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1931--Salvatierra v Del Rio Independent School District: first lawsuit against segregation of Hispanic children (Leah Prizant)

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1931--Salvatierra v Del Rio Independent School District: first lawsuit against segregation of Hispanic children (Leah Prizant)

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Del Rio, Texas, like many other towns in America, segregated its schools between white schools, black schools, and Hispanic schools. In early 1930, the Del Rio School Board voted on expanding school facilities, but most benefits went to schools for white children. Many parents of Hispanic children recognized this disparity and filed a law suit. At the forefront of this suit was Jesus Salvatierra with his lawyer, John L. Dodson. This movement spread quickly as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) sponsored columns in Spanish newspapers. More and more parents joined the cause as well as lawyers such as M.C. Gonzales. The case was eventually taken to San Antonio under an injunction, or legal warning that an action may be against the law. Still, the Texas Court of Appeals denied the case from going any further. Although segregation was not outlawed in the 1930s, Salvatierra's movement spread so far and it only continued to grow through charities sponsored by LULAC. Parents and lawyers continued to push for desegregation and it was finally passed in 1948 that segregation of Hispanic studnts was against the 14th Ammendment.

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The first case in which Texas courts reviewed the actions of local school districts regarding the education of children of Mexican descent was tried in Del Rio in 1930. Like many other communities in the state, Del Rio had for the first six decades of the twentieth century a tripartite segregation of students in its public school system. Article VII, Section 7, of the Constitution of 1876 provided for separate schools for white and black students. From 1902 to 1940, especially after 1920, Texas school districts opened segregated schools for Hispanic children. By 1942-43 these schools were operated in 122 districts in fifty-nine counties throughout the state. On January 7, 1930, the Del Rio School Board ordered an election to be held on February 1 to vote on a proposed expansion of school facilities, including elementary schools, one of which, a brick and tile building of two rooms, was already designated the "Mexican" or "West End" school. Five rooms were to be added. Jesús Salvatierra and several other parents hired lawyer John L. Dodson on March 21 to file a suit charging that students of Mexican descent were being deprived of the benefits afforded "other white races" in the previous year. In April El Popular, the Spanish-language newspaper of the League of United Latin American Citizens, published an essay by Vito Aguirre condemning segregationists, whom he called "enemies of Mexican children," and criticizing the Mexican consulate's complacency on the issue. Also that month, lawyer and LULAC member M. C. Gonzales consulted with Dodson and joined the case free of charge. By May Salvatierra had a support group, La Comité de Defensa, later known as Comité Pro-Defensa Escolar. On May 15 District Judge Joseph Jones heard the case, ruled in Salvatierra's favor, and granted an injunction.

On June 10 the Court of Appeals of San Antonio heard the case. By June lawyers Alonso S. Perales and J. T. Canales were also assisting Salvatierra; Dodson, Gonzales, and Canales served as the appeal attorneys. The case, under the title Del Rio ISD v. Salvatierra, appeared before the Texas Court of Civil Appeals in San Antonio on October 29, and the injunction was voided. On December 24 a rehearing was denied.

LULAC provided the organizational and financial base for the movement against segregated schools, and Salvatierra's case spurred the growth of LULAC. According to George I. Sánchez in 1964, the Salvatierra ruling legalized the segregation of children of Mexican descent in schools through the third grade. During the case the first chapters of LULAC were organized in West Texas at San Angelo, Ozona, Sonora, and Marfa. The case also highlighted the need for regular communication. In late 1930 LULAC sponsored bulletins in the columns of Spanish-language newspapers; El Ciudadano, El Popular, and El Paladín came to serve as LULAC's official organs; in 1931 the weekly LULAC NOTES was issued; and in August 1931 LULAC News, the official monthly magazine, began publication. Spanish-language newspapers such as the Del Rio El Popular, Las Noticias, and La Semana followed the developments, and of San Antonio reached many other Tejano communities. LULAC passed a resolution at its 1930 annual convention to assist the Del Rio chapter in its work on the case. In January 1931 Salvatierra asked LULAC chapters for contributions, and by April nine chapters had responded. In May LULAC elected Gonzales its president general, and in June he invited chapters to donate at least $5 each toward taking the case to the Supreme Court. Gonzales called a special convention in Kingsville on August 30, and by that date $493 had been raised. The convention's purpose was to convert the organization's monument fund for World War I veterans to the School Defense Fund, and at that convention each council was required to raise $45 for Salvatierra. In spite of the Great Depression, LULAC managed to raise more than $1,000. Councils in Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen, Mission, La Grulla, Encino, Robstown, Edinburg, Falfurrias, San Diego, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Rio Grande City, Roma, Hebbronville, Kingsville, Sarita, San Angelo, Ozona, and Sonora collected funds. San Antonio, the largest chapter, raised $230; even the small council of Sarita raised its $45 quota. Sociedades mutualistas, Catholic groups, women's clubs, labor organizations, and Spanish-speaking PTAs sponsored dances, baseball games, meetings, interviews, and benefits to raise money for the cause. Important individual and collective fund-raising was conducted by Paul C. Jones and Mr. and Mrs. Antonio Castañon in San Antonio, Adela Sloss and Zacarias Gonzalez in San Juan, and Mrs. Jose Stillman, Mrs. Ben Garza, Mrs. Louis Wilmot, and Ernesto Meza in Corpus Christi. On October 26 the Supreme Court refused to hear the Salvatierra case and another case in which Mexicans in Menard County were prevented from jury duty for lack of jurisdiction. LULAC called a special convention in San Antonio on November 29 to discuss strategy for bringing about school desegregation. The Del Rio Comité Pro-Defensa Escolar continued to exist at least until October 1932. In 1948 in Delgado v. Bastrop Independent School District, the United States District Court, Western District of Texas, ruled that maintaining separate schools for Mexican descent children violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Nevertheless, failure to enforce this ruling resulted in continued legal challenges through the 1950s and 1960s; arguments first presented in the Salvatierra case were heard as late as 1971 in Cisneros v. Corpus Christi ISD.

