

00:01:38.348 --> 00:01:41.142
JUAN SALVADOR VILLASENOR
SURVIVES THE WAR

00:01:41.226 --> 00:01:44.521
AND ACHIEVES HIS OWN VERSION
OF THE AMERICAN DREAM...

00:01:44.604 --> 00:01:47.440
Man: MY FATHER THOUGHT
THAT THE UNITED STATES

00:01:47.524 --> 00:01:49.776
WAS LIKE PARADISE.

00:01:49.859 --> 00:01:54.197
THERE WAS FOOD FOR EVERYONE,
AND THERE WAS JOBS FOR EVERYONE.

00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:56.157
Narrator: BUT FOR
A MEXICAN-AMERICAN GIRL

00:01:56.241 --> 00:02:00.745
BORN IN LOS ANGELES,
THAT DREAM WOULD BE DENIED.

00:02:00.829 --> 00:02:03.206
EMELIA CASTANEDA AND HER FAMILY
ARE DEPORTED

00:02:03.289 --> 00:02:06.376
ALONG WITH HALF A MILLION
MEXICANS AND MEXICAN-AMERICANS

00:02:06.459 --> 00:02:08.711
DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

00:02:08.795 --> 00:02:11.339
Castaneda: WE HAD A TRUNK,
A BIG TRUNK,

00:02:11.422 --> 00:02:13.174
AND THE FIRST THING MY FATHER
PUT IN THERE

00:02:13.258 --> 00:02:18.638
WAS HIS WORKING TOOLS AND
A COUPLE OF BLANKETS THAT WE HAD

00:02:18.721 --> 00:02:21.474
BECAUSE WE LOST EVERYTHING.

00:02:21.558 --> 00:02:25.979
Man: IT SETS UP A PATTERN
OF WANTING MEXICAN LABOR

00:02:26.062 --> 00:02:28.982
AT TIMES IN WHICH
EMPLOYMENT IS NEEDED,

00:02:29.065 --> 00:02:31.693
AND WANTING PEOPLE TO JUST LEAVE

00:02:31.776 --> 00:02:34.487
WHEN THAT LABOR
IS NO LONGER NEEDED.

00:02:47.250 --> 00:02:50.461
Narrator: HALF A CENTURY AFTER
OTHER LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES

00:02:50.545 --> 00:02:52.881
ACHIEVED THEIR INDEPENDENCE,

00:02:52.964 --> 00:02:55.758
ALL THAT WAS LEFT OF SPAIN'S
VAST AMERICAN EMPIRE

00:02:55.842 --> 00:02:59.178
WERE THE ISLANDS OF CUBA
AND PUERTO RICO.

00:02:59.262 --> 00:03:03.391
IN 1868, ANGERED BY 300 YEARS
OF SPANISH RULE,

00:03:03.474 --> 00:03:06.352
CUBANS ROSE IN REVOLT.

00:03:06.436 --> 00:03:08.813
[MAN SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:03:08.897 --> 00:03:11.232
Narrator:
INSPIRED BY THE UPRISING,

00:03:11.316 --> 00:03:15.695
JOSE MARTI WROTE HIS FIRST POEM
AT AGE 15.

00:03:24.621 --> 00:03:27.707
Woman: MARTI IS A ROMANTIC,
AN IDEALIST

00:03:27.790 --> 00:03:29.292
FROM A VERY YOUNG AGE.

00:03:29.375 --> 00:03:33.087
15, 16 YEARS OLD, HE'S ALREADY
PUBLISHING A NEWSPAPER IN CUBA

00:03:33.171 --> 00:03:36.007
ADVOCATING FOR INDEPENDENCE.

00:03:36.090 --> 00:03:38.593
Narrator: JOSE MARTI
WAS TRIED FOR TREASON

00:03:38.676 --> 00:03:40.303
AND SENTENCED TO FORCED LABOR

00:03:40.386 --> 00:03:43.890
WHEN LETTERS LINKING HIM
TO THE REVOLT WERE FOUND.

00:03:43.973 --> 00:03:47.977
THE CHAINS ATTACHED TO HIS LEGS
LACERATED HIM SO SEVERELY

00:03:48.061 --> 00:03:51.189
THAT HIS MOTHER PLEADED
TO HAVE HER SON RELEASED.

00:03:51.272 --> 00:03:54.192
HE WAS EXILED FROM CUBA.

00:03:57.070 --> 00:04:01.407
FOR 10 YEARS, HE WANDERED
THE WORLD, AND IN 1880,

00:04:01.491 --> 00:04:05.328
THE ASPIRING REVOLUTIONARY
ARRIVED IN NEW YORK.

00:04:07.121 --> 00:04:11.668
Man: MARTI IS VENERATED AS THE
FATHER OF CUBAN INDEPENDENCE,

00:04:11.751 --> 00:04:14.462
A TOWERING FIGURE
OF CUBAN HISTORY.

00:04:14.545 --> 00:04:17.632
HIS STATUS IN LATIN AMERICAN
HAS THIS TREMENDOUS,

00:04:17.715 --> 00:04:20.843
ALMOST DIVINE NATURE,
IN MANY WAYS,

00:04:20.927 --> 00:04:24.305
BUT MARTI, WHEN HE ARRIVES
IN NEW YORK IN 1880,

00:04:24.389 --> 00:04:26.641
IS A 27-YEAR-OLD POET.

00:04:26.724 --> 00:04:28.309
Woman: HE COMES
TO THE UNITED STATES,

00:04:28.393 --> 00:04:31.437
AS MANY REVOLUTIONARIES
FROM THE AMERICAS DID,

00:04:31.521 --> 00:04:34.148
BECAUSE IT WAS
A SAFE PLACE TO PLOT

00:04:34.232 --> 00:04:37.860
FOR THE INDEPENDENCE
OF HIS COUNTRY.

00:04:37.944 --> 00:04:41.030
Man: THE DREAM OF EQUALITY,
THE DREAM OF FREEDOM--

00:04:41.114 --> 00:04:43.950
THAT WAS THE DREAM
OF THE UNITED STATES.

00:04:44.033 --> 00:04:48.037
THAT'S WHAT
DREW HIM TO THE UNITED STATES.

00:04:48.121 --> 00:04:50.039
Man as Marti: I AM AT LAST
IN A COUNTRY

00:04:50.123 --> 00:04:52.750
WHERE EVERYONE LOOKS
LIKE HIS OWN MASTER,

00:04:52.834 --> 00:04:56.546
FREEDOM BEING HERE
THE FOUNDATION, THE SHIELD,

00:04:56.629 --> 00:04:58.631
THE ESSENCE OF LIFE.

00:04:58.715 --> 00:05:02.385
Man: AMERICAN WAS INTELLECTUALLY
FREE, DYNAMIC.

00:05:02.468 --> 00:05:05.013
YOU DIDN'T HAVE SPANISH AGENTS
LOOKING OVER YOUR SHOULDER

00:05:05.096 --> 00:05:07.306
IF YOU WANTED TO PUBLISH
A NEWSPAPER.

00:05:07.390 --> 00:05:11.519
IT WAS A PLACE WHERE MARTI
COULD LOOK OVER THE FENCE

00:05:11.602 --> 00:05:17.150
AND INTO AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW
OF WHAT A SOCIETY COULD BE LIKE.

00:05:18.276 --> 00:05:20.486
Narrator: MARTI WORKED
AS A CORRESPONDENT

00:05:20.570 --> 00:05:22.488
FOR LEADING
SOUTH AMERICAN JOURNALS,

00:05:22.572 --> 00:05:26.242
WRITING ON EVERY ASPECT
OF LIFE IN AMERICA.

00:05:26.325 --> 00:05:30.747
Man: HE REPORTED ON
AN AMAZING NUMBER OF EVENTS.

00:05:30.830 --> 00:05:34.876
HE COVERED THE OPENING
OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE.

00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:38.838
HE COVERED
THE HAYMARKET SQUARE AFFAIR,

00:05:38.921 --> 00:05:42.675
THE EXECUTIONS, LYNCHINGS.

00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:47.638
IT GAVE HIM ENORMOUS INSIGHTS
INTO AMERICAN SOCIETY.

00:05:47.722 --> 00:05:49.849
Narrator: THE RACISM
OF THE ERA OF JIM CROW

00:05:49.932 --> 00:05:51.934
AND THE INEQUITIES
OF NEW YORK CITY

00:05:52.018 --> 00:05:56.981
IN THE AGE OF THE ROBBER BARONS
TRANSFORMED JOSE MARTI.

00:05:57.065 --> 00:06:00.193
ONCE AN ADMIRER
OF THE UNITED STATES,

00:06:00.276 --> 00:06:04.363
HE BEGAN TO LOSE FAITH
IN AMERICA.

00:06:04.447 --> 00:06:07.450
Garcia: HE BECOMES
INCREDIBLY DISILLUSIONED,

00:06:07.533 --> 00:06:10.411
AND HE BEGINS TO REALIZE
THAT THE UNITED STATES

00:06:10.495 --> 00:06:15.375
IS NOT AN APPROPRIATE MODEL
FOR THE CUBA THAT HE ENVISIONS.

00:06:15.458 --> 00:06:18.836
HE ENVISIONS A CUBA
FOR PEOPLE OF ALL RACES,

00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:22.256
OF ALL ECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS.

00:06:22.340 --> 00:06:26.344
Man: IT IS AROUND 1891
THAT HE CHANGES.

00:06:26.427 --> 00:06:29.889
HE IS NO LONGER AN OBSERVER.

00:06:29.972 --> 00:06:33.184
HE NOW BECOMES A FULL-TIME
POLITICAL ACTOR,

00:06:33.267 --> 00:06:36.979
AND THERE IS A SPEECH IN WHICH
HE ESSENTIALLY LAUNCHES THIS,

00:06:37.063 --> 00:06:41.025
AND HE SAYS, "WE ARE NOW GOING
TO GET ON OUR HORSES," RIGHT,

00:06:41.109 --> 00:06:44.070
FIGURATIVELY, OF COURSE, BECAUSE
HE REALLY DIDN'T RIDE A HORSE.

00:06:44.153 --> 00:06:46.864
FIGURATIVELY, HE SAYS,
"WE'RE GONNA GET ON OUR HORSES,

00:06:46.948 --> 00:06:49.867
"AND WE SHALL NOW RIDE,
AND WE SHALL SUMMON

00:06:49.951 --> 00:06:52.703
"ALL OUR STRENGTH TO BE ABLE
TO FINALLY DO

00:06:52.787 --> 00:06:54.497
WHAT WE HAVE TO DO AS CUBANS."

00:06:56.666 --> 00:06:58.292
Narrator:
FROM THE SAFETY OF EXILE,

00:06:58.376 --> 00:07:02.463
MARTI ORGANIZED AN INSURRECTION
AND WENT TO KEY WEST

00:07:02.547 --> 00:07:06.509
AND YBOR CITY NEAR TAMPA,
WHERE 15,000 CUBANS

00:07:06.592 --> 00:07:10.096
HAD SETTLED
AROUND CIGAR FACTORIES.

00:07:10.179 --> 00:07:13.224
Garcia: THE CIGAR WORKERS
WOULD POOL THEIR RESOURCES

00:07:13.307 --> 00:07:16.769
AND HIRE A MAN TO READ TO THEM
DURING THE WORK DAY,

00:07:16.853 --> 00:07:20.815
AND THAT LECTOR, THAT READER,
WOULD READ NEWSPAPERS,

00:07:20.898 --> 00:07:24.152
WOULD READ FROM NOVELS
AND FROM PLAYS.

00:07:24.235 --> 00:07:27.530
SO, CONSEQUENTLY, THE WORKERS
WERE VERY INFORMED PEOPLE

00:07:27.613 --> 00:07:29.657
AND POLITICALLY SAVVY.

00:07:31.117 --> 00:07:33.286
Narrator: CONTRIBUTING
ONE DAY'S PAY EACH WEEK

00:07:33.369 --> 00:07:35.788
TO THE CAUSE OF INDEPENDENCE,
CIGAR WORKERS

00:07:35.872 --> 00:07:39.000
BECAME THE HEART AND SOUL
OF THE REVOLUTION

00:07:39.083 --> 00:07:42.962
AND DEVOTED FOLLOWERS
OF JOSE MARTI.

00:07:44.297 --> 00:07:47.383
"WHAT A MAN,"
OBSERVED ONE WORKER.

00:07:47.466 --> 00:07:51.846
"WITH EACH VISIT, HE LAYS
ONE NEW BRICK TO THE BUILDING."

00:07:51.929 --> 00:07:54.724
MARTI FOUNDED
THE CUBAN REVOLUTIONARY PARTY

00:07:54.807 --> 00:07:59.103
AND PUBLISHED A NEWSPAPER--
"PATRIA."

