A Day Without A Mexican

A Day Without a Mexican is a perfect illustration of how the work and efforts of Latin American people are taken for granted in the United States. The film does not focus on where the Latinos went, but instead focuses on what happens to California without them. The movie shows how many of the jobs that no one wants to do, but are necessary in the community are performed by Latin Americans. For example: construction, washing cars, harvest work, etc. These jobs, although hard and usually unsatisfying, need to be done in order for the community to progress and move on. Throughout the movie many statements are made to hint that Latin Americans are the backbone of the community, and that without them California would not be what it is today. I feel that the movie utilizes appeals of logos in order to demonstrate to the audience the importance of Latin American immigrants in California. The movie states that 20% of K-12 grade teachers are Hispanic. It also states that the agriculture, which is worked on by Lain Americans, is California’s #1 industry. Throughout the movie many Latin American accomplishments in California are mentioned. This is done in an effort to show that Latin Americans are involved in ever aspect of California. The movie even goes on to state that Senator Shaw is a Latino, 8 of the los Angeles Dodgers are Latin American, and 60% of construction workers are Latin Americans. Although the film is a good representation of the influence that Latin American people have had on California, some things in the film bothered me. For example, the movie is titled A Day Without a Mexican, but the movie does not only focus on Mexicans but many other Hispanics, and therefore is classifying Latin Americans as Mexicans. Another statement made in the movie is that all Hispanics on the West Coast are Mexican, another generalization that categorizes Hispanics as one group.