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The first case in which Texas courts reviewed the actions of local school districts regarding the education of children of Mexican descent was tried in Del Rio in 1930. Like many other communities in the state, Del Rio had for the first six decades of the twentieth century a tripartite segregation of students in its public school system.

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1940 - The US Census is the first to reclassify people of Mexican descent from the category of Mexican to “white.” (Shamir Remy)

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1940 - The US Census is the first to reclassify people of Mexican descent from the category of Mexican to “white.” (Shamir Remy)

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When you look at the 1940 United States Census, these are the options you have to fill in regards to your race: White, Negro, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hindu, and Korean. Notice how there isn't a single option for those who are of Mexican descent. At this point in United States history, those who were of Mexican descent were seen as white.

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More 1940 Census Resources How to Start Your 1940 Census Research Indexes and Other Finding Aids Informative Articles and Online Data 1940 Census FAQs Part 1: General Information The 1940 census was released digitally on April 2, 2012.

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1941--The Fair Employment Practices Act: 1941--The Fair Employment Practices Act

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1941--The Fair Employment Practices Act: 1941--The Fair Employment Practices Act

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The act legally ended racial discrimination in the workplace, although it only covered certain work sectors, including the government, unions, and war-related jobs, because many people of color began seeking jobs in the defense industries.

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, also called the Fair Employment Act, on June 25, 1941. The order prohibited racial discrimination by all federal agencies, unions, and companies engaged in war-related work. It also established the Fair Employment Practices Commission to ensure the order was carried out. Executive Order 8802 marked the first time that the federal government officially acted to stop employment discrimination in the United States. It came at a time when large numbers of black Americans sought jobs in the burgeoning war industry -- and were frequently met with violence and unfair employment practices. When black leaders, including A. Philip Randolph, met with Eleanor Roosevelt and members of the presidents cabinet, they threatened to organize a march on Washington, DC if the president failed to intervene. President Roosevelt responded promptly, issuing Executive Order 8802 to prevent discrimination in the defense industries because of race, creed, color, or national origin.
Reaffirming Policy Of Full Participation In The Defense Program By All Persons, Regardless Of Race, Creed, Color, Or National Origin, And Directing Certain Action In Furtherance Of Said Policy

June 25, 1941

WHEREAS it is the policy of the United States to encourage full participation in the national defense program by all citizens of the United States, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin, in the firm belief that the democratic way of life within the Nation can be defended successfully only with the help and support of all groups within its borders; and

WHEREAS there is evidence that available and needed workers have been barred from employment in industries engaged in defense production solely because of considerations of race, creed, color, or national origin, to the detriment of workers' morale and of national unity:

NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, and as a prerequisite to the successful conduct of our national defense production effort, I do hereby reaffirm the policy of the United States that there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin, and I do hereby declare that it is the duty of employers and of labor organizations, in furtherance of said policy and of this order, to provide for the full and equitable participation of all workers in defense industries, without discrimination because of race, creed, color, or national origin;

And it is hereby ordered as follows:

1. All departments and agencies of the Government of the United States concerned with vocational and training programs for defense production shall take special measures appropriate to assure that such programs are administered without discrimination because of race, creed, color, or national origin;

2. All contracting agencies of the Government of the United States shall include in all defense contracts hereafter negotiated by them a provision obligating the contractor not to discriminate against any worker because of race, creed, color, or national origin;

3. There is established in the Office of Production Management a Committee on Fair Employment Practice, which shall consist of a chairman and four other members to be appointed by the President. The Chairman and members of the Committee shall serve as such without compensation but shall be entitled to actual and necessary transportation, subsistence and other expenses incidental to performance of their duties. The Committee shall receive and investigate complaints of discrimination in violation of the provisions of this order and shall take appropriate steps to redress grievances which it finds to be valid. The Committee shall also recommend to the several departments and agencies of the Government of the United States and to the President all measures which may be deemed by it necessary or proper to effectuate the provisions of this order.

Franklin D. Roosevelt
The White House,
June 25, 1941.