00:07:59.187 --> 00:08:01.147
ON ITS PAGES,
HE WARNED OF THE THREAT

00:08:01.230 --> 00:08:05.109
HE FELT AMERICA'S GROWING POWER
REPRESENTED FOR LATIN AMERICA.

00:08:08.613 --> 00:08:13.117
Perez: UNLIKE PREVIOUS EMIGRES
WHO HAD TRIED TO LOBBY THE U.S.

00:08:13.201 --> 00:08:17.455
TO ENTER INTO THE CONFLICT,
MARTI DOES NOT WANT

00:08:17.538 --> 00:08:21.876
TO CALL ATTENTION TO THE CAUSE
OF CUBA IN THE U.S.

00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:25.755
Suarez: MARTI BELIEVES THAT
IF LEFT TO ITS OWN DEVICES,

00:08:25.838 --> 00:08:30.259
THE UNITED STATES WOULD BE
AN EXPANSIONIST POWER, AND LOOK.

00:08:30.343 --> 00:08:31.761
HE ISN'T TOO FAR OFF THE MARK.

00:08:31.844 --> 00:08:33.596
TWICE IN THE 19th CENTURY,

00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:36.474
THE UNTIED STATES
TRIES TO BUY CUBA FROM SPAIN.

00:08:38.351 --> 00:08:40.269
Garcia: MARTI KNOWS HIS HISTORY.

00:08:40.353 --> 00:08:43.648
HE SEES WHAT HAS HAPPENED
TO THE PEOPLE OF MEXICAN ORIGIN

00:08:43.731 --> 00:08:46.609
IN THE CONQUERED TERRITORIES
IN THE SOUTHWEST.

00:08:46.692 --> 00:08:49.278
HE SEES HOW,
DESPITE THE PROTECTIONS

00:08:49.362 --> 00:08:52.865
OFFERED BY THE TREATY
OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO,

00:08:52.949 --> 00:08:55.743
THAT THE PEOPLE
IN THIS CONQUERED TERRITORY

00:08:55.826 --> 00:08:57.370
HAVE BECOME
SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS.

00:08:59.705 --> 00:09:01.999
Narrator: BY 1895,

00:09:02.083 --> 00:09:05.211
CUBAN REBELS WERE READY
TO RISE UP.

00:09:05.294 --> 00:09:09.215
MARTI WROTE THE ORDER
FOR THE INSURRECTION TO BEGIN.

00:09:09.298 --> 00:09:13.594
IT WAS SMUGGLED INTO HAVANA
HIDDEN INSIDE A CIGAR.

00:09:16.597 --> 00:09:18.683
IN APRIL, HE SAILED TO CUBA

00:09:18.766 --> 00:09:22.353
WITH A SMALL FORCE OF EXILES
TO COMMAND THE UPRISING.

00:09:25.231 --> 00:09:30.152
ONLY 5 WEEKS AFTER HE ARRIVED,
THE POET WAS KILLED IN BATTLE.

00:09:31.570 --> 00:09:35.324
AN UNFINISHED LETTER
PUBLISHED AFTER HIS DEATH

00:09:35.408 --> 00:09:38.911
WOULD BECOME
HIS MOST IMPORTANT LEGACY.

00:09:38.995 --> 00:09:40.997
Man as Marti:
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:44.750
I AM DAILY IN DANGER OF GIVING
MY LIFE FOR MY COUNTRY AND DUTY,

00:09:44.834 --> 00:09:47.253
THE DUTY OF PREVENTING
THE UNITED STATES

00:09:47.336 --> 00:09:50.131
FROM OVERPOWERING OUR LANDS
WITH ITS MIGHT.

00:09:54.343 --> 00:09:56.929
Narrator: FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS,
CUBAN INSURGENTS

00:09:57.013 --> 00:10:01.058
AND SPANISH SOLDIERS FOUGHT
A FIERCE WAR OF ATTRITION

00:10:01.142 --> 00:10:03.811
90 MILES SOUTH
OF A MIGHTY AMERICAN NATION

00:10:03.894 --> 00:10:06.230
POISED TO BECOME A WORLD POWER.

00:10:06.314 --> 00:10:10.109
Gerstle: AS IT LOOKS ON A WORLD
OF NATIONS THAT IS RUSHING

00:10:10.192 --> 00:10:14.572
TO ACQUIRE COLONIES,
THE UNITED STATES ASKS,

00:10:14.655 --> 00:10:18.409
"SHOULD WE JOIN THIS RACE
FOR EXPANSION?"

00:10:18.492 --> 00:10:20.578
AND ONE SECTOR OF AMERICA SAYS,

00:10:20.661 --> 00:10:24.582
"YES. GREAT NATIONS HAVE
IMPERIAL TERRITORIES,"

00:10:24.665 --> 00:10:27.126
AND THERE IS ANOTHER
GROUP OF AMERICANS

00:10:27.209 --> 00:10:29.754
THAT SAYS, "WELL, NOT SO FAST.

00:10:29.837 --> 00:10:33.424
"THIS NATION WAS BORN TO BE A
NATION OF EQUALITY AND LIBERTY.

00:10:33.507 --> 00:10:36.552
"IT WAS NOT BORN
TO IMPOSE ITS WILL

00:10:36.635 --> 00:10:40.806
AND ITS SOVEREIGNTY
ON UNWILLING PEOPLE."

00:10:40.890 --> 00:10:42.767
Narrator: WITH THE UNITED STATES
NOW EXTENDING

00:10:42.850 --> 00:10:44.685
"FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA,"

00:10:44.769 --> 00:10:46.479
THE EXPANSIONISTS
COVETED THE SCRAPS

00:10:46.562 --> 00:10:50.441
OF THE SPANISH EMPIRE--
THE PHILIPPINES IN THE PACIFIC

00:10:50.524 --> 00:10:53.694
AND IN THE CARIBBEAN,
PUERTO RICO AND CUBA,

00:10:53.778 --> 00:10:56.989
A STRATEGIC ISLAND AT THE
GATEWAY OF THE GULF OF MEXICO

00:10:57.073 --> 00:11:02.286
AND WHERE AMERICANS HAD
$50 MILLION INVESTED IN SUGAR--

00:11:02.370 --> 00:11:05.206
BUT WITH 300,000 SOLDIERS
IN CUBA,

00:11:05.289 --> 00:11:09.043
SPAIN WAS DETERMINED TO HOLD ON
TO THE ISLAND.

00:11:09.126 --> 00:11:12.630
TO CRUSH THE INSURGENCY AND
WEAKEN SUPPORT FOR THE REBELS,

00:11:12.713 --> 00:11:14.382
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CUBANS

00:11:14.465 --> 00:11:17.885
WERE HERDED
INTO CONCENTRATION CAMPS.

00:11:17.968 --> 00:11:21.680
THEIR PLIGHT BECAME DAILY FODDER
FOR WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST

00:11:21.764 --> 00:11:25.101
AND JOSEPH PULITZER,
WHO BEAT THE DRUMS OF WAR

00:11:25.184 --> 00:11:27.853
TO BUILD
THEIR NEWSPAPER EMPIRES.

00:11:29.897 --> 00:11:34.235
Gerstle: WHAT MAKES
THE ENTHUSIASM FOR A WAR IN CUBA

00:11:34.318 --> 00:11:39.281
ALMOST UNANIMOUS IN 1898
IS THAT IT OFFERS A WAY

00:11:39.365 --> 00:11:43.160
FOR THE UNITED STATES TO EXPRESS
BOTH OF ITS IMPULSES--

00:11:43.244 --> 00:11:46.747
THE IMPULSE TO MAKE
A STATEMENT TO THE WORLD,

00:11:46.831 --> 00:11:49.250
"WE ARE AN IMPERIAL POWER,"

00:11:49.333 --> 00:11:51.669
AND ON THE OTHER HAND,
THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAY,

00:11:51.752 --> 00:11:53.921
"WE ARE BRINGING OUR HERITAGE
OF LIBERTY AND FREEDOM

00:11:54.004 --> 00:11:58.092
AND DEMOCRACY
FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT IT."

00:11:58.175 --> 00:12:00.177
Narrator: WITH WAR FEVER
RUNNING HIGH,

00:12:00.261 --> 00:12:03.013
ALL THAT WAS NEEDED
WAS A PRETEXT.

00:12:03.097 --> 00:12:06.434
ON FEBRUARY 15, 1898...

00:12:06.517 --> 00:12:07.893
[EXPLOSION]

00:12:07.977 --> 00:12:09.603
IN HAVANA HARBOR,

00:12:09.687 --> 00:12:12.189
AN EXPLOSION DESTROYED
AN AMERICAN BATTLESHIP,

00:12:12.273 --> 00:12:17.611
THE USS MAINE,
KILLING 266 MEN ON BOARD.

00:12:17.695 --> 00:12:21.657
EVEN THOUGH REPORTS ON THE CAUSE
WERE CONFLICTING,

00:12:21.740 --> 00:12:24.160
PRESIDENT WILLIAM McKINLEY
ASKED CONGRESS

00:12:24.243 --> 00:12:26.662
TO DECLARE WAR ON SPAIN.

00:12:30.416 --> 00:12:35.337
U.S. FORCES LANDED
IN THE PHILIPPINES AND CUBA.

00:12:35.421 --> 00:12:39.842
FROM CUBA CAME IMAGES
OF AMERICAN HEROICS.

00:12:39.925 --> 00:12:42.803
THEODORE ROOSEVELT AT THE HEAD
OF HIS ROUGH RIDERS

00:12:42.887 --> 00:12:47.266
CAPTURED SAN JUAN HILL AND THE
AMERICAN PUBLIC'S IMAGINATION.

00:12:49.643 --> 00:12:51.520
"A SPLENDID, LITTLE WAR,"

00:12:51.604 --> 00:12:54.148
SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN HAY
CALLED IT.

00:12:54.231 --> 00:12:57.735
THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR LASTED
A MERE 13 WEEKS.

00:12:59.528 --> 00:13:02.823
WHEN THE U.S. NAVY
DESTROYED THE SPANISH FLEET,

00:13:02.907 --> 00:13:05.826
SPAIN SURRENDERED.

00:13:05.910 --> 00:13:10.372
THE AMERICAN ARMY ENTERED
SANTIAGO DE CUBA AS LIBERATORS

00:13:10.456 --> 00:13:15.920
WHILE THE CUBAN REBEL ARMY WAS
FORCED TO WAIT OUTSIDE THE CITY.

00:13:16.003 --> 00:13:17.755
Gerstle: THE STORY IS TOLD
IN AMERICA

00:13:17.838 --> 00:13:20.216
THAT THE CUBANS
ARE A LOT LIKE US.

00:13:20.299 --> 00:13:22.426
THEY ARE TRYING
TO FREE THEMSELVES

00:13:22.510 --> 00:13:24.803
FROM AN OPPRESSIVE
COLONIAL POWER.

00:13:24.887 --> 00:13:26.847
AS THEY'RE IMAGINING
THEY'RE LIKE US,

00:13:26.931 --> 00:13:30.809
THEY'RE IMAGINING THEM AS WHITE,

00:13:30.893 --> 00:13:34.522
BUT THE CUBAN ALLIES TURN OUT BE
MOSTLY BLACK,

00:13:34.605 --> 00:13:37.858
AND THIS WAS CONFOUNDING
AND UPSETTING

00:13:37.942 --> 00:13:40.778
BECAUSE IN THEIR OWN SOCIETY,
AMERICANS ARE SAYING

00:13:40.861 --> 00:13:44.281
THINGS LIKE, "WHITES ARE FIT
FOR LIBERTY AND SELF-RULE.

00:13:44.365 --> 00:13:46.617
BLACKS ARE NOT."

00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:48.285
Narrator:
THE HEAD OF U.S. FORCES

00:13:48.369 --> 00:13:50.412
GENERAL WILLIAM SCHAFTER,
REMARKED,

00:13:50.496 --> 00:13:53.123
"THESE PEOPLE ARE NO MORE FIT
FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT

00:13:53.207 --> 00:13:55.584
THAN GUNPOWDER IS FOR HELL,"

00:13:55.668 --> 00:13:59.797
Garcia: THE FINAL INSULT COMES
IN DECEMBER 1898,

00:13:59.880 --> 00:14:02.716
WHEN REPRESENTATIVES OF
THE UNITED STATES AND OF SPAIN

00:14:02.800 --> 00:14:08.013
SIT DOWN TO NEGOTIATE THE END OF
THE WAR AND THE SPOILS OF WAR.

00:14:08.097 --> 00:14:11.850
THE PEOPLE WHOSE DESTINIES
WILL BE DETERMINED,

00:14:11.934 --> 00:14:15.437
THE CUBANOS, THE PUERTORIQUENOS,
THE FILIPINOS--

00:14:15.521 --> 00:14:20.859
NONE OF THEM ARE INVITED TO
TAKE PART IN THESE DISCUSSIONS.

