The Anti-Vagrancy Act, also known as the Greaser Act, was enacted in 1855 in California, by legalizing the arrest of those perceived as violating its anti-vagrancy statute.
The law is sometimes referred to as the Greaser Act because the law uses the word "Greaser", found in section two, to refer to individuals of "Spanish and Indian blood."
The end of the Mexican–American War in 1848 was marked by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which resulted in Mexico's cession of the Southwest, leading the United States' acquisition of California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. [1] As elaborated by Latino History and Culture: An Encyclopedia, "Euro-Americans were eager to solidify their power in the region they had just taken from Mexico," and thus began to construct a legal and economic system to develop the Southwest. [2]
California underwent much development during the late 1840s and early 1850s, especially due to the economic boom produced by the Gold Rush between the years 1840 and 1855. Some have characterized the sentiments of this era as being a consequence of the economic development; for example, scholar Leonard Pitt has described that "nativism was born in the months of 1849 and early 1850 when mining enterprise was most individualistic, government most ineffectual, and immigration most rapid." [3]
Tensions mounted in the region, catalyzing both vigilante justice and legal discrimination against minority groups to retain Euro-American interests in the region. The Greaser Act is part of a history of anti-immigration (e.g. Chinese Exclusion Act) and discriminatory laws passed in the Southwest (e.g. Foreign Miners' Tax). The Foreign Miners' Tax of 1850, which called for all non-European noncitizen miners to pay a tax in order to work in the mines, can be considered "a system of taxation and indenture...to exploit alien caste laborers rather than expel them." [3]
Under "An Act for the Government and Protection of Indians," passed in 1850, Native Americans in California were targeted under the guise of stopping vagrancy and promoting apprenticeship. As outlined by the California Research Bureau of the California State Library, the act "facilitated removing California Indians from their traditional lands, separating at least a generation of children and adults from their families, languages, and cultures...and indenturing Indian children and adults to Whites." [4] The Anti-Vagrancy Act of 1855 extended the vagrancy statutes to non-Native Americans in a less severe manner.
The original title of the act clearly states that its purpose is "To punish Vagrants, Vagabonds, and Dangerous and Suspicious Persons." Six short sections outline the punishment at first incident, the protocol for disarming greasers, the consequences of a second conviction, the potential avenues of employment for vagrant, the discharge procedures and the timeline for when the act is to go into effect. The law defined a vagrant as including all those who do not have or accept employment, prostitutes and drunkards and calls for their incarceration for up to ninety days; during this time they may be "sentenced to hard labor."
Section 2 identifies people by ethnoracial background by referring to "all persons who are commonly known as 'Greasers' or the issue of Spanish and Indian blood... and who go armed and are not peaceable and quiet persons." The word "greaser" (a vestige of the Mexican–American War) was a derogatory term used to refer to Mexicans and Mexican Americans referring to "the practice of Mexican laborers in the Southwest greasing their backs to facilitate the unloading of hides and cargo," their skin color, or presumptions about their hygiene. [5]
Discriminatory actions created by the California legislature in the 1850s socially and economically restrained minority groups, and in many ways the Greaser Act, "criminalized everyday behavior and wrote racist language into the law of California" as a way for Anglo-Americans to control the new rising economy. [2]
The Anti-Vagrancy Act, as well as laws of its time such as the Foreign Miners' Tax, kept minority groups out of the growing mining economy, by restricting and controlling the laboring bodies of minorities and claiming that labor and productivity would serve to reform idle individuals. [6] Some scholars have argued that the vagrancy act is an example of "internal colonialism" because "this law was an attempt to reintroduce the peon bondage system, which provided cheap labor to the ranchos that existed in California prior to the Anglo immigration." [7] This is an example of how Mexicans "were nevertheless subject to laws designed to deny them the privileges and status of whiteness, based on their working-class position," complicating how race and citizenship were understood in the region. [8]
The distinction between 'native' and 'foreigner' played a crucial and central difference in the racism and discrimination emblematic of the Southwest during the time period. The stigma of 'foreigner' was detrimental to the economic and social opportunities of minorities, as discrimination and oppression affected many groups of people, including Mexicans/Mexican Americans, Asians/Asian Americans, and Native Americans. These laws, however, did not affect African Americans, for "their citizenship and socialization in American society as 'native,' were exempt from both the Foreign Miners' Tax and The Greaser Act." [9] Although they were exempt from these California laws because of their native status, they still faced "a multitude of egregious laws in their own right." [9] Therefore, racial discrimination was additionally complicated by nativism and understandings of citizenship.