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Executive Order 8802 (Fair Employment Act)

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, also called the Fair Employment Act, on June 25, 1941. The order prohibited racial discrimination by all federal agencies, unions, and companies engaged in war-related work. It also established the Fair Employment Practices Commission to ensure the order was carried out.

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The Bracero Program, which was enacted in 1942, was the largest US contract labor program. It permitted millions of Mexicans to legally work in the United States on short term labor contracts. The program was established after the signing of an executive order called the 'Mexican Farm Labor Program,' and was created in response to labor shortages due to World War II. The program ended in 1964, and had brought over 4 million workers into the United States over the course of 22 years. While the Bracero program had a set of protocols agreed on by both Mexico and the United States, which served to protect the laborers from poor wages and discrimination, Mexican workers often faced both. Desperate for work, laborers from Mexico were often willing to accept low wage jobs, which created controversy surrounding this program. Farm workers in the United States worried about competition for jobs due to the new source of cheap labor. In theory, the program had safeguards which protected both Mexican and US workers, but in reality the rules were often ignored. The result of the Bracero program was an influx of both documented and undocumented laborers, and years of cheap labor.

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1942--The Sleepy Lagoon Murder (Katie Rouse)

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1942--The Sleepy Lagoon Murder (Katie Rouse)

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The 38th Street Gang was a gang from southern Los Angeles in the ‘40s that chose to hang out at a reservoir known as the Sleepy Lagoon. On August 1, 1942, two members of the 38th Street gang got into a violent fight with a neighboring gang. They left, but later returned to the scene to look for the rival gang members. They couldn’t find them, so they went to a party. A fight broke out at the party, so they left. However, the next day, the dead body of José Díaz was discovered. To start, LAPD rounded up over 600 Mexican American youth. Eventually they accused 22 alleged members of the 38th Street Gang of his murder, and young women were also detained and placed in jail because the cops suspected them of wrongdoing. At the trial, the prosecutor used the clothing and hairstyle of the accused as evidence of their guilt. All the defendants were convicted; 5 were found guilty of assault, 9 were found guilty of second degree murder, and three were found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. This case matters now because it goes to show the discrimination that Mexican American people faced and still face today in the criminal justice system. It is important to know where the system has gone wrong in the past so that we can prevent that from happening again in the future.

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1943--Caucasian Race Resolution (TX Legislature)

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1943--Caucasian Race Resolution (TX Legislature)

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In May 1943, the Texas state legislature unanimously passed the "Caucasian Race Resolution," supposedly to assist "hemispheric solidarity" (US-Latin America) during wartime. The resolution declared that everyone of the Caucasian race was entitled to equal accommodations. In Texas, Mexicans were officially recognized as "white," but were often discriminated against. The resolution's language excluded African Americans while trying to appease Mexico and Mexican Texan civil rights leaders. It established a legal precedent designating Mexicans as white. It was seen by some as insincere, and was shown to have little substance. In one test of its legal weight, members of the League of United Latin American Citizens were denied admission at a pool that was known to be discriminatory (see image). In a lawsuit, the court ruled in favor of the pool, showing the resolution's insincerity and lack of substance.

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The Zoot Suit riots were a series of race riots against Latino men and are the worst race riots in Los Angeles to date. They are named after a kind of baggy suit that many minority youths wore during that era, gaining a racist reputation as a result. After a brawl between a group of servicemen and a group of young Mexican American boys, mobs of servicemen began attacking Latinos they saw on the street wearing zoot suits or any other kind of racially identified clothing.

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What Is a Zoot Suit?

During the 1930s, dance halls were popular venues for socializing, swing dancing and easing the economic stress of the Great Depression. Nowhere was this more true than in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem, home of the famed Harlem Renaissance.

Style-conscious Harlem dancers began wearing loose-fitting clothes that accentuated their movements. Men donned baggy trousers with cuffs carefully tapered to prevent tripping; long jackets with heavily padded shoulders and wide lapels; long, glittering watch chains and hats ranging from porkpies and fedoras to broad-brimmed sombreros.

The image of these so-called "zoot suits" spread quickly and was popularized by performers such as Cab Calloway, who, in his Hepster's Dictionary, called the zoot suit "the ultimate in clothes. The only totally and truly American civilian suit."

'A Badge of Delinquency'

As the zoot suit became more popular among young men in Black, Mexican American and other minority communities, the clothes garnered a somewhat racist reputation. Latino youths in California known as "pachucos"-often wearing flashy zoot suits, porkpie hats and dangling watch chains-were increasingly viewed by affluent whites as menacing street thugs, gang members and rebellious juvenile delinquents.

Wartime patriotism didn't help matters: After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into World War II, wool and other textiles were subject to strict rationing. The U.S. War Production Board regulated the production of civilian clothing containing silk, wool and other essential fabrics.

Despite these wartime restrictions, many bootleg tailors in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere continued to make the popular zoot suits, which used profligate amounts of fabric. Servicemen and many other people, however, saw the oversized suits a flagrant and unpatriotic waste of resources.