00:14:20.943 --> 00:14:23.904
Narrator: THE PHILIPPINES, CUBA,
AND PUERTO RICO

00:14:23.988 --> 00:14:28.242
WERE NOW UNDER U.S. CONTROL.

00:14:28.325 --> 00:14:32.246
AFTER 4 YEARS OF AMERICAN
MILITARY OCCUPATION,

00:14:32.329 --> 00:14:35.416
CUBA BECAME INDEPENDENT.

00:14:35.499 --> 00:14:38.877
IN 1898, BEFORE WAR
HAD BEEN DECLARED,

00:14:38.961 --> 00:14:41.547
JOSE MARTI'S,
REVOLUTIONARY PARTY

00:14:41.630 --> 00:14:44.633
HAD STRUCK A DEAL
WITH THE U.S. CONGRESS.

00:14:44.717 --> 00:14:46.510
IN EXCHANGE FOR THE REBEL'S
COOPERATION

00:14:46.594 --> 00:14:48.804
WITH THE U.S. MILITARY
INTERVENTION,

00:14:48.887 --> 00:14:51.890
THE UNITED STATES
PROMISED TO LEAVE CUBA

00:14:51.974 --> 00:14:54.602
AT THE END OF THE WAR.

00:14:54.685 --> 00:14:56.854
Garcia: THE AMERICANS
HAD COMMITTED THEMSELVES

00:14:56.937 --> 00:15:00.190
TO LEAVING CUBANS TO THEIR OWN
POLITICAL AUTHORITY,

00:15:00.274 --> 00:15:01.984
AND SO THEY DO THAT.

00:15:02.067 --> 00:15:03.611
THEY HONOR THOSE TERMS,

00:15:03.694 --> 00:15:05.904
BUT THEY LEAVE IN PLACE
THE PLATT AMENDMENT,

00:15:05.988 --> 00:15:09.033
WHICH THE CUBANS
RELUCTANTLY AGREE TO.

00:15:09.116 --> 00:15:12.578
AMERICANS SAY THAT THEY WILL
INTERVENE IN CUBAN AFFAIRS

00:15:12.661 --> 00:15:14.997
IF THEY FEEL
THAT CUBAN INDEPENDENCE

00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:16.707
OR CUBAN SOVEREIGNTY
IS THREATENED,

00:15:16.790 --> 00:15:20.085
AND THEY EXERCISE THAT RIGHT
TO INTERVENE IN CUBAN AFFAIRS

00:15:20.169 --> 00:15:22.880
ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS.

00:15:25.507 --> 00:15:27.718
Narrator: IN PUERTO RICO,
THE UNITED STATES

00:15:27.801 --> 00:15:31.221
TOOK OVER THE ISLAND
AND NEVER LEFT.

00:15:31.305 --> 00:15:36.477
Suarez: PUERTO RICO IS AN
ACCIDENTAL IMPERIAL INHERITANCE

00:15:36.560 --> 00:15:38.854
OF THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR.

00:15:38.937 --> 00:15:41.732
NOBODY WENT TO WAR
TO OWN PUERTO RICO.

00:15:41.815 --> 00:15:44.902
BASICALLY, WE JUST SEND A BUNCH
OF AMERICAN OFFICE HOLDERS

00:15:44.985 --> 00:15:48.197
AND GENERALS DOWN
TO RUN THE PLACE.

00:15:48.280 --> 00:15:49.948
Man: ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS
THE GOVERNMENT DID

00:15:50.032 --> 00:15:52.326
WAS CHANGE THE LANGUAGE
OF INSTRUCTION

00:15:52.409 --> 00:15:55.204
IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
OF PUERTO RICO TO ENGLISH.

00:15:55.287 --> 00:15:57.206
KIDS IN PUERTO RICO
WERE LEARNING

00:15:57.289 --> 00:15:59.625
ABOUT GEORGE WASHINGTON
AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN,

00:15:59.708 --> 00:16:01.543
BUT WHAT THEY WERE NOT LEARNING,

00:16:01.627 --> 00:16:04.213
ABOUT THE HISTORY
OF THEIR OWN ISLAND.

00:16:04.296 --> 00:16:07.758
Narrator: BENIGN ASSIMILATION,
AS THE POLICY WAS CALLED,

00:16:07.841 --> 00:16:11.470
WAS ACCOMPANIED BY REAL
IMPROVEMENTS TO THE ISLAND,

00:16:11.553 --> 00:16:16.100
AS THE AMERICANS BUILT
ROADS, HOSPITALS, SEWERS.

00:16:17.726 --> 00:16:21.438
U.S. COMPANIES
INVESTED MILLIONS IN SUGAR,

00:16:21.522 --> 00:16:24.817
CREATING THOUSANDS OF JOBS.

00:16:24.900 --> 00:16:28.028
Garcia: THAT HELPS TO FOSTER
A SENSE OF OPTIMISM

00:16:28.112 --> 00:16:31.782
ABOUT WHAT LIFE MIGHT LOOK LIKE
UNDER AMERICAN RULE,

00:16:31.865 --> 00:16:34.326
BUT PUERTO RICANS
ALSO COME TO REALIZE

00:16:34.410 --> 00:16:38.914
THAT THEY OCCUPY
A VERY AMBIGUOUS STATUS.

00:16:38.997 --> 00:16:41.500
Man: PUERTO RICANS
HAD NO VOTE IN THE CONGRESS,

00:16:41.583 --> 00:16:43.585
OBVIOUSLY NO SENATORS.

00:16:43.669 --> 00:16:46.922
THE GOVERNORS WERE SENT
BY THE PRESIDENT, AND CONGRESS

00:16:47.005 --> 00:16:50.008
ESSENTIALLY DICTATED THE AFFAIRS
OF THE ISLAND,

00:16:50.092 --> 00:16:53.053
AND CONGRESS WAS NOT
OF A MIND TO EITHER

00:16:53.137 --> 00:16:57.141
GRANT PUERTO RICO INDEPENDENCE
OR GRANT IT STATEHOOD.

00:16:57.224 --> 00:16:59.351
Narrator: ONE PROMINENT
PUERTO RICAN,

00:16:59.435 --> 00:17:02.229
LUIS MUNOZ RIVERA,
APPEALED TO THE U.S.

00:17:02.312 --> 00:17:05.691
TO DEFINE THE STATUS
OF PUERTO RICO.

00:17:05.774 --> 00:17:07.901
"[WE ARE] A PEOPLE
WITHOUT A COUNTRY,

00:17:07.985 --> 00:17:11.280
"A FLAG, ALMOST WITHOUT A NAME.

00:17:11.363 --> 00:17:14.116
"WHO ARE WE? WHAT ARE WE?

00:17:14.199 --> 00:17:18.454
ARE WE CITIZENS,
OR ARE WE SUBJECTS?"

00:17:18.537 --> 00:17:22.458
CONGRESS TOOK ONE STEP TOWARD
CLARIFYING THE QUESTION,

00:17:22.541 --> 00:17:27.171
GRANTING PUERTO RICANS
U.S. CITIZENSHIP IN 1917,

00:17:27.254 --> 00:17:31.383
BUT THEY WOULD ENJOY
ONLY LIMITED RIGHTS.

00:17:31.467 --> 00:17:32.885
THEY WOULD HAVE
NO REPRESENTATION

00:17:32.968 --> 00:17:34.803
IN THE U.S. CONGRESS

00:17:34.887 --> 00:17:37.890
AND COULD NOT ELECT
THEIR OWN GOVERNOR.

00:17:37.973 --> 00:17:43.020
WHAT THEY COULD DO WAS TRAVEL
FREELY TO THE UNITED STATES.

00:17:43.103 --> 00:17:46.023
THEY CAME ABOARD THE COAMO,

00:17:46.106 --> 00:17:47.691
THE BORINQUEN.

00:17:47.775 --> 00:17:50.319
THEY CAME TO WORK IN THE TOBACCO
AND ROPE FACTORIES

00:17:50.402 --> 00:17:53.697
AND DOCK YARDS OF NEW YORK CITY.

00:17:53.781 --> 00:17:55.365
Woman: IN SOME FAMILIES,

00:17:55.449 --> 00:17:57.117
THERE WERE COLLECTIONS
THAT WERE TAKEN

00:17:57.201 --> 00:17:59.995
SO THAT ONE MEMBER OF THE FAMILY
COULD MIGRATE.

00:18:00.078 --> 00:18:03.207
THOSE DECISIONS
WERE NOT MADE LIGHTLY

00:18:03.290 --> 00:18:08.170
BECAUSE IT COST ABOUT $25, WHICH
WAS AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY.

00:18:08.253 --> 00:18:10.756
Narrator: BERNARDO VEGA,
A CIGAR ROLLER

00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:12.883
FROM THE MOUNTAINS
OF PUERTO RICO,

00:18:12.966 --> 00:18:15.344
WAS A PASSENGER ON THE COAMO.

00:18:15.427 --> 00:18:17.846
Man as Vega: THE OVERRIDING
THEME OF OUR CONVERSATIONS

00:18:17.930 --> 00:18:21.683
ON THE SHIP WAS WHAT WE EXPECTED
TO FIND IN NEW YORK CITY.

00:18:21.767 --> 00:18:25.729
FIRST SAVINGS WOULD BE
FOR SENDING FOR CLOSE RELATIVES.

00:18:25.813 --> 00:18:27.731
YEARS LATER, THE TIME WOULD COME

00:18:27.815 --> 00:18:30.442
TO RETURN HOME
WITH POTS OF MONEY.

00:18:30.526 --> 00:18:34.947
EVERYONE'S MIND WAS ON THAT FARM
WE WOULD BE BUYING.

00:18:35.030 --> 00:18:37.366
Karoll: IT TRUE OF EVERY GROUP

00:18:37.449 --> 00:18:40.744
WHO HAS EVER MADE THE VOYAGE
FROM PUERTO RICO.

00:18:40.828 --> 00:18:43.413
THE INTENTION IS ALWAYS,
IT'S GOING TO BE THE MOVE

00:18:43.497 --> 00:18:45.874
THAT'S GOING TO BETTER
THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES,

00:18:45.958 --> 00:18:50.420
BUT IN THE LONG RUN, THEY'RE
ALWAYS GOING TO COME BACK HOME,

00:18:50.504 --> 00:18:54.925
AND THE SAD PART ABOUT IT IS
THAT THEY ALMOST NEVER DO.

00:18:55.008 --> 00:18:56.677
THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE CHILDREN,

00:18:56.760 --> 00:18:59.847
AND THEIR CHILDREN
ARE GOING TO HAVE FAMILIES,

00:18:59.930 --> 00:19:02.182
AND THEY ARE GOING
TO BE ROOTED HERE.

00:19:04.601 --> 00:19:08.230
Narrator: BY 1920,
MORE THAN 10,000 PUERTO RICANS

00:19:08.313 --> 00:19:10.732
HAD SETTLED IN NEW YORK--
IN BROOKLYN,

00:19:10.816 --> 00:19:14.528
THE LOWER EAST SIDE,
AND EAST HARLEM--EL BARRIO.

00:19:16.613 --> 00:19:20.117
BERNARDO VEGA GOT A JOB
AS A CIGAR WORKER,

00:19:20.200 --> 00:19:22.411
MARRIED, AND HAD TWO CHILDREN.

00:19:22.494 --> 00:19:25.330
HE WOULD NEVER GET THE FARM
OF HIS DREAMS BACK HOME,

00:19:25.414 --> 00:19:27.791
BUT HE HELPED PIONEER
WHAT WOULD, IN TIME, BECOME

00:19:27.875 --> 00:19:30.711
A NATION ON TWO SHORES,
WITH MORE PUERTO RICANS

00:19:30.794 --> 00:19:34.506
IN NEW YORK THAN ON THE ISLAND
OF PUERTO RICO.

00:19:43.432 --> 00:19:45.976
PUERTO RICANS WERE BUT
A FRACTION OF LATINOS

00:19:46.059 --> 00:19:49.396
COMING TO THE UNITED STATES
IN THE EARLY 1900s.

00:19:49.479 --> 00:19:52.149
NEARLY ONE MILLION
CAME FROM MEXICO,

00:19:52.232 --> 00:19:55.152
ESCAPING THE VIOLENCE
OF REVOLUTION.

00:19:55.235 --> 00:19:57.779
[GUNFIRE]

00:20:02.576 --> 00:20:05.996
Man: MY FATHER GREW UP
IN THIS LITTLE VILLAGE

00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:10.208
IN THE MOUNTAINS OF JALISCO
IN THE MIDDLE OF MEXICO,

00:20:10.292 --> 00:20:13.587
AND HE SAID THEY HAD
CHICKENS AND GOATS

00:20:13.670 --> 00:20:18.508
AND DIRT FLOORS, AND THEY HAD
HORSES AND CATTLE.

