Abstract
In the early 1950s, the black author Ralph Ellison published his highly acclaimed masterpiece Invisible Man, about a nameless black character searching for his place in America. While a lot of what Ellison wrote concerning the experience of blacks in America was true, I cannot say that I felt the same in Mexico. Here, I was always visible. People always looked at me with admiration, envy, affection, and friendship. I was and became “un negro.”
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Notes
When the 1936 Spanish elections brought to power a left-wing regime, revolts were launched against the government by conservative and fascist forces. Their coalition, called the Nationalists, fought against the Republicans in a bloody struggle that lasted until 1939. During the struggle, Nazi Germany and Italy supported the Nationalists, providing them with weapons, troops, and supplies. Meanwhile, Russia supported the Republicans. Other international forces became involved and sided with the Republicans through the all-volunteer “International Brigade.” Americans supported the war with their Abraham Lincoln Brigade (in which some blacks fought). The Republicans were eventually defeated, ushering in the dictatorship of Franco, which lasted until 1975. See Pierre Vilar, Historia de España (Barcelona: Editorial Crítica, 1989), 142–71.
For more on the Hollywood Ten see Richard M. Fried, Nightmare in Red, The McCarthy Era in Perspective (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), 73–78.
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© 2004 Ben Vinson III
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Vinson, B. (2004). From Tourist to Resident—Being Black in Mexico City during the 1950s. In: Flight. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981448_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981448_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-52937-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4039-8144-8
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