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Chapter 2. Transnational Networks and the Fair Employment Practices
- Texas A&M University Press
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chaPTer 2 Transnational networks and the Fair employment Practices committee Mexican Consuls, FEPC Officials, and Mexican American Civil Rights Leaders Come Together The impetus for american policy development and delivery includes both internal and external factors. Civil rights policy development in its initial stages was often characterized by a combination of global influences and involvement from social movements. The United states’ interest in maintaining and improving relations with Mexico helped lead to the FePC making enhanced efforts on behalf of people of Mexican origin. But how would they be included in the american social order? Mexican american civil rights leaders worked with Mexican consuls and FePC officials to bring people of Mexican origin to the FePC. Mexican american civil rights leaders and Mexican consuls worked together to identify complainants and assist them in filing complaints with the agency while also building relationships with FePC officials to ensure that real efforts were made to combat discrimination. These efforts were particularly necessary in light of the actions of the Us state Department, which was reluctant to have negative publicity from investigations regarding discrimination against people of Mexican origin in the southwest and thus often worked to stifle FePC activities. The relationships and networks people of Mexican origin built helped to surmount that obstacle and promote their own views and information to FePC officials. This chapter demonstrates that a transnational issue network1 consisting of Mexican consuls, FePC board members and bureaucrats, and Mexican american civil rights leaders shaped the relationship between people of Mexican origin and the FePC. lacking a strong mobilized social movement and marginalized by issues of language and citizenship, people of Mexican origin 22 • chaPTer 2 did not have the resources or organization necessary to ensure inclusion in the nation’s first federal antidiscrimination agency. The transnational issue network, including officials from two sovereign governments and Mexican american civil rights leaders, helped shape the way the FePC worked with people of Mexican origin. The small interlocking group of Mexican consuls, FePC investigators, and Mexican american civil rights leaders delivered an effective method to incorporate people of Mexican origin into the american state. The second World War presented a unique opportunity for transnational cooperation because the United states was motivated to maintain relations and obtain resources from its southern neighbor. as emilio Zamora notes, “Mexico’s intervention involved a consular campaign against discrimination in the United states and collaborative ties with lUlaC’s own crusade for equal rights in Mexico. The United states responded by extending its good neighbor Policy from the field of hemispheric relations to the domestic arena of racialized social relations.”2 local Mexican consuls in communities throughout Texas served as middlemen by bringing complaints from individuals of Mexican origin regarding employment discrimination to FePC investigators. Consuls often worked with middle-class Mexican american civil rights leaders affiliated with lUlaC. Carlos Castañeda, a naturalized Mexican american academic and member of lUlaC, was hired by the FePC to investigate complaints against people of Mexican origin. Mexican american civil rights leaders worked with FePC board members to promote services for people of Mexican origin, working to counteract Department of state attempts to halt hearings and investigations because it feared the impact of bad publicity on United states–Mexico relations. FePC board members worked with Mexican american civil rights leaders to provide an alternative view of the Mexican government’s opinions regarding antidiscrimination policy in the southwest. Their independent relationships allowed them to contradict the state Department’s actions by showing the Mexican government that the FePC was serious and effective in combating discrimination . This chapter focuses on two particular areas where transnational issue networks were evident. The first instance is the role that issue networks played in responding to state Department attempts to quell efforts to combat discrimination against people of Mexican origin, showing how transnational issue networks influenced FePC efforts and policy. The chapter then turns to street-level FePC efforts, exploring how Mexican consuls often served as the first point of contact for people of Mexican origin experiencing discrimination. Mexican consuls brought people of Mexican origin to the FePC using their relationships with FePC officials and Mexican american civil rights leaders. [3.87.209.162] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 12:28 GMT) Transnational networks and the Fair employment Practices committee • 23 Transnational issue networks influenced the way the FePC approached people of Mexican origin at the national level, and at the local level they were crucial in identifying people experiencing discrimination. Table 5 lists the various...