00:20:18.592 --> 00:20:20.218
[GUNFIRE]

00:20:20.302 --> 00:20:26.350
Narrator: THEN IN 1914, WAR CAME
TO ALTOS DE JALISCO, MEXICO.

00:20:26.433 --> 00:20:30.771
AND JUST LIKE THAT,
EVERYTHING WAS GONE.

00:20:32.147 --> 00:20:35.859
Villasenor: ALL HIS BROTHERS
AND SISTERS WERE SLAUGHTERED.

00:20:35.943 --> 00:20:41.240
ALL THAT WAS LEFT
WAS THIS 11-YEAR-OLD KID

00:20:41.323 --> 00:20:45.160
AND ONE SISTER THAT WAS 13
AND ANOTHER SISTER

00:20:45.243 --> 00:20:48.205
THAT HER HUSBAND HAD BEEN KILLED
AT THE DINNER TABLE...

00:20:50.249 --> 00:20:53.585
AND MY FATHER SAID
THAT WHEN HIS FATHER

00:20:53.669 --> 00:20:56.254
CAME BACK FROM
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA,

00:20:56.338 --> 00:21:00.175
WHERE HE'D GONE FOR A YEAR
TO WORK ON A HORSE RANCH,

00:21:00.259 --> 00:21:01.969
HE SAW ALL THE CATTLE
HAD BEEN STOLEN.

00:21:02.052 --> 00:21:05.305
ALL THE HORSES HAD BEEN TAKEN.

00:21:05.389 --> 00:21:09.267
ALMOST ALL HIS SONS
HAD BEEN KILLED,

00:21:09.351 --> 00:21:11.937
AND HE STARTED SCREAMING,
"IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD.

00:21:12.020 --> 00:21:15.732
"GOD HAS FORSAKEN US," AND
HE STARTED DRINKING AND DIED.

00:21:17.818 --> 00:21:20.278
ON THE OTHER HAND,
MI CHAPARRITA,

00:21:20.362 --> 00:21:22.239
MY GRANDMOTHER FROM OAXACA,

00:21:22.322 --> 00:21:26.034
SHE SAW THE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES,
AND SHE DIDN'T FALL APART.

00:21:26.118 --> 00:21:29.371
SHE SAID, "MANANA ES OTRO
MILAGRO DE DIOS,"

00:21:29.454 --> 00:21:31.790
"TOMORROW IS ANOTHER MIRACLE
FROM GOD,"

00:21:31.873 --> 00:21:34.751
"Y CON EL FAVOR DE DIOS,"
"AND WITH THE BLESSING OF GOD,

00:21:34.835 --> 00:21:37.087
WE WILL SURVIVE,"

00:21:37.170 --> 00:21:40.590
AND THEY LEFT
THE MOUNTAINS OF JALISCO.

00:21:43.301 --> 00:21:45.512
Narrator: THE FAMILY
HEADED DOWN TO LEON,

00:21:45.595 --> 00:21:48.307
TO THE VALLEY OF GUANAJUATO.

00:21:48.390 --> 00:21:51.309
LIKE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF OTHER MEXICANS,

00:21:51.393 --> 00:21:54.980
THEY WENT IN SEARCH OF A TRAIN
THAT WOULD TAKE THEM NORTH.

00:21:55.063 --> 00:21:58.608
AWAY FROM THE WAR
THAT NOW CONSUMED MEXICO.

00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:04.740
[GUNFIRE]

00:22:06.158 --> 00:22:09.202
THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION
BEGAN IN 1910

00:22:09.286 --> 00:22:12.956
AS A REVOLT AGAINST
PRESIDENT PORFIRIO DIAZ.

00:22:13.040 --> 00:22:16.668
DIAZ RULED MEXICO FOR 35 YEARS,

00:22:16.752 --> 00:22:19.838
RELYING ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT
TO TRANSFORM THE NATION.

00:22:19.921 --> 00:22:23.925
Woman: HE ATTRACTED
CONSIDERABLE FOREIGN INVESTMENT

00:22:24.009 --> 00:22:26.762
FROM EUROPE
AND FROM THE UNITED STATES.

00:22:26.845 --> 00:22:29.181
Narrator:
U.S. COMPANIES INVESTED

00:22:29.264 --> 00:22:33.560
NEARLY $2 BILLION IN MEXICO
IN MINING,

00:22:33.643 --> 00:22:35.812
COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE,
AND IN THE RAILROADS

00:22:35.896 --> 00:22:38.648
THAT CARRIED SILVER,
COFFEE, AND OIL NORTH

00:22:38.732 --> 00:22:43.653
AND BROUGHT SOUTH THE MACHINERY
THAT BUILT MODERN MEXICO.

00:22:43.737 --> 00:22:46.448
Ruiz: PORFIRIO DIAZ IS CREDITED

00:22:46.531 --> 00:22:52.996
WITH THE MODERNIZATION
OF MEXICO, BUT AT WHAT COST?

00:22:53.080 --> 00:22:55.373
THERE IS RISING POVERTY.

00:22:55.457 --> 00:23:01.046
HISTORIANS ESTIMATE THAT 90%
OF MEXICANS WERE LANDLESS.

00:23:01.129 --> 00:23:04.382
RURAL PEOPLE WERE KICKED OFF
THEIR SMALL LAND HOLDINGS

00:23:04.466 --> 00:23:06.551
TO MAKE WAY
FOR THIS CONCENTRATION

00:23:06.635 --> 00:23:10.055
OF CORPORATE AGRICULTURE.

00:23:10.138 --> 00:23:14.059
Narrator: PORFIRIO DIAZ
HAD PROMISED TO STEP DOWN,

00:23:14.142 --> 00:23:20.357
BUT IN 1910, HE DECLARED HIMSELF
PRESIDENT FOR ONE MORE TERM.

00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:25.737
HIS OPPONENT FRANCISCO MADERO
CALLED FOR AN INSURRECTION.

00:23:25.821 --> 00:23:28.740
IN THE SOUTH ROSE
EMILIANO ZAPATA

00:23:28.824 --> 00:23:32.994
AND HIS ARMY
OF LANDLESS PEASANTS.

00:23:33.078 --> 00:23:35.580
IN THE NORTH,
THE DASHING PANCHO VILLA

00:23:35.664 --> 00:23:39.835
BECAME THE FACE
OF THE REBELLION.

00:23:39.918 --> 00:23:42.087
THE TRAINS THAT ONCE LINKED
THE MEXICAN ECONOMY

00:23:42.170 --> 00:23:44.423
TO THE UNITED STATES NOW CARRIED

00:23:44.506 --> 00:23:47.217
THE ARMIES
OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION...

00:23:50.470 --> 00:23:53.098
AND AS THE FIGHTING
ENGULFED MEXICO,

00:23:53.181 --> 00:23:55.725
THE TRACKS RUNNING NORTH
PROVIDED THE ONLY MEANS

00:23:55.809 --> 00:23:58.812
OF ESCAPE FOR ALMOST
ONE MILLION MEXICANS,

00:23:58.895 --> 00:24:02.566
WHO WALKED FOR MILES,
SOMETIMES WAITING WEEKS,

00:24:02.649 --> 00:24:04.860
FOR THE OCCASIONAL EMPTY TRAIN.

00:24:06.945 --> 00:24:09.823
Ruiz: FROM 1/10 TO 1/8
OF MEXICO'S POPULATION,

00:24:09.906 --> 00:24:13.994
AN ESTIMATED ONE MILLION,
PERISHED IN THE REVOLUTION.

00:24:14.077 --> 00:24:17.247
ABOUT THE SAME NUMBER
WENT NORTH.

00:24:17.330 --> 00:24:19.916
Narrator: THE VILLASENORS
MADE THEIR WAY

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:21.877
TOWARD THE UNITED STATES

00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:26.631
AND HEADED RIGHT INTO THE WORST
OF THE FIGHTING.

00:24:26.715 --> 00:24:30.635
Villasenor: FIGHTING
WAS GOING ON ALL AROUND THEM,

00:24:30.719 --> 00:24:36.183
AND MY FATHER SAID THAT EVEN
AFTER A DAY OF SLAUGHTER,

00:24:36.266 --> 00:24:39.227
HIS MOTHER WOULD HAVE THEM
ALL KNEEL DOWN

00:24:39.311 --> 00:24:42.105
AND THANK GOD THEY HAD SURVIVED,

00:24:42.189 --> 00:24:44.691
AND IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE
ANYTHING TO EAT,

00:24:44.774 --> 00:24:47.277
SHE'D GET LITTLE, ROUND
RIVER ROCKS

00:24:47.360 --> 00:24:48.904
AND HAVE THEM SUCK ON THEM.

00:24:54.534 --> 00:24:58.997
WHEN THE MOON CAME UP,
IN THE MEXICAN-INDIAN CULTURE,

00:24:59.080 --> 00:25:02.959
THAT'S THE LEFT EYE OF GOD,

00:25:03.043 --> 00:25:05.462
AND THEN THE STARS
ARE OUR FAMILY

00:25:05.545 --> 00:25:08.548
BECAUSE WE COME FROM THE STARS,

00:25:08.632 --> 00:25:10.926
AND SHE'D POINT TO THE STARS

00:25:11.009 --> 00:25:14.262
AND SAY, "THAT'S
YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER THIS,"

00:25:14.346 --> 00:25:16.973
AND, "THIS IS YOUR UNCLE
THIS AND THIS."

00:25:17.057 --> 00:25:19.184
MY FATHER SAID

00:25:19.267 --> 00:25:22.979
THAT IF IT WASN'T FOR HIS
MOTHER'S INDESTRUCTIBLE FAITH,

00:25:23.063 --> 00:25:26.816
THEY WOULD HAVE DIED
OVER AND OVER AND OVER

00:25:26.900 --> 00:25:29.736
ON THEIR JOURNEY NORTH.

00:25:32.280 --> 00:25:35.033
Narrator: MIDWAY BETWEEN
THE MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL MEXICO

00:25:35.116 --> 00:25:37.744
AND THE BORDER
OF THE UNITED STATES,

00:25:37.827 --> 00:25:40.580
JUAN SALVADOR NO LONGER YEARNED
FOR THE LIFE HE'D KNOWN

00:25:40.664 --> 00:25:43.166
IN ALTOS DE JALISCO.

00:25:43.250 --> 00:25:45.669
Villasenor: MY FATHER THOUGHT
THAT THE UNITED STATES

00:25:45.752 --> 00:25:49.422
WOULD BE LIKE PARADISE,
LIKE THEIR LITTLE PARADISE

00:25:49.506 --> 00:25:52.092
THAT THEY'D HAD
IN THE MOUNTAINS OF JALISCO

00:25:52.175 --> 00:25:56.471
WAS NOTHING COMPARED TO THE
PARADISE OF THE UNITED STATES,

00:25:56.554 --> 00:26:00.475
AND THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT ONCE
YOU CROSS THE RIO GRANDE RIVER

00:26:00.558 --> 00:26:03.520
IN TEXAS, THAT THERE
WAS FOOD FOR EVERYONE

00:26:03.603 --> 00:26:05.981
AND THERE WAS JOBS FOR EVERYONE

00:26:06.064 --> 00:26:11.027
AND THAT THE PEOPLE
ACTUALLY GOT FAT.

00:26:11.111 --> 00:26:14.531
HE COULDN'T IMAGINE
SUCH A THING.

00:26:18.827 --> 00:26:22.998
Narrator: FINALLY ONE DAY,
A TRAIN CAME, A CATTLE TRAIN

00:26:23.081 --> 00:26:27.877
FILLED WITH MANURE BUT
ALSO FILLED WITH POSSIBILITIES.

00:26:39.556 --> 00:26:42.684
Villasenor: WHEN MY FATHER
AND HIS FAMILY FINALLY GOT

00:26:42.767 --> 00:26:46.354
TO THE AMERICAN BORDER
ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE

00:26:46.438 --> 00:26:48.773
FROM EL PASO, TEXAS,

00:26:48.857 --> 00:26:51.985
IT WASN'T ANYTHING
LIKE THEY EXPECTED.

00:26:52.068 --> 00:26:54.070
THERE WAS NOTHING, JUST SAND,

00:26:54.154 --> 00:26:59.200
AND THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE TRYING TO GET ACROSS.

00:26:59.284 --> 00:27:04.497
Ruiz: EL PASO WAS
THE ELLIS ISLAND FOR MEXICANOS.

00:27:04.581 --> 00:27:06.541
IF YOU ARE A STRAPPING YOUNG MAN

00:27:06.624 --> 00:27:09.336
AND YOU'RE COMING ACROSS
THAT STANTON STREET BRIDGE,

00:27:09.419 --> 00:27:14.924
THERE WOULD BE RECRUITERS
FROM PENNSYLVANIA, FROM IDAHO,

00:27:15.008 --> 00:27:19.262
FROM UTAH, FROM COLORADO,
FROM CALIFORNIA, ALL OVER,

00:27:19.346 --> 00:27:24.017
WANTING YOUR LABOR,
BIDDING FOR YOUR LABOR.