The local media was only too happy to fan the flames of racism and moral outrage: On June 2, 1943, the Los Angeles Times reported: "Fresh in the memory of Los Angeles is last year's surge of gang violence that made the 'zoot suit' a badge of delinquency. Public indignation seethed as warfare among organized bands of marauders, prowling the streets at night, brought a wave of assaults, [and] finally murders."

The Zoot Suit Riots Begin

In the summer of 1943, tensions ran high between zoot-suiters and the large contingent of white sailors, soldiers and Marines stationed in and around Los Angeles. Mexican Americans were serving in the military in high numbers, but many servicemen viewed the zoot-suit wearers as World War II draft dodgers (though many were in fact too young to serve in the military).

On May 31, a clash between uniformed servicemen and Mexican American youths resulted in the beating of a U.S. sailor. Partly in retaliation, on the evening of June 3, about 50 sailors from the local U.S. Naval Reserve Armory marched through downtown Los Angeles carrying clubs and other crude weapons, attacking anyone seen wearing a zoot suit or other racially identified clothing.

In the days that followed, the racially charged atmosphere in Los Angeles exploded in a number of full-scale riots. Mobs of U.S. servicemen took to the streets and began attacking Latinos and stripping them of their suits, leaving them bloodied and half-naked on the sidewalk. Local police officers often watched from the sidelines, then arrested the victims of the beatings.

Thousands more servicemen, off-duty police officers and civilians joined the fray over the next several days, marching into cafes and movie theaters and beating anyone wearing zoot-suit clothing or hairstyles (duck-tail haircuts were a favorite target and were often cut off). Blacks and Filipinos-even those not clad in zoot suits-were also attacked and bloodied.

The Zoot Suit Riots Spread

By June 7, the rioting had spread outside downtown Los Angeles to Watts, East Los Angeles and other neighborhoods. Taxi drivers offered free rides to servicemen to rioting areas, and thousands of military personnel and civilians from San Diego and other parts of Southern California converged on Los Angeles to join the mayhem.

Leaders of the Mexican American community implored state and local officials to intervene-The Council for Latin American Youth even sent a telegram to President Franklin D. Roosevelt -but their pleas met with little action. One eyewitness, writer Carey McWilliams, painted a terrifying picture:

"On Monday evening, June seventh, thousands of Angelenos ... turned out for a mass lynching. Marching through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, a mob of several thousand soldiers, sailors, and civilians, proceeded to beat up every zoot-suiter they could find. Street cars were halted while Mexicans, and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked out of their seats, pushed into the streets, and beaten with sadistic frenzy."

Some of the most disturbing violence was clearly racist in nature: According to several reports, a black defense plant worker-still wearing his defense-plant identification badge-was yanked off a streetcar, after which one of his eyes was gouged out with a knife.

Aftermath of the Zoot Suit Riots

Local papers framed the racial attacks as a vigilante response to an immigrant crime wave, and police generally restricted their arrests to the Latinos who fought back. The riots didn't die down until June 8, when U.S. military personnel were finally barred from leaving their barracks.

The Los Angeles City Council issued a ban on zoot suits the following day. Amazingly, no one was killed during the weeklong riot, but it wasn't the last outburst of zoot suit-related racial violence. Similar incidents took place that same year in cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit.

A Citizens' Committee appointed by California Governor Earl Warren to investigate the Zoot Suit Riots convened in the weeks after the riot. The committee's report found that, "In undertaking to deal with the cause of these outbreaks, the existence of race prejudice cannot be ignored."

Additionally, the committee described the problem of juvenile delinquency youth as "one of American youth, not confined to any racial group. The wearers of zoot suits are not necessarily persons of Mexican descent, criminals or juveniles. Many young people today wear zoot suits."

Sources

A Brief History of the Zoot Suit: Smithsonian.com.
Zoot Suit Riots: Pomona College Research Library [online].
Remembering the Zoot Suit Riots: California Historical Society.
Los Angeles Group Insists Riots Halt: The New York Times.
Youth Gangs Leading Cause of Delinquencies: Los Angeles Times. Accessed via web.viu.ca.
The Los Angeles "Zoot Suit Riots" Revisited: Mexican and Latin American Perspectives. Richard Griswold del Castillo, San Diego State University.

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Zoot Suit Riots: Causes, Facts & Photos - HISTORY

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The Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 were violent clashes in which U.S. servicemen, police officers and civilians brutalized Latinos and other minorities in Los Angeles.

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Operation Bootstrap was a strategy to develop and modernize Puerto Rico's economy under the the Muñoz Administration. It shifted the economy towards exportation and foreign investment, which included tax exemptions for US corporations to capitalize off the lower labor costs in Puerto Rico. Many of the workers were women, who faced encouraged sterilization to "reduce turnover" and keep factories filled with more "docile" workers.

