World War II and Mexican American Civil Rights ed. by Richard Griswold del Castillo (review)

maintains a comfortable pace in relating the techniques that Arthur Hill used in solving cases and apprehending felons. Law on the Last Frontier is a refreshing look at one man’s career in the fabled Texas Ranger service, carried out in a rugged, sparsely populated area of the state during a time that is often overlooked by historians. Lantana, Texas Stephen L. Moore World War II and Mexican American Civil Rights. Edited by Richard Griswold del Castillo. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2008. Pp. 256. Illustrations, appendices , notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 978-0-29271-738-1. $55.00, cloth. ISBN 978-0-29271-739-8. $24.95, paper.) The Mexican American struggle for civil rights predates World War II, but when hundreds of thousands of men left their segregated barrios, enlisted in the military, and went to war for the United States, they profoundly impacted the movement for Mexican American civil rights. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of other Mexican American men and women took jobs in war industries or in other factory work, where they worked alongside whites, earned equal pay, and supported the massive American war effort. Trying to create unity during the crisis , foster patriotism, and garner support for the war, the U.S. government suddenly discovered Mexican Americans as an ethnic minority that had specific needs and, most importantly, the government believed addressing those needs was in the wider national interest, at least for the moment. Mexican Americans became important to the nation at the same time that their political awareness was increasing. Through service and sacrifice in a war they were told was fought to defend freedom and democracy, many Mexican Americans, especially veterans, believed that they had demonstrated their loyalty, proven their patriotism, and earned their right to be treated as equals. They were no longer willing to tolerate second-class citizenship. Richard Griswold del Castillo documents these developments in poignant sections on Mexican American GIs, on how the war affected Mexican American women, and on how those experiences fed an evolving political consciousness. Mexican Americans had already been demanding equal educational rights for their children, but during and after the war they exhibited new energy in their demands for equal access to public places and proper representation on juries, while more people, especially veterans, felt emboldened to challenge discrimination personally and through organizations fighting for fairness and inclusion. This rising awareness found political expression through the creation of new civil rights groups like the American GI Forum, and the renewed dynamism of older established groups like the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Overcoming entrenched prejudice, though, was an uphill battle. Richard Steele cites a 1942 poll of white Americans conducted by George Gallup in which 12 percent felt Mexicans were as good as Americans, while 59 percent felt they were inferior. No other nationality scored that low, including others whom Americans showed prej346 Southwestern Historical Quarterly January *jan 09 11/26/08 12:00 PM Page 346 udice towards, like the Chinese whose immigration to the U.S. had been selectively excluded, and the Japanese, with whom the country was at war. The authors show that the growing government concern expressed for Mexican Americans, though important in the long run, was mainly pragmatic during the war. There were two main elements to the government’s position. The first was the maintenance of the “Good Neighbor” policy, which sought friendly relations with Latin American countries, especially Mexico, and so the treatment of Mexican Americans earned greater scrutiny. The second was the desire to maintain a compact between labor and capital to limit labor shortages and work stoppages in order to keep factories running and war material rolling off assembly lines. That brought in the well-intentioned Fair Employment Practices Committee, which attempted to end workplace discrimination. Civil rights gains though, have had to come from direct challenges to discriminatory laws and practices from Mexican Americans themselves. This well-written, very readable book addresses important themes and develops them in a way that will appeal to a broad audience while providing a solid grounding in the established literature and insight from primary research. The book is enhanced by a collection of well-considered appendices...