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1931-- Salvatierra vs Del Rio Independent School District

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1931-- Salvatierra vs Del Rio Independent School District

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This court case, which took place in Texas, had to do with the education of children of Mexican decsent and the action of their school districts. On February 1st a meeting was held to expand the school facilities, like elementary schools. One of the several was made the "Mexican" school, a "brick and tile building of two rooms". Instant complaints were made, primarily by Jesús Salvatierra, saying how the benefited that white children had were not carried over to their children. Their point of view got a lot of support, especially from LULAC, an organization that provided a financial base for the movement against segregated schools. Told later, the Salvatierra ruling legalized the segregation of children of Mexican descent in school through the third grade.

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1940 -- US Census is the first to reclassify people of Mexican descent

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1940 -- US Census is the first to reclassify people of Mexican descent

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In 1930, The US Census classified “Mexican American” as a race, which caused protests from leaders and members of the Mexican American community. In 1940, the US Census changed “Mexican American” back to “white”. During this time period many Mexican Americans considered themselves to be white. They felt that they were being discriminated against because they were being singled out from the white race even though they considered themselves white through their ancestry.

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The Invention of Hispanics: What It Says About the Politics of Race

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America's surging politics of victimhood and identitarian division did not emerge organically or inevitably, as many believe. Nor are these practices the result of irrepressible demands by minorities for recognition, or for redress of past wrongs, as we are constantly told.

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This act was signed by President Roosevelt in June of 1941, and prohibited racial discrimination by all federal agencies in work related to war. It also established a Fair Employment Practices Comission to carry out the executive order. Work related to war was one of the most common instances of discrimination that minorities faced in the workplace every day during this time.

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On August 2, 1942, Jose Diaz, a 22 year old Mexican American farmworker, was murdered on his way home from a friend's party. Diaz was seen leaving with two boys, Luis "Cito" Vargas and Andrew Torres. Around ten minutes later, a group of kids came to the party looking for revenge from an earlier beating of one of their friends. In the morning, Diaz was found barely breathing and bleeding heavily, and died at the hospital.

The case was used by police as a way to perpetuate the stereotype that the Mexican Americans are gang members, and implied that Diaz was one as well. The authorities found 22 Mexican Americans in the area, and prosecuted them, despite a strong lack of evidence. The case was built on racial prejudice.

One of the most shocking quotes I found was from a captain at the Los Angelos Police Dept., saying that Mexicans had a “biological tendency” to be violent because they descended from the Indians, who participated in human sacrifice. Fortunately, 2 years later the defendants of the Sleepy Lagoon case were released from prison, after court appeals on the basis of unfair trial.

The case is significant towards the Latinx community because it worsened ethnic tensions at the time, and led to the Zoot Suit Riots (see 1943 -- Zoot Suit Riots). It perpetuates the stereotype that all Mexican Americans are gang members, and this is a stereotype that follows this community to this day. This case matters now because it emotionally wounds the Latinx community who lived through the case to this day, and although the defendants were released, the injustices and racial trauma cannot be resolved.

(The term "Sleepy Lagoon" refers to the place where Jose and his friends would hang out, by a local reservoir, he was murdered not far from that area).

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The Bracero program brought millions of Mexican guest workers to the United States. During World War II, many American farmers thought the war would bring labor shortages. As a result, an Executive Order was signed allowing Mexican agricultural labor on United States farms. The program lasted much longer than anticipated, all the way until 1964. Many safeguards were put in place to protect Mexican workers, including free sanitary housing, a wage equal to American workers, and other protections, but many U.S, farmers did not adhere to these rules. Mexicans worked in harsh conditions and were often abused by employers. The farmers also faced racial discrimination. The program was terminated after civil rights activists pressured the government to discontinue the unfair treatment of workers. After its termination, the program led to better wages in the U.S. U.S migrationpolicy.org claims, however, that the program spawned networks between the United States and Mexico, which became the foundation for today’s illegal migration from Mexico.

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1943 — Caucasian Race Resolution (Texas legislature)

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1943 — Caucasian Race Resolution (Texas legislature)

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Legislation signed by Governor Coke Stevenson on 05/06/1943 prohibited discrimination against people of Mexican origin/descent in Texas. More specifically, Mexican people were classified as caucasian, but did not receive the same rights as white people (in other words, they were still prone to being treated poorly and under white citizens). This resolution was an attempt to correct that, so that Mexicans would be treated equally due to their classification as caucasian.

Although this was not a change enacted by the Latinx community themselves, it was a change that ultimately benefitted them for the better and began a series of changes that allowed them to receive more equal rights as the people by which they were surrounded.

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During WW2, a ration on cloth was instituted issuing that clothing could only be of a certain length. However, long coats called Zoot Suits were very popular in non white communities, and were worn quite widely. On June 3, a group of sailors attacked a group of Mexican teenagers. This spiraled into a city wide riot as white people attacked and beat black and Mexican teenagers with the intent of destroying the zoot suits. The police were actively complicit and arrested Mexican teenagers. The riots lasted for 5 days.

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Operation Bootstrap refers to a number of corporate tax exemptions intended to facilitate and entice US companies to outsource labor to Puerto Rico and industrialize the local economy. Though successful in industrializing Puerto Rico's economy, agricultural jobs were lost at a higher rate than manufacturing jobs were created, and thousands of native Puerto Ricans ended up losing their job. This surge of unemployment became a large push factor for migration, and many Puerto Ricans decided to migrate to the continental US in search of a better life. This was a large factor for immigration from Puerto Rico, and it has likely affected the families of many Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. today.

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It was a law in order to regulate Spanish was taught in schools as there was a language barrier in Puerto Rico. However this was rejected by the president by enforcing Puerto Rico's students to learn English in schools as they had to in order to be "American." As it mandatory to have public education documents in English and when meetings occurred in English however not many people could even speak english.

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Felix Longoria Jr. was a Private in WWII, when he was killed in the Phillippines in 1945. His body was brought home and his family tried to bury him in a graveyard near his family, but the only funeral home in town refused to bury him simply because he was a Mexican American. After multiple lawsuits and a long fight, senator Lyndon B. Johnson argued to have him buried in Arlington National Cemetary. This issue is important then and today because it is a clear example of discrimination against a person based on their race (in this case Latinx)

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1946 -- Mendez v Westminster School District

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1946 -- Mendez v Westminster School District

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This court case was decided in California's federal courts and it preceded the more famous Brown v. Board of Education by about 8 years.
Sylvia Mendez was turned away from a "whites only" public school. Her father took four LA area school districts and won the class action lawsuit at the trial and appellate levels of the federal court system.
Two months after the ruling, the state's governor- Earl Warren- signed a bill ending school segregation, making California the first state to official desegregate schools.

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This organization was founded by Hector P. Garcia to focus and bring out issues of equal rights among Hispanic Americans. The American GI Forum aimed at problems such as hospital care and Hispanic representation on draft boards. This forum was important because it advocated for the rights of Hispanics and brought out issues of injustice in Veteran services.

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1948-- Delgado v. Bastrop Independent School District

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1948-- Delgado v. Bastrop Independent School District

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Until the late 1940s the public education system in Texas for Mexican Americans offered segregated campuses with limited resources and curriculum. In 1948 the League of United Latin American Citizens and the American G.I forum of Texas successfully challenged these inequities of the Texas public school system in Delgado vs. Bastrop ISD.
By September 1949 separation of schools ceased, however it was still allowed to have students separated by classes. It was not until 1957 ten years later that they could be in classes together.
This not only hindered the learning of many students, but it is still an issue in present day. Predominantly hispanic schools are not given the proper resources to better education.

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Until the late 1940s the public education system in Texas for Mexican Americans offered segregated campuses with often minimal facilities and a curriculum frequently limited to vocational training. The 1950 United States census showed that the median educational attainment for persons over twenty-five was 3.5 years for those with Spanish surnames and, by comparison, 10.3 years for other white Americans; about 27 percent of persons over twenty-five with Spanish surnames had received no schooling at all. No substantive legal suit had been initiated since Del Rio ISD vs. Salvatierra (1930), in which Mexican Americans claimed they had been denied use of facilities used by "other white races" in the same school. In 1948 the League of United Latin American Citizens, joined by the American G.I. Forum of Texas, successfully challenged these inequities of the Texas public school system in Delgado vs. Bastrop ISD.

