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Mexican American Veterans
Monuments and Historical Roles Ed Ramírez, Linden, CA
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movement generated by the death of George Floyd that s ou g ht t o b r i ng down symbols of the oppression of African Americans took hold in California led by Native Americans who targeted their oppressors. Monuments dedicated to European conquistadors and colonists from Father Junipero Serra (1713-1784) to John Sutter (1803-1880) were defaced and/or taken
down. In the process, on July 4, 2020 in Sacramento, a monument dedicated to Mexican American soldiers was defaced with words in graffiti accusing them of being “F’ing Colonizers.” While it would be hard to determine who actually defaced the El Soldado monument, it might have been a Native American, a sympathizer or wannabe-Indian. Whoever defaced the monument had a skewed and an “ahistorical” understanding of California’s past and who Mexican Americans are and are not. Located facing the Capitol, the monument dedicated in 1948 was paid for by the mothers and wives of Mexican American soldiers that died fighting in WWII. In my opinion, for the accusation of colonizer to be true, Mexican American soldiers would have had to be the direct descendants of Spanish colonizers and identified themselves with Spanish colonial
negativo patrón de representaciones de los mexicanos en la historia del Suroeste que ha sido prominente desde el siglo XIX. Intencional o involuntariamente, este patrón desplaza la culpa y la responsabilidad de la opresión de las personas de color alejándola de los colonizadores europeos. Es un patrón entre algunos aficionados locales de la historia —o como el historiador Lenard Pitt los llamó “anticuarios”, en oposición a los “historiadores profesos”— que parecen disfrutar citando las malas acciones de los mexicanos en la historia de California temprana (por ejemplo, las fuerzas militares mexicanas que atacaron a los indios). El control de México sobre California después de la independencia de España solo duró desde 1821 hasta la firma del Tratado Guadalupe Hidalgo en 1848 o 27 años. Con respecto a la colonización de los nativoamericanos —en comparación con los 300 años de los españoles y los 173 años de dominio estadounidense— el impacto de México sobre los indígenas de California fue minúsculo. De hecho, la identidad nacional mexicana ni siquiera estaba bien formada durante el período mexicano de California del 1821 a 1848. Si bien fueron los indios y Mestizos oprimidos quienes libraron las batallas por la independencia de México a partir de 1810, los criollos o españoles de sangre pura nacidos en México usurparon el control de la revolución continúa a la vuelta
history and cultural traditions. I would argue that this is not true in regard to Mexican American WWII veterans. Although anecdotal, the Mexican American veterans that I have known were more likely to identify with Mexican revolutionaries Pancho Villa or Emiliano Zapata who helped end the remaining colonial period institution of Peonage —versus conquistadores and colonizers like Hernan Cortez (1485-1547) or Father Junipero Serra. The accusation of colonizer fits the pattern of negative portrayals of Mexicans in Southwestern history that has been prominent since the 1800’s. Intentional or inadvertent, this pattern shifts blame and responsibility for the oppression of people of color away from the European colonizers. It is a pattern among some local aficionados of history or as Historian Lenard Pitt called them “antiquarians,” as opposed to “professed historians,” who seem to relish in citing the bad deeds of Mexicans in early California history (e.g., Mexican military forces attacking Indians). Mexico’s control of California after independence from Spain only lasted from 1821 to the signing of the Treaty Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 or 27 years. Regarding Native Americans colonization, compared to 300 years of Spanish and 173 years of U. S. dominance Mexico’s impact on California Indians was minuscule. In fact, Mexican national identity was not even fully formed during California’s Mexican period 1821-1848. While it was the oppressed Indians and Mestizos who fought the battles for Mexican Independence beginning in 1810, Criollos or pure blood Spaniards born in Mexico usurped control of the revolution and essentially maintained exploitative colonial institutions after Independence in 1821. Historically, Mexico has sought to reaffirm its Indian heritage and has struggled to eradicate European (Spanish) colonial and neo-colonial institutions that perpetuated the oppression of continued on next page MAY 2021 Joaquín 11
