McCarthyism: Memories of a Blacklisted Bert Corona

By Michael J. Lynch and Carlos Larralde

Carlos Larralde has crafted a study of Bert Corona, a California Latino civil rights activist.  This alone is a significant accomplishment.  As the reader will undoubtedly surmise, hard copy source materials were scant.  This is due primarily to the dearth of paperwork and notes available.  This, in turn, was due to the fears that primary source materials could be confiscated and used against the people central to the study, Bert Corona and the Latino activists associated with him.  These fears arose in conjunction with the very real danger that local, state, and federal government minions would distort and use against these Latino activists, the very records that would have verified and supported their verbal accounts.

Thus, in many instances, verbal accounts remain our only source materials for the history of this band of brothers and sisters who stood up to individuals and groups determined to squelch the basic human rights of ethnic and social minorities.  The reader, whether liberal or conservative, should find succor in the activities of these Latino activists.  For if none stand to restrain the government, we will all become subjects rather than citizens.  This is why the following narrative is powerful, and is such a valuable part of history.

One of history’s problems remains: just what is history and who has the right to craft historical narratives.  There is a somewhat accurate concept that the winners get to write history.  Fortunately, this tends to be true in the short run.  Over time, a more balanced narrative tends to develop which will incorporate voices not heard in the initial historical monologue.  I sincerely believe that the volume you are reading serves history by expanding the existing narrative.  The multiple voices resonating in this story enrich the history of California, Latinos, the United States, politics, society, and individual persons.  Some of these voices have been heard before and some have been heard by only a minute percentage of us.

In developing this narrative, Carlos Larralde has invested his time, talent, and lifeblood in its presentation.  The reader is offered a chorus of voices, not a cacophony of noise.  This is a difficult endeavor as so many voices and life stories can obfuscate the historical value within multiple lives and personal stories.  This work presents many voices and stories.  The reader will find it not necessarily an easy read.  Please remember that if something is easy, anyone could do it and it usually is not worth much.  Easy may be convenient and comfortable, but easy has but limited value.

In this vein, please remember to read the endnotes.  This may sound strange, but the endnotes contain more than just sources.  Within the source material and the ancillary comments attached to several of the notes is a presentation of the broad range of sources utilized by the author.  The endnotes should illuminate the reader with a fuller understanding as to why the narrative has been crafted as it has.  This narrative is primarily the story of a single person’s life, which has been richly intertwined with the lives of so many other persons, both heroic and base.  In this complex tapestry lies a mirror of our own lives and experiences.  One history of so many that comprises our individual and communal existence.

This is a work of scholarship and love compiled from multiple sources and frequently derived from personal interviews with the individuals who lived through this period.  Oral histories are difficult simply by the manner in which they are obtained, recorded, and stored for subsequent retrieval, often years later.  This alone affords such narratives substantial value, by their scarcity and by the craftsmanship of an individual who has dedicated his effort to bring these narratives to light.

When Carlos asked me to collaborate with him, and pen a foreword and appendix to this narrative, I a

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Feb 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9780998380919

Book preview

McCarthyism: Memories of a Blacklisted Bert Corona

Carlos Larralde, Ph.D.

and

Michael J. Lynch III, Ph.D.

Edited by Heidi L. Fuss

Copyright ©2016 by Carlos Larralde, Ph.D.

Sentia Publishing Company has the exclusive rights to reproduce this work, to prepare derivative works from this work, to publicly distribute this work, to publicly perform this work, and to publicly display this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN 978-0-9983809-1-9

A critical chronicle of Latinos who suffered during the McCarthy era, in California that was told by numerous blacklisted Latinos to the author. In the end, the author received most of their personal papers and other documents.

-Paul Vanderwood, California State University, San Diego

It is a useful narrative to those who need to understand the Latino struggle for civil rights.

-Jose Lopez, California State University, Long Beach

About the Authors

Carlos Larralde received his Ph.D. in sociology at UCLA in 1978 and has published numerous studies on the American Latino community.

Michael J. Lynch III received his Ph.D. in historical geography from Texas A&M University in 2003. His academic interests include ethnic studies, ethnic enclaves, and the history of ethnic empowerment.