In 1947 the Ninth Circuit Court in California found that separation "within one of the great races" without a specific state law requiring the separation was not permitted; therefore, segregation of Mexican-American children, who were considered Caucasian, was illegal. In Texas, following this ruling, the attorney general, in response to an inquiry by Gustavo C. (Gus) Garcia, a Mexican-American attorney, agreed that segregation of Mexican-American children in the public school system by national origin was unlawful and pedagogically justified only by scientific language tests applied to all students. On June 15, 1948, LULAC (with Garcia as attorney) filed suit against the Bastrop Independent School District and three other districts. Representing Minerva Delgado and twenty other Mexican-American parents, the suit charged segregation of Mexican children from other white races without specific state law and in violation of the attorney general's opinion. In addition the suit accused these districts of depriving such children of equal facilities, services, and education instruction. Judge Ben H. Rice of the United States District Court, Western District of Texas, agreed and ordered the cessation of this separation by September 1949. However, the court did allow separate classes on the same campus, in the first grade only, for language-deficient or non-English-speaking students as identified by scientific and standardized tests applied to all.

The Delgado decision undermined the rigid segregation of Mexican Americans and began a ten-year struggle led by the American G.I. Forum and LULAC, which culminated in 1957 with the decision in Herminca Hernandez et al. v. Driscoll Consolidated ISD, which ended pedagogical and de jure segregation in the Texas public school system.

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Until the late 1940s the public education system in Texas for Mexican Americans offered segregated campuses with often minimal facilities and a curriculum frequently limited to vocational training.

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"I Love Lucy" was an American sitcom that debuted in 1951 and lasted for six seasons. Lucille Ball played the role of housewife Lucy Ricardo, and her real-life Cuban husband, Desi Arnaz, played the role of Lucy’s husband, Ricky Ricardo, who had a noticeable accent. Arnaz was at first deemed unsuitable for the role because CBS thought it was unlikely that American viewers would buy that an average housewife would be married to a "foreign man." However, the show went on to be a huge success, becoming the most popular show in America for four seasons and winning five Emmy Awards. "I Love Lucy" made it clear that a Latinx actor could become successful on TV.

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When premiered on October 15, 1951, no one could have predicted that it would become one of television's most beloved and enduring programs of all time. But with a combination of innovative filming techniques, the dogged perfectionism of star Lucille Ball, top-notch writing, the "can do" attitude of the production staff, and the business savvy of Desi Arnaz, topped the Nielsen ratings for four out of its six seasons and picked up a handful of Emmys along the way. And even though the show's main stars couldn't stay married to one another (Lucy and Desi divorced in 1960, after 20 years of marriage), they remained the best of friends. As Desi would proclaim until his dying day, " I Love Lucy was never just a title."

1. CBS DIDN'T THINK AMERICANS WOULD BUY THAT LUCY WAS MARRIED TO A "FOREIGN" MAN.

When CBS approached Lucille Ball with the offer of turning her popular radio show My Favorite Husband into a television show, she was agreeable with one condition: that her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, would be cast in the role of her spouse (played on the radio by Richard Denning). The network balked-there was no way that American viewers would accept average housewife Liz Cooper (her character's name on the radio series) being married to a "foreign" man with an indecipherable accent. Never mind the fact that Lucy and Desi had been married more than a decade; such a "mixed" marriage was unbelievable.

2. LUCY AND DESI HAD TO TAKE THEIR SHOW ON THE ROAD TO CONVINCE THE NETWORK BRASS.

Arnaz had a successful career touring the country with his rhumba band, which was one of the reasons Lucille wanted him to get cast as her TV husband-to keep him off the road and close to home. In an effort to show the network (and potential sponsors) that they could work together as a comedy team, they crafted a sort of vaudevillian skit that was inserted into the middle of performances by the Desi Arnaz Orchestra during a tour in the summer of 1950. The audiences roared over Lucille's antics and her interaction with Desi as she interrupted his band's concert confusedly, cello in hand, thinking she had an audition scheduled. The "Professor" skit not only convinced the network powers that be that the couple could, in fact, be convincing as husband and wife-it also was such a hit that it was incorporated into episode six of I Love Lucy's first season.

3. THE SHOW BROKE GROUND IN SEVERAL WAYS, SIMPLY BECAUSE THE ARNAZES WOULDN'T MOVE TO NEW YORK.

Lucille and Desi wanted to work in Los Angeles, near their home and their new baby daughter Lucie. But in 1951 the majority of television shows were broadcast from New York, and that's where sponsor Philip Morris wanted their show to originate as well. In those days the U.S. wasn't wired for television from coast-to-coast; shows broadcast live could only be transmitted so far. As a result, such shows were preserved on kinescopes (a movie camera aimed at a TV monitor that recorded the show in negligible quality) and shipped to distant stations.

Philip Morris objected to I Love Lucy being performed in California and the kinescopes sent to New York; their biggest cigarette market was up and down the east coast and they wanted the best TV picture quality for that area. Desi Arnaz suggested that the show be filmed with three cameras, like a stage play, which would provide the same quality picture for every market. But multi-cameras had never been used on a situation comedy before, and there were many obstacles involved, not the least of which was accommodating a live studio audience (Desi knew that Lucille worked best when she got immediate audience feedback).

Desi hired legendary cinematographer Karl Freund to help solve the dilemma, and along with writer-producer Jess Oppenheimer and director Marc Daniels, they built a set, and the necessary filming equipment was strategically placed. CBS balked at the additional expense involved in this undertaking, so Arnaz struck a deal: He and Lucille would take a large cut in their salaries and their company, Desilu Productions, would retain ownership of the films in exchange. The enduring high quality of the 35 millimeter film was part of the reason that became so popular in rerun syndication, and Desilu's 100 percent ownership of the series made Lucille and Desi the first millionaire TV stars.

4. ONLY LUCY WAS ALLOWED TO MAKE FUN OF RICKY'S FRACTURED ENGLISH.

After a few episodes were filmed, it became an unwritten rule that only Lucy would ever poke fun at her husband's pronunciation problems. The writers had allowed other characters to make remarks, but in each case the "joke" was met with stony silence from the studio audience. For some reason, it seemed cruel when anyone other than Lucy "mucked" Ricky's English.

5. SMOKING WAS REQUIRED ON-CAMERA.

I Love Lucy almost never made it to the air because CBS had trouble securing a sponsor for the show. Finally tobacco giant Philip Morris signed on at the 11th hour. As a result, lots of smoking was featured in each episode, and the name "Philip Morris" was worked into the dialogue whenever plausible. There was, however, one small problem: Lucille Ball was a Chesterfield girl. She eventually overcame this little hurdle by having a stagehand stuff any on-camera Philip Morris packs full of Chesterfield cigarettes.

6. WILLIAM FRAWLEY WAS FAR FROM THE FIRST CHOICE TO PLAY FRED MERTZ.

Lucille Ball was eager to have Gale Gordon, whom she'd worked with on her My Favorite Husband radio show, play crusty neighbor and landlord Fred Mertz. But Gordon, who had a steady gig at the time on the Our Miss Brooks radio program, asked for more money than Desilu had to offer. Character actor William Frawley knew Ball in passing (they'd met back in the 1940s) and phoned her personally when he read about her upcoming TV show in the trade papers to inquire if there might be a part for him. CBS and Philip Morris were wary of hiring Frawley, who had a reputation for being a heavy drinker. But Arnaz (no stranger to the bottle himself) thought that Frawley was just curmudgeonly enough to bring Fred Mertz to life. He met Frawley for lunch at Nickodell's on Melrose Avenue and offered him the role with the proviso that if he missed work for any reason other than legitimate illness, he'd be written out of the show.