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In 1945, The Puerto Rican government decided to pass a law called, “Proyecto del Idioma (Law No. 51)" to certify that Spanish would be taught in public schools. Unfortunately, this law was vetoed by President Harry Truman in 1496. Until 1948, the federal government had control over what was being taught and the overall policies of education in Puerto Rico. This is still relevant in today's society because if Latinx students were unable to learn the language they spoke at home, it would be utterly discriminatory to not implement it in our education system, especially if there are a large amount of Latinx students across the nation.

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After fighting for the US in World War 2, Felix Longoria's remains were found in the Philippines and brought back to America for burial. at the Three Rivers Cemetery. The Cemetery was segregated and had a section for Mexicans which the owner wouldn't allow Felix Longoria's family to use because he thought Mexicans would bother the white people. After many telegraphs from the G.I forum, an organization for Mexican rights, senator Lyndon B. Johnson allowed Longoria to be buried in the Arlington National Cemetery in 1949. This is significant because after a committee investigated this incident, it was deemed not discriminatory, giving Mexicans the motivation to expand their Civil Rights Movement.

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V. Carl Allsup General Entry

The controversy surrounding the burial of Felix Longoria provided a successful case for the American G. I. Forum, a civil rights organization for Mexican Americans, to fight racial discrimination with political pressure. In 1948 the remains of Private Felix Longoria of Three Rivers, Texas, were recovered from the Philippines, where he had been killed on a volunteer mission during the last days of World War II. His body was shipped home for burial in the Three Rivers cemetery, where the "Mexican" section was separated by barbed wire. The director of the funeral home would not allow the use of the chapel because of alleged disturbances at previous Mexican American services and because "the Whites would not like it." Longoria's widow and her sister discussed the refusal with Dr. Hector Garcia, the founder of the American G. I. Forum. He, in turn, contacted the funeral director and received the same refusal and rationale. On January 11, 1949, Garcia called a meeting of the Corpus Christi Forum, which he had organized as the first G. I. Forum chapter in March 1948; he also sent many telegrams and letters to Texas congressmen. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson responded immediately with support and an offer to arrange the burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The funeral took place on February 16, 1949, at the Arlington National Cemetery; with the Longoria family were Senator Johnson and a personal representative of the president of the United States.

After the funeral, the Texas House of Representatives authorized a five-member committee to investigate the Felix Longoria incident. The committee held open hearings at the Three Rivers Chamber of Commerce and, after recriminations and exculpatory arguments, concluded that there was no discrimination on the part of the funeral director and that he had acted in anger but had apologized. Four of the committeemen signed the report. Frank Oltorf, the fifth member, stated that the funeral director's words "appear to be discriminatory." Another member withdrew his name from the majority report and filed his own account, which stated that the actions of the director were on "the fine line of discrimination." The report was never filed. The Felix Longoria Affair provided Mexican Americans an example to unify and expand their struggle for civil rights in the coming decades.

Carl Allsup, The American G.I. Forum: Origins and Evolution (University of Texas Center for Mexican American Studies Monograph 6, Austin, 1982).

Categories:

Peoples

Mexican Americans

Activism and Social Reform

Time Periods:

World War II

Texas Post World War II

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

V. Carl Allsup, "Felix Longoria Affair," Handbook of Texas Online, accessed February 03, 2021, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/felix-longoria-affair.

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V. Carl Allsup General Entry The controversy surrounding the burial of Felix Longoria provided a successful case for the American G. I. Forum, a civil rights organization for Mexican Americans, to fight racial discrimination with political pressure.

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1946 -- Mendez vs Westminster School District 

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1946 -- Mendez vs Westminster School District 

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This court case ended segregation of schools in California. There wasn't any state law that allowed the segregation of Mexican Americans but they were put in different schools. The school board put Mexican Americans in different schools because the board thought Mexican Americans needed additional education to be Americanized. The court case argued that segregating Mexican American children is in violation of the 14th amendment and harmed them by making them feel inferior. The opposing side argued that federal courts did not have the right to rule on a case about schools. He also had the same reasoning as the school board for segregating Mexican Americans. Judge McCormick decided to not allow segregation because state law wasn't clear on segregation of Mexicans Americans and he said segregation makes people feel inferior which would affect their ability to learn.

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"I Love Lucy," was a television program in the 50s that starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz. A note of importance is that Desi Arnaz was Cuban-American. The reason this is so important is because at the time, it was rare to see a regular, main character played by someone who wasn't white. At a time of heavy racial tension, I think Arnaz's role helped Americans become at ease with the fact that he was still an American citizen regardless of being Cuban.

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Hector Garcia was a Major in the US army. After he returned home from  WWI, he realized just how slow to respond the administration was to meet the Hispanic-American veterans' needs. He created a precursor to the American GI Forum, where Mexican-American veterans could address their concerns and express their discontent with the military’s discriminatory actions towards them.

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1948 - Delgado vs. Bastrop Independent School District

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1948 - Delgado vs. Bastrop Independent School District

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Because of the Mendez vs. Westminster School District, the Texas Attorney General decided that segregation of Mexican American children was illegal. Delgado and others sued Bastrop ISD, saying that separating Mexican American children from other white children was a violation since their was no specific state law. Bastrop ISD was ordered to stop segregating Mexican American students.

