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                               Indian Reorganization Act 

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                               Indian Reorganization Act 

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The Indian Reorganization Act was put into place by U.S. Congress on June 18, 1934. This Act would take away federal control of Indian affairs and encourage Indian self-government and responsibility. The Act helped the return of extra lands to tribes rather than homesteaders. Funds were given to 160 tribes and villages for a revolving credit program to help Indians purchase land to increase reservations and improved staff in health services and education. The U.S. Congress put this into place to thank the Native Americans again for their help in World War 1. This Act remains the bases for federal legislation that has anything to do with Indian affairs.

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                                   The Scottsboro Affair 

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                                   The Scottsboro Affair 

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The Scottsboro affair was a court case filed concerning nine black boys accused of raping two underage girls on an Alabama train. On March 25th, 1931, the two girls told the police they had been gang-raped by all the boys whose ages ranged from thirteen to twenty. Twenty minutes after the train stopped in Scottsboro, Alabama, Ruby Bates told one of the sheriff’s men that she and her friend Victoria Price had been raped by all the black boys. The sheriff arrested all the boys right away and the women were sent to the local doctors for medical examination. The news spread like wildfire about the story and crowds of hundreds of crazy people gathered outside the jail wanting to kill them.

Sheriff M. L. Wann talked to the crazy crowd then he called the Congress for some help. The boys were moved to another town for their safety. Local judge Alfred E. Hawkins held a special session of the Grand Jury to charge the boys. In such case like this, guilty or innocence mattered little. Twelve days after the train incident the trial was held on April 6, 1931. Five to ten thousand people gathered outside the courthouse with guardsmen. Judge Hawkins appointed a drunk Tennessee lawyer Stephen R. Roddy to the boys. The state pushed the death penalty. As Victoria price one of the victims claimed the black boys pushed off two white boys from the train and then raped her and Bates. A Judge wouldn’t listen to the defense of the women being prostitutes or much less any claim from the defense. All where sentience to death except the thirteen-year-old boy that was sent to live in jail. In March 1931, all boys were given new trials one at a time in Decatur, Alabama. The boys continued to be retired and reconvicted several times. However, they were all eventually pardoned except for Haywood Patterson.

Several people have noticed that the Scottsboro trial has been based on the book To Kill A Mocking Bird. It happened at the same time, state, and had similar things happen to Tom Roberson, as it did the black boys in the Scottsboro trial.

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                               1931 Alvarez vs Lemon Grove 

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                               1931 Alvarez vs Lemon Grove 

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The 1931 Alvarez vs Lemon Grove Lawsuit was filed on Tuesday 24 of February 1931. The lawsuit was between the school board of Del Rio, Texas and the parents of the Mexican-American children. An emergency board meeting was held by the school board in an attempt to move the Mexican children back to the West End building. They never did tell the parents of the Mexican children so the school board wouldn’t have this in writing. On January 5, 1931, principle Jerome T. Green stood at the door of the school and only allowed the Anglo-Saxon children in the school. He sent the Mexican children back to the old West End building that all the children called the “barnyard” because it was old and run down. The Mexican children were also told not to go to the Anglo-Saxon school by the principle. This action was justified in the eyes of the school board because it was during the Great Depression when they were sending all Mexicans back to Mexico.

The Mexican community rallied together and submitted the case under the name of a Mexican-American student named Roberto Alvarez. The Mexican community argued that the 95% of the Mexican students expelled were U.S. citizens and they deserved the same rights as all U.S. citizens. The school boards argument was the State of California already had separate schools for Indians, chines, Japanese, and Mongolian immigrants.

On March 30, 1931, Judge Claude Chambers ruled in favor of the Mexican community allowing them to be desegregated. Court cases like this, concerning desegregation, came to light as early as the 1930’s.

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        1930 Independence School District vs Salvatierra

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        1930 Independence School District vs Salvatierra

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In 1930 the Independent School District of Del Rio Texas wanted to pass a school bond for them to build several elementary schools for the Anglo-Saxon children and they were going to add rooms to the “West End” building used by Mexican children. Schools had a separate building called “West End” for the Mexican children to do school. It was a building with 2 rooms that held 3 classes. This building was made so Mexican children would be separated from the Anglo-Saxon children. Also, the school board thought the Mexican children would have a handicap if they didn’t know English and was taught in an English classroom.

Jesus Salvatierra and the parents of the Mexican children hired an attorney to prove that the Mexican children weren’t getting the same rights as the Anglo-Saxon children. It was on May 15th, 1930 when the lawsuit was filed and was sent to the district judge. District Judge Joseph Jones sided with Salvatierra and the Mexican parents and gave an injunction strictly on the basis of segregation. The Independent School District v. Salvatore did become the first lawsuit against the segregation of Mexican Schools in Texas.

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                   U.S. Deports 6,000 U.S. Mexicans in 1930

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                   U.S. Deports 6,000 U.S. Mexicans in 1930

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In 1930, during the Great Depression, America sent about 2 million Mexicans and Mexican-Americans back to Mexico. The Federal, State, and local officials started the department of the Mexicans back to Mexico even though it was illegal. Officials allowed this to happen because there were fewer jobs available for people and officials believed Mexicans were taking the few jobs left. They sent the Mexicans back to Mexico with their family’s thinking they would stay together but most of the time they separated.

The first mass arrest was in downtown Los Angeles in the La Placita Catholic Church were Mexican-Americans and immigrants hung out. The immigration agents knew of this social hang out.  They first sealed the area with fences and then started to arrest undocumented immigrants even if they had papers. The immigration agents took 400 immigrants as friends and families watched in horror. This was meant to be a message to all Mexicans and Mexican-Americans that they are coming for you.

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                           The Immigration Act of 1924 

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                           The Immigration Act of 1924 

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The Immigration Act of 1924 signed by President Calvin Coolidge, through the national origins quota, lessened the number of immigrants coming to America. The quota would limit immigrant visas to 2% of each country coming to America as of the 1890 national census. The quota strongly opposed North-Western European immigrants as they were with the South-Eastern European Immigrants. The Act of 1924 shut the doors to America and 87% of the immigration visas went to Britain, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavian immigrants. The Act ruled out immigrants from Asia because of the 1917 Immigration Law. This Act was possible to be passed by Congress because we were going through World War 1.

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                            Indian Citizenship Act 1924

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                            Indian Citizenship Act 1924

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On June 2, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill passed by U.S. Congress to allow all Native Americans to become American citizens. Native Americans born in U.S. territory where given the rights to become a U.S. citizen of the Indian Citizenship Act. The Federal Government and Congress wanted to thank the Native Americans for their respectable service in World War 1, by giving them the Indian Citizenship Act.

One outstanding help the Native American Troops gave the U.S.  in World War 1 was performed by the 19 members of the Choctaw Code Talkers. These 19 Choctaw Indians decoded the radio messages coming in, by using their Native Choctaw dialect, so Germany couldn’t decode the radio transmissions.

The 1924 Act permitted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States. We are unaware of how many the Act actually covered; it’s estimated to be between 125,000 to 300,000. The Act did not control what rights were granted in numerous states, even though Federal Laws appeared differently, even still somewhere denied voting rights in many states until 1948.