00:27:24.100 --> 00:27:28.271
Man: IT'S NOT JUST THE MEXICAN
REVOLUTION FORCING PEOPLE OUT.

00:27:28.355 --> 00:27:31.232
THE EXODUS, IF YOU WILL, IT'S
PROPELLED BY THE REVOLUTION,

00:27:31.316 --> 00:27:33.693
BUT IT BEGAN BEFORE THAT.

00:27:33.777 --> 00:27:36.279
IT HAS TO DO WITH
THE GREAT LABOR DEMAND

00:27:36.363 --> 00:27:40.742
FOR THE BOOMING AGRICULTURAL
ECONOMY OF THE SOUTHWEST.

00:27:40.825 --> 00:27:42.911
THIS IS WHEN
THE GREAT AQUEDUCTS

00:27:42.994 --> 00:27:44.996
IN CALIFORNIA ARE BUILT.

00:27:45.080 --> 00:27:49.542
THIS IS WHEN THE CENTRAL VALLEY
TOWNS IN CALIFORNIA ARE FOUNDED.

00:27:49.626 --> 00:27:51.753
SAME THING IS HAPPENING
IN TEXAS.

00:27:51.836 --> 00:27:54.422
YOU HAVE THESE DESERT LANDS
BEING RECLAIMED

00:27:54.506 --> 00:27:57.050
AND BEING FARMED.

00:27:57.133 --> 00:28:00.428
Ruiz: SO THERE WAS THIS SORT
OF IMPETUS THAT THERE WERE JOBS,

00:28:00.512 --> 00:28:03.264
BUT IF YOU'RE A WOMAN,
IT'S GOING TO BE HARDER FOR YOU

00:28:03.348 --> 00:28:06.184
TO GET ACROSS THAT BORDER
BECAUSE, IT WAS LIKE,

00:28:06.267 --> 00:28:08.395
"WELL, WHO'S GOING
TO SUPPORT YOU?

00:28:08.478 --> 00:28:10.980
ARE YOU LIABLE TO BECOME
A PUBLIC CHARGE?"

00:28:15.026 --> 00:28:17.362
Narrator: FOR MONTHS,
THE VILLASENOR FAMILY

00:28:17.445 --> 00:28:20.698
CAMPED NEAR THE BORDER
IN CIUDAD JUAREZ,

00:28:20.782 --> 00:28:24.619
GOING HUNGRY,
SLEEPING ON THE STREETS,

00:28:24.702 --> 00:28:30.208
WAITING FOR AN OPPORTUNITY
TO CROSS INTO THE UNITED STATES.

00:28:30.291 --> 00:28:33.878
Villasenor: ONE DAY,
THEY NOTICED THAT THE ANTS

00:28:33.962 --> 00:28:35.547
HAVE GONE UNDERGROUND.

00:28:35.630 --> 00:28:38.925
SO THEY KNEW
THAT A SANDSTORM WAS COMING,

00:28:39.008 --> 00:28:43.054
AND THE SAND STARTED BLOWING,

00:28:43.138 --> 00:28:47.058
BUT IT DIDN'T BLOW JUST
FOR ONE AFTERNOON OR SOMETHING.

00:28:47.142 --> 00:28:50.770
IT KEPT BLOWING AND BLOWING
AND GETTING LARGER, LARGER,

00:28:50.854 --> 00:28:55.525
AND FINALLY, IT'S GETTING DARK,
BLACK FROM SANDSTORM,

00:28:55.608 --> 00:28:59.279
AND SAND CAN ACTUALLY
TAKE YOUR SKIN OFF YOUR BODY...

00:29:02.991 --> 00:29:06.077
AND HE SAID THIS IS WHEN
THE POWER OF HIS MOTHER

00:29:06.161 --> 00:29:11.749
CAME THROUGH AS HE'D NEVER SEEN
ANYTHING BEFORE.

00:29:11.833 --> 00:29:14.502
SHE SAID,
"NO NOS VAMOS A MORIR."

00:29:14.586 --> 00:29:18.673
"WE ARE NOT GOING TO DIE."

00:29:18.756 --> 00:29:23.178
AND THEN ON THIRD DAY,
THE SANDSTORM STOPPED,

00:29:23.261 --> 00:29:25.722
AND THERE WAS BLUE SKY...

00:29:28.766 --> 00:29:30.643
AND HE SAID THAT THAT'S WHEN

00:29:30.727 --> 00:29:34.856
HE TOOK AN OATH THAT HE WAS
GOING TO MAKE MONEY.

00:29:34.939 --> 00:29:37.734
HE WAS GOING TO GET RICH,
AND HE WAS GO TO BE ABLE

00:29:37.817 --> 00:29:40.069
TO TAKE CARE OF HIS MOTHER,
AND HE WAS GOING TO BE ABLE

00:29:40.153 --> 00:29:42.155
TO TAKE CARE OF HIS SISTERS.

00:29:44.365 --> 00:29:49.120
AT THAT POINT, HE CHANGED
FROM BEING A LITTLE BOY

00:29:49.204 --> 00:29:53.458
DEPENDING ON HIS MOTHER
TO BECOMING A MAN WHO

00:29:53.541 --> 00:29:56.461
IS GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
FOR HIS FAMILY,

00:29:56.544 --> 00:30:00.924
AND BY THIS TIME,
HE WAS ABOUT 13 YEARS OLD.

00:30:04.260 --> 00:30:07.805
Narrator: CROSSING THE RIO
GRANDE FROM JUAREZ INTO EL PASO,

00:30:07.889 --> 00:30:10.141
JUAN SALVADOR
WAS NOW STRONG ENOUGH

00:30:10.225 --> 00:30:12.977
TO BE OF INTEREST TO RECRUITERS.

00:30:13.061 --> 00:30:15.939
HE GOT A JOB IN ARIZONA
AT THE QUEEN MINE COMPANY

00:30:16.022 --> 00:30:18.316
DIGGING FOR COPPER.

00:30:18.399 --> 00:30:20.068
Gerstle: THIS IS A TIME
WHEN THE UNITED STATES

00:30:20.151 --> 00:30:23.571
HAS LOST A LOT OF ITS SUPPLY
OF CHEAP LABOR FROM EUROPE

00:30:23.655 --> 00:30:26.074
BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT COMING OVER
IN A BOAT FROM EUROPE

00:30:26.157 --> 00:30:29.035
WHEN WORLD WAR I IS RAGING,

00:30:29.118 --> 00:30:33.081
AND SO AMERICA IS LOOKING
FOR NEW SOURCES OF CHEAP LABOR.

00:30:33.164 --> 00:30:36.584
Ruiz: THERE WERE, AT FIRST,
NATIVE AMERICANS, CHINESE,

00:30:36.668 --> 00:30:42.549
JAPANESE,
PUNJABI SIKHS, AND MEXICANS.

00:30:42.632 --> 00:30:44.133
Montejano:
THERE ARE VARIOUS EXPERIMENTS

00:30:44.217 --> 00:30:46.844
WITH DIFFERENT KIND OF LABOR,
BUT CLEARLY THE WINNER

00:30:46.928 --> 00:30:53.601
IN THIS CONTEST FOR CHEAP LABOR
HAPPENS TO BE THE MEXICANS.

00:30:53.685 --> 00:30:55.520
Narrator:
JUAN SALVADOR VILLASENOR

00:30:55.603 --> 00:30:58.648
WORKED LONG DAYS AT THE MINE
AND, UNDER AN ASSUMED NAME,

00:30:58.731 --> 00:31:02.610
JUAN CRUZ, TOOK ANOTHER JOB
WORKING THE NIGHT SHIFT.

00:31:02.694 --> 00:31:05.029
HE WAS MAKING MONEY,
BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SUPPORT

00:31:05.113 --> 00:31:08.992
HIS MOTHER AND HIS SISTERS,
NOW LIVING IN ARIZONA.

00:31:09.075 --> 00:31:12.245
Villasenor: THIS OLDER BOY
THAT WAS ABOUT 17

00:31:12.328 --> 00:31:14.622
TOLD MY FATHER THAT
WHAT THEY COULD DO IS,

00:31:14.706 --> 00:31:18.126
THEY COULD STEAL A LITTLE BIT
OF THE ORE.

00:31:18.209 --> 00:31:21.546
SO THEY STOLE
THE EQUIVALENT OF $6.00,

00:31:21.629 --> 00:31:24.716
AND THEY WENT INTO TOWN
TO SELL IT,

00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:27.260
AND THEY DIDN'T KNOW
THAT IT WAS A SETUP.

00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:33.433
THEY SENTENCED MY FATHER
AND THAT BOY TO PRISON.

00:31:33.516 --> 00:31:35.310
Narrator: JUAN SALVADOR
ESCAPED FROM PRISON

00:31:35.393 --> 00:31:39.230
AFTER SERVING ONE YEAR
OF HIS 3-YEAR SENTENCE.

00:31:39.314 --> 00:31:43.776
THE 14-YEAR-OLD BOY
MADE HIS WAY BACK TO HIS MOTHER.

00:31:43.860 --> 00:31:45.820
Villasenor: HIS MOTHER
VERY WISELY TELLS HIM

00:31:45.903 --> 00:31:49.365
TO NOT GO BACK TOWARDS MEXICO--
THEY'RE GOING TO CATCH HIM,

00:31:49.449 --> 00:31:53.369
AND THINGS ARE TERRIBLE
IN MEXICO--TO GO NORTH.

00:31:53.453 --> 00:31:56.205
HE ENDED UP IN BUTTE, MONTANA,

00:31:56.289 --> 00:31:59.250
AND THAT'S WHERE HE
BECAME A MAN,

00:31:59.334 --> 00:32:02.211
IN BUTTE, MONTANA.

00:32:10.553 --> 00:32:14.432
Narrator: 1920s LOS ANGELES
WAS A BOOM TOWN.

00:32:18.394 --> 00:32:21.230
PULLED BY PLENTIFUL WORK
IN AGRICULTURE, FACTORIES,

00:32:21.314 --> 00:32:24.609
AND CONSTRUCTION, MEXICAN
IMMIGRANTS HEADED TO THE CITY

00:32:24.692 --> 00:32:27.945
IN EVER INCREASING NUMBERS.

00:32:28.029 --> 00:32:31.991
Ruiz: IN 1900 YOU HAD ABOUT
3,000 TO 5,000 MEXICAN,

00:32:32.075 --> 00:32:34.452
MEXICAN AMERICAN RESIDENTS;

00:32:34.535 --> 00:32:37.622
BY 1930, ABOUT 150,000.

00:32:37.705 --> 00:32:39.791
THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE.

00:32:39.874 --> 00:32:42.794
Narrator: IN THE 1800s,
MEXICANS HAD BUILT LOS ANGELES

00:32:42.877 --> 00:32:47.131
FROM A MISSION INTO THE
CAPITAL OF SPANISH CALIFORNIA.

00:32:47.215 --> 00:32:51.177
IN THE 1920s THEY WOULD
HELP BUILD IT AGAIN.

00:32:51.260 --> 00:32:55.515
Estrada: THE STORY OF HOW
MEXICANS BUILT THIS CITY FROM

00:32:55.598 --> 00:32:59.018
A RURAL TOWN TO AN
INDUSTRIAL METROPOLIS IS STILL

00:32:59.102 --> 00:33:00.895
LARGELY UNTOLD.

00:33:00.978 --> 00:33:03.940
WITHOUT THE MEXICAN LABOR,
MUCH OF OUR INFRASTRUCTURE

00:33:04.023 --> 00:33:06.859
IN THE CITY WOULD NOT EXIST.

00:33:09.404 --> 00:33:11.155
Narrator: NOW IMMIGRANTS IN
A LAND THAT HAD ONCE BEEN

00:33:11.239 --> 00:33:16.244
THEIRS, MEXICANS WERE VIEWED
AS SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS.

00:33:18.246 --> 00:33:21.124
Montejano: A MEXICAN
PRESENTS A NEW PROBLEM.

00:33:21.207 --> 00:33:23.751
HE'S NOT BLACK,
AND HE'S NOT WHITE.

00:33:23.835 --> 00:33:28.131
HOW DO WE FIT THIS NEW RACE
INTO THE AMERICAN SYSTEM

00:33:28.214 --> 00:33:29.841
OF STRATIFICATION?

00:33:29.924 --> 00:33:33.261
THAT IS RESOLVED BY JUST
SIMPLY EXTENDING THE PRACTICES

00:33:33.344 --> 00:33:37.598
OF SEGREGATION THAT HAD BEEN
DEVELOPED FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS

00:33:37.682 --> 00:33:39.892
TO MEXICAN AMERICANS.

