Extra Credit: Home of the Aztecs

The video provided in the link is about my hometown, Mendota, a small rural community located in the Central Valley of California. The video speaks about the struggles the people of Mendota have to endure. From working long hours under the blazing sun, to constantly having to worry about being deported.  

In class we read about how Mexicanos during the mid 1900s did most of the agricultural work throughout the United States. As you can see, people of Mexican decent continue to do the same type of difficult labor. Not only is the labor tough, the wages are cheap. Field laborers only get a paid $9 per hour. 

In class, Professor Hong stated that many of the children who have been diagnosed with Leukemia, had parents who worked in the fields. The reason why is because the fields have been drenched with pesticides. These pesticides have been proven to one's risk of developing cancer. Not only are the pesticides bad for the laborer's health, the pesticides are also bad for the soil. Towards the middle of the video, Rodrigo is presented during a prep talk. Coach Beto states that "Rodrigo is currently in the process of defeating Leukemia." Rodrigo's father, like most of the father's in Mendota, toiled in the agricultural fields. This is the perfect example of what Christine was talking about.

Our mayor, Joseph Amador, and Coach Gamez speak about the deportations which have taken place in our community. These deportations have split various families, leaving children without their parents. Many of the deportees never even committed a crime and had no intentions of doing so.Their sole purpose of "coming" to this country was to work, in order to feed their families. Various Mexicanos have been criminalized for crossing a border, which actually crossed them in 1848.

The beginning of the video starts off with Coach Mejis speaking to the youth. Mejia tells his players that if they don't get it together in school, they will either be stuck toiling in the fields or end up in the prison that was recently built by our community. The video does directly speak about the exponential incarceration rates of black and brown youth, but it is hinted at. As my friend Marc Banuelos has stated, "It's kind of shitty when the prison lights are brighter than your city, what a pity, now a days it pays to be witty."
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10602304