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Wetback is a derogatory term used in the United States to refer to foreign nationals residing in the U.S., most commonly
Wetback is a derogatory term used in the United States to refer to foreign nationals residing in the U.S., most commonly Mexicans
Mexicans () are the citizens and nationals of the Mexico, United Mexican States. The Mexican people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish language, Spanish, but many also speak languages from 68 different Languages o ...
. The word mostly targets illegal immigrants
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...
in the United States. Generally used as an ethnic slur
The following is a list of ethnic slurs, ethnophaulisms, or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnic, national, or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pej ...
, the term was originally coined and applied only to Mexicans who entered the U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
from Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
by crossing the Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
, which is the U.S. border, presumably by swimming or wading across the river and getting wet, i.e. getting their back wet, in the process.
Usage
The first use of the term ''wetback'' in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' is dated June 20, 1920. It was used officially by the US government
The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States.
The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...
, including Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
in 1954, with "Operation Wetback
Operation Wetback was an immigration law enforcement initiative created by Joseph May Swing, Joseph Swing, a retired United States Army lieutenant general (United States), lieutenant general and head of the United States Immigration and Naturaliza ...
", a project that involved the mass deportation
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...
of illegal Mexican immigrants. Usage of the term appeared in mainstream media outlets until the 1960s.
The term can be used as an adjective or verb. As an adjective, it pertains to activities involving Mexican illegal aliens in the United States. The earliest known recorded use in this way is by John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...
in the novel '' Sweet Thursday'', the sequel to '' Cannery Row'', with the sentence "How did he get in the ''wet-back'' business?" It was originally used as a verb in 1978 in Thomas Sanchez's ''Hollywoodland'', with the meaning "to gain illegal entry into the United States by swimming the Rio Grande".
The equivalent Spanish-language term used in Mexico, Central America, and by Latinos in the United States is ''espalda mojada'', and is often shortened to '' mojado''. It is not normally considered derisive in those contexts. For example, Guatemalan Latin Pop
Latin pop () is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. It originates with List of countries where Spanish is an official language, Spanish-speaking ...
singer Ricardo Arjona
Edgar Ricardo Arjona Morales (born 19 January 1964), known as Ricardo Arjona (), is a Guatemalan singer and songwriter. He is one of the most successful and best-selling Latin American artists of all time, with more than 20 million records sold ...
's 2006 song " Mojado" uses the word inoffensively, as he describes a migrant seeking a better life in another country, suggesting a reclaiming
In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which a group reclaims words or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. It is a specific form of a semantic change (i. ...
of the word.
See also
* Anti-Mexican sentiment * Hispanophobia *Xenophobia
Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...
* Mexico–United States border
The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...
* Illegal immigration to the United States
Illegal immigration, or unauthorized immigration, occurs when foreign nationals, known as aliens, violate US immigration laws by entering the United States unlawfully, or by lawfully entering but then remaining after the expiration of their ...
* Goobacks - a ''South Park'' parody of the concept
References
{{Ethnic slurs Anti-Mexican sentiment in the United States Anti-Hispanic and Latino sentiment in the United States Ethnic and religious slurs Illegal immigration to the United States English words 1920s neologisms Mexican diaspora in North America