Making Lemonade out of Lemons

Mexican American Labor and Leisure in a California Town 1880-1960

José M. Alamillo

• Éditeur: University of Illinois Press
• Année: 2023
• ISBN:
  9780252055041
• Sujet: Social Sciences
• Sous-sujet: Sociology

Out of the "lemons" handed to Mexican American workers in Corona, California--low pay, segregated schooling, inadequate housing, and racial discrimination--Mexican men and women made "lemonade" by transforming leisure spaces such as baseball games, parades, festivals, and churches into politicized spaces where workers voiced their grievances, debated strategies for advancement, and built solidarity. Using oral history interviews, extensive citrus company records, and his own experiences in Corona, José Alamillo argues that Mexican Americans helped lay the groundwork for civil rights struggles and electoral campaigns in the post-World War II era.