The Greaser Act was in line with other forms of extra-legal violence imparted on minorities during this time period: "the law authorized local militias to keep the Mexican community at bay by terrorizing its members; allowed Anglos to confiscate Mexican property; and even allowed Anglos to lynch 'recalcitrant individuals' with impunity." [2] As described by Guevara Urbina, "residents continued to face displacement from their land as European newcomers began to use violence, lynching, existing laws, or developed new laws, to seize lands previously held by Mexicans or other indigenous groups." [10]
Additionally, the law played a role in the racial formation of Mexicans "from a nationality to a race...through the dynamic interplay of myriad social forces...racialization of Mexicans does not occur in a vacuum, but in the context of dominant ideology, perceived economic interests, and psychological necessity." [11]
The Greaser Act of 1855 would be later amended a year after its birth; however, the law was still used against US citizens of Mexican ancestry, Mexican nationals and other foreign groups. The amendment came in the form of eliminating the word "Greaser" from the text of the law, but it was still used against Mexicans. [2] Though this changed over time, the discriminatory actions of the 1800s barred not only Mexicans and Mexican Americans, but also Native Americans and Asian Americans. Today, profiling laws bar "enforcement agencies from reliance on ethnicity, color, national origin, political affiliation, language, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disabilities or medical conditions as a reason to stop or search people." [12] The Anti-Vagrancy Act exists in a broader history within California regarding immigration, nativism and race relations, both before and after repeal of the act. [13]
Racial quotas in employment and education are numerical requirements or quotas for hiring, promoting, admitting and/or graduating members of a particular racial group. Racial quotas are often established as means of diminishing racial discrimination, addressing under-representation and evident racism against those racial groups or, the opposite, against the disadvantaged majority group. Conversely, quotas have also been used historically to promote discrimination against minority groups by limiting access to influential institutions in employment and education.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law made exceptions for merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplomats. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first major U.S. law ever implemented to prevent all members of a specific national group from immigrating to the United States, and therefore helped shape twentieth-century race-based immigration policy.
Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is defined as policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organization that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race or ethnic group. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, healthcare, education and political representation.
Mexican American history, or the history of American residents of Mexican descent, largely begins after the annexation of Northern Mexico in 1848, when the nearly 80,000 Mexican citizens of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico became U.S. citizens. Large-scale migration increased the U.S.' Mexican population during the 1910s, as refugees fled the economic devastation and violence of Mexico's high-casualty revolution and civil war. Until the mid-20th century, most Mexican Americans lived within a few hundred miles of the border, although some resettled along rail lines from the Southwest into the Midwest.
Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions against "racial" or ethnic groups throughout the history of the United States. Since the early colonial era, White Americans have generally enjoyed legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights which have been denied to members of various ethnic or minority groups at various times. European Americans have enjoyed advantages in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure.
The United States has a racially and ethnically diverse population. At the federal level, race and ethnicity have been categorized separately. The most recent United States census recognized five racial categories, as well as people who belong to two or more of the racial categories. The United States also recognizes the broader notion of ethnicity. The 2000 census and 2010 American Community Survey inquired about the "ancestry" of residents, while the 2020 census allowed people to enter their "origins". The Census Bureau also classified respondents as either Hispanic or Latino, identifying as an ethnicity, which comprises the minority group in the nation.
On February 19, 1862, the 37th United States Congress passed An Act to Prohibit the "Coolie Trade" by American Citizens in American Vessels. The act, which would be called the Anti-Coolie Act of 1862 in short, was passed by the California State Legislature in an attempt to appease rising anger among white laborers about salary competition created by the influx of Chinese immigrants at the height of the California Gold Rush. The act sought to protect white laborers by imposing a monthly tax on Chinese immigrants seeking to do business in the state of California.
This is a list of topics related to racism:
Legislation seeking to direct relations between racial or ethnic groups in the United States has had several historical phases, developing from the European colonization of the Americas, the triangular slave trade, and the American Indian Wars. The 1776 Declaration of Independence included the statement that "all men are created equal", which has ultimately inspired actions and legislation against slavery and racial discrimination. Such actions have led to passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the largest and oldest Hispanic and Latin-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was established on February 17, 1929, in Corpus Christi, Texas, largely by Hispanics returning from World War I who sought to end ethnic discrimination against Latinos in the United States. The goal of LULAC is to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health, and civil rights of Hispanic people in the United States. LULAC uses nationwide councils and group community organizations to achieve all these goals. LULAC has about 132,000 members in the United States.
