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5 Anxieties and Reassessments
- Minnesota Historical Society Press
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C H A P T E R 5 Anxieties and Reassessments by the middle of the 1950s, American Crystal, its growers in the Red River Valley, and the Mexican migrant workers upon whom they relied to cultivate the sugar beets had interacted with one another for about thirty years. The federal government had established considerable oversight in the manner in which these groups engaged with each other now for over twenty years. In addition, the company’s labor agency in Texas had linked growers with migrant workers for over a dozen years. In short, the relationship among these groups that composed the valley’s sugar industry had reached a period of maturity and familiarity in which certain rhythms and patterns directed them through each year. Though the company, the Mexican migrants, and the growers had established norms of behavior by the mid-1950s, nothing remains the same forever, and in the latter half of the decade things began to shift. A fundamental change that became more pronounced during this era involved Mexican laborers dropping out of the migrant stream and settling in the valley. As this emerging resident Hispanic population grew and became more visible, other groups in the region, besides American Crystal and its growers, reacted with alarm to the newcomers ’ presence. Coupled with other anxieties, especially concern over crime and juvenile delinquency, political o∞cials, civic organizations , and American Crystal launched an e≠ort to replace betabeleros with local workers. Other groups continued the e≠ort, however, to improve the working and living conditions for Mexican migrant workers . And finally, the nature of the sugar industry further evolved through mechanization and agricultural technology, while growers discovered they would need to expand their production capabilities if they were to survive in the rapidly changing agricultural environment of the 1950s. 113 for mexican migrant sugar beet workers in South Texas during the 1950s, the rhythm of their lives—dictated by their low economic circumstance—revolved around the seasons. The beginning of each year, January through March, found them at home performing whatever temporary work might be available. In the Lower Rio Grande Valley, there was a variety of seasonal jobs, mostly in winter vegetables, citrus, and cotton. The citrus industry had been hurt by several severe frosts during the early 1950s and was only beginning to rebound to its previous levels of output. The wages for picking the fruit and/or packing it in the shed, when adjusted from piece rates to hourly pay, ranged from thirty-five to fifty cents per hour. In addition, these poorly paid jobs usually did not provide continuous, regular employment. The Mexican agricultural workers might toil fourteen hours per day one week and then be idle throughout the next. If the migrants lived further up river, say, near Laredo, the largest number of winter jobs involved onions, tomatoes, cauliflower, and broccoli, which paid a wage scale similar to that in the lower Rio Grande area. Around Crystal City, which supplied more Red River Valley betabeleros than any other town in Texas besides San Antonio, most seasonal agricultural jobs involved field cultivation of spinach and onions for very low pay. Moreover, Crystal City’s largest single employer—Del Monte—relied mostly on braceros to package its products, which forced even more residents to become migrant workers. Throughout the Nueces Strip, winter wages paid to Mexican agricultural workers averaged only about $500 per year, and the annual median income throughout South Texas for Mexican workers ranged between a low of about $1,600 in Laredo to $3,200 in Corpus Christi. No wonder then that many South Texas Mexicans were ready to hit the road to somewhere else by spring.1 Those Mexicans who had worked for American Crystal received their last paychecks from the preceding season in late December or early January. American Crystal typically disbursed earnings to betabeleros in three installments. The migrant workers were paid some money in the summer, another portion at the conclusion of their contract, and the remaining third after American Crystal evaluated the sugar beet crop and processed it into sugar, several months after the harvest. In addition, if migrant workers received a bonus—both American Crystal and many individual growers o≠ered bonus incentive programs, 114 / north for the harvest [3.135.227.135] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 20:49 GMT) usually for exceeding the number of acres allotted or for higher sugar content in the beets—those funds were included with their last check. Assuming...