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1953 to 1958 -- Largest Mass Deportation of Latin Americans

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1953 to 1958 -- Largest Mass Deportation of Latin Americans

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Operation 🤬 is an immigration law campaign started in June 1954, and resulted in the deportation of as many as 1.3 million people and millions of arrests. This is the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in the history of the United States fueled by Americans who were enraged by the widespread corruption among employers along the Mexican border and the large number of undocumented workers arriving in the United States. During the operation, border patrol agents and local officials would identify immigrants using racial stereotypes and shove the immigrants into buses, boats and planes to be sent to parts of Mexico that were unfamiliar to the immigrants. Many of the deportees had struggled to rebuild their lives in Mexico.

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The American GI Association publishes "What Price Wetbacks?", using a derogatory term to refer to people of Mexican descent. Here, they are identified as a separate racial group, before the origination of terms such as Hispanic and Latinx. The pamphlet detailed the ways Americans felt threatened by the increased immigration of people of Latin American descent, and proposed harsh immigration laws to prevent a continued influx of immigrants.

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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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1954 -- Hernandez v State of Texas is heard by the US Supreme Court, which rules to strike down discrimination based on class and ethnic distinctions.

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1954 -- Hernandez v State of Texas is heard by the US Supreme Court, which rules to strike down discrimination based on class and ethnic distinctions.

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A case in which the Court found that intentionally excluding Mexicans from a jury in a trial where the defendant was a Mexican was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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1954 -- Hernandez v State of Texas is heard by the US Supreme Court, which rules to strike down discrimination based on class and ethnic distinctions.

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1954 -- Hernandez v State of Texas is heard by the US Supreme Court, which rules to strike down discrimination based on class and ethnic distinctions.

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Pete Hernandez was indicted for murder by an all white jury Jackson County, Texas. Hernandez claimed that Mexican-Americans were kept from serving on the jury (the last time was 25 years ago in Jackson County). He tried to get the indictment quashed for this reason. Hernandez was found guilty and was sentenced by an all white jury. The Texas Court believed that Mexican-Americans were classified as white and ignored the petitioners that said they were a "special class" under the 14th Amendment. The Court found that yes this is a denial of the Fourteenth Amendment and found out that Mexican were a "special class" under the Fourteenth Amendment. So in conclusion, they found that Purposeful exclusion on Mexican-Americans from jury service violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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A case in which the Court found that intentionally excluding Mexicans from a jury in a trial where the defendant was a Mexican was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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After Brown v. Board of Education was argued in the Supreme court, many laws on racial segregation were passed. Henry B. Gonzalez saw many issues with this and wanted to do something about it, so he led a 36 hour filibuster with the other state senator in order to stop these bills from passing in Texas. He was successful in stopping 8 out of the 10 laws.

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In 1958, the musical West Side story, written by Arthur Laurents, premiers on broadway. It explores gang-conflict between white and Puerto Ricans in NYC, becoming one of the most successful musicals ever created. In the movie adaptation, Puerto-rican actress Rita Moreno is cast. Her performance in West Side Story  wins her an Oscar, making her the first Hispanic woman to ever be presented with the award.

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1959- The "Capeman" Murders (Douglas Griffiths)

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1959- The "Capeman" Murders (Douglas Griffiths)

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Salvador Agron stabbed two teenagers to death who he assumed to be a members of a rival gang in a New York City park. The two teenagers were not part of any gang. There was a lot of outcry over this murder and was Agron put on Death Row at just 16 (youngest in New York). He never received his sentence and was eventually released in 1977.

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Launched in April 1961, the Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed attacked launched against Fidel Castro by the CIA. Fidel Castro was a Cuban nationalist who overthrew the US backed president of Cuba. Since then, the United States tried to remove him, especially John F. Kennedy. He planned the invasion as a way to show the Soviet Union that the United States would win the cold war. The operation failed because there was a radio station on the beach that broadcasted the United States entire plan. The reason for the US wanting Cuba so much was for its sugar and other economic opportunities.

For more information:
https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/bay-of-pigs-invasion

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1961-- The Rafael Trujillo Assassination

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1961-- The Rafael Trujillo Assassination

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Rafael Leonidas Trujillo was assassinated on May 30, 1961. Prior to his death, Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic for 31 years through oppressive methods. While he improved the country's economy, he also ordered a massacre of several thousand Haitians living in the country in 1937. No one understand what would have motivated the US to interfere in something like this, however it is known that Trujillo and the American government were on good terms, until he planned an assassination on Romulo Betancourt, the president of Venezuela. The US closed its embassy and withdrew their ambassador. President Eisenhower put forth a plan to remove Trujillo from office, however, this plan was undone under President Kennedy.
Additionally, following the Bay of Pigs invasion, President Kennedy was worried that a Castro-esque ruler would gain power in nearby D.R.. Underground resistance movements in the D.R. began to gain momentum. Ultimately, it was one of these groups that killed the General. While the CIA was not directly involved in the murder, it has been proven that they provided "material support" to the group responsible for his death.

