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Chicano History Makes History in this Instagram Account

chicano
CREDIT: @veteranas_and_rucas / INSTAGRAM
By November 13, 2015 at 4:52 pm

When Guadalupe Rosales started  the Instagram account “Veteranas and Rucas” it was meant to be a sort of archive for Southern California Chicano Life in the 1990s. It started off as a way to connect with people she lost contact with after she moved to New York. But after a while, the account took on a life of its own.

Veterana and Ruca

“‘Veterana’ means someone who has put in work or time in the gang culture, and ‘ruca’ is what you call your chick,” she told LA Weekly. “If you know these words, you can connect with me and the West Coast.”

Reconnecting

And lots of people knew what she was talking about. As of now, the account has 25,000 followers. People are constantly visiting the page and posting their own pictures. Some are dedicating posts to loved ones they’ve lost and others are even finding relatives they’ve never met. Rosales herself, connected with her long lost best friend.

PLAY: Quiz: Which “Mi Vida Loca” Character Are You? Sad Girl, Mousie, Whisper or Giggles?

Preserving History

https://instagram.com/p/99jnBlurRL/?taken-by=veteranas_and_rucas

“I’ve had teens who are curious about their parents, who wonder how their parents met or knew their parents were from this gang or party crew, but they never experienced it,” Rosales says. “They’re learning history and at the same time trying to save and preserve it.”

The World is Taking Note

View this post on Instagram

#Inglewood 90-91 WS RAZA X3 TLS #Califas #RaidersNation

A post shared by Veteranas & Rucas (@veteranas_and_rucas) on

What’s shocking to Rosales is that this life is not really chronicled anywhere. There are no archives helping preserve this side of history. So she contacted UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center and she will now be exhibiting photos, films and flyers from this time. Because, as Rosales says, “So many of us were part of it that it’s kind of like, ‘How could it not be important?’”

Read more about Chicano life in the 90s here.

Check out more pics from @veteranas_and_rucas here.

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Donald Trump Thinks 'Operation Wetback' was a Successful Example of Mass Deportation

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Donald Trump Thinks ‘Operation Wetback’ was a Successful Example of Mass Deportation

@NBCLatino / Twitter
By Jorge Rodriguez-Jimenez November 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm

If you watched the last Republican debate, you know that is was more yelling and talking over each other, but did you catch Donald Trump’s reference to Operation Wetback? Well, it was there.

This was Donald Trump as he praised Operation Wetback, and yes, that is the real name.

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Credit: FOX Business Network / NBC

“Let me just tell you that Dwight Eisenhower […] moved a million and a half illegal immigrants out of this country,” Trump said during the debate. “Moved them just beyond the border; they came back. Moved them again beyond the border; they came back. Didn’t like it. Moved them way south; they never came back.”

So, what the hell was the GOP candidate talking about? “Operation Wetback” was implemented in the mid 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

https://www.instagram.com/p/1nvebBDX1g/

In 1954, the U.S. government began the mass deportation of undocumented Mexican immigrants. They were rounded up by the thousands and sent across the border on trucks, trains, and boats.

WATCH: People React to Donald Trump’s Racist Slurs

Operation Wetback was proven to be inhumane and deadly as many immigrants died during the deportations.

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Credit: @pinchicagoo / Twitter

People drowned after jumping from ships to avoid being sent back to Mexico. Others were sent to very remote areas with no food, water, or shelter and left to fend for themselves.

Are you serious, Trump?

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Credit: Jane the Virgin / CW / janethevirgin-gifs / Tumblr

“The Eisenhower mass deportation policy was tragic,” Republican Alfonso Aguilar, the Director of American Principles Project’s Latino Partnership told NPR. “Human rights were violated, people were removed to remote locations without food and water, there were many deaths, sometimes U.S. citizens of Hispanic origin were removed. It was a travesty — it was terrible. To say it’s a success story, it’s ridiculous.”

In some cases, Border patrol agents began rounding up anyone with Latino heritage, leading to the deportation of many LEGAL U.S. citizens.  The deportations often went unchecked.

https://www.instagram.com/p/gK_7CDTUn8/

It was a terrifying time to be a person of Latino descent as you were unsure whether or not you would be next just because of where your family was from.

During World War II, the U.S. government was facing a labor shortage, so they set up the Bracero Program to bring Mexicans over the border to work for very low wages.

That’s right. The U.S. government set up a system to bring workers from Mexico to work on the fields during World War II for incredibly low wages and when the government felt it unnecessary for them to be here, they were rounded up and shipped out against their will.

Families were ripped apart and the damage to the Latino psyche in the U.S. was palpable and lingering.

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Credit: @inglamwetrust / Twitter

READ: Donald Trump Kissed a Latina During an Event and the Things Got Creepy

Trump’s reference to Operation Wetback is drawing strong reaction from his usual conservative backers.

And they are pointing out the travesty that was Operation Wetback.

How are we, as a country, seriously talking about bringing back Operation Wetback?

Even conservative commentator and FOX News anchor Bill O’Reilly told Trump how brutal and inhumane the deportations were.

Brutal
Credit: The O’Reilly Factor / FOX News / Wake Up Wolrd / YouTube

O’Reilly: The stuff they did was really brutal. It could never happen today.

Trump: OK. Well. I’ve heard it both ways. I’ve heard good reports; I’ve heard bad reports. We would do it in a very humane way.

Though Trump says he would get it “very humanely done,” he is still not able to clarify what that humane way would be.

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Credit: @ENDBORDERS / Twitter

But he promises that it can be accomplished with great management. #hecantbeseriouscanhe

READ: Donald Trump Reveals His Plan for Immigration Reform: Everyone GTFO

Watch Trump and O’Reilly’s full interaction on Operation Wetback here:

Credit: The O’Reilly Factor / FOX News / Wake Up Wolrd / YouTube

Share this story so your friends can get a little history lesson as they scroll through their feed.

Tags: Immigration Rights, Presidential Elections, Donald Trump
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