To Gerald (Jerry) Lee Madison (1937-2015) with devoted affection. He knew Bert Corona.

Foreword

Carlos Larralde has crafted a study of Bert Corona, a California Latino civil rights activist. This alone is a significant accomplishment. As the reader will undoubtedly surmise, hard copy source materials were scant. This is due primarily to the dearth of paperwork and notes available. This, in turn, was due to the fears that primary source materials could be confiscated and used against the people central to the study, Bert Corona and the Latino activists associated with him. These fears arose in conjunction with the very real danger that local, state, and federal government minions would distort and use against these Latino activists, the very records that would have verified and supported their verbal accounts.

Thus, in many instances, verbal accounts remain our only source materials for the history of this band of brothers and sisters who stood up to individuals and groups determined to squelch the basic human rights of ethnic and social minorities. The reader, whether liberal or conservative, should find succor in the activities of these Latino activists. For if none stand to restrain the government, we will all become subjects rather than citizens. This is why the following narrative is powerful, and is such a valuable part of history.

One of history’s problems remains: just what is history and who has the right to craft historical narratives. There is a somewhat accurate concept that the winners get to write history. Fortunately, this tends to be true in the short run. Over time, a more balanced narrative tends to develop which will incorporate voices not heard in the initial historical monologue. I sincerely believe that the volume you are reading serves history by expanding the existing narrative. The multiple voices resonating in this story enrich the history of California, Latinos, the United States, politics, society, and individual persons. Some of these voices have been heard before and some have been heard by only a minute percentage of us.

In developing this narrative, Carlos Larralde has invested his time, talent, and lifeblood in its presentation. The reader is offered a chorus of voices, not a cacophony of noise. This is a difficult endeavor as so many voices and life stories can obfuscate the historical value within multiple lives and personal stories. This work presents many voices and stories. The reader will find it not necessarily an easy read. Please remember that if something is easy, anyone could do it and it usually is not worth much. Easy may be convenient and comfortable, but easy has but limited value.

In this vein, please remember to read the endnotes. This may sound strange, but the endnotes contain more than just sources. Within the source material and the ancillary comments attached to several of the notes is a presentation of the broad range of sources utilized by the author. The endnotes should illuminate the reader with a fuller understanding as to why the narrative has been crafted as it has. This narrative is primarily the story of a single person’s life, which has been richly intertwined with the lives of so many other persons, both heroic and base. In this complex tapestry lies a mirror of our own lives and experiences. One history of so many that comprises our individual and communal existence.

This is a work of scholarship and love compiled from multiple sources and frequently derived from personal interviews with the individuals who lived through this period. Oral histories are difficult simply by the manner in which they are obtained, recorded, and stored for subsequent retrieval, often years later. This alone affords such narratives substantial value, by their scarcity and by the craftsmanship of an individual who has dedicated his effort to bring these narratives to light.

When Carlos asked me to collaborate with him, and pen a foreword and appendix to this narrative, I accepted with honor and trepidation. The former as I was truly honored to be a part of this endeavor. The latter as I was unsure that I could add functional benefit to his work. Yet a third concept of mine has driven this narrative. I have been academically associated with Carlos Larralde for twenty years now, and I have never known him to want anything other than to give voice to those now silenced. I consider this a noble effort, as I have always promoted the concept that all voices be heard, and from the chorus, historical narratives will emerge. For this effort I commend Carlos and his opus. To his readers, I wish them a journey of enlightenment.

Michael J. Lynch III, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of History and Geography

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Introduction

-

Bert Corona: A California Labor Organizer

No narrative is timeless, just as none will have the final word on the reminiscences of Bert Corona, a California Latino (people with genetic and cultural ties to Latin America. Mexicans are the majority). His achievements as a labor union leader made Corona a legend throughout the twentieth century.

