Braceros

Braceros

Despite his masterpiece being in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Domingo Ulloa is rather underappreciated and unidentified. He was born in 1919 in Pomona, California, and passed away in El Centro, California in 1997. As a Mexican-American, Ulloa was considered a portion of a “hyphen generation that developed what curator and writer Terezita Romo calls a bicultural aesthetic synthesis of Mexican heritage with American art.” Some of his most famous pieces included Freedom, Racism/Incident at Little Rock, and of course, Braceros. The aspects of these works were based on personal experiences, but drew from several international orientations as well. [2]

Ulloa created the artwork, Braceros, in 1960 when he visited a bracero camp in San Diego. After this visitation, he decided to expose the truths behind the system by sparking a conversation through his painting. Ulloa obscures the faces of some. The colors of warm brown, beige, red, and burgundy give us a picture of how the heat influenced daily life. All of the men are sporting sun hats, and by the look on their faces, you can tell the heat is excruciating. With the different shades of these warm colors, Ulloa is able to invoke a feeling of sympathy for what the people in the picture are going through, which is exactly what he was planning to do with the picture.

The bracero program with Mexico began in 1942 when World War II was in full effect and the United States began searching for cheap labor for the construction of railroads, agriculture, etc. [3]. Under this program, Mexican workers were allowed to come to the United States to work and contribute to America for a temporary amount of time. They were forced to leave after their bodies were not able to contribute productively for the US. The program ended in 1964. The opportunity of coming to the US to work was great, but the braceros faced harsh social and physical injustices as well as abuses including rundown homes, widespread discrimination, and on some occasions, the embezzlement of their wages. In Ulloa’s piece, the pain of all of their troubles evident on their faces. The men clearly convey pain and sorrow through their expressions. [4]

The socioeconomic stereotype of a Mexican laborer was a significant issue during the institution of the bracero program. The braceros were told that they were less than other Americans and looked down on by others, simply because of the connotation associated with their name, bracero. In accordance with the other pieces of artwork in the social injustice portion, it touches base as a racial and economic problem. The blatant racism towards these individuals was outrageous, and the meager salary they were paid was nothing less that stingy. On top of that, they were forced to leave after they got to the age that they began to hurt the system.

In retrospect of the braceros program, many social injustices were done to these men characterized in Ulloa’s artwork. These men were robbed of their wages on several occasions, and discriminated against regularly as well. The houses they were sheltered in were basically renovated barns, where they were crammed into or thrown into tents instead. The braceros generally all wore sun hats, not because they were diving into the fashion industry, but because they needed it as protection from the heat. The clothes worn in the artwork show that the men were very poor, in fact, they all wore generally the same attire because it was considered cheap.

A parallel can be drawn between this barbed bracero camp and the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. The men are bound by barbed wire and are living in shacks for shelter. The Jews were forced to work for no pay and were eventually killed if they stopped performing their chores. Likewise, the bracero is paid a terribly small wage, and is forced out of the country when they can no longer perform [2]. This program was instituted during World War II, in a time where many Japanese Americans were being held in internment camps. Additionally, a correlation can be drawn between the piece and the internment of Japanese Americans, where they were both allowed to work, but only under strict rules and regulations because of fear.

Braceros is a spectacular piece of work, and is one of Ulloa’s most prominent piece. He expressed his feelings toward the program through his use of colors and giving a good idea of how the program treats the laborers.  The piece is extremely effective in its function as a proponent of social injustice and forever will be a symbol of the fight for equality.

QZM

References:
1. “Search Collections.” Braceros by Domingo Ulloa / American Art. Accessed July 16, 2015. http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=86956.
2. Noriega, Chon. “The City of Dreams…and Shoes.” The City of Dreams…and Shoes. Accessed July 16, 2015. http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/city-dreamsand-shoes
3. “Braceros: History, Compensation – Rural Migration News | Migration Dialogue.” Braceros: History, Compensation – Rural Migration News | Migration Dialogue. Accessed July 16, 2015. http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=1112_0_4_0
4. “America on the Move | Opportunity or Exploitation: The Bracero Program.” America on the Move | Opportunity or Exploitation: The Bracero Program. Accessed July 16, 2015. http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/themes/story_51_5.html