7. DORIS ZIFFEL WAS ALMOST ETHEL MERTZ.

Lucille had worked with Bea Benaderet in radio and wanted her to play Ethel Mertz. But Benaderet had just signed on to play Blanche Morton on the TV version of The Burns and Allen Show and was unavailable. Barbara Pepper was a personal friend of Ball's, and the two had worked in films together, so she was the next serious consideration for the role. Pepper was the right age and body type to play Ethel, but she was also a known alcoholic and the network nixed her after Frawley was hired; two heavy drinkers in the main cast was too risky. I Love Lucy had already gone into early rehearsals by the time director Marc Daniels saw Vivian Vance performing in a play at the La Jolla Playhouse and recommended her to Arnaz. Pepper did play background characters on several I Love Lucy episodes and would go on to land the role of Doris Ziffel on Green Acres.

8. THE "MERTZES" DESPISED ONE ANOTHER OFF-CAMERA.

Vivian Vance was 22 years younger than her TV husband and resented having such an " old poop" play her spouse. Frawley responded in kind, referring to her variously as "that sack of doorknobs" or just plain "b*tch." But all that animosity was strictly behind the scenes and known mostly only to the series' writers and directors. Frawley and Vance were savvy enough to not jeopardize their jobs on TV's most successful show by openly airing their mutual hostility. Even co-workers like Keith Thibodeaux (Little Ricky, a.k.a. Richard Keith) and Roy Rowan (the show's announcer), who were on the set daily, had no idea that things were less than cuddly between the two actors until years after ceased production.

9. DESI ARNAZ HAD LIFTS IN HIS SHOES (AND HIS LOVESEAT).

Arnaz listed his height as 5'11" in most official biographies, but those who worked with him knew that in reality he was 5'9" and wore four-inch lifts in his shoes. Lucille Ball stood 5'7" in her stocking feet, and when she wore heels she seemed to tower over her husband. Desi Arnaz Jr. would later explain to an interviewer that his father "was a Cuban with a Latin male's pride," which is why it was important to him to be taller than his wife. A dual-purpose, subtle additional cushion (undetectable by the viewing audience) was added to the Ricardos' loveseat so that Ricky would be taller than Lucy while seated, and would also give him the extra boost needed to gracefully rise from a sitting position up onto his elevator shoes.

10. ARNAZ FLATLY REJECTED A SCENE THAT INVOLVED RICKY CHEATING ON HIS TAXES.

Desi Arnaz was an unabashed believer in the American Dream and was very patriotic when it came to his adopted homeland. Desi was 17 years old when Fulgencio Batista overthrew the Cuban government and the Arnaz family fled to Miami with little more than the clothes they were wearing. The family lived in a warehouse with some other refugees and Desi got a job cleaning birdcages for a man who sold canaries to pet stores. As he said during his acceptance speech on Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town in 1954, "From cleaning canary cages to this night in New York is a long ways. And I don't think there's any other country in the world that could give you that opportunity." So when a scene in the original script for the episode "Lucy Tells the Truth" called for Ricky to fudge some numbers on his income tax return, Arnaz refused to play it and asked the writers to remove it. He didn't want the audience to think that Ricky would cheat the U.S. government.

11. THE CANDY LADY WAS A BIG DIPPER IN REAL LIFE.

"Job Switching" (often referred to as "The Candy Factory Episode") has long been a fan favorite, particularly the scene where Lucy and Ethel are stuffing their faces and clothing with chocolates while trying to keep up with a speedy conveyor belt. The previous scene featured Lucy hand-dipping chocolates with a real-life dipper that stage manager Herb Browar found at See's Candies on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Amanda Milligan had never seen I Love Lucy (she watched wrestling on Monday nights), but Browar hired her anyway; he thought her deadpan expression would make her the perfect straight woman for Lucille to react to. During rehearsals Lucille was worried that the scene just wasn't going to be funny on film because Milligan seemed hesitant to hit her in the face as the script specified. When the cameras were rolling, Milligan hauled off and smacked Lucille so hard that Ball feared her nose had been broken. Despite her pain and ringing ears Ball didn't call for a "cut" because she did not want to have to do another take! During a break in filming Lucille asked Milligan, "So, how do you like working in show business?" An unsmiling Milligan, who'd spent eight hours per day for the past 30 years putting swirls on chocolates, replied, "I've never been so bored in my life."

12. LUCILLE WAS TOO STRESSED TO APPRECIATE THE HUMOR IN ONE OF HER MOST POPULAR EPISODES.

Another fan favorite was, interestingly, not one of Ball's favorite episodes. It wasn't until "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" was voted tops in many viewer polls over the years that she acknowledged that it was a funny episode. During filming, she was too nervous and worried about messing up her lines (imagine having to say "Vitameatavegamin" that many times during a spiel) to appreciate the humor.

Ball was many things, including a great physical comedienne, but one thing she was not was an improviser or extemporaneous speaker. Every slurred word of her drunken Vitameatavegamin pitch was in the script. Lucille even came up with a backup plan, lest she forget her lines: She had script supervisor Maury Thompson made up and placed off-side in front of her podium holding up her lines (there were no cue cards on the I Love Lucy set), much like a real commercial setting.

By the way, that stuff Lucy was pouring onto the spoon was apple pectin.

13. BECAUSE THE SHOW WAS FILMED IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE, THEY HESITATED TO YELL "CUT" AND RESHOOT SCENES.

As a result, the occasional blooper was left in and sort of papered-over. One classic example occurred in "Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment," at the breakfast table when Lucy is musing aloud about how to repair both the Mertzes' marriage and their tacky apartment. See how Desi saves the scene after she mistakenly says "paint the furniture and reupholster the old furniture."

14. LUCILLE'S PREGNANCY CREATED PANIC BEHIND THE SCENES.

During season two, Ball discovered that she was pregnant. While the Arnazes were overjoyed (Lucille had previously suffered three miscarriages before giving birth to daughter Lucie in July 1951), they were also concerned about the fate of their hit series. Other than the late 1940s sitcom Mary Kay and Johnny (which also starred a real-life married couple), a visibly pregnant female had never starred on a TV series. It would be impossible to conceal Lucille's condition because, as Desi told the network, "she got as big as a house when she was carrying Lucie."

Eventually, the network agreed to write Ball's pregnancy into the show, and Desi hired a local Catholic priest, a minister, and a rabbi to sit in while each episode was filmed to determine whether there was anything objectionable. CBS deemed that the word "pregnant" was vulgar, so it was replaced with "expecting" (or, as Ricky pronounced it, "'spectin'"). The scene at the Tropicana, where Lucy finally breaks the news to Ricky, was genuinely emotional for the actors, who both started crying and Desi had to be prompted "sing the baby song!" Director William Asher reshot that scene, but decided that the raw emotion in the original take made for a more poignant moment and used it.

15. LITTLE RICKY AND DESI ARNAZ JR. WERE BORN ON THE SAME DAY.

The Arnazes already knew that Lucille would give birth via Caesarian section when her time came (as that was how Lucie had been delivered), and Ball's obstetrician regularly scheduled all his C-sections on Mondays. As luck would have it, I Love Lucy aired on Monday nights, so with the pregnancy episodes timed just so, Ball went to the hospital the same night that Lucy Ricardo did.

What the Arnazes did not know in advance, however, was the gender of their pending bundle of joy. I Love Lucy head writer Jess Oppenheimer had decided that the Ricardos would have a boy, so when Desi Arnaz Jr. was born, Desi Sr. joyfully called Jess to announce proudly, "Lucy followed your script! Ain't she something?!" (By the way, a record-breaking 71.7 percent of American televisions were tuned in that Monday night to see the Ricardo baby, which topped the number of folks who watched Dwight D. Eisenhower get sworn in as President the following day.)