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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.

WASHINGTON, June 12-The Central Intelligence Agency contributed "material support" to a group of Dominicans who assassinated the Dominican Republic's dictator, Gen. Rafael Trujillo Molina, on May 30, 1961, authoritative Government sources have said.

According to the sources, this is one of the "successful assassination attempts" mentioned today by Representative James V. Stanton, Democrat of Ohio, who is the chairman of a House subcommittee investigating the C.I.A.

The details of the assassination have also been supplied to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Several Government sources said that the Trujillo case was the successful attempt mentioned recently by the committee's chairman, Senator Frank Church, Democrat of Idaho.

Information about the Dominicon assassination was given to President Fofd by William E. Colby, Director of Central Intelligence, in January, authoritantive sources said. A C.I.A. spokesman had no comment on the report.

Possible Gain in Doubt
It is unclear what foreign policy objective of the United States would have been served in 1961 by the killing of General Trujillo. Several sources, however, said it was part of a "series of events" connected with the Bay. of Pigs invasion of Cuba the month before.

It is also unclear from either public or private reports at how high a level General Trujillo's death was authorized. Nor is it clear whether authorization occurred during the administration of President Kennedy, who took office in January, 1961, or that of President Eisenhower, Mr. Kennedy's predecessor.

General Trujillo was killed in a hail of gunfire as he drove from his home. in San Cristobal to Ciudad Trujillo, capital of the Dominican Republic. His death ended 31 years of what had been called an oppressive dictatorship.

The general was killed by seven Dominicans allegedly led by Gen. Juan Tomas Diaz, who was later killed in a gunfight with Dominican policemen.

According to authoritative sources, C.I.A. files indicate that the agency supplied "material support" to what one source called an "indiginous" group of Dominicans who plotted and killed General Trujillo.

The assassination touched off a massive roundup of opponents of the Trujillo regime following the attack. At one point some 60 persons had been taken into custody, news accounts said.

According to autharitative sources, one of the men involved in the attack cracked under an interrogation, which included torture, and told his captors that at least one of the guns used had been supplied by operatives of the C.I.A. An account of this is included in documents discovered in the growing investigation of the agency, the sources said.

During the early stages of the investigations of the agency, several of its former officials said that, though, there may have been plots to assassinate foreign leaders, there had been no "successful attempts." Other intelligence sources said that that should be amended to "no attempts where Americans actually became involved directly in the killing."

"When this is all said and done," one source said, "I think it will be clear that no member of the C.I.A. or Americans were hired to assassinate Trujillo or Castro. What we are talking about in these cases is aid and comfort to indigenous elements."

"The degree to which the Dorninican group got aid," this source said, "may have been more than we now wish."

These sources said the matter of plots against General Trujillo and Cuban Premier Fidel Castro was covered in the summary prepared by the Rockefeller Commission but not made public in its report.

The material from the commission has been forwarded to the Department of Justice for possible prosecutions. The White House also made public a memorandum to Attorney General Edward H. Levi in which it noted, "In addition to the materials [on assassinations] accumulated by the commission there are relevant materials on these subjects in the files of the National Security Council and certain State Department and Defense Department files of similar relevance."

The memorandum, signed by President Ford, said, "I hereby request that you review all of these materials as soon as possible and take such action as you deep warranted as a result of your investigation."

Sources within the Justice Department have said that it is unclear whether the alleged plots against Mr. Castro constitute a violation of United States law that is within the statute of limitations.

But, one key source said, there is a clear Federal prohibi tion against such a plot aimed at General Trujillo. According to this source the Dominican Republic was a "friendly nation" in 1961, while Cuba was the subject of diplomatic strictures by the United States.

Under the United States Criminal Code it is an illegal act for anyone within the United States if he "knowingly begins or sets foot or provides or prepares a means for or furnishes the money for, or takes part in, any military or naval expedition or enterprise to be carried on from thence against the territory or dominion of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district or people with whom the United States is at peace."

The charge is a felony punishable by a $3,000 fine or imprisonment for not more, than three years or both. Though the statute of limitations may have run out on this charge, a conspiracy to commit the act may have continued well after General Trujillo's actual death.

Representative Stanton made his remarks today in answer to questions from The Cleveland Plain Dealer and during an interview on the CBS morning news.

Later in the day, Vice President Rockefeller, chairman of the eight man commission that reported on the C.I.A. activities this week, declined to comment on Mr. Stanton's. assertions about complicity by the agency in successful assassination attempts.

"I'm not familiar with his statement," Mr. Rockefeller told newsmen in New York. He said the reason his commission bad made no formal report on assassinations was that "we had not completed work sufficiently to allow ourselves to formalize a judgment." He met with newsmen after a luncheon for the New York Republican State Committee.

