Abstract

Okies Wanted

"Four or five years ago we used to cuss the 'Okies.' Now when we see one we feel like rushing up and throwing our arms around him." A Madera, California cotton rancher was speaking of the changed attitude in California toward the dust-bowl migrants who thronged into the state's farming areas from 1935 to 1939. His words indicated that the problem of California's farm labor supply was entering a new phase. First the Chinese, then the Japanese, the Mexicans, and finally our own refugees from the Plains States were successively welcomed into California, subjected to prejudice and discrimination when they came in too great numbers, and tolerated when they settled down to become a part of the community. Now a new cycle is beginning, as the growers are demanding that Mexican labor be admitted into the United States without restriction.