16. LUCILLE TRULY SUFFERED FOR THAT ICONIC GRAPE-STOMPING EPISODE.

"Lucy's Italian Movie" faced a variety of obstacles. First was getting a vineyard to donate the necessary grapes for stomping. The company that ultimately agreed did so with the proviso that it must be mentioned in the script that foot-pressing was an outmoded method of making wine in Italy. Next was the local extra cast to wrestle Lucille in the grape vat; Teresa Tirelli didn't speak any English and an interpreter had to explain the scene to her. Apparently something was lost in the translation because Tirelli didn't grasp that this was supposed to be a filmed-from-the-waist-up fake fight and she literally held Lucille's head under the grape mush until the star very nearly drowned. And even though the show was broadcast in black and white, Ball, Arnaz, and the production staff were sticklers for detail so a formula for a purplish/blue dye had to be worked out that would properly tint Lucille's flesh and hair without irritating her skin or reacting with the chemicals used to keep her permed locks that famous henna color for that final scene.

17. LUCILLE EXASPERATED GUEST STAR HARPO MARX.

Ball was a long-time admirer of Harpo Marx, but when it came to actually working with him, she was unprepared for his "never the same way twice" approach to his comedy routines. In the Hollywood episode where she was required to mirror his moves, she insisted on incessant rehearsals to get the bit just right. But Harpo's attitude was "I've done this bit for 35 years, why do I need so much rehearsal?" In the end, this was one of the few instances where the scene was re-shot several times after the studio audience had left and was later pieced together by editor Dann Cahn.

18. THE LONGEST LAUGH ON THE SHOW LASTED 65 SECONDS.

When Lucy hid dozens of eggs and then danced the tango with Ricky (resulting in the inevitable blouse full of scrambled yolks), the audience roared for so long that ultimately some of the laughter had to be edited out in the final film. Neither Ball nor Vance had used eggs during rehearsals so that their onscreen reactions would be more genuine when the shells cracked and the albumen slimed its way down their flesh.

19. ARNAZ REQUIRED AS MUCH REALISM AS POSSIBLE, NO MATTER THE COST OR DIFFICULTY.

No matter how wacky the situation, Arnaz tried hard to maintain some veracity, thinking that the audience would believe it (and thus find it more humorous) if the actors believed it. So when a scene in "Pioneer Women" required an eight-foot-long loaf of bread to pop out of the oven, the producers found a New York bakery willing to bake one. (It was rye bread, by the way, and when filming was finished it was cut up and served to the audience.) Likewise, in "Deep Sea Fishing" when Ricky and Fred entered into a bet with Lucy and Ethel to see who could catch the biggest fish, two 100-plus pound tunas were purchased at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, packed in ice into child-sized coffins and air-shipped to Hollywood.

20. THE "UH-OH" LADY HEARD IN THE STUDIO AUDIENCE WAS LUCILLE'S MOM.

Quite often when Lucy Ricardo was stepping into a precarious situation, a woman in the audience could be heard uttering "uh-oh." That was Dede Ball, who attended every taping and tended to get wrapped up in the proceedings. I Love Lucy sound engineer Glen Glenn was the co-founder of Glen Glenn Sound, and in the 1960s and '70s his company was one of the leading providers of laugh tracks, or canned laughter, to TV sitcoms. Many of the yuks used in their recordings were culled from I Love Lucy and The Red Skelton Show, which is why Dede's "uh-oh" could be heard years later on shows she'd never seen, much less been in attendance.

Additional Sources:
A Book, by Desi Arnaz; The Lucy Book, by Geoffrey Mark Fidelman; Meet the Mertzes, by Ron Edelman and Audrey Kupferberg; The "I Love Lucy" Book, by Bart Andrews; Lucy & Ricky & Fred & Ethel: The Story of I Love Lucy, by Bart Andrews; Laughs, Luck....and Lucy, by Jess Oppenheimer

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20 Things You Might Not Have Known About I Love Lucy

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When premiered on October 15, 1951, no one could have predicted that it would become one of television's most beloved and enduring programs of all time.

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In 1953, the American G.I. Forum published a report on concerns regarding undocumented workers entering the United States, specifically those who came from Mexico. In the report, the use the term to refer to Mexican immigrants who illegally crossed the Rio Grande. This term is another example of how titles were given to a broad group of people in order for people who were anti-immigration to more easily categorize and target groups and individuals.

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(above) Select photos from, "What Price Wetbacks?" by the American G.I. Forum of Texas and the Texas State Federation of Labor, 1953

Concerned about the influx of undocumented labor, this report evidences the racialization of the "wetback" - a pejorative for Mexican immigrants, named for illegal crossings via the Rio Grande -plaguing Texas officials during the Bracero Program [1]. This anti-immigrant propaganda was used to compile a profile of the "wetback," catalog the dangers of this group, and propose penal reformations to immigration policy [2].

[1] American G.I. Forum of Texas and Texas State Federation of Labor (AFL). What Price Wetbacks? Austin, 1953. Repr. 1976 in Mexican Migration to the United States. New York: Arno Press. 3-10. Print.

[2] Hernández, Kelly Lytle. Migra!: A History of the U.S. Border Patrol. Los Angeles: Berkeley UP, 2010. 252-254. Print.

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Forgotten Histories of the U.S.-Mexico Border

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(above) Select photos from, "What Price Wetbacks?" by the American G.I. Forum of Texas and the Texas State Federation of Labor, 1953 Concerned about the influx of undocumented labor, this report evidences the racialization of the "wetback" - a pejorative for Mexican immigrants, named for illegal crossings via the Rio Grande -plaguing Texas officials during the Bracero Program [1].

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US Immigration Service arrests and deports more than 3.8 million Latin Americans.  They adopted the practice of stopping “Mexican-looking” people and asking them for identification on the street.

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In 1954, this landmark case ruled that the 14th Amendment not only prohibited discrimination against African Americans, but against all ethnicities. A man named Peter Hernandez was convicted of murder in the State of Texas. His legal team looked through all of the legal records in Jackson County, a county with a substantial Hispanic population, and found that in 25 years, there were only 6,000 jurors with Hispanic last names. Hernandez's legal team appealed to the county court, which upheld its ruling, and went up to the supreme court. While the county did acknowledge that there was blatant discrimination against Hispanics, they argued that the 14th Amendment only protected African Americans from discrimination. Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled that the 14th Amendment protected all ethnicities.

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1957--Texas State Senator Henry B. González leads a 36-hour filibuster to stop a collection of pro-segregation bills from passing in Texas

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1957--Texas State Senator Henry B. González leads a 36-hour filibuster to stop a collection of pro-segregation bills from passing in Texas

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Henry B. González was a Mexican-American congressman from Texas who fought civil rights. Early in his political career, when he served in the Texas state senate, he and fellow senator Abraham Kazen led a 36 hour filibuster, the longest in the history of the Texas state senate. Kazen spoke for 12 hours before González spoke for 22 hours. At 1:45 am in the 2nd night of the filibuster, opponents agreed to withdraw their bills if González stoped.

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West side story was a musical made in 1958 by Arthur Laurents and Leonard Bernstein, two white males, highlighting the conflicts between gangs of white and Puerto Rican youth in New York. The play highlights the combination of youthful rage mixed with societal racism causing separation and violence between the two gangs. The driving theme is unity and love, as two members of the opposing gangs, and by extension races, fall in love. When the movie adaptation is released in 1961, the lead actress, Rita Moreno, wins an Oscar. It was very rare for any race of people other than white to win an Oscar at the time.

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On the night of August 30th, just after midnight, 16 year old Puerto Rican Salvatore Agron stabbed two boys, Anthony (Skinny) Krzesinski and Robert Young, in a New York City playground just after midnight. As part of a gang by the name of the Vampires, Argon wore a dark blue, red-lined, Dracula style cape with fancy buckled shoes, his two victims were incorrectly assumed by Argon to be members of the Norsemen, a rival gang. The attacks came at a time in which New Yorkers were scared of children, especially the children of the hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans who were arriving in the city. This fear was a result of the stereotype created by Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, depicting Puerto Ricans as dangerous gang members. The number of murders happening in the city by people under 20, and this infamous murder, did not help the people's views of Puerto Rican teenagers.

