League of United Latin American Citizens - Philosophy

Philosophy

LULAC follows an assimilation ideology which emerged among cholos groups around the time of the Great Depression. During this time, the population of Mexican descendants in the United States experienced a demographic shift. During and after the Great Depression, a larger share of the Hispanic population was born with American citizenship. The deportation of an estimated 500,000 Mexican nationals and Mexican Americans during the depression caused the proportion of Mexican descendants who could claim U.S. citizenship to increase greatly. Benjamin Marquez asserts, "This demographic shift favored the rise of a more assimilated political leadership". Unlike earlier organizations, such as the mutual-aid associations (mutualistas) and labor-based groups (which emphasized the importance of cooperation among recent Mexican immigrants, Mexican residents, and Mexican Americans to combat economic, cultural, and political discrimination), LULAC specifically excluded non-American citizens from membership.

While praising its Mexican cultural heritage in its rhetoric, LULAC promoted the full adaptation of its members into the dominant US Anglo-Saxon culture, believing this strategy would be the most successful in combating discrimination. Asserting that it was not the economic or political intuitions that were flawed but discrimination was the result of racism alone, LULAC took an arguably conservative stance. It promoted capitalism and individualism and believed that through hard work and assimilation into American culture, Mexican Americans could improve their socioeconomic standing in American society. That is, by adapting to American institutions, LULAC believed individuals could change negative perceptions Anglo-Saxons held of Mexican Americans and achieve economic success.

As a method of increasing assimilation, LULAC emphasized American patriotism. It asserted that Mexican Americans should disavow any allegiance to Mexico, remain permanently in the United States, and commit fully to the democratic ideals of the US. This patriotism is evident in the structure of the organization. The league's official song is "America"; its official language is English and its official prayer is the "George Washington Prayer". Its constitution is modeled on the United States Constitution.

Because of LULAC’s assimilation ideology, it advocated immigration restriction. LULAC's central means of achieving equal status with Anglo-Saxons was dependent on promoting the image of Mexican residents as conforming to the cultural norms of the United States. Even though the league was ultimately concerned with the status of Mexican American citizens, it recognized the fact that the dominant society did not distinguish between those of Mexican descent. (For example, during the Great Depression, both non-citizens and citizens alike were deported back to Mexico.) New immigrants from Mexico facilitated against this strategy. The new immigrants brought with them stronger ties to their native culture, limited English proficiency, and were willing to work for low wages. Mexican Americans knew that they would be lumped together with the recent immigrants and also seen as "un-American", "backward", "poor" and would be discriminated against. The league also shared the fear of many working-class Americans that the new immigrant, willing to work for low wages and contributing to job competition against Mexican Americans due to their numbers, would economically harm Mexican Americans.

A focus on education was perhaps another byproduct of the assimilation ideology. Benjamin Marquez asserts, "Segregated schools, inferior equipment, and the lack of qualified teachers were seen as the primary obstacles to the full economic and social assimilation of the Mexican American". LULAC believed that the public-school system, with the aforementioned issues corrected, would serve as a central instrument in the assimilation process of children, and thereby the Mexican American community as a whole. Through formal education, Mexican Americans would learn how to function in American institutions, socialize with Anglo-Saxon children, and would be able to qualify for more-skilled jobs.