#63 Juan Crow

Hey, it’s Kevin here. Before we jump in I’d like to just give you all a quick Trigger Warning: This episode contains racial trauma, discussions of violence against minorities, and other content that some people may find disturbing. Please check the show notes for more detailed descriptions and take care of yourself.

Mexican Americans were targeted and systematically abused by law enforcement, and people of Mexican descent were targeted and killed by mob violence and lynching. Signs reading “No Mexicans Allowed” dotted numerous restaurants and other public accommodations in Texas along the U.S. Mexico border. Juan Crow – refers to the laws patterned after American Jim Crow laws targeting African Americans, that enforced racial discrimination against Latino Americans.

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What is going on everyone? This is the LEO podcast… where we talk about various educational topics… especially those impacting the Latin American community.

For today’s episode, we’ll be talking about “Juan Crow” a term referring to laws that contributed to a history of discrimination against Latinos in many aspects of public life. We’ll also be talking about how Juan Crow has evolved into the inequality that Latinos face today regarding housing, wealth, and criminal justice outcomes.

I’m your host kevin muñoz, this is today’s free episode if you want early access to episodes and bonus episodes you can find that right now on our patreon.com/latinamericaneo and if not then enjoy this one!

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Topic 1:

Between 1865 – 1890, many people from all over the world were migrating to the United States for religious freedom, job opportunities, and for a shot at a new life. Many groups of people were discriminated against based on their color, social status, and religious viewpoints they exercised. Specifically, Mexicans and Latino individuals were targeted and usually obligated to exit the country.

Today, unfortunately, similar scenarios are still being reported on the news and social media.

Racism against Mexicans was beginning to develop around the same time Jim Crow laws were being enforced in the South. By the 1870s, both African Americans and Mexicans were some of the most targeted groups for false accusations, unfair trials, and especially death.

The term “Juan Crow” was beginning to develop in the early 1900s after discrimination was being enforced against African Americans, best known as Jim Crow. Juan Crow was the discriminative term that described Mexicans and Latinos in the 1900s. In 1911, the tragic death of a fourteen-year-old sparked this term as well as the discriminating regulations being placed towards Hispanics. This same horrific event also gave white Americans a motive to place higher restrictions on Mexicans, meaning they would be segregated.

Before moving on I just want to give a warning that up next I’m going to go over a graphic story that mentions violence so if you don’t want to hear about this then now is the time to skip ahead.

In June of 1911, Antonio Gomez, a fourteen-year-old, was utilizing wood to make creations of his own. As he was doing this, a group of white people approached him and began attacking him, leaving him no other choice than to defend himself. During this, he stabbed and killed a white man who was directly attacking him. He was taken to their local jail, where white people expected immediate punishment for his actions. However, because of his age, it was impossible for him to be executed immediately, which infuriated the white people. So they decided to take justice into their own hands and Gomez was once again attacked by a white mob who were awaiting him as soon as he stepped out of the jail.

The Details of Gomez’s death are both exact and congruent to the multiple witnesses who were there at his death. Some say that he was dragged down the streets while others say he was transported from the jail to a “safe” place where about 16 people were ready to execute him. There are also statements that some people who were present at his death did not interfere but were there to watch his death. The only thing that mostly everyone did have in common when they stated what they saw was that he died because of a lynching.

Days later after all the statements were made, there were newspaper articles that were changing up the story on exactly what happened. For example, there was a newspaper that stated Gomez was an eighteen-year-old who was attacked by a group of 100 people. Unfortunately, regardless of what actually happened that day, there was no justice done for Antonio Gomez due to the lack of evidence and mixed statements.

This is one example of the unjust ways that Mexicans were beginning to be discriminated against. This is similar to the way African Americans were also being treated and discriminated against. The fact that there was no justice for Antonio Gomez despite all the witnesses gave people the idea that they could basically get away with their violent actions and use this tactic to frighten victims.

The authorities would believe the lies of those who had more rights than those who may not be able to defend themselves a recurring theme even to this day.

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In order to understand Juan Crow Laws, we need to understand Jim Crow Laws. Jim Crow laws were set in the 1870s, not allowing African Americans to share things like bathrooms, restaurants, and even transportation with the white population.

Juan Crow Laws were developed not long after Jim Crow laws were. In other words, this concept led white people to create yet another form of segregation against the Mexican/Hispanic communities. African Americans were being highly discriminated against even when fighting for their country. The Harlem Hellfighters were a group of African Americans who fought during World War I. They expected to return and to be accepted by everyone. However, upon their return, they came back to the same place they had left and were still being discriminated against. Showing that even though they fought for their country, they were still not receiving the same recognition as a white soldier would.

Lynching was also another way whites would execute African Americans as a way to create fright and horror. A lot were lynched for false accusations and many would even be burned and tortured before.

There would even be crowds that would travel to watch these innocent people die.

So even though both of these ideals occurred in different time periods, white people used the same tactics on the Mexican/Hispanic populations at this time, especially in Texas. Seeing the results of being able to get away with killing innocent people and not being punished, they knew they could do the same with Mexicans. Unfortunately, Antonio Gomez’s case was only one of the thousands that attackers were unpunished and instead, were actually encouraged to harm this group of people.

Even though Antonio Gomez was not innocent of the stabbing, it was self-defense after all and he should have been protected by the authorities instead of being thrown into the mob who awaited him out of the jail. The African American life and the idea of Juan Crow are very similar in different ways previously mentioned. This shows how white people were trying their best to only see themselves in the United States by the execution of others. They ultimately got what they wanted by being supported by authorities who did nothing for the justice of those innocent lives that were lost. Many of these similarities between Jim and Juan crow laws that hurt people of color are unfortunately still seen today.

Conclusion/Closing remarks:

Today, Donald Trump has been a major influence on how Americans perceive immigration and the Latino/Hispanic community. Ever since the 2016 election, it has been even more difficult for people of color to find their peace and place in the United States because of racial differences.

Trump as we all know has supported and evoked new ways to prevent immigration from Mexico. This has evidently inspired Americans to follow his viewpoints and follow his behaviors and beliefs as well. Even though Trump has brought out all the racist people from the shadows, it has also angered and led many people of color to fight for change. Studies show that people of color have followed politics more and participated more for their own benefit.

Unfortunately, because the issue of discrimination against people of color in most aspects of public life is deeply ingrained and systematic, there is no one silver bullet solution that will remedy a long history of institutional wrongdoing. With a long-standing history of government-permitted and government-sponsored discrimination leading to numerous consequences that can’t easily be solved, our nation’s present reality is clear: Just like there is a new Jim Crow for Black Americans, there is also a new “Juan Crow” for Latino Americans. However, acknowledging the numerous ways historic discrimination has grown into modern-day, institutional barriers to equality for Latinos is the first step toward significant positive change.

THE END

That’s all for today on the LEO podcast. I’m Kevin Muñoz and as always feel free to send me a message with your thoughts or with any interesting topic that you’d like to see covered.

and for those of you on Patreon, I’ll see you there.

Otherwise, I’ll see you all in next week’s episode!

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