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The CIA launched an attack on Fidel Castro in April of 1961, to remove him from power. However, this attak failed because the invasion of 1,400 American-trained Cubans were outnumbered by Castro’s troops. Fidel Castro was a communist who believed that Cuba should assume control of their nation. The United States was nervous to be less than 100 miles away from a Communist country, and therefore interfered with their leadership. JFK adopted Eisenhower’s plan to have a guerilla army of Cuban exiles, the U.S. was worried that the USSR would see the Bay of Pigs attack as the start of a war and retaliate. A radio station on the beach, exposed the U.S plan to attack Fidel Castro’s air force. 114 people were killed and 1,100 were held as prisoners.

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1961-- Assassination of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo

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1961-- Assassination of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo

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Rafael Trujillo, who had been leader of the Dominican Republic for the last 30 years or so, was becoming increasing dictatorial. His rule strained tensions between the U.S. and the DR as he often went after dissenters of his regime, who were exiled to America. The U.S. attempted on multiple occasions to meet with Trujillo and convince him to step down from power. They wanted to replace him with someone who would turn the DR towards Democracy. In the end, the only answer that top government officials had was assassination. They wanted Trujillo gone and he wasn't going of his own choice.

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305. Editorial Note

Documentation on relations between the United States and the Dominican Republic is presented in an accompanying microform publication. A narrative summary, based upon that documentation, is provided below, along with a purport list of the documents published in the microform supplement. The document numbers cited in the summary correspond to the document numbers in the purport list and the microform supplement.

Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo had ruled the Dominican Republic since 1930. While promoting himself as "the Benefactor," Trujillo's rule had become increasingly harsh and dictatorial. His attempts to strike at exiled dissidents in the United States had caused serious strain in relations with Washington. The Eisenhower administration faced one overwhelming problem in the Dominican Republic: how to ease Trujillo out of power without allowing pro-Fidel Castro/anti-American elements to take over.

In late January 1958, the Director of the Office of Middle American Affairs surveyed U.S.-Dominican relations and highlighted the principal U.S. interests in the Dominican Republic: its strategic position in relation to the Panama Canal, a U.S. guided missile tracking station on the northeast coast, and general Dominican support for U.S. policies. The Director recommended that U.S. Ambassador Joseph S. Farland meet with Trujillo in an attempt to normalize relations. Farland was encouraged by his discussion with the Generalissimo in early February to believe that a better relationship was possible. (DR-1) Trujillo, however, proved sensitive to U.S. congressional criticism and supposed slights against his family so that relations did not improve markedly. (DR-2, 3)

On June 14, 1959, a small group of insurgents invaded the Dominican Republic by air. The Dominican Army eventually defeated the invasion. (DR-8) Notwithstanding the fact that invasion did not generate popular support, the Department of State became increasingly concerned that the Trujillo regime was about to fall. In January 1960, Department officials raised the issue at the National Security Council. [Page 807] Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Livingston Merchant told the Council that the U.S. objective was to ensure that a successor regime would be friendly to the United States and not sympathetic to Castro or communism. The problem was, according to Merchant, that Trujillo had so stifled moderate opposition that most dissident groups were either Communist or Communist-infiltrated. The Department recommended that U.S. policy during the coming months should be to coalesce non-Communist business, professional, and academic groups into an opposition. (DR-10)

In January 1960, Trujillo cracked down on his opponents, charging that they were engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow him. (DR-11) In March 1960, retired General Edwin S. Clark convinced President Eisenhower to allow him to make a secret visit to Ciudad Trujillo (Santo Domingo) to convince Trujillo to step down from power. Clark's unofficial scheme contemplated creating a foundation funded by the money amassed by the Trujillo family during its 30 years of rule. To be administered by former Latin American and U.S. Presidents, the fund would be used for the benefit of the Dominican Republic. It was designed to prevent confiscation of the Trujillo fortune by a successor government and assure that Trujillo did not take his vast fortune with him into exile. (DR-16, 17)

Trujillo's support in the Dominican Republic was weakening rapidly, according to U.S. intelligence assessments. (DR-18, 20) When the situation was brought to the attention of the National Security Council in April 1960, there was general concern that the U.S. policy of building a moderate potential transition government might be too little and too late. Vice President Nixon worried that it was the "old story" being repeated: the pro-Castro elements with definite objectives were the only minority capable of strong leadership. Nixon recommended that the United States consider intervention if this group threatened to come to power. The National Security Council agreed that the United States must be prepared to take rapid action. (DR-19)

General Clark returned to Washington from conversations with Trujillo in late March 1960 without a promise from the Generalissimo to retire. Meeting with Secretary of State Herter and General Clark on April 25, President Eisenhower discussed the possibility of "a plan for removing Trujillo from control of the country, and to establish in his position a controlling junta which would immediately call for free elections and make an attempt to get the country on a truly democratic basis." (DR-20)

When the National Security Council next considered the question of the Dominican Republic in July 1960, Eisenhower concluded that the Trujillo dictatorship was seriously deflecting attention from the real problem in Latin America, Fidel Castro. (DR-25) It was difficult to brand Castro a dictator and call for sanctions against him as long as [Page 808] Trujillo was in power. The new Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, Thomas Mann, solicited advice from Deputy Chief of Mission Henry Dearborn who was the highest level diplomat official now that U.S. relations with the Dominican Republic were suspended in conjunction with an OAS decision that the Dominican Republic had attempted to assassinate President Betancourt of Venezuela. Invited to give his "very personal and confidential" appraisal, Dearborn suggested that as long as Trujillo remained in the Dominican Republic-as Governor of Santiago province or "dogcatcher"-he would dominate the country and there would be no chance for a true opposition. The only solution was removal of Trujillo from the country. Dearborn asserted that Trujillo would probably only do this under threat of death. Dearborn suggested that if he were a Dominican he would favor killing Trujillo. (DR-28)

The Department of State's Bureau on Intelligence and Research suggested that "assassination is an increasing possibility-perhaps even a probability, considering the desperate temper of the opposition." (DR-29) It is clear from this compilation that the Eisenhower administration tried without success to induce Trujillo to step down. By the end of 1960, the dictator held grimly to power. Six months later he would be dead from an assassin's bullet. Additional material may be found in Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders, An Interim Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, Report No. 94-465, 94th Congress, 1st Session, U.S. Senate (Washington, November 1975), pages 191-215.

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Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958-1960, American Republics, Volume V - Office of the Historian

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Documentation on relations between the United States and the Dominican Republic is presented in an accompanying microform publication. A narrative summary, based upon that documentation, is provided below, along with a purport list of the documents published in the microform supplement.

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1962--Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, and the National Farm Workers Association

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1962--Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, and the National Farm Workers Association

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National Farm Workers Association is the first and largest workers union in United States History. Starting in 1962 by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Gilbert Padilla, and others, the Nation farmers Workers Association(NFWA) was created to help inspire one another with the motto “¡Sí se puede!” (yes it can be done).The movement established workers’ right to organize and secured better pay and working conditions on many farms. In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reached out to Chavez via telegram supporting him and linking the two of them as “brothers in the fight for equality.”.

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Congress passes the Civil Rights Act: Establishes affirmative action programs and outlaws discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnic background, etc. Enforced school desegregation; created the longest filibuster in history. Significant in that it was the first real piece of civil rights legislation.

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On September 8, 1965, Filipino American grape workers went on a strike protesting the poor working conditions in the wine grape industry. They asked for support from the National Farm Workers Association, which was led by Cesar Chavez, a Mexican American. The strike went on for 5 years— there were hunger strikes, violence, boycotts of table grapes. Finally in 1970, there was an agreement to increase the wages of the workers, a health plan, and protection for the workers against the pesticides used.  It continues to be of great significance for people of Latinx because it shows their power and strength when times are unfair— they helped not only themselves but improve the working conditions for all.

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Congress passes a bill stating that Cuban immigrants can be legal permanent residents of the U.S if they live in the U.S for at least one year.

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1966--  Cesar Chavez leads thousands on march to Sacramento 

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1966--  Cesar Chavez leads thousands on march to Sacramento 

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Having been the director of the National Farm Workers Association, Chavez led a march unto the capital of California, Sacramento, that lasted 25 days and covered a distance of about 340 miles since they were marching from Delano, CA. He did this to bring national attention to the government's mistreatment of farm workers. This was important as Chavez championed the notion of civil rights for farm workers, many of whom could have been immigrants, and thus set a precedent condemning this sort of treatment moving forward.

