I was recently chatting with someone about the difference between domestic minority groups versus tourists, diplomats, and international students. It reminded me of this really great article I read that describes the negative consequences of ethnic discrimination against Latin American diplomats during the Good Neighbor Policy. I was telling her that there is a disconnect between students of color and international students because of lived experience. Often times, students of color have extensive experience with discrimination in the US, while for international students, these experiences can be quite surprising. I told her it takes time to shift one's mindset and begin to identify as a person of color in the US. Often times it's easier for visitors to treat these events as isolated experiences and hope they don't repeat themselves. In any case, this article explains the diplomatic damage that ethnic discrimination was causing for the US at the height of WWII. Check it out.
W. Rex Crawford, "The Latin American in Wartime United States," American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 223, Minority Peoples in a Nation at War (Sept., 1942).
By the 1960s, Mexican Americans were gaining recognition nationwide as the 2nd largest minority group in the US, after Blacks. This was after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and new institutional resources to take action against discrimination. When I was teaching at Oberlin I found this wonderful documentary about this era. The most poignant quote was when one of the school board members is discussing the lack of educational opportunities for rural students. He describes the the dominant anglo view at the time as "Mexicans don't need to go to school because why the hell do you need to go to school to pick onions?" I encourage you to watch the rest.