00:33:39.976 --> 00:33:41.853
Ruiz: THERE WERE
SEGREGATED SCHOOLS.

00:33:41.936 --> 00:33:44.605
THERE COULD BE SEGREGATED
PUBLIC FACILITIES.

00:33:44.689 --> 00:33:46.816
FOR EXAMPLE, THE DAY BEFORE
THEY DRAINED THE POOL,

00:33:46.899 --> 00:33:49.986
THEY HAD INTERNATIONAL DAY,
WHERE ANYONE WHO WASN'T WHITE

00:33:50.069 --> 00:33:52.697
COULD GO AND USE THE POOL.

00:33:52.780 --> 00:33:56.159
Narrator: MOST IMMIGRANTS
GRAVITATED TOWARD DOWNTOWN

00:33:56.242 --> 00:34:00.496
AND SETTLED AROUND LA PLAZA DE
NUESTRA REINA DE LOS ANGELES.

00:34:03.541 --> 00:34:07.670
FOUNDED IN 1781, THE PLAZA
HAD ONCE BEEN THE CENTER

00:34:07.754 --> 00:34:10.631
OF MEXICAN LIFE IN
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

00:34:10.715 --> 00:34:13.509
Estrada: THE PLAZA WAS A
SAFE PLACE, IT WAS A ROMANTIC

00:34:13.593 --> 00:34:17.805
PLACE, AND IT WAS ALSO
A MEMORY OF THEIR CULTURE.

00:34:19.807 --> 00:34:21.642
Sanchez: FOR THE IMMIGRANT
GENERATION THAT COMES,

00:34:21.726 --> 00:34:25.855
THE SENSE THAT THE LAND WAS
ONCE HELD BY A SPANISH

00:34:25.938 --> 00:34:29.400
ELITE, A MEXICAN ELITE,
IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT

00:34:29.484 --> 00:34:33.404
IN MAKING PEOPLE FEEL THAT
THERE IS A HISTORY HERE THAT

00:34:33.488 --> 00:34:36.783
BELONGS TO THEM.

00:34:36.866 --> 00:34:39.660
Estrada: BOTH MY PARENTS HAD
A SENSE OF HISTORY

00:34:39.744 --> 00:34:44.040
AND REMEMBERED THE PLACE
NAMES OF LOS ANGELES.

00:34:44.123 --> 00:34:47.293
THEY ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT,
YOU KNOW, "THAT IS SEPÚLVEDA,

00:34:47.376 --> 00:34:48.878
"THAT STREET.

00:34:48.961 --> 00:34:51.881
THAT'S PICO."

00:34:51.964 --> 00:34:54.509
MY FATHER EVEN POINTED OUT
THE 3-STORY PICO HOUSE, WHICH

00:34:54.592 --> 00:34:59.013
AT THE TIME WAS THE MOST
ELEGANT FANCY HOTEL, AND MY

00:34:59.096 --> 00:35:01.098
FATHER WHISPERED IN
MY EAR AND TOLD ME,

00:35:01.182 --> 00:35:04.602
"M'IJO, HE WAS ONE OF US.

00:35:04.685 --> 00:35:07.980
PÍO PICO WAS ONE OF US."

00:35:10.399 --> 00:35:12.819
Narrator: IN THE 1920s,
FUELED BY A GROWING MEXICAN

00:35:12.902 --> 00:35:17.573
POPULATION, MEXICAN CULTURE
WAS EXPERIENCING A REVIVAL.

00:35:17.657 --> 00:35:22.411
[PEOPLE SINGING IN SPANISH]

00:35:22.495 --> 00:35:26.290
Sanchez: THERE'S
A GROWN OF ARTS.

00:35:26.374 --> 00:35:28.751
THERE'S THE BEGINNINGS OF
THE FIRST EVER REAL

00:35:28.835 --> 00:35:31.754
MEXICAN-AMERICAN MUSIC CULTURE.

00:35:31.838 --> 00:35:34.590
[PEOPLE SINGING IN SPANISH]

00:35:34.674 --> 00:35:36.634
IT'S RECORDING
THE MUSIC OF THE MEXICAN

00:35:36.717 --> 00:35:38.302
REVOLUTION IN LOS ANGELES.

00:35:38.386 --> 00:35:40.680
IT'S EXPORTING IT
DOWN TO MEXICO.

00:35:40.763 --> 00:35:44.350
[PEOPLE SINGING IN SPANISH]

00:35:47.061 --> 00:35:50.565
IT'S A CULTURAL RENAISSANCE
IN A WAY THAT ONE WOULDN'T SEE

00:35:50.648 --> 00:35:54.318
AGAIN UNTIL THE 1960s.

00:35:54.402 --> 00:35:58.906
Estrada: WE SEE RESTAURANTS,
BAKERIES, PHARMACIES,

00:35:58.990 --> 00:36:03.911
LIVE THEATERS, NOT TO
FORGET THE HOLLYWOOD MOVIE

00:36:03.995 --> 00:36:04.996
INDUSTRY AS WELL.

00:36:05.079 --> 00:36:06.622
I MEAN,
WE CAN HAVE PEOPLE LIKE

00:36:06.706 --> 00:36:09.584
A YOUNG RAMÓN NOVARRO,
WHO STARRED IN THE FIRST

00:36:09.667 --> 00:36:12.670
SILENT "BEN-HUR," WHO WAS
A MEXICAN IMMIGRANT WORKING

00:36:12.753 --> 00:36:16.340
AS A LABORER IN
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES.

00:36:16.424 --> 00:36:19.260
Narrator: IN THE ERA OF THE
SILENT FILM, MEXICANS BECAME

00:36:19.343 --> 00:36:21.971
ICONS OF POPULAR CULTURE.

00:36:22.054 --> 00:36:24.807
A WORKING-CLASS GIRL,
LUPE VELEZ,

00:36:24.891 --> 00:36:27.935
AND THE ARISTOCRATIC
DOLORES DEL RIO OFFERED TWO

00:36:28.019 --> 00:36:31.939
CONTRASTING IMAGES FOR
MEXICAN WOMEN COMING OF AGE.

00:36:32.023 --> 00:36:36.277
Ruiz: DOLORES DEL RIO WAS
DISCOVERED IN AN AFTERNOON TEA

00:36:36.360 --> 00:36:37.778
IN MEXICO CITY.

00:36:37.862 --> 00:36:41.115
SHE WAS A WEALTHY,
YOUNG NEWLYWED.

00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:42.867
SHE DOES NOT SPEAK ENGLISH.

00:36:42.950 --> 00:36:46.120
IF YOU LOOK AT HER EARLY
STILLS, SHE LOOKS LIKE A VERY

00:36:46.203 --> 00:36:49.457
BEAUTIFUL BUT STEREOTYPICAL
LATIN AMERICAN BEAUTY.

00:36:49.540 --> 00:36:51.959
THE HAIR IS DONE UP BEHIND.

00:36:52.043 --> 00:36:54.378
SHE'S IN THIS REBOZO,
AND SHE'S GOT THIS SORT

00:36:54.462 --> 00:36:57.924
OF SUBMISSIVE LOOK.

00:36:58.007 --> 00:37:01.552
WITHIN A FEW YEARS, ONCE SHE
IS A ESTABLISHED CELEBRITY,

00:37:01.636 --> 00:37:05.222
SHE REALLY SHEDS THE
"ETHNIC IMAGERY."

00:37:05.306 --> 00:37:09.018
SHE WAS ABELE TO CRAFT
THE SYMBOL OF A WOMAN

00:37:09.101 --> 00:37:15.608
ON THE PEDESTAL, A HIGHBORN,
SORT OF CASTILIAN BEAUTY.

00:37:18.444 --> 00:37:21.072
Sanchez: I THINK HER BEAUTY
IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.

00:37:21.155 --> 00:37:24.742
FOR A LOT OF YOUNG MEXICAN
WOMEN, SHE'S THE INSPIRATION

00:37:24.825 --> 00:37:28.412
TO BRING COSMETICS
INTO THE HOUSEHOLD.

00:37:28.496 --> 00:37:33.042
SHE CREATES AN ALTERNATIVE
IDENTITY--A NEW 1920s WOMAN

00:37:33.125 --> 00:37:35.419
IN A MEXICAN STYLE.

00:37:35.503 --> 00:37:37.213
Ruiz: THEY'RE
BOBBING THEIR HAIR.

00:37:37.296 --> 00:37:40.424
THEY'RE WEARING SHORT DRESSES
OR THEY'RE WEARING BLOOMERS,

00:37:40.508 --> 00:37:43.511
DITCHING THEIR CHAPERONE,
AND GOING TO THE DANCE HALL,

00:37:43.594 --> 00:37:45.888
THE MOVIES.

00:37:45.972 --> 00:37:47.390
Sanchez: THEY'RE SAYING,
"WAIT A SECOND.

00:37:47.473 --> 00:37:49.934
"WE'RE NOT PART OF THE
PAST OF LOS ANGELES.

00:37:50.017 --> 00:37:53.187
"WE'RE ACTUALLY PART
OF THE FUTURE.

00:37:53.270 --> 00:37:56.357
WE'RE NOT SIMPLY RELICS
FROM A DIFFERENT ERA."

00:37:59.986 --> 00:38:02.446
Narrator: YOUNG MEXICANS BEGAN
TO BUILD FAMILIES AND MOVED

00:38:02.530 --> 00:38:06.409
EAST, ACROSS THE LOS ANGELES
RIVER, TO BROOKLYN HEIGHTS,

00:38:06.492 --> 00:38:10.454
BELVEDERE, AND BOYLE HEIGHTS,
A DIVERSE COMMUNITY

00:38:10.538 --> 00:38:12.915
IN THE MOUNTAINS OF EAST L.A.

00:38:15.751 --> 00:38:19.255
IT WAS THERE THAT NATIVIDAD
CASTANEDA, A STONEMASON WHO

00:38:19.338 --> 00:38:23.217
HAD EMIGRATED FROM MEXICO IN
1915, SETTLED WITH HIS WIFE

00:38:23.300 --> 00:38:27.221
GREGORIA AND THEIR TWO
CHILDREN--FRANCISCO, AND HIS

00:38:27.304 --> 00:38:32.560
YOUNGER SISTER EMILIA,
BORN IN LOS ANGELES IN 1926.

00:38:32.643 --> 00:38:34.395
Castaneda: IT WAS A HAPPY LIFE
THAT I HAD WHEN I WAS

00:38:34.478 --> 00:38:37.398
A LITTLE GIRL.

00:38:37.481 --> 00:38:40.276
I USED TO LIKE TO
GO TO SCHOOL.

00:38:40.359 --> 00:38:43.696
WE USED TO HAVE SOME TIME TO
PLAY BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED,

00:38:43.779 --> 00:38:48.576
BEFORE WE WENT TO DO OUR
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.

00:38:48.659 --> 00:38:50.244
WE WENT TO THE MOVIES
HERE AND THERE.

00:38:50.327 --> 00:38:52.747
IT USED TO BE A NICKEL
TO GO TO THE MOVIES.

00:38:57.376 --> 00:39:00.421
WE USE TO HAVE A VICTROLA.

00:39:00.504 --> 00:39:04.967
I REMEMBER ONE OF THE
RECORDS THAT THEY USED TO PLAY.

00:39:05.051 --> 00:39:07.928
[WOMEN SINGING IN SPANISH]

00:39:13.893 --> 00:39:17.938
IT WAS A SONG ABOUT "SOY
VIRGENCITA Y ENTRE LAS FLORES

00:39:18.022 --> 00:39:19.982
ME ENCONTRARÁS".

00:39:20.066 --> 00:39:23.986
[WOMEN SINGING IN SPANISH]

00:39:24.070 --> 00:39:27.782
WE HAD A NICE SUMMER PORCH.

00:39:27.865 --> 00:39:30.951
WE HAD AN AVOCADO IN THE BACK.

00:39:31.035 --> 00:39:33.746
MY MOTHER USED
TO LOVE AVOCADOS.

00:39:33.829 --> 00:39:36.832
MAYBE MY DAD PLANTED
THE AVOCADO FOR HER.

00:39:39.960 --> 00:39:43.130
[WOMEN SINGING IN SPANISH]

00:39:53.265 --> 00:39:55.017
Newsreel announcer:
CLOSING TIME.

00:39:55.101 --> 00:39:57.144
THE CLOSE OF AN ERA.

00:39:57.228 --> 00:40:00.523
IN THE 1920s THE GREAT
AMERICAN WORD WAS PROSPERITY.

00:40:00.606 --> 00:40:04.110
NOW THE THIRTIES HAVE BEGUN,
AND THERE IS A NEW WORD...

00:40:04.193 --> 00:40:06.278
DEPRESSION.

