Latino
Politics (PS 156T/CLS 128)
Fall 2000
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-10:45 a.m.
SS 208
Professor
Melissa R. Michelson
Office: 240 IT,
278-8350
Email: melissam@csufresno.edu
Overview
This class focuses on the current
status of Latino Politics, including Latino naturalization and political
participation, political attitudes, and representation and political power. The
focus will be on Mexican-Americans and non-citizen residents of the United
States of Mexican descent, but attention will also be paid to Puerto Ricans and
Cuban-Americans. Several weeks will be devoted to the history of the Central
Valley, including the farmworkers movement. We will also discuss current events
that are of particular interest to Latinos.
Requirements
There will be a midterm, a final
exam, and five mini papers. Course grades will be based on the midterm (25%),
the final exam (35%), the mini papers (30%) and class participation (10%). The
final exam is scheduled for Thursday, December 21, at 11 a.m.
The
Papers
Students will be required to write five mini papers about
the topics covered in class. The exact topic of the paper is up to the
individual student; the only requirement is that they show some reflection on
the most recent course topic and that they show some comprehension of the
assigned readings. Each paper should be a maximum of three typewritten
pages.
Texts
·
Acuña, Rodolfo. 2000.
Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, 4th edition.
·
DeSipio, Louis. 1996.
Counting on the Latino Vote: Latinos as a New Electorate.
·
Rothenberg, Daniel.
1998. With These Hands: The Hidden World of Migrant Farmworkers Today.
·
Course reader
(available at Master Copy on Shaw)
Absences
Students
who miss a significant number of class meetings will find their grade damaged
by more than 10%, as much of the material on the exams will be from lecture and
not covered in the readings. Students who are absent for an exam will not be
allowed to take a make-up, (unless they have a compelling emergency excuse
which is approved by the instructor), and will receive an F (zero points) for
that exam towards their final grade.
Policy
Reminders
Students
with disabilities are responsible for identifying themselves to the instructor
and the Services for Students with Disabilities office so that reasonable accommodation
for their learning and evaluation within the course can be made. This may
include special testing arrangements, note taking, sign language interpreting,
reading services, and other appropriate services.
Students are expected to refrain
from cheating and plagiarism. A full text of the university’s policy on
cheating and plagiarism is available in the Vice President for Student Affairs
Office, Joyal Administration Building, Room 262. University definitions of
cheating and plagiarism are printed in the Catalog
and the Schedule of Courses.
Course Outline
While the following syllabus will be
followed as closely as possible, the schedule is subject to change in the event
of extenuating circumstances. Announcements of scheduling or other changes will
be made in advance whenever possible. If significant changes are made, a
revised syllabus will be issued.
Section 1: Latino Politics and
Latino Identity
Tuesday,
August 29
Latino Politics.
Latino Identity. Introduction and discussion of course objectives and
requirements.
Discussion:
What is Latino Politics? What is Latino?
Thursday,
August 31
No
Class (professor at conference)
Tuesday,
September 5
The
Creation and Structure of Latino Identity in the U.S.
Read: Nelson, Candace
and Marta Tienda. 1997. "The Structuring of Hispanic Ethnicity: Historical
and Contemporary Perspectives." (in reader)
DeSipio,
Louis. 1997. "The Engine of Latino Growth: Latin American Immigration and
Settlement in the United States." (in reader)
Section 2: Roots of the Contemporary
Mexican-American Experience
Thursday,
September 7
The Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Foundations of Mexican American Citizenship
Read: Acuña, chs. 2 (pp. 41-56)
Tuesday,
September 12
The
Bracero Program and Operation Wetback
Read: Acuña, chs. 10-11 (pp. 263-327)
Gutierrez, David. 1995. Walls and
Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity,
chs. 4-5 (pp. 117-178) (in reader)
Thursday,
September 14
Video
screening: Chicano!
History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement
Episode 1: Quest for a
Homeland
The
Fight in the Fields: César Chávez and the United Farm Workers
Paper #1 due
Read: Acuña, ch. 12
(pp. 328-385)
Video
screening: Chicano!
Episode 2: The Struggle in the Fields
Tuesday,
September 26
Farmworkers
Today: The Struggle Continues
Read: Rothenberg
Tuesday,
October 3
La Raza Unida Party, anti-immigrant hysteria of the 1970s, affirmative
action
Paper #2 due
Read: Acuña, ch. 13 (pp. 386-421)
Thursday,
October 5
Video
screening: Chicano!
Episode 4: Fighting for Political Power
Section 5: Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans
Thursday, October 12
Puerto Ricans in the
20th Century
Read: Trías-Monge,
José. 1997. Puerto Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World,
chs. 2-6 (pp. 21-76). (in reader)
Tuesday, October 17
La Lucha: The Puerto Rican Pro-Independence Movement in California
Read: Rodriguez,
Victor M. 1999. “Boricuas, African Americans, and Chicanos in the “Far West”:
Notes on the Puerto Rican Pro-Independence Movement in California,
1960s-1980s.” In Rodolfo D. Torres and George Katsiaficas, eds., Latino
Social Movements: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives, pp. 79-109.
(handout)
Thursday, October 19
Video
screening: Mi
Puerto Rico
Read: McCaffrey, Katherine. 1998. “Forging
Solidarity: Politics, Protest, and the Vieques Solidarity Network." (in
reader)
Section 6: Cuban-Americans
Thursday,
October 26
From
Exiles to Ethnics
Paper #3 due
Read: Portes,
Alejandro, and Alex Stepik. 1993. City on the Edge: The Transformation of
Miami, chs. 2, 5, 6. (in reader)
Tuesday,
October 31
Cuban
Political Empowerment
Read: Moreno, Dario.
1997. “The Cuban Model: Political Empowerment in Miami.” (in reader)
Thursday,
November 2
Elián Gonzales.
Read: handouts.
Section
7: Latino Partisanship, Ideology, and Policy Preferences
Tuesday, November 7
Latinos
as a New Electorate: Latino political values, attitudes, and behaviors
Paper #4 due
Read: DeSipio,
chs. 1-2 (pp. 1-57)
Thursday, November 9
Election Special:
Analysis of the Latino Vote in the 2000 elections
Read: newspaper election reports
Tuesday, November 14
Barriers
to Latino Participation
Read: DeSipio,
chs. 3-4 (pp. 58-118)
Thursday,
November 16
Naturalization,
empowerment, and the growth of the Latino electorate
Read: DeSipio,
chs. 5-7 (pp. 119-183)
Tuesday,
November 21
Latino
Public Opinion
Read: handouts
Thursday,
November 23
No
Class (Thanksgiving Recess)
Section
7: Current Events
Tuesday,
November 28
The
Immigration Debate and Proposition 187
Paper # 5 due
Read: Acuña, ch. 14
(pp. 422-464)
Thursday,
November 30
Language
Politics: Bilingual Education and Proposition 227
Read: Schmidt, Ronald
J. 1997. "Latinos and Language Policy: The Politics of Culture." (in
reader)
Tuesday,
December 5
Language
Politics, continued: The English-Only Movement and Proposition 63
Read: Chavez,
Linda.1991. Out of the Barrio: Toward a New Politics of Hispanic
Assimilation, chs. 1, 4. (in reader)
Thursday,
December 7
Environmental
Racism
Read: Bullard, Robert
D. 1993. "Anatomy of Environmental Racism and the Environmental Justice
Movement." (in reader)
Moses,
Marion. 1993. "Farmworkers and Pesticides" (in reader)
Tuesday,
December 12
Review
for Final Exam
Thursday,
December 21
Final Exam, 11 a.m.