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1966 -- 500 mile Farm Worker Solidarity March

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1966 -- 500 mile Farm Worker Solidarity March

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In the summer of 1966, many farmers marched 500 miles from the Rio Grande Valley to the state capitol in Austin to demand better wages and basic human rights. At that time, many farmers worked for as little as 25 cents an hour and had no access to toilets or clean water. All they wanted was a minimum wage of $1.25 an hour and some basic rights that all humans should have. More than 10,000 people joined their march in solidarity to the state capitol. They did not get their $1.25 minimum wage until a couple years later.

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Actress Vanesa Marquez was shot and killed by police in South Pasadena because they thought she was holding a handgun, when in fact it was a BB gun. The newspapers reported how they were responding to a welfare check. A month after her death, Dr. David Sanchez, founder of the Brown Berets, stood protesting infront of Vanesa's home, against the polices officers that killed her. The Brown Berets is an organization fighting for the civil rights of the Latinx community. The community was started by David because of his own run ins with the police, sparking the idea. It became an influential and essential part of the Latinx social justice movement, and gave way to events like the Chicano Movement of 1968. The group started off small and secluded, meeting up at Boy's and Girl's Club and coffee shops, and later began to take up causes such as police brutality, better education, and discrimination against themselfves.

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Throughout 1967, Chicano people faced many struggles of oppression. During this year, the Crusade of Justice was founded by Rodolfo Gonzales, who was a prominent leader in the Chicano Civil Rights Movements during the 60s. This group advocated and fought for the rights of Chicano people. Gonzales created a political party called Congreso de Aztlan that focused primarily on Mexican Americans. He also wrote a poem titled “Yo Soy Joaquín" the same year, detailing the struggles faced by Mexican Americans. These efforts made by Rodolfo Gonzales were important because they gave many Chicanos hope and courage to continue fighting for their rights.

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For a large part of American history, Mexican Americans attempted to be classified as white by the government. This repeatedly failed, and in 1968 a new movement began called the Chicano Movement. This movement was based around reclamation and pride of Mexican heritage.

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In 1968, Chicano students in Texas faced discrimination in their schools and inadequate resources. Students were prohibited from speaking Spanish on school grounds, schools were underfunded, and students of Mexican descent did not receive much support to succeed. After trying to negotiate with school officials to no avail, Chicano students took matters into their own hands Empowered by leaders in the Chicano movement, on May 16, 1968, students at Edgewood High School and Lanier High School staged a walkout to stand up to the inequality they faced. Their walkouts inspired other Chicano students to walk out across the state and nation. These walkouts and the inequalities that caused them caused parents to fight for schoo finance equity, which made it all the way to the Supreme Court.

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In March of 1968, there were massive walkouts from schools in LA by primarily Latinx students, encouraged by Sal Castro, a teacher. The purpose of these walkouts were to protest the unequal opportunities in school systems and the lack of respect for student's cultures, and the decades of discrimination in education, such as the so-called "Mexican Schools". The protests went on for a month, and many people were arrested. This sparked the beginning of the Chicano Movement, a large-scale social justice movement in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

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1968 — Cesar Chavez Begins a 25 Day Fast

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1968 — Cesar Chavez Begins a 25 Day Fast

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Back in 1965, Filipino American grape workers (members of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee) walked out on strike against Delano-area table and wine grape growers protesting years of poor pay and conditions. To aid their efforts, they were able to recruit Cesar Chavez, who led a Latino farm workers union. They began their coalition on Mexican Independence Day 1965.

Fast forward to 1968: not much had occurred and the strike was still ongoing. Most people wanted to turn to violence, but Chavez kept his stance on nonviolence. Because of this impatience, Chavez took a more drastic turn and decided to commence a fast, receiving attention from Dr. King to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (in the image). His act pushed more grape strikes across the country. He eventually ceased the fast, but the strike continued until 1970, when table grape growers at long last signed their first union contracts, granting workers better pay, benefits, and protections.

Overall, this event is relevant to the history of the Latinx community, as Chavez was able to demonstrate the ability to bring change with nonviolence, as others (including those of other races/ethnicities) before him did. It signifies an important strength and solidarity within this community.

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In August of 1970, Ruben Salazar, a popular reporter for the Los Angeles Times and figurehead for the Los Angeles Latin American Community, was shot by a sherrif deputy with a tear gas canister used for barricade situations, rather than for shooting at someone. This shot killed him. This matters to the Latin American Community then and to us today because it was an unjustifed killing of a civillian by someone in Law Enforcement. Not only that, when interviewed, the man who shot the canister "was not concerned about" the type of tear gas canister used. This apathy on the part of the law enforcement, along with the fact that he was never even brought to trial for homicide, shows what is wrong with Law Enforcement throughout history.

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1970-  Cisneros v Corpus School District l

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1970-  Cisneros v Corpus School District l

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This was the first case to extend to the U.S. supreme court for the Brown V. Board of education. This was the Mexican- American struggle to access the public school system. It recognized that this discrimination was declared unconstitutional. Produced a new school system for Mexican-American and black children in Corpus Christi.

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Cisneros v. Corpus Christi ISD
By: Eric C. Hernandez
The Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District (CCISD) case and its ruling by District Court Judge Woodrow Seals in 1970, in favor of the plaintiffs, is a landmark case for Mexican American civil rights. In 1968 Jose Cisneros, after two years of pleading with the administration at CCISD to fix up the minority-majority schools where his children attended along with over two dozen other parents of students at CCISD's schools decided to take legal action and retained lawyer James De Anda, who formally filed a lawsuit against CCISD.[1] De Anda would use the rationale of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling from 1954 to establish Mexican Americans as an identifiable minority group and prove that segregation as well as discriminatory practices had been perpetuated and implemented knowingly by CCISD administration against Mexican American students. The result of this court case would be an integrated school system where segregation and discrimination would not be tolerated.

Mid-twentieth century South Texas was a much different environment than what is seen today. In 1910 when the Mexican Revolution began thousands of Mexican refugees sought opportunity crossing the border and seeking out a better life, and by the 1950s, postwar Mexican immigrant populations, included native born Tejanos who shared language and culture, numbered over a million.[2] Discrimination against Mexican immigrants became common place throughout the area known as the Nueces Strip, the stretch of land from the Rio Grande River continuing north to the Nueces River, where they worked on ranches or farms for extremely low wages and sub-human living conditions. The distinction between native born Tejanos, with their shared culture, and Mexican immigrants became blurred and soon led to Tejanos being pulled under the same discriminatory umbrella employed by Anglo citizens. Corpus Christi, like many other South Texas towns and cities, being no stranger to discrimination engaged in its practices all the same, perpetuating the social narrative that those of Mexican origin or Hispanic ethnicity were second class-citizens. [3] In a report from a Mexican consul in Corpus Christi to his superiors in 1949 he reports that discrimination occurred daily and its legal forms permeated everywhere including schools, public places and housing. This kind of discrimination worried the consul because it was enforced by the law.[4] Deeds for homes in the nicer part of the city would exclude anyone who was not of the Anglo race; this type of discrimination made it very simple for attendance lines to be drawn to mimic the residential segregation in CCISDs school system. Mexican Americans civil rights were being ignored as they were treated like second-class citizens, however this would soon become a legal matter with the passing of the Civil Rights Act.

In 1964, only four years prior to the case Cisneros case was filed, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which forbade discrimination based on race, sex, religion and national origin. It also authorized the withholding of federal funding for any state still engaged in acts of discrimination and segregation. In 1954 when the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate but equal is inherently unequal and segregation in public school systems was unconstitutional, the court offered no plan to effectively implement desegregation.[5] Thus the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) set forth goals and guidelines for school districts to desegregate and had their Office of Civil Rights conduct investigations on alleged discrimination in school districts where discrimination was reported. The statistics were collected and published but only in categories of "white" and "black."[6] Since Mexican Americans were legally defined as "white" it was simple for school districts to claim desegregation by enrolling more Mexican American students at formerly all-black schools. This exemplifies segregation in the acknowledgment of the legal white status of Mexican American students being exploited and the school districts willful disregard to enroll any Anglo American students in formerly all-black schools. This was made even easier by the attendance lines drawn by CCISD and the residential divides that emulated the segregation in the schools in the actual residential patterns of Corpus Christi at the time.