Corona became an icon in American labor, civil rights history and an inexhaustible muse of American Latino empowerment. Corona remains a giant in the history of Latinos in the United States, stated University of California, Santa Barbara, Professor of Latino Studies, the remarkable historian Mario T. Garcia in his distinctive book, Memories of Chicano History: The Life and Narrative of Bert Corona. Garcia stated that Corona was a lesser-known figure than Cesar Chavez. Corona was just as important. He did what no one had successfully done-organize undocumented laborers. He is the urban counterpart to Chavez, who organized farmworkers. ¹

The Democratic Representative Edward Roybal, who in 1949 was elected to the Los Angeles City Council and later reelected and served until 1962, acknowledged Corona as a real fighter for civil rights. In the years I was away in Washington [in Congress], Bert was here all the time, fighting for things. Roybal cherished his friendship. ²

The articulate historian Manuel G. Gonzales praised Corona’s charisma. Corona was a legendary community organizer and in California, he became a wide and powerful voice. As a passionate believer in civil rights, he was an uncompromising voice to numerous Latinos. Corona knew how to bring people out and onto the street, if this was essential. ³

An educational policy analyst on Latinos, Professor Carlos F. Ortega, University of Texas, El Paso, Chicano Studies, noted that the public knew the visionary Bert Corona in casual clothes, with his silver hair, ever-present sideburns, and a confidence that conveyed an attitude of respect for other people, as well as for himself.

The illustrious Corona earned international respect for his tolerance and liberal politics. He championed fair treatment of immigrants. This figure stood firm on principle. He forged politics, influencing a century of American Latino labor activities. Also as a great thinker and organizer, Corona radiated hope to desperate, impoverished migrants. Most Latinos trusted and cherished Corona, known as the Father of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Ortega wrote, He was a great Chicano activist, who fought throughout his eighty-two years for the rights of Mexican Americans, immigrants and workers. ⁴

The practical and perceptive Corona refused to be irascible and suspicious. He imparted to Latino civil rights a fresh face and a vibrant energy, now made alive at the Bert Corona Leadership Institute, Washington D.C. This organization has advanced civic participation, education, and economic advancement among youth from farm hands and underserved communities.

In 2010, historian Paul Vanderwood, California State University, San Diego, recalled, Bert Corona lived into his eighties. Throughout his life he displayed enough energy, eagerness and resourcefulness for a dozen ordinary people. The unwearied Corona now stands like a massive granite obelisk in the dead center of twentieth century Latino history, casting a long shadow over it. ⁵ Then in 2012, another San Diego scholar on California, Richard Griswold del Castillo affirmed, Bert [Corona] is now a legend of towering proportions. A portion of Southern California Latino politicians agreed with Vanderwood. As the saying went, A politician needs to hold hands with Corona because you do not want him out there challenging you or coming at you.

Seeds of Hatred and Emotional Turmoil

This is a personal narrative of Bert Corona. I met him when I was a student and he was a professor in California State University, Northridge, during the 1970s. I realized that he was a shrewd, prudent and disciplined man, never prey to doubt and anguish. As I listened to him, I realized that his impressions, rooted in firsthand experience, were a panoramic view of a California society that challenged the old order. Corona revealed tantalizing glimpses of his deepest personal struggles and intimate portraits of titanic Californians. They battled rivals with shifting loyalties in an extreme oppressive era, known as the Cold War, during the 1940’s and 1950’s. By then, Corona was rooted in American Latino civil rights during World War II and in a hostile Cold War, with its fatal threat of nuclear annihilation, when the United States and Russia were estranged foes.

In the early twentieth century, the world consisted of assorted political ideas: Monarchies, dictatorships, communism, socialism and democracy. Concepts developed affirming that power should be taken from the elite and given to the masses.

In the United States, the suffrage movement gave women the right to vote, World War I saw the industrialization of weaponry and its heinous cost to human life. Child labor, in the nation’s factories, came under scrutiny. In the world of business, captains of industry and their ruthless monopolies languished in the shadows of trust busting. Citizens from all walks of life, of all ages began questioning established cherished ideas such as the existence of God, the institution of marriage and sexual morays. It was not chance that civil liberties, including the organization of labor and workers and their special needs, became the stuff of political agendas and art itself. The proponents of this would include the descendants of slaves, and also foreign labor.

While jazz found its voice in American society, the growth of science and rapid technology altered the way people related to everyday life. These changes caused people to leave farm areas into cities. These population movements were both voluntary and forced. But the Great Depression during the 1930’s and then World War II shattered their world again, at least for the moment.

