"Rio Grande Wetbacks" Essays on Mexican Migrant Workers by Texas Farmer Carrol Norquest, 1972

Carrol Norquest

First Edition

[Chicano] [Mexican Migration] Norquest, Carrol. Rio Grande Wetbacks: Mexican Migrant Workers. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1972. First edition. 159 pages. Original yellow and black boards with title, author, and publisher stamped in yellow on spine. Original yellow and grey paper dustjacket with image of laborer at work in a field. Author Carrol Norquest draws on his personal experience as a farmer in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to write nuanced and humanistic biographical sketches of migrant workers. These essays explore the people and culture of south Texas, an area which saw the rise of migrant labor in the 30s and 40s and continues to grapple with an influx of immigration to this day. The term "wetback" first emerged in the 50s and 60s as a slur for migrant workers, presumably a reference to the act of swimming across the Rio Grande from Mexico to Texas. Overall very good condition. Essays by a Texas farmer refuting racist stereotypes about Mexican migrant workers.

Item #20881

Price: $225.00