American history has often highlighted the success of colonization through the lens of white America by emphasizing nationalism and unity. Yet, the richness of American history has often overlooked the stories of hardships experienced by non-whites (e.g., Blacks, Native Americans, Mexicans). In A Different Mirror, historian and ethnographer Ronald Takaki paints a different picture of American history by showcasing America’s white racist, heavy handed exploitation of non-whites by stealing their land and resources. In chapter 7, “Foreigners In their Native Land,” Takaki specifically exposes the decline of Mexicans’ livelihood as a result of America’s colonization of California and Texas. He argues that Mexicans, living in their native land, were treated as foreigners by the real invading foreigners, the Americans. This thesis seems reasonable and historically grounded because America has shown a pattern of oppressing non-whites such as Blacks, Native Americans and Japanese by stealing their land and displacing them without legal recourse.
Takaki organizes his chapter in an effective way by first giving background information before and during America’s westward colonization. Second, he provides specific details on the effects of American colonization on Mexicans from a political, social and economical perspective. Third, he explains how Mexicans were able to unite as a community against laws imposed by Americans. Throughout his explanations, Takaki uses both primary and secondary sources to reveal the inherent problems and preconceived beliefs that Americans have on Mexicans. Many primary sources include diaries, messages to Congress, letters, songs, and chants contrasting both the Mexican and American viewpoints. Using primary sources like diaries helps develop an emotional connection with the reader who is reading the raw personal emotion of the writer, thus, making Takaki’s argument more effective. For example, when Takaki describes American immigration into Texas, he quotes Lieutenant Jose Maria Sanchez’s diary which captures his angst about America’s encroachment: “They immigrate constantly, finding no one to prevent them, and take possession of the sitio [location] that best suits them without either asking leave or going through any formality other than that of building their homes” (Takaki 156). Furthermore, Takaki writes, “Governor Juan Alvarado observed then added unhappily: “Would that the foreigners that came to settle in Alta California after 1841 had been of the same quality as those who preceded them. . . . Governor Pio Pico nervously complained: “We find ourselves threatened by hordes of Yankee immigrants who have already begun to flock into our country and whose progress we cannot arrest”’ (Takaki 162). As a result, Takaki supplies multiple credible sources that effectively paint a vivid picture of the unrest that many Mexicans were facing as more Americans immigrated. Once the U.S. gained Texas, Takaki calls attention to how Mexicans were greatly affected financially due to the “dual wage system” that Americans established. This system left many Anglos to obtain higher wages, while many foreign miners had to pay a separate tax. As a result, many Mexicans were “vulnerable to debt peonage” (Takaki 173) and therefore they were forced to give up their land. Similar to other minorities and women, Mexicans’ voting rights were also limited. These examples provoke readers to ask how these issues compare to the issues that Mexicans are facing today. Here, Takaki could have compared and contrasted the similarities and differences that America has enacted on other minorities to prove that America’s treatment of non-whites has been consistent over time. In the end, through primary sources and specific examples, Takaki explains that although Mexicans were first in Texas, the Americans persisted to conquer their land and even implemented laws that would ensure that Mexicans were inferior to whites. This eventually caused them to become foreigners in a land that they had once called their home.
Takaki uses secondary sources including diverse viewpoints from historians, essays, and newspaper articles. Sources from newspapers are effective because it gives readers a sense of what citizens were reading during that time period. Takaki provides evidence of how Mexicans are depicted while working in railroad construction which often spawned a variety of stereotypes cultivated in society: “. . . the Morning Press reported that the “Chinamen section hands” of the Southern Pacific had been replaced by “a gang of Mexicans”” (Takaki 172). Despite the hardships that Mexicans including other minorities like the Japanese went through, Takaki reminds us that they never forgot their identity. In the 1903 strike for better wages, a local newspaper explained how Mexicans developed their sense of culture, community and grit as one. Takaki wrote, “‘Everyone knows,” commented the Los Angeles Labor Press, “that it was the Mexican miners that won the strike at Clifton and Morenci by standing like a stone wall until the bosses came to terms.’” (Takaki 175). To make his argument stronger, I believe that Takaki should have included how Mexican’s unity and culture through protests helped shape the community environment and values that they still have today. This would prove that even though the Americans displaced them, they were able to unite and find their own identity in their new “foreign” land. In contrast to Takaki’s perspective, The American Pageant explains that Texas pioneers were “annoyed by the presence of Mexican soldiers, many of whom were ragged ex-convicts” (Kennedy 267) to highlight the American perspective. Takaki, however, focuses on the Mexican’s perspective: “Americans continued to cross the border as illegal aliens” (Takaki 156). Additionally, the textbook describes that the “energetic and prolific” (Kennedy 267) Texan Americans outnumber the Mexicans, while Takaki merely states that the Americans outnumbered the Mexicans (Takaki 156).
In conclusion, Takaki’s “Foreigners in their Native Land” illustrates how even though Mexicans arrived first, America aggressively took their land and severely punished them through death or through the enactment of discriminatory laws. By telling these stories, Takaki highlights an uncomfortable truth that American colonization was not at all heroic as previously presented but instead a contradiction of America’s own values and beliefs that has too often been promoted as the highest standards in the world. With that, we are only left with the hope that one story can change the narrative of a larger story as we strive to treat non-whites better in the future.
Works Cited
Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror. Little, Brown and Company, 1993.
Kennedy, David M., et al. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006.
Dos Mundos Juntos 