Jose Cisneros children, who were enrolled in the formerly all-black schools, complained to their father about the schools run down condition and overall sanitary issues. This led Cisneros to request the school board to allocate funds to fix the schools around the city that were broken down and in need of repair. After two years of refusal from the school district to acknowledge his request, Cisneros sought counsel with Civil Rights Commissioner Dr. Hector P. Garcia.[7] After a year-long investigation conducted by the Department of HEW at the request of Dr. Garcia they concluded that CCISD had violated both the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. After CCISD refused to implement the desegregation proposals from HEW, Cisneros decided to pursue legal action, but this time he and a group of parents whose children also attended similar schools banded together, retained lawyer James De Anda, and filed a class action lawsuit against CCISD. The court hearings began mid-May of 1970 and De Anda would prove that Mexican Americans were in fact an identifiable minority that had suffered discrimination and segregation at the hands of Anglo Americans and deserved the same protection as African Americans under Brown.

In the hearings, De Anda argued that CCISD had done everything in their power to slow down and limit integration such as enrolling Mexican Americans in formerly all-black schools to satisfy desegregation, to implementing judicially approved freedom of choice plans. These plans in particular prohibited Mexican American students from enrolling at formerly all-white schools since they were already enrolled in "white" schools; the Mexican American students being the "white" population at these schools. He argued that the percentages of ethnic population broken up into Anglo Americans, Mexican Americans, and African Americans, enrolled across the school district did not reflect actual student body populations. Out of the 9800 enrolled students in CCISDs high schools, 1300 Mexican Americans and 200 African Americans attended schools with greater than 90 percent non-Anglo populations; 32 percent of Anglo American students enrolled in high school attended schools with 20-30 percent or less non-Anglo populations. He insisted that integrated school systems reflect the ethnic populations at all schools across all grade levels and should approximate student body population, but they did not.[9] De Anda connected the unequal student enrollments with the residential boundaries and attendance boundaries drawn by CCISD and made a point in reminding the court that certain residential areas originally had deed restrictions limiting ownership to members of the white race. Since there were very few if any Mexican American families who lived in these predominantly white areas, it was fairly easy for De Anda to show how segregated boundaries in residential areas were being implemented in the school district.[10]

On June 4 th 1970, District Court Judge Woodrow Seals ruled in favor of the plaintiffs declaring that the official decisions of CCISD were "calculated to, and did, maintain a dual school system."[11] In 1975, it fell on Judge Owen Cox to oversee the court ruling for integration of CCISD and the court ordered busing plans to be implemented. Buses would bring African American and Mexican American students across town to formerly all-white schools and vice versa.[12] There were those who opposed the busing plans, mainly Anglos but some Mexican Americans as well. By 1977 however, the anti-busers had come to the conclusion that integration was going to happen despite their best efforts to prevent it through court appeals and even boycotts.[13] Ten years had passed since De Anda had been retained by Cisneros and the other plaintiffs and seven years had passed since court ordered integration had been ruled on; their ceaseless efforts for the fair treatment of Mexican Americans were indeed worth fighting for and had a significant impact on the future course for CCISD.

When all had been said and done, Corpus Christi Independent School System would integrate their schools and abandon discriminatory and segregational practices. This is only one of many cases where Mexican Americans won civil liberties in a public school system. However, this case in particular set a precedent for Mexican Americans to be recognized as an identifiable minority group that deserved all the equal protections set forth in Brown v. Board of Education. [14]

[1] Steve H. Wilson, "Brown over 'Other White': Mexican Americans' Legal Arguments and Litigation Strategy in School Desegregation Lawsuits." Law and History Review 21, no. 1 (2003): 188, doi:10.2307/3595071.

[2] Alan Lessoff, Where Texas Meets the Sea (Texas: The University of Texas Press, 2015) 111,112.

[3] Patrick J. Carroll, Felix Longoria's Wake (Texas: The University of Texas Press, 2003) 68.

[4] Carroll, Felix Longoria's Wake, 78.

[5] William M. Gordon, "The Implementation of Desegregation Plans Since Brown," Journal of Negro Education 63, no. 3 (1994): 310-22, doi: 10.2307/2967183.

[6] Wilson, Law and History Review, 177.

[7] Wilson, Law and History Review, 181.

[8] Anne Dodson, "The Background of Local School Integration," Corpus Christi Caller Times, June 6, 1971, http://docs.newsbank.com.manowar.tamucc.edu

[9] Wilson, Law and History Review, 183,184.

[10] Wilson, Law and History Review, 185.

[11] Wilson, Law and History Review, 189.

[12] Ronald Ozio, "Controversy Continues, But More Quietly," Corpus Christi Caller Times, July 10, 1977, http://docs.newsbank.com.manowar.tamucc.edu

[13] Ronald Ozio, "Who Are the Busing Foes? It's Hard to Determine," Corpus Christi Caller Times, July 13, 1977, http://docs.newsbank.com.manowar.tamucc.edu

[14] Wilson, Law and History Review, 188.

Bibliography

Carroll, Patrick J. Felix Longoria's Wake. Texas: The University of Texas Press, 2003.

Dodson, Anne. "The Background of Local School Integration." Corpus Christi Caller Times, June 6, 1971. Accessed March 21, 2018, America's Historical Newspapers, Archives of Americana.

Gordon, William M. "The Implementation of Desegregation Plans Since Brown." Journal of Negro Education 63, no. 3 (1994): 310-22. Accessed March 21, 2018. doi: 10.2307/2967183.0

Lessoff, Alan, Where Texas Meets the Sea. Texas: The University of Texas Press, 2015.

Ozio, Ronald. "Controversy Continues, But More Quietly." Corpus Christi Caller Times, July 10, 1977. Accessed March 21, 2018, America's Historical Newspapers, Archives of Americana.

Ozio, Ronald. "Who Are the Busing Foes? It's Hard to Determine." Corpus Christi Caller Times, July 13, 1977. Accessed March 21, 2018, America's Historical Newspapers, Archives of Americana.

Wilson, Steven H. "Brown over 'Other White': Mexican Americans' Legal Arguments and Litigation Strategy in School Desegregation Lawsuits." Law and History Review 21, no. 1 (2003): 145-94. Accessed March 21, 2018. doi:10.2307/3595071.

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By: Eric C. Hernandez The Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District (CCISD) case and its ruling by District Court Judge Woodrow Seals in 1970, in favor of the plaintiffs, is a landmark case for Mexican American civil rights.

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The freedom school Escuela de la Raza Unida- located in Blythe, CA- was founded over the Mexican community's frustration with the public school system. It was an "on-the-fly" school, which started with everyone pitching in and meeting as a local park, before later renting a space that could fit about 50 students for classes. It started as a K-12 private school, but later shifted their mission due to funding issues.

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1973 - Spanish is Miami's 2nd Official Language

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1973 - Spanish is Miami's 2nd Official Language

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The city of Miami was officially bilingual, with Spanish as its second language. This was important because it showed the large number and influence of Spanish speakers and the growing community of Cubans. Spanish is a huge part of daily life in Miami and also makes up for half of their economy.

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Credit... The New York Times Archives

This is a digitized version of an article from The Times's print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.

Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.

MIAMI, April 17 - The Latinization of this metropolitan area of 1.3 million does not show any signs of abating even though the seven‐year‐old Cuban airlift ended earlier this month.

More than 261,000 refugees came to the United States on the airlift, adding to the 200,000 who arrived here beween 1959 and 1962, when commercial flights between Cuba and the United States were suspended.

Last week, a special flight with more than 60 new exiles aboard arrived here from Spain, where more than 25,000 refugees are awaiting immigrant visas to join their families in the United States.

