Study Finds Racist Views Of Hispanics Interviews Show Some Anglo Farmers Negative About Migrants
In the first sociological study of Hispanics living in an Idaho community, a Boise State University sociology professor found a divide between Mexican-Americans and Anglos so wide that some farmers considered Hispanics to be subhuman.
Richard Baker uses words like “devastating” to describe his findings, which were recently published by Utah University Press in a book titled: “Los Dos Mundos - Mexican Americans, Another America.”
In nearly 400 interviews conducted between August 1990 and October 1991, Baker said Anglo farmers and community leaders were frank about their negative attitudes toward Hispanics.
Take Michael Hawk. He’s a fourthgeneration farmer, whose views on Hispanic workers were echoed by others Baker talked with:
“I do what I can for these people. We farmers are concerned about our workers; there is just no solution… I give them a soda now and then, sometimes a party; I provide a turkey when I can… They are not educated and motivated like we are… Yes, migrants have a lower standard of living, but it’s the risk/gain factor. I would like to go out and just sit on a tractor, not to think; it would be so relaxing. They don’t have the risk factor. When I have a bad year, they are the lucky ones.”
Michael Hawk is not the farmer’s real name. It’s a pseudonym given to him by Baker, who promised anonymity to all those he interviewed. He conducted his research in Caldwell and Canyon County, but he calls the town “Middlewest” and the county “Farm County.”
He was stunned by what he heard.
“These people had incredibly racist attitudes, but they wouldn’t recognize that at all.”
Baker does not speak Spanish, which he considered to be a problem before he started but wasn’t. He had no difficulty finding translators. His interviews with Hispanic families detail dismal living and working conditions and conflicts in the Caldwell public schools.
He introduces readers to Roberto and Sara Ramos, who had to move their son to another school because they believed his teacher had systematically discriminated against him. The final blow for this couple occurred when the teacher took a picture of each child for the bulletin board but did not include their boy.
Among the educators Baker interviewed was a Caldwell high school teacher who had a class in which half the students are Hispanic. Here’s what he said:
“Well, there is a tremendous amount of stress among Mexican Americans. Now you think back of watching the news in the last month. You hear about any stabbings and knifings? This is what Middlewest is famous for. I am definitely not trying to put Mexican Americans down, it’s just their lifestyle; there is stress. Why can’t a Mexican American clean up their yard and not have cars parked on the lawn? … Why can’t they straighten up and act like Americans?”
Canyon County farmer Pat Takasugi says Baker’s research doesn’t reflect the community as Takasugi sees it.
“There probably does exist some racism out there. But after hearing him, I would say 85 to 90 percent of the community are racists and the rest are Hispanic. And that’s just not the way it is.”