(水) Bracero

Mexicans returning to Mexico after trying to the US across the New River before daylight in Calexico, California, in 2006.

Bracero, a song by Phil Ochs (click to listen).

Wade into the river, through the rippling shallow waters, steal across (こそこそ動く) the thirsty border (メキシコとアメリカ合衆国の間の砂漠のような南西部) , bracero. Come bring your hungry body to the golden fields of plenty, from a peso to a penny (メキシコからアメリカへ), bracero.

★　Oh, Welcome to California
Where the friendly farmers will take care of you

Come labor for your mother, for your father and your brother for your sister and your lover, bracero. Come pick the fruits of yellow, black the flowers from the berries. Purple grapes will fill your bellies.

★ repeat

And the sun will bite your body, as the dust will dry you thirsty, while your muscles beg for mercy, bracero. In the shade of your sombrero, drop your sweat upon the soil, like the fruit, your youth can spoil, bracero.

★ repeat

When the weary night embraces, sleep in shacks that could be cages, they will take it from your wages, bracero. Come sing about tomorrow with a jingle of the dollars, and forget your crooked collar, bracero.

★ repeat

And the local men are lazy, and they make too much of trouble, besides, we’d have to pay them double, bracero. But if you feel you’re falling (もし気分が落ち込んで), if you find the pace is killing (仕事のペースが落ちたら), there are others who are willing (仕事をしたいと思っている人間はほかにもたくさんいるんだぞ), bracero.

★　repeat

Phil Ochs' song is written about the people from Mexico who went to the U.S. for a limited period of time to work on a farm. The song consists of five parts, and the content gradually becomes ironic and sarcastic.

The appearance of laborers' tiredness and suffering is expressed in the song. The 3rd part especially describes their pain. A sombrero is a kind of Mexican hat for men that is tall with a wide, round edge. The last part of the song is written from the boss' viewpoint. The bosses controlled and used the braceros. Braceros got an unfair deal.

I said the content gradually becomes ironic. The song has repetitious parts.
I'm interested in the refrain, which says, "the friendly farmers will take care of you." The sentences are the same in the refrain, but the meaning is different. I think "take care" has a couple of meanings. In my opinion, it first means "pay attention to" the bracero. It has a good meaning, but I think it also has a negative meaning.

The last part expresses the boss's unfair attitude. The song made me sad when I discovered the meaning of the lyrics. When the bosses "take care of" the bracero, they actually take advantage of them. They use them and then make them leave. The bracero's pain and the boss's unfairness appear in the song, and I can imagine the bracero's suffering.

Ayano Ogura

What is "the Bracero Program" ?

"The Bracero program was originally a temporary contract labor program which was created by the U.S. and the Mexican governments. The 'braceros' were Mexican migrant workers. More than 4 million Mexican farm laborers emigrated to America, and thousands of impoverished Mexicans abandoned their rural communities and headed north to work as braceros."

"The Bracero program contributed to the growth of the agricultural economy. The braceros converted the agricultural fields of America into the most productive in the planet. The braceros, very experienced farm laborers, became the foundation for the development of North American agriculture."

(Quotes from this Farmworkers' Website )

The situation of the braceros was very severe.

"The bracero contracts were controlled by independent farmer associations and the 'Farm Bureau.' The contracts were in English and the braceros would sign them without undderstanding their full rights and the conditions of employment. When the contracts expired, the braceros were required to return to Mexico. In case of an emergency, the braceros could return to their native lands only with written permission from their boss."

(Quote from this Farmworkers' Website )

The Bracero Program ended by the introduction of machines like the one below in 1964.

About the conditions in which the braceros lived: some people did not have the place where they parked their trucks, took a bath, change the clothes, even go to the toilet. In addition, braceros were fingerprinted as part of the processing procedure, and were fumigated with DDT before being allowed to enter the United States.(Reference)

This page also discusses the conditions of their lives.

For instance, Leonard Nadel's photograph from 1956 of Central Valley farmworkers forced to stand naked in line to be sprayed with pure DDT. (The photographer was later arrested in Mexico for documenting "bracero" recruitment.)

I thought at first that the song was sung merrily, but it was not true. Actually, the song makes ironical remarks about farmers. I understood the irony after I learned about the Bracero Program. Braceros contributed to American development, but they were not given honor or enough money. I will remember that that Braceros were the basis of America's agriculture.

Kana Mantoku



Who is Cesar Chavez?

Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) was a Mexican-American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who established the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers. His work led to numerous improvements for union workers. He is considered a hero for farm laborers. He is praised as one of the greatest American civil rights leaders after Martin Luther King, Jr. His birthday has becom a holiday in four U.S.states. Many parks, cultural centers, libraries, schools, and streets have been named in his honor in several cities across the United States. (This information comes from here.)

The effect of Pesticides

Cesar Chavez gave a speech to the United Farm Workers of America a few years before his death.

Here is a link to part of Chavez's speech. It is read by an actress. Please listen.

The United Farm Workers is a group that fights against the bad conditions of farm workers. For example, low pay, bad living conditions, and child labor. Moreover, there is malnutrition among migrant children(移住性子供間の栄養失調),tuberculosis(結核), and pneumonia(肺炎). Their average life span is more than twenty years below the U.S. standard.

In his speech, Chavez tells two stories about boys. As Chavez says, Johnnie Rodriguez was not even a man; Johnnie was a five-year-old boy when he died after a painful two years battle against cancer. His parents were farm workers. Like all workers, they were exposed to pesticides and other agricultural chemicals. His mother worked in the table grapes around Delano, California until she was eight months' pregnant(身ごもる) with Johnnie. His parents cannot say for certain if pesticides caused their son's cancer, but neuroblastoma(細胞腫)is one of the cancers found in McFarland, a small farm town only a few miles from Delano, where the Rodriguezes live.

As for the second story, Felipe Franco is a bright seven-year-old boy. Like other children, he will someday need to be independent. But Felipe is not like other children, he was born without arms and legs. His mother worked in the grapes near Delano until she was in her eighth month of pregnancy. He feels neither anger nor sadness. He is given the care and love he will always need. He believes he will have his arms legs someday. (The full speech is on this United Farm Workers page.)

What does acute pesticides poisoning produce?(ひどい殺虫剤の中毒は何を引き起こすか？)The answer is eye and respiratory irritation(目や呼吸器官の炎症),skin rashes(発疹), systemic poisoning(全身中毒), and death(死).What are the chronic effects of pesticides poisoning on people, farm workers, and their children?(人々、農場労働者、そして子どもに及ぼしている殺虫剤中毒の慢性の影響は何か？)The answer is birth defects(生まれつきの障害), sterility(生殖不能症), still birth(死産), miscarriages(早産), neuropsychological effects(神経心理への影響), and effect on child growth(子どもの成長に対する影響).

In this way, people are greatly harmed by pesticides. However, workers put up with skin irritations and rashes. They continue to work in bad conditions because they need the money. They don't complain out of fear of losing their jobs. And many do not speak English.

I think the government should help them. However, the government, the Environment Protection Agency, the American legal system, and doctors don't help them. If I were a worker in their position, I would be very angry. I think this is a serious problem because their treatment is unfair!

Cesar Chavez stood up and boycotted. He was a hero of American farm workers because he helped them.

Ayumi Ninomiya

The Bush Plan: "Guest Workers."

The Bush Guest Worker Program
The "guest worker" means someone from a foreign country who comes to work in the United States. Many illegal aliens work "off the books" (without written documentation) in the United States in low-level jobs and they often live in fear.(Reference)
Their rights aren't protected by labor laws. Furthermore, the farming and the other industries are desperate for workers and cannot always find Americans to do the jobs. Bush has proposed a temporary guest worker program to solve some of those problems.

His proporsal is that he wants to reform the United States immigration laws and he believes that it'll bring economic benefit to American farmers.

However, many people in America have a different opinion. The Texas writer, Molly Ivins, says that the guest worker program helps only big business and is only temporary. None of the workers can look forward to US citizenship. In addition, if the workers work illegally, they will be punished and pushed out of the country, but the employers will not be punished. Eliseo Medina says that the proposal has merit as a way to deal with future immigrants only. This means that the program is terrible for the 8 million to 11 million immigrants living in America today. Many of these people have been in the US for 15 or 20 years, have paid taxes, have children, and are part of the community, but they will have to leave. In brief, the guest worker program makes no sense for Mexican-Americans already living in the United States.(Reference)

I think that Guest Worker Program is inconsequent because a lot of American people are against Bush's proposal. In addition,it will take too much time to document all the workers. I wonder why Bush wants to do such a critical thing. I think that he must propose proper measures to deal with immigrants, especially Mexican immigrants.

Kyouko Kubo