While few Cuban refugees living in Mexico have been illegally crossing the Rio Grande lately, some still manage to do so. And from whatever place the Cubans enter the United States, sooner or later most of them end up here. The New York‐New Jersey area has the second largest concentration of exiles.

According to the most recent estimates, Greater Miami has more than 450,000 Spanishspeaking residents, of whom about 400,000 are Cubans -either naturalized American citizens, permanent residents or parolees, as refugees are called by the Federal immigration authorities.

But citizens from virtually every other Latin‐American country have also found Miami a congenial place to live.

Last month, for example, when the newly created Brazilian Cultural Society held its first Carioca Carnival Ball here, about 1,000 Brazilians turned out to make it the liveliest and the most picturesque event in years.

Besides the 450,000 Spanishspeaking residents of Greater Miami, at any given time there are perhaps another 150,000 Latins here: visitors who stay up to six months and sometimes work illegally, or other visitors who fail to return to their native countries and become illegal immigrants.

Asserting that the Latin population of the area is growing more rapidly than other ethnic groups, Mayor Jack Orr of Dade County has introduced a resolution declaring the county a bilingual and bi‐cultural area.

Yesterday, the Dade County Commission unanimously passed the Mayor's resolution, making Spanish the second official language here. The commission also created a department of bilingual and bicultural affairs to implement the resolution.

In Tallahassee, a state Senate Education Committee recently passed a bill requiring public school districts to teach students in their native language. The Cuban population here would be the main beneficiary of the program.

So far, the Latin influence here has been felt mostly in the economic area, with several important sectors, among them the services and the garment and construction industries, being dominated by Latins.

The Latin influence is also felt here in many other ways. The Roman Catholic Church, once a minority group, has become the most numerous and powerful religious organization, with Miami as the seat of an archdiocese.

Hundreds of Latin restaurants have sprung up here. Their patrons, once almost entirely Spanish‐speaking, are now mixed. Café Cubano, a thick, strong brew made with Italian coffeemakers, is consumed on many street corners by a grow ing number of Americans. Practically all floor shows at Miami Beach hotels, whose personnel is almost entirely Cuban, are staged by Latin producers.

Not all Latin influence is positive, however. The so‐called Latin Mafia has been accused of converting Miami into the top cocaine‐importing city in the country.

Latins have also preserved a native interest in the occult, palmistry and African beliefs and Caribbean voodoo, exemplified by the existence of many "botanicas" - herb and charm shops - which offer all kinds of remedies to superstitious buyers.

Although a recent University of Miami study envisions Latin mayors in Miami and Hialeah in the nineteen‐eighties, so far the impact of the Spanishspeaking people on Miami's political life has been largely negligible.

Observers attribute this principally to the lack of qualified Latin candidates, not only for elective offices but also for appointive consultative city and county boards.

Thus, while the Latin population here keeps growing, its political clout remains limited. "Latins are too busy making money to think about politics," one local official said. "It will probably take another five to 10 years before they realize that political power is just as important as economic power."

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Latinization of the Miami Area Is Showing No Signs of Abating (Published 1973)

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Latinization of Miami (Fla) met area shows no signs of abating; according to most recent estimates, Greater Miami has more than 450,000 Spanish-speaking residents, of whom about 400,000 are Cubans, and about 150,000 visitors or illegal immigrants; resolution introduced by Dade County Chief Exec J Orr making Spanish 2d official language in Miami has been unanimously passed by Dade County Comm; Latin influence has been great in econ area but has had little impact on Miami's pol life

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1973--Espinoza v Farah Manufacturing Company

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1973--Espinoza v Farah Manufacturing Company

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In 1973, Mr and Mrs. Espinoza brought suit against Farah Manufacturing because they refused to hire her due to her Mexican citizenship. She relied on  § 703 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, bans private employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. However, this does not support the premise that discrimination on the basis of citizenship is the same as discrimination on the basis of national origin, since 96% of whose San Antonio division employees are Mexican-Americans. So although the Act protects against illegal discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, it does not proscribe discrimination on the basis of alienage.
Relying primarily on an EEOC guideline providing that a lawful alien resident may not be discriminated against on the basis of citizenship. The Court of Appeals reversed. The District Court eventually concluded that an employer's refusal to hire a person because he is not a United States citizen does not constitute employment discrimination on the basis of "national origin" in violation of § 703.
This contributes to many difficulties that immigrants struggle with when coming to the U.S to better themselves economically because citizenship is a big part of employment.

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Disclaimer: Official Supreme Court case law is only found in the print version of the United States Reports. Justia case law is provided for general informational purposes only, and may not reflect current legal developments, verdicts or settlements.

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The Equal Educational Opportunities Act took effect on August 21, 1974. It was essentially an extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and stated that schools could not discriminate against students based on gender, race, color, or nationality, as well as mandated public schools to provide accommodations for students who do not speak English, such as classes taught in the students’ native languages and ESL courses. Furthermore, the Supreme Court later ruled in 1982 that the EEOA also gave undocumented students the right and obligations to attend public schools. The EEOA helped protect Latinx students, whom schools often failed because they did not speak English. It also made their learning easier, as now they have dedicated ESL classes and could learn other subjects like math and history in their native languages in the meantime.

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H.R.40 - 93rd Congress (1973-1974): Equal Educational Opportunities Act

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Equal Educational Opportunities Act - Declares it to be the policy of the United States that all children enrolled in public schools are entitled to equal educational opportunity without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin; and that the neighborhood is the appropriate basis for determining public school assignments.

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1975 - Extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act

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1975 - Extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act

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President Gerald Ford extends the 1965 Voting Rights Act, amending Section 203 that mandated bilingual ballots in certain areas of the country.

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1968 -- Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)

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1968 -- Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)

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The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) began as a law firm established in 1968 by Mexican American lawyers that were frustrated with the discrimination that the Latinx community faces in the justice system. The MALDEF used a $2.5 million dollar grant to provide legal protection to Mexican Americans, scholarships for Mexican American law school students, and encouragement for Mexican Americans to start their own law firms in the San Antonio area. Today, the MALDEF engages in advocacy regarding border issues, offers scholarships, and lobbies for legislation.

The MALDEF is significant to the Mexican American community because of its massive help it offers in legal protection and defends the Mexican American community from discrimination. The MALDEF is one of the only programs to cater towards the Mexican American community regarding legislation, and is much needed given the amount of prejudice and unfair trials that the Mexican Americans previously received in the U.S, especially considering the topic of border issues and DACA. The MALDEF matters now in this time of white supremacy and nationalism, and the attitudes of anti-Latinx sentiments from Trump supporters.

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Birmingham, AL - MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) is dismissing a cross-claim filed in federal court in Alabama against the Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Secretary of Commerce,...

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MALDEF | Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

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Birmingham, AL - MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) is dismissing a cross-claim filed in federal court in Alabama against the Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Secretary of Commerce,...

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In the 1970s, tens of thousands of Cuban immigrants were arriving in Miami. As a result of the large Spanish speaking population, Spanish was the second official language. However, in 1978 a movement began against it, promoting the idea that English should be the only official language. In fact, it was so widespread that over 44 thousand residents voted for it, and it was passed in 1980. These events were more about making a point to the Spanish speaking population rather than causing actual change. At the time, many residents of Miami were likely afraid of the impact that the immigrants would have. We can still see the same thing happening today with immigrants from Mexico. For example, in many places, construction of the border wall does not effectively prevent illegal immigration, but rather serves as a reminder of the discriminatory beliefs that are held by some Americans.

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In April 1980, Fidel Castro announced that anyone wishing to emigrate to the United States may do so from the port of Mariel. After the first day, nearly 125,000 Cuban Immigrants had reached landfall. This resulted in housing and job shortages in Florida. Due to how many people were trying to leave the island, many boats were overcrowded, so much so that many were barely suitable for sailing. Thousands were arrested or detained when they reached landfall, and 24 died on the trip over. The boatlift ended in October of 1980 with a mutual agreement to stop between the United States and Cuba.