Speech, Pacifica Radio. 'Vile Decade of the 1950s'

              Carey McWilliams (1905-1980) studied at the University of Southern California and graduated with a Juris Doctorate from there in 1927.  He was an attorney from 1927-1938 in Los Angeles, with an emphasis in labor law.  In 1938, he was appointed the Chief of the Division of Immigration and Housing of the State of California.  Carey stayed in this position until 1942.  It was during his time as an attorney that Carey had become deeply concerned with the issue of racism, especially prejudice against Mexican immigrants and Japanese Americans.  He wrote many books on this topic and a few notable books include: A Mask for Privilege: Anti-Semitism in America (1948), Brothers Under the Skin (1943), Prejudice: Japanese Americans, Symbol of Racial Intolerance, and Factories in the Fields: The Story of Migratory Farm Labor in California (1939).

Around 1945, Carey became associated with The Nation publication.  He successfully moved up the ranks starting as contributing editor to eventually become the editor of The Nation from 1955-1975.  During this time he continued to lecture and write many books and publications on various topics.  After he retired from The Nation in 1975, Carey continued to write a column in The Nation magazine.