Title: Colorado Governor Edwin Johnson: Politics and Race
Abstract: Scholars have portrayed Colorado Governor Edwin Johnson as both a racist and a pragmatist in his dealing with minority groups. The paper argues that Johnson followed his constituency’s changing opinions on the proper treatment of Mexican immigrants. By looking at his two terms as Colorado Governor in the thirties and then the fifties, it demonstrates that during the Great Depression he heeded the call of his supporters to provide jobs for American citizens by deporting migrant workers. In the fifties, when economic tensions had lessoned, Johnson championed better working conditions for those same migrant workers. By analyzing both Johnson and the populaces shifting attitudes, it demonstrates the ease in which poor migrant workers fortunes can change leaving them extremely vulnerable to market fluctuations. Jennifer Meredith is a PhD candidate in history at the University of Utah. Her major field is Modern American history with an emphasis on the American West and religion. Her minor fields are Modern Latin America and gender studies. Jennifer is a member of the Alpha Rho chapter of Phi Alpha Theta. Colorado Governor Edwin Johnson: Politics and Race 30 Ramone Ruiz and his family were driving through the desert, taking in the beautiful landscape on their way to Colorado. It was a beautiful picturesque day, the sun was shining brightly, the air had a little bit of a bite, but the sky was clear and tranquil. Ramone looked at his wife and smiled. She was holding their youngest girl in her arms, rocking her to sleep with a soft lullaby. Their four other children plus two friends were crammed into an old jalopy for the journey to Colorado. Ramone’s wife looked up at him and smiled back. They were happy to be on their way to Colorado, as they were hoping to find work in the sugar beet fields. Ramone and his family had worked in Colorado every beet season since he and his wife had been married. It was hard grueling work taking care of and harvesting the beets, but at least it was work.1 It had been a hard winter; the family had to accept relief money because there were no jobs. Even for white people times were tough. In New Mexico, where they lived after beet season was over, Ramone could usually find work, fixing things or small construction jobs. His wife could usually find work in someone’s kitchen or cleaning, she was a great cook, but this last winter, nothing.2 But now, they were hopefully on their way to better times. The whole family would work in the fields through harvest and make some money. This year, their second youngest, would be seven years old, old enough to help in the field. The baby would stay in the field under a tarp where they could keep an eye on her.3 They were almost to the border when Ramone saw something disturbing. At the New Mexico/Colorado border, there were men in uniform stopping automobiles before they entered Colorado. A huge sign said “Martial Law-Slow-Stop.” 4 Ramone swore softly 1 Sugar beets are extremely labor intensive, often requiring whole families to tend about nine hours a day. Valerie Jo Maes, “Repatriation and Blockade in 1930’s Colorado: An Explanation of the Events,” (MA thesis, University of Northern Colorado, 1973), 19. 2 Many states, such as Arizona, passed laws to ensure that only citizens were eligible for jobs, forcing Mexican immigrants to apply for welfare in the interest of their family’s survival. The Works Progress Administration (WPA), created by the new deal, also mandated that only American citizens were eligible for their work projects, unless they had served in the United States armed forces or with one of their allies. Francisco E. Balderrama and Raymond Rodriguez, Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 2006) 90-91. 3 This was a common practice, children as young as five years old were reported working in sugar beet fields carrying water jugs for the family, and families often placed babies in the beet fields while they worked if the mother’s labor was needed to tend the field. Charles Gibbons, Report statement of conditions relating to Sugar Beet Workers In Colorado. August 11, 1933, attached with a letter from a concerned citizen to Governor Edwin C. Johnson, Box 26903, “Edwin C. Johnson papers,” Colorado State Archives, Denver. 4 Stephen J. Leonard, “Trials and Triumphs” A Colorado Portrait of the Great Depression With FSA Photographs, (Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1993), 77. Historia: the Alpha Rho Papers 31 under his breath. His wife looked up sharply and gasped in alarm “Oh no, what’s happening?” Ramone bit his lip and said uneasily, “I don’t know, don’t worry it will be fine.” Inside he was quaking. He had heard rumors of blockades in California, but not in Colorado. There had been warnings in the Mexican newspapers back home, from the Mexican consultant, telling them not to leave the state and stating there was no work elsewhere.5 Ramone and his family worked hard for their money, they would rather work than take relief.6 Ramone stopped at the border and a uniform man approached.7 He wanted to know where they were coming from and where they were headed. Ramone told him they were coming from Albuquerque to work on a sugar beet farm. The man told him he had to turn around, that he was not a resident and jobs were reserved for citizens of Colorado. Ramone pleaded with the man; he told him his family had worked on sugar beet farms for at least nine years. The man asked him if he had any money. Ramone had three dollars but apparently, it was not enough, and the man turned him away His wife looked at him with tears in her eyes “What are we going to do? Do we have enough money for gas to get home?” Even though he was quaking inside, Ramone smiled at her and said “Don’t worry, I will think of something. It will be fine.”
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-04-19
Language: en
Type: article
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