00:40:09.365 --> 00:40:11.742
Narrator: AS THE DEPRESSION
DEEPENED, COMPETITION

00:40:11.826 --> 00:40:14.495
FOR SCARCE JOBS GREW FIERCE.

00:40:14.578 --> 00:40:17.915
IN LAUNDRIES, FACTORIES,
CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES,

00:40:17.998 --> 00:40:21.877
MEXICAN WORKERS WERE
REPLACED BY U.S. CITIZENS.

00:40:21.961 --> 00:40:25.714
Sanchez: DEVASTATING IS A GOOD
ADJECTIVE TO USE FOR MEXICANS

00:40:25.798 --> 00:40:29.343
IN LOS ANGELES IN
THE DEPRESSION.

00:40:29.426 --> 00:40:33.180
VERY QUICKLY, BY 1931,
YOU KNOW, HALF THE POPULATION

00:40:33.264 --> 00:40:35.015
IS UNEMPLOYED.

00:40:35.099 --> 00:40:40.563
MUCH LARGER THAN THE GENERAL
LOS ANGELES POPULATION.

00:40:40.646 --> 00:40:43.524
THAT MEANS A LOT OF THE PEOPLE
THAT HAD HAD FAIRLY SECURE

00:40:43.607 --> 00:40:49.822
EMPLOYMENT BEFORE THIS
PERIOD NOW ARE OUT OF WORK.

00:40:49.905 --> 00:40:52.283
Castaneda: MY FATHER
LOST HIS JOB.

00:40:52.366 --> 00:40:55.077
HE DIDN'T WANT TO
RECEIVE RELIEF.

00:40:55.161 --> 00:40:56.245
HE DIDN'T WANT TO RECEIVE IT.

00:40:56.328 --> 00:40:58.664
HE WANTED TO WORK.

00:40:58.747 --> 00:41:01.834
BUT LIKE I SAID, THERE WAS
NO WORK FOR MEXICANS.

00:41:01.917 --> 00:41:08.424
AT LEAST MY MOTHER WAS WORKING
AS A MAID IN A WEALTHY FAMILY.

00:41:08.507 --> 00:41:12.595
Sanchez: PRESIDENT HOOVER,
BY 1931, IS DESPERATE TO

00:41:12.678 --> 00:41:14.221
STAY IN OFFICE.

00:41:14.305 --> 00:41:17.850
HE IS ROUNDLY BLAMED
FOR THE DEPRESSION.

00:41:17.933 --> 00:41:19.894
AND HE BEGINS TO LOOK FOR
SCAPEGOATS, AND IT'S

00:41:19.977 --> 00:41:22.688
THE SECRETARY OF
LABOR WHO BEGINS TO SAY,

00:41:22.771 --> 00:41:25.482
"WELL, YOU KNOW, IF WE JUST
SIMPLY GOT RID OF MEXICANS,

00:41:25.566 --> 00:41:29.195
WE WOULD HAVE JOBS
FOR EVERYONE ELSE."

00:41:29.278 --> 00:41:32.573
LOS ANGELES BEGINS TO TARGET
THE MEXICAN COMMUNITY.

00:41:32.656 --> 00:41:36.702
THE FIRST EVER IMMIGRATION
RAID IS DONE AT THE PLAZA.

00:41:36.785 --> 00:41:39.538
IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES ARE
BROUGHT IN FROM OTHER PLACES

00:41:39.622 --> 00:41:41.707
TO KIND OF SURROUND THE PLAZA.

00:41:41.790 --> 00:41:44.960
THEY END UP CAPTURING AS MANY
JAPANESE OR CHINESE AMERICANS

00:41:45.044 --> 00:41:50.299
AT THE PLAZA AS THEY DO
MEXICANS, AND THEY DEPORT 15

00:41:50.382 --> 00:41:52.384
PEOPLE THAT DAY.

00:41:52.468 --> 00:41:55.304
BUT WHAT THEY WANTED IS
TO SCARE PEOPLE, AND THEY

00:41:55.387 --> 00:41:56.805
ACCOMPLISH THAT.

00:41:56.889 --> 00:41:59.892
IN THE WEEKS FOLLOWING THAT
IMMIGRATION RAID, PEOPLE WERE

00:41:59.975 --> 00:42:00.935
SCARED TO GO TO WORK.

00:42:01.018 --> 00:42:02.603
THEY WERE SCARED
TO GO OUTSIDE.

00:42:02.686 --> 00:42:06.023
THIS CREATED A PANIC, NOT ONLY
AMONG THE MEXICAN COMMUNITY,

00:42:06.106 --> 00:42:08.943
BUT ALSO AMONG
THEIR EMPLOYERS.

00:42:09.026 --> 00:42:11.654
Narrator: IN LOS ANGELES,
THE MEXICAN CONSUL SUGGESTED

00:42:11.737 --> 00:42:14.657
THAT INSTEAD OF PERSECUTING
MEXICANS, THE CITY BUY TRAIN

00:42:14.740 --> 00:42:18.702
TICKETS FOR ANYONE WILLING TO
RETURN TO MEXICO, NOW PEACEFUL

00:42:18.786 --> 00:42:22.831
A DECADE AFTER THE
END OF THE REVOLUTION.

00:42:22.915 --> 00:42:25.918
Sanchez: INITIALLY IN 1931
WHEN THEY START THIS, THEY HAVE

00:42:26.001 --> 00:42:27.628
NO PROBLEM FILLING THE TRAINS.

00:42:27.711 --> 00:42:31.215
THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE
WHO ARE UNEMPLOYED, WHO WANT

00:42:31.298 --> 00:42:33.884
TO GO BACK.

00:42:33.968 --> 00:42:36.804
BY '32 THEY HAVE TROUBLE
FILLING THE TRAINS, AND THAT'S

00:42:36.887 --> 00:42:40.975
WHEN MORE COERCIVE
MEASURES START TO BE USED.

00:42:41.058 --> 00:42:43.644
COUNTY WELFARE OFFICIALS
BEGIN TO TARGET CERTAIN

00:42:43.727 --> 00:42:47.398
NEIGHBORHOODS, NEIGHBORHOODS
THAT THEY KNOW HAVE A LARGE

00:42:47.481 --> 00:42:50.818
NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED MEXICANS.

00:42:50.901 --> 00:42:52.736
THEY WILL GO HOUSE TO HOUSE.

00:42:52.820 --> 00:42:55.531
THEY WILL SAY, THE CHEESE THAT
YOU'RE GETTING, THE BREAD WE

00:42:55.614 --> 00:42:58.576
"HAVE BEEN GIVEN YOU IS NO
LONGER GOING TO BE MADE

00:42:58.659 --> 00:43:00.077
"AVAILABLE TO YOU.

00:43:00.160 --> 00:43:02.830
"INSTEAD WE WILL GIVE YOU
THIS ONE TICKET, AND THIS IS

00:43:02.913 --> 00:43:07.668
"FOR A RIDE BACK TO
MEXICO ON A TRAIN.

00:43:07.751 --> 00:43:09.503
"THIS IS YOUR ONLY CHOICE.

00:43:09.586 --> 00:43:12.089
YOU WILL GET NO
MORE ASSISTANCE."

00:43:14.300 --> 00:43:16.844
Narrator: FOR THE CASTANEDAS,
THE KNOCK ON THE DOOR CAME

00:43:16.927 --> 00:43:23.267
EARLY IN 1935, NOT LONG AFTER
TRAGEDY STRUCK THE FAMILY.

00:43:23.350 --> 00:43:27.187
Castaneda: MY MOTHER GOT SICK
WITH T.B., AND SHE DIED.

00:43:27.271 --> 00:43:31.775
SHE DIED IN 1934,
THE 10th OF MAY.

00:43:31.859 --> 00:43:36.196
I WAS MAKING MY FIRST
COMMUNION THAT DAY WHEN MY

00:43:36.280 --> 00:43:38.782
MOTHER DIED.

00:43:41.035 --> 00:43:44.330
I REMEMBER WHEN THEY BURIED
HER, I REMEMBER THAT THEY HAD

00:43:44.413 --> 00:43:47.082
TO DRAG ME OUT OF THERE
BECAUSE I WAS SO EMOTIONAL

00:43:47.166 --> 00:43:51.879
OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO HER,
WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO US.

00:43:58.093 --> 00:44:01.347
Narrator: NATIVIDAD CASTANEDA
WAS OFFERED 3 TICKETS--FOR

00:44:01.430 --> 00:44:04.808
HIMSELF AND HIS TWO AMERICAN-
BORN CHILDREN--ON A TRAIN

00:44:04.892 --> 00:44:08.479
GOING TO DURANGO,
IN NORTHERN MEXICO.

00:44:08.562 --> 00:44:11.565
WE HAD A TRUNK, A BIG TRUNK,
AND THE FIRST THING THAT HE

00:44:11.648 --> 00:44:13.942
PUT IN THERE WAS
HIS WORKING TOOLS.

00:44:14.026 --> 00:44:16.695
THAT'S WHAT WENT IN THERE,
AND A COUPLE OF BLANKETS THAT

00:44:16.779 --> 00:44:21.408
WE HAD AND A FEW COOKING
UTENSILS AND DISHES AND WHAT

00:44:21.492 --> 00:44:23.744
LITTLE CLOTHING WE HAD...

00:44:26.705 --> 00:44:28.707
BECAUSE WE'D LOST EVERYTHING.

00:44:31.293 --> 00:44:34.171
WE ARRIVED AT THE
TRAIN STATION.

00:44:34.254 --> 00:44:35.964
IT WAS VERY CROWDED.

00:44:36.048 --> 00:44:40.344
PEOPLE CRYING,
CHILDREN AND ADULTS.

00:44:40.427 --> 00:44:42.554
I WAS APPROACHED BY A MAN.

00:44:42.638 --> 00:44:45.099
HE SAID THAT I COULD STAY
HERE, THAT I WOULD BECOME

00:44:45.182 --> 00:44:47.518
A WARD OF THE STATE.

00:44:47.601 --> 00:44:51.105
YOU KNOW, LIKE YOU HEAR
ABOUT THESE ORPHANAGES.

00:44:51.188 --> 00:44:53.273
I DON'T WANT TO BE
IN AN ORPHANAGE.

00:44:53.357 --> 00:44:57.528
I WANTED TO BE WITH MY
FATHER AND MY BROTHER.

00:44:57.611 --> 00:44:59.696
I HAD A FAMILY.

00:45:02.825 --> 00:45:05.536
Gerstle: BETWEEN 300,000
AND 500,000 MEXICANS

00:45:05.619 --> 00:45:09.415
AND MEXICAN AMERICANS ARE
FORCED OUT OF THE UNITED STATES

00:45:09.498 --> 00:45:11.500
IN THE 1930s.

00:45:11.583 --> 00:45:13.460
THERE ARE PLENTY OF AMERICANS
WHO SAID, "WE DON'T WANT THE

00:45:13.544 --> 00:45:14.795
EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS ANYMORE."

00:45:14.878 --> 00:45:16.255
THERE ARE PLENTY OF AMERICANS
WHO SAID, "WE DON'T WANT

00:45:16.338 --> 00:45:17.589
"ANY ITALIANS.

00:45:17.673 --> 00:45:19.967
"WE DON'T WANT ANY POLES.
"WE DON'T WANT ANY JEWS."

00:45:20.050 --> 00:45:23.512
BUT THERE WAS NEVER AN ACTION
TO ROUND THEM UP EN MASSE

00:45:23.595 --> 00:45:25.889
AND TO SEND THEM BACK TO
THEIR HOME COUNTRIES.

00:45:25.973 --> 00:45:28.225
AND THIS IS WHAT
HAPPENED TO MEXICANS.

00:45:30.853 --> 00:45:35.149
Castaneda: WE WENT TO LIVE WITH
THIS TÍA, MY FATHER'S AUNT.

00:45:35.232 --> 00:45:37.609
WE REALLY WEREN'T WELCOME
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE

00:45:37.693 --> 00:45:40.946
WASN'T MUCH ROOM
EVEN FOR THEM.

00:45:41.029 --> 00:45:45.826
SO WE HAD TO LIVE OUTDOORS,
SLEEP OUTDOORS.

00:45:45.909 --> 00:45:49.538
POURING RAIN, THERE WAS NO
PLACE FOR US TO GO BUT PUT UP

00:45:49.621 --> 00:45:51.623
WITH THE RAIN.

00:45:51.707 --> 00:45:53.750
THERE WAS NO RUNNING WATER.

00:45:53.834 --> 00:45:59.089
WE HAD TO GO MILES TO
GO WASH CLOTHES.

00:45:59.173 --> 00:46:00.841
MY DAD USED TO GO TO WORK.

00:46:00.924 --> 00:46:03.427
HE TAUGHT MY
BROTHER THE TRADE.