During that era, Corona and most of his fellow marginalized Latino laborers were Marxists, named after the German revolutionary and political economist Karl Marx. Corona believed in a socialism that transcended into Communism. Marx’s ideology pitted the capitalist and Christian West against an atheistic Communist world, such as in Russia and China. Cold War fears resonated throughout the world. ⁶

To be a Marxist in North America was to be seen as a Communist. It meant you could be blacklisted, which meant constant harassment, censorship and discrimination. It meant that a worker might lose employment. In some circumstances, blacklisted individuals were denied a legal hearing, or could not vote or express political opinions. At times, they had to register as criminals. It became a hurdle for these banned individuals to keep records as they endured deprivation. In their desolate circumstances, it became frivolous to maintain records.

Most blacklisted children were known as red-diaper babies, who suffered consequences. If there was a question of their birth record, these children were deported. Discrimination conflicts could arise while attending public schools. Teachers and fellow students harassed them as Commies. Mitzi and Nikola Trumbo recalled their legendary father, Dalton Trumbo, an illustrious American screenwriter and novelist. Trumbo refused to testify before a government hearing in 1947. He was blacklisted. Having a blacklisted father led to problems in grade school. Even the PTA [Parents and Teachers Association] conducted secret meetings to keep their parents from attending. ⁷

Because of their parents, some children were suspected of homosexuality, seen as a fatal Communist virus that threatened state security. When most of these children became adults, they faced employment problems and carried their birth certificates to prove their American citizenship. To give credibility to their character, they needed a letter from their pastor, or their priest, written on church stationery. Anti-Communist propaganda affirmed that homosexuals were ‘taking over’ official life. ⁸ Some of these unfortunates had been given frontal lobotomies.

I came across blacklisted Latinos during my second year in college in 1970. I collected what papers, and what photographs they had. I also interviewed them so that I could understand how they survived. Most of these Latinos destroyed their papers to protect themselves and their families. Today a major portion of documents on these blacklisted citizens are preserved in government or educational institutions. These records are complete, partial or have been preserved by design, altered or miscopied. It pays to be cautious.

As time elapsed, my research provided material for my college projects. They demanded a great deal of interviewing and patient listening. With good reason, these paranoid Latinos feared cameras and tape recorders; so time-consuming notes were required. These obstacles discouraged numerous scholars and journalists. Since the interviews were the bedrock of my work, I developed skills to encourage these Latinos to confide in me. Through friendship and trust, they emerged from their shadows and shared their memories. In addition, several notable Anglo Saxons shared their disillusioned experiences with the Cold War.

Now, these Cold War narratives reflect the sound of people talking. These episodes provided me with a window into a paranoid America. This deadly fear manipulated the media and deteriorated the self-esteem of many people during the middle of a fragmented twentieth century. In time, the Cold War shaped the twenty-first century with its critical computerized technological global economy.

We also must keep in mind that Latino people, like other American minority groups, have distinct cultural and political identities. Like other minorities, many Latinos embrace conservative views or other different political concepts. Still, they cannot ignore the fact, that as a minority group, our Latino heritage is marred by an inexhaustible reservoir of brutal discrimination, ruthless oppression and untold grief.

This is evident in the personal account that I gathered from my 30 year long friendship with Humberto Noe Bert Corona (1918-2001), his wife Blanche and their friends and associates. A native of El Paso, Texas, the vibrant Corona was an American labor and civil rights leader, who appeased the Latino community with dignified charisma. Corona assisted major Latino organizations. He either founded or co-founded several of them. Some of these organizations benefited immigrants. He created several organizations to aid the undocumented Latino workforce. To him, it remained important to provide hope and guidance to these workers in California’s extensive agribusiness fields. Corona admitted, The average laborer, accustomed to long hours of back-breaking work, was seen as a mere economic possession. Many toiled for low wages without benefits, exposed to pesticides; they labored in slave-like conditions.