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C.I.A. IS REPORTED TO HAVE HELPED IN TRUJILLO DEATH (Published 1975)

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Authoritative Govt sources rept CIA contributed 'material support' to group of Dominicans who assassinated Dominican dictator Gen Rafael Trujillo Molina; Repr James V Stanton notes this is one of 'successful assassination attempts'; says plot to assassinate Trujillo is felony but statute of limitations may have run out on charge, and

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19 year old farm worker, Cesar Chavez, along with thousands of others, left the field in order to learn about farmers rights and how to build a union. He began organizing campaigns against discrimination and directing voter registration drives. In 1962 Chavez formed the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers of America.

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The Civil Rights Act was passed through Congress, making it illegal to discriminate based on gender, race, ethnicity and color. The passing of the act had ended the passing of "Jim Crow" laws. The idea of Jim Crow, however, was not dead, and even though these laws were now put in place, they were not very well enforced and segregation and discrimination remained rampant. The Civil Rights Act had officially ended the "separate but equal" ideal that many white people had used.

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In the 1960s, Americans who knew only the potential of "equal protection of the laws" expected the president, the Congress, and the courts to fulfill the promise of the 14th Amendment. In response, all three branches of the federal government--as well as the public at large--debated a fundamental constitutional question: Does the Constitution's prohibition of denying equal protection always ban the use of racial, ethnic, or gender criteria in an attempt to bring social justice and social benefits?

In June 1963, President John Kennedy asked Congress for a comprehensive civil rights bill, induced by massive resistance to desegregation and the murder of Medgar Evers. After Kennedy's assassination in November, President Lyndon Johnson pressed hard, with the support of Roy Wilkins and Clarence Mitchell, to secure the bill's passage the following year. In 1964, Congress passed Public Law 88-352 (78 Stat. 241). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing. The Act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs. It also strengthened the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of schools.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the nation's benchmark civil rights legislation, and it continues to resonate in America. Passage of the Act ended the application of "Jim Crow" laws, which had been upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the Court held that racial segregation purported to be "separate but equal" was constitutional. The Civil Rights Act was eventually expanded by Congress to strengthen enforcement of these fundamental civil rights.

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Legal Highlight: The Civil Rights Act of 1964

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In the 1960s, Americans who knew only the potential of "equal protection of the laws" expected the president, the Congress, and the courts to fulfill the promise of the 14th Amendment.

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On September 8, 1965, a group of around 2,000 Filipino American grape workers walked out on a strike protesting the years of poor pay and conditions in the Delano-Area table. Help arrived from the National Farm Workers Association and it’s Mexican creators, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. Chavez decided to go into a hunger strike 3 years into the protest which ended the calls for violence that sprouted, as well as drew attention to the movement which earned praise from prominent figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and senator Robert F. Kennedy. The strike lasted a total of 5 years and ended in a national boycott of grapes. The results from the strike led to the creation of the nation’s first farm workers union-the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).

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In 1966, Cesar Chavez lead a march with his union went on a march from Delano, California to Sacramento. This march put the grape strike and consumer boycott into national consciousness. The march was 25 days and 340 miles.

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Early Life and Work as a Community Organizer

Cesar Estrada Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona, on March 31, 1927. In the late 1930s, after losing their homestead to foreclosure, he and his family joined more than 300,000 people who migrated to California during the Great Depression and became migrant farm workers.

Chavez dropped out of school after eighth grade and began working in the fields full time. In 1946, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving for two years in a segregated unit. After his service was over, he returned to farmwork and married Helen Fabela, with whom he would eventually have eight children (and later, 31 grandchildren).

In 1952, Chavez was working at a lumberyard in San Jose when he became a grassroots organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO), a Latino civil rights group. Over the next decade, he worked to register new voters and fight racial and economic discrimination, and rose to become the CSO's national director.

Chavez resigned from the CSO in 1962, after other members refused to support his efforts to form a labor union for farm workers. That same year, he used his life savings to found the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in Delano, California.

Founding of National Farm Workers Association and the 1965 Grape Strike

Chavez knew firsthand the struggles of the nation's poorest and most powerless workers, who labored to put food on the nation's tables while often going hungry themselves. Not covered by minimum wage laws, many made as little as 40 cents an hour, and did not qualify for unemployment insurance.

Previous attempts to unionize farm workers had failed, as California's powerful agricultural industry fought back with all the weight of their wealth and political power.

Chavez was inspired by the nonviolent civil disobedience pioneered by Gandhi in India, and the example of St. Francis of Assisi, the 13th-century Italian nobleman who gave up his material wealth to live with and work on behalf of the poor.

Working doggedly to build the NFWA alongside fellow organizer Dolores Huerta, Chavez traveled around the San Joaquin and Imperial Valleys to recruit union members. Meanwhile, Helen Chavez worked in the fields to support the family, as they struggled to stay afloat.

In September 1965, the NFWA launched a strike against California's grape growers alongside the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a Filipino-American labor group. The strike lasted five years and expanded into a nationwide boycott of California grapes. The boycott drew widespread support, thanks to the highly visible campaign headed by Chavez, who led a 340-mile march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966 and undertook a well-publicized 25-day hunger strike