Nativism is the political policy of promoting or protecting the interests of "native-born" or established inhabitants over those of immigrants, including the support of anti-immigration and immigration-restriction measures. In the United States, nativism does not refer to a movement led by Indigenous peoples, also called Native Americans or Indians.
Juan Crow is political terminology that was coined by journalist Roberto Lovato. It first gained popularity when he used it in an article for The Nation magazine in 2008. "Call it Juan Crow: the matrix of laws, social customs, economic institutions and symbolic systems enabling the physical and psychic isolation needed to control and exploit undocumented immigrants." Lovato utilized the term to criticize immigration enforcement laws by analogizing them to Jim Crow laws, and has since become popular among immigration activists.
Chinese Americans in the Pacific Northwest have been around since as early as the 1850s. Chinese Americans arrived in the Greater Seattle area in as early as 1851. Oregon had also seen an influx of Chinese Immigrants as early as 1851, because of mining opportunities. Idaho saw an influx of Chinese Immigrants in the late-19th century, and by 1870 saw a population of around 4,000 Chinese immigrants. The influx of Chinese immigrants in the Pacific Northwest and the rest of the Western United States led to retaliation by whites, leading to anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States. These sentiment then led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which expelled many Chinese Americans in the Pacific Northwest. Chinese exclusion is also driven by the failure of restriction. The United States had passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to slow immigration, and mend Sinophobia in the west. However, the enforcement of the exclusion act was lackluster. The United States Department of Treasury had found itself with no money to enforce this law. Thus, nullifying the purpose of the exclusion act. Additionally, under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Chinese people could migrate to the United States if they were return immigrants. Consequently, Chinese immigrants began claiming that they were return immigrants so that they could work in the United States. This also made the Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 useless. This led the United States government to pass the Scott Act of 1888. This excluded all Chinese immigration because it was cheaper, and it appeased the racial tensions in the west.
The Act for the Government and Protection of Indians, nicknamed the Indian Indenture Act was enacted by the first session of the California State Legislature and signed into law by the 1st Governor of California, Peter Hardeman Burnett. The legislation led to the forced labor of many Native Americans in California, in addition to regulating employment terms and redefining criminal activity and punishment. The legislation played a crucial role in sanctioning the California genocide, in which thousands of Native Californians were killed or enslaved by white settlers during the California Gold Rush.
The Foreign Miners' Tax Act of 1850 was an Act passed by the United States state of California in 1850, imposing a tax of $20/month on foreign miners. The Act was repealed in 1851, and subsequently replaced by the Foreign Miners' License Tax Act of 1852, that charged $4/month. Both were in response to public dislike of Chinese miners.
Xenophobia in the United States is the fear or hatred of any cultural group in the United States which is perceived as being foreign or strange or un-American. It expresses a conflict between an ingroup and an outgroup and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, and beliefs and goals. It includes a desire to eliminate their presence, and fear of losing national, ethnic, or racial identity and is often closely linked to racism and discrimination.
Martha Menchaca is an academic in the fields of social anthropology, ethnicity, gender, oral history, legal anthropology, immigration, and Chicana/o Studies on the relationship between U.S. and Mexican culture. Menchaca is recognized for her research on immigration, naturalization, and birthright citizenship. She is currently a professor at the University of Texas, Austin in the Department of Anthropology.
Gringo justice is a sociohistorical critical theory developed by Chicano sociologist, lawyer, and activist Alfredo Mirandé in 1987, who used it to provide an alternative explanation for Chicano criminality in the United States and challenge the racist assumption that Chicanos were inherently criminal, or biologically, psychologically, or culturally predisposed to engage in criminal behavior. The theory is applied by Chicano and Latino scholars to explain the double standard of justice in the criminal justice system between Anglo-Americans and Chicanos/Latinos. The theory also challenges stereotypes of Chicanos/Latinos as "bandidos," "gang-bangers," and "illegal alien drug smugglers," which have historically developed and are maintained to justify social control over Chicano/Latino people in the US.
In the Western world or in non-Asian countries, terms such as "racism against Asians" or "anti-Asian racism" are typically used in reference to racist policies, discrimination against, and mistreatment of Asian people and Asian immigrants by institutions and/or non-Asian people.
The ideology of nativism - favoring native inhabitants, as opposed to immigrants - has been very common and contentious within American politics for centuries. Nativist movements have been around since even before American independence, and have targeted a wide variety of nationalities.