Corona launched the National Mexican Brotherhood organization in 1951 to provide social services, such as disability compensation, better-housing, medical aid, and unemployment insurance to foreign breadwinners. These achievers were barred from healthcare, better education and other public services as illegals and could not even get their social security benefits since they faced hurdles in becoming U.S. citizens. The ironic fact is that dozens of suspected Nazi war criminals and SS guards accumulated millions of dollars in U.S. Social Security benefits while living in the United States. ⁹

The impoverished Mexican was encouraged to settle in California and other parts of the United States by growers, who owned vested holdings of prime agricultural land, or were sweat shop owners. This policy in November 1994 became the landmark initiative Proposition 187. This act meant that illegal aliens could not use health care, public education, and other services in California. After an intense political conflict, the act was abolished in July 1999. ¹⁰

To the farmers, Mexicans were ideal producers. A majority of them were clandestine and defenseless residents of this country. They toiled hard and long hours in extreme heat. The women carried their babies wrapped in shawls as they picked cotton, oranges and other crops. Most of these workers’ health was impaired due to pesticides and other hazards. ¹¹

These field hands remained as an invisible group to avoid government census or state investigations of labor. These vulnerable, frightened breadwinners barely spoke English, which generated loneliness and isolation. At the mercy of their bosses, these proud and strong people were scorned and abused in deplorable working conditions. They survived in auto repair or assembly shops, food and garment industries, and housing construction industry. The vast California agricultural industry searched for tactics to exploit them. Any complaints from these craftsmen triggered worse punishments.

With characteristic efficiency, Corona organized and mobilized countless confused, undocumented workers to assert their civil liberties and civil rights against deportation raids and a muddled legal system of contradictory laws. Due to controversial political issues, most government officials made it difficult for them to become American citizens. Numerous undocumented groups stood up for their rights. But they faced imprisonment, deportation or simply vanished. A vast number of these family breadwinners were separated from their wives and children. Once they were gone, the businesses kept their wages. ¹²

Two civil rights leaders, the Usquiano brothers, assisted Corona. The forceful Philip Usquiano and the faithful Albert Usquiano helped Bert in San Diego, California. Philip’s son, Tony Usquiano, recalled, Bert belonged not to himself but to the Latino community. With a new urgency and energy in his voice, his brief statements inspired innumerable people. He refused to degrade himself with hatred. ¹³

A co-worker of Corona, Soledad Chole Alatorre said, Bert never knew fear and understood the tormented doubts and disappointments that life exposes us to. People felt an intimate relationship with him. To them, he became an uncle or a close relative to confide in. ¹⁴

A fearless Corona tackled setbacks created by the fanatical Republican, Wisconsin’s Senator Joseph McCarthy (1946-1957). Corona summed up the ordeal in these words to me. McCarthyism thrived on witch hunts to find Communists. It fell on us like a huge mallet. It delivered a lethal psychic blow and deprived us without a voice. It stopped America’s great laboratory of social innovation. ¹⁵

With a vivid imagination for conspiracies and subversion, the shrewd McCarthy relished to see his name on front-page headlines. Black and white television became the link to the outside world, and through this medium McCarthy shoved himself into our lives while he attempted to alter the political and social fabric of America.

The popular cartoonist Herbert Lawrence Block, known as Herblock, exposed McCarthy’s senseless charges. He coined the word McCarthyism in a Washington Post cartoon, March 29, 1950. It discriminated against and discredited a person or an organization on unfounded accusations and sensationalism. Intended to suppress Communism, McCarthyism became a political weapon for personal vendettas that generated unspecified charges, defamation, anxiety, retaliation and more discrimination. For example, Senator McCarthy stated that the CIA unwittingly hired a large number of double agents who were Communists. The agency could not withstand a whit of scrutiny on the issue… For security reasons the agency was immune from investigation. If McCarthy insisted, the CIA would be destroyed. But McCarthy sent his bloodhounds in a public display of sanctimony that devastated the State Department for a decade. ¹⁶

In addition, McCarthy did far more for the Soviet cause by creating problems for the CIA. His self-serving crusade against the Red Menace and exaggerations made liberal opinion around the world skeptical of the reality of Soviet intelligence offense… ¹⁷

McCarthy retained a forgiving attitude for Nazis and its SS-men. He loathed Communists and liberals. "Moreover, keen observers noticed how close anti-Communism came to

Reviews for McCarthyism

[MarineForGod · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Interesting how the author still claims Senator Joe McCarthy wrong when history including the fall of Russia in the 1990's and documents obtained from the KGB ALL PROVE THAT McCarthy was right! Tends to make you think this book is based on a lie or at least on misinformation.