00:46:03.510 --> 00:46:05.846
AND I TOLD HIM THAT I WAS
LEAVING SCHOOL, THAT I WOULD

00:46:05.929 --> 00:46:08.348
BE WITH HIM.

00:46:08.432 --> 00:46:11.894
I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO BE
PLAYING HERE AND THERE.

00:46:11.977 --> 00:46:13.645
I HAD TO WORK.

00:46:17.691 --> 00:46:21.612
Estrada: CLEARLY IT SETS UP
A PATTERN OF WANTING MEXICAN

00:46:21.695 --> 00:46:25.449
LABOR AT TIMES IN
WHICH EMPLOYMENT IS NEEDED

00:46:25.532 --> 00:46:29.620
AND WANTING PEOPLE TO JUST
LEAVE AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE

00:46:29.703 --> 00:46:34.291
WHEN THAT LABOR IS
NO LONGER NEEDED.

00:46:34.374 --> 00:46:37.878
Gerstyle: TO BE MARKED AS
VISIBLY MEXICAN IN AMERICA

00:46:37.961 --> 00:46:41.298
IN THE 1930s IS TO PUT YOU
AND YOUR FAMILY AT RISK.

00:46:41.381 --> 00:46:45.969
AND SO MEXICANS BECOME,
IN L.A. IN THE 1930s, WHAT ONE

00:46:46.053 --> 00:46:49.014
HISTORIAN HAS CALLED
THE INVISIBLE MINORITY.

00:46:49.097 --> 00:46:50.641
IN OTHER WORDS, THEY
WITHDRAW FROM PUBLIC LIFE.

00:46:50.724 --> 00:46:54.186
IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT
THEIR CULTURE DISAPPEARS...

00:46:54.269 --> 00:46:56.355
BUT IT MEANS THAT A COMMUNITY
THAT HAD BEEN SO EXPANSIVE

00:46:56.438 --> 00:47:00.859
AND OVERFLOWING RETREATS
INTO A KIND OF SHELL.

00:47:06.782 --> 00:47:09.743
Narrator: THE GREAT DEPRESSION
RAVAGED PUERTO RICO.

00:47:13.163 --> 00:47:16.583
THE ISLAND HAD BECOME
DEPENDENT ON SUGAR, AND WHEN

00:47:16.667 --> 00:47:19.503
THE U.S. SUGAR MARKET
COLLAPSED, THE PUERTO RICAN

00:47:19.586 --> 00:47:22.422
ECONOMY COLLAPSED WITH IT.

00:47:23.674 --> 00:47:27.886
Gonzalez: THE 1930s WERE THE
LOW POINT OF THE PUERTO RICAN

00:47:27.970 --> 00:47:31.515
NATION UNDER U.S. RULE.

00:47:31.598 --> 00:47:35.519
DISEASE WAS ALL OVER THE
ISLAND, UNEMPLOYMENT RAMPANT.

00:47:35.602 --> 00:47:39.231
STARVATION WAS ENDEMIC.

00:47:39.314 --> 00:47:41.942
MY FAMILY WENT THROUGH THAT.

00:47:42.025 --> 00:47:44.736
MY GRANDMOTHER
HAD 11 CHILDREN.

00:47:44.820 --> 00:47:48.615
5 OF THEM DIED IN CHILDHOOD.

00:47:48.699 --> 00:47:51.451
WHEN HER HUSBAND,
MY GRANDFATHER, DIED,

00:47:51.535 --> 00:47:54.204
THE FAMILY WAS THRUST INTO
INCREDIBLE POVERTY--SUCH

00:47:54.288 --> 00:47:59.042
POVERTY THAT MY GRANDMOTHER
COULD NOT FEED THE REMAINING

00:47:59.126 --> 00:48:04.131
6 CHILDREN SHE HAD, SO SHE
GRADUALLY GAVE THE CHILDREN

00:48:04.214 --> 00:48:07.384
AWAY TO DIFFERENT FAMILIES
THAT WERE BETTER OFF WHO

00:48:07.467 --> 00:48:10.846
COULD AT LEAST FEED THEM.

00:48:10.929 --> 00:48:12.431
Narrator: PUERTO RICANS
WERE DIVIDED OVER THEIR

00:48:12.514 --> 00:48:16.018
RELATIONSHIP TO
THE UNITED STATES--

00:48:16.101 --> 00:48:20.439
BETWEEN THOSE WHO WANTED
THEIR ISLAND TO BECOME A STATE

00:48:20.522 --> 00:48:22.899
AND A GROWING
INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT.

00:48:22.983 --> 00:48:25.110
[MAN SHOUTING IN SPANISH]

00:48:29.031 --> 00:48:32.034
Narrator: A COMPROMISE
WAS EVENTUALLY REACHED.

00:48:34.786 --> 00:48:38.707
PUERTO RICO
WOULD BECOME A COMMONWEALTH,

00:48:38.790 --> 00:48:41.585
STILL A U.S. TERRITORY
BUT WITH SIGNIFICANT

00:48:41.668 --> 00:48:44.087
POLITICAL AUTONOMY.

00:48:44.171 --> 00:48:49.384
Suarez: PUERTO RICO HAD 450
YEARS OF GOVERNORS, AND THEY

00:48:49.468 --> 00:48:51.637
HAD NEVER GOTTEN TO ELECT ONE.

00:48:51.720 --> 00:48:54.348
THAT WAS A PRETTY BIG DEAL.

00:48:59.811 --> 00:49:02.064
Narrator: IN THE YEARS OF
THE GREAT DEPRESSION, JUAN

00:49:02.147 --> 00:49:04.608
SALVADOR VILLASENOR GOT
A SECOND SHOT

00:49:04.691 --> 00:49:06.485
AT THE AMERICAN DREAM.

00:49:06.568 --> 00:49:09.780
IN BUTTE, MONTANA, WHERE HE
HAD FLED AFTER ESCAPING PRISON

00:49:09.863 --> 00:49:13.909
AT AGE 14, "SAL" AS HE WAS
NOW KNOWN, HAD BECOME

00:49:13.992 --> 00:49:15.285
A BOOTLEGGER.

00:49:15.369 --> 00:49:17.621
Villasenor: HE'D LEARNED HOW
TO GAMBLE AND HOW TO MAKE

00:49:17.704 --> 00:49:20.207
WHISKEY, AND HE'D
LEARNED HOW TO SELL IT.

00:49:20.290 --> 00:49:25.128
AND HE'S 25, AND
HE'S THE KING.

00:49:25.212 --> 00:49:28.131
Narrator: JUAN SALVADOR MOVED
TO SAN DIEGO TO JOIN HIS

00:49:28.215 --> 00:49:30.801
MOTHER AND SISTERS, WHO
HAD SETTLED IN THE MEXICAN

00:49:30.884 --> 00:49:32.719
SECTION OF TOWN.

00:49:32.803 --> 00:49:36.014
Villasenor: THE STREETS
WERE DIRT AND FULL OF ROCK

00:49:36.098 --> 00:49:40.477
AND HOLES, AND EVERYTHING WAS
DUSTY, AND THERE WERE CHICKENS

00:49:40.560 --> 00:49:41.895
RUNNING ALL OVER THE STREET.

00:49:41.978 --> 00:49:44.064
THERE WERE GOATS.

00:49:44.147 --> 00:49:46.316
Narrator: HIS POCKETS LINED
WITH MONEY AND HIS HEAD FULL

00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:49.569
OF DREAMS, JUAN SALVADOR
MARRIED THE MOST BEAUTIFUL

00:49:49.653 --> 00:49:53.407
GIRL IN TOWN--LUPE GOMEZ,
THE DEVOUT DAUGHTER

00:49:53.490 --> 00:49:55.826
OF MIGRANT WORKERS.

00:49:55.909 --> 00:49:59.121
Villasenor: MY MOTHER MARRIED
MY FATHER THINKING THAT HE

00:49:59.204 --> 00:50:04.167
MADE A LOT OF MONEY BECAUSE HE
HAD TRUCKS MOVING FERTILIZER.

00:50:04.251 --> 00:50:07.796
SHE HAD GROWN UP BEING TOTALLY
AGAINST LIQUOR AND GAMBLING.

00:50:07.879 --> 00:50:12.259
SHE HAD NO IDEA THAT HE MOVED
FERTILIZER AS A COVER-UP TO

00:50:12.342 --> 00:50:17.055
HIDE HIS BARRELS OF
WHISKEY UNDERNEATH.

00:50:17.139 --> 00:50:21.476
ONE DAY THE DISTILLERY BLOWS
UP, AND NOW THEY'RE RUNNING

00:50:21.560 --> 00:50:23.520
FROM THE LAW.

00:50:23.603 --> 00:50:26.606
AND MY MOTHER HAS A LITTLE
CHILD, AND SHE'S PREGNANT

00:50:26.690 --> 00:50:28.650
WITH ANOTHER ON THE WAY.

00:50:28.734 --> 00:50:31.570
SHE SAID, "YOU ARE NOT GOING
TO BE A BOOTLEGGER ANYMORE.

00:50:31.653 --> 00:50:34.322
"YOU LIED TO ME WHEN
WE GOT MARRIED.

00:50:34.406 --> 00:50:36.616
"WE'RE GOING TO GET A
BUSINESS, AND WE ARE GOING TO

00:50:36.700 --> 00:50:42.998
BE REGULAR PEOPLE AND DO
THINGS WITHIN THE LAW."

00:50:43.081 --> 00:50:45.000
Narrator: SAL GAVE
UP BOOTLEGGING OUT

00:50:45.083 --> 00:50:47.544
OF LOVE FOR LUPE.

00:50:47.627 --> 00:50:50.630
HE BOUGHT A POOL HALL, AND
AT THE END OF PROHIBITION

00:50:50.714 --> 00:50:52.591
A LIQUOR STORE.

00:50:52.674 --> 00:50:54.426
AND THEN ANOTHER.

00:50:54.509 --> 00:50:57.637
IN TIME THE VILLASENORS BUILT
A HOME THAT OVERLOOKED

00:50:57.721 --> 00:51:00.390
THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

00:51:00.474 --> 00:51:02.642
Villasenor: MY FATHER SAID
THAT HE WANTED TO BUILD THE

00:51:02.726 --> 00:51:06.730
BIGGEST, MOST BEAUTIFUL HOUSE
IN THE AREA, AND MY MOTHER

00:51:06.813 --> 00:51:13.069
BUILT IT FOR THE GLORY OF
GOD AND THE BLESSED MOTHER.

00:51:13.153 --> 00:51:17.783
THIS HOUSE REPRESENTS MY
PARENTS' DREAM COME TRUE.

00:51:19.951 --> 00:51:22.913
AND THIS IS WHERE I
GREW UP, IN THIS HOUSE.

00:51:22.996 --> 00:51:25.791
AND WE'RE STILL HERE
IN THIS HOUSE.

00:51:29.085 --> 00:51:32.088
Narrator: EMILIA CASTANEDA
RETURNED HOME TO BOYLE HEIGHTS

00:51:32.172 --> 00:51:38.512
IN 1944 AFTER 9
YEARS IN MEXICO.

00:51:38.595 --> 00:51:40.472
SHE WAS 17.

00:51:42.557 --> 00:51:45.769
THE FIRST THING SHE DID WAS
TO BRUSH UP ON HER ENGLISH--AT

00:51:45.852 --> 00:51:50.607
THE VERY SCHOOL SHE'D ATTENDED
UP TO THE FOURTH GRADE.

00:51:50.690 --> 00:51:53.026
Castaneda: ONCE WHEN I WAS
COMING BACK FROM SCHOOL, ONE

00:51:53.109 --> 00:51:56.404
OF THE NEIGHBORS ASKED
ME IF I WAS EMILIA.

00:51:56.488 --> 00:51:58.365
AND I SAID YES.

00:51:58.448 --> 00:52:03.453
AND SHE SAYS, "I'M MAURA"
AND SHE INVITED ME TO MY

00:52:03.537 --> 00:52:07.707
HOME--THE HOME
THAT HAD BEEN OURS.

00:52:07.791 --> 00:52:11.920
Narrator: EMILIA HAD LOST IT
ALL--HER HOME, HER CHILDHOOD,

00:52:12.003 --> 00:52:14.130
HER FAMILY.

00:52:14.214 --> 00:52:17.843
HER FATHER, NATIVIDAD
CASTANEDA, COULD NEVER AGAIN

00:52:17.926 --> 00:52:20.345
RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES.

00:52:20.428 --> 00:52:25.308
Castaneda: THEY STAMPED ON HIS
PAPERS THAT HE WAS DEPORTED.

00:52:25.392 --> 00:52:29.563
EVERY YEAR I USED TO
GO VISIT HIM.

00:52:29.646 --> 00:52:31.565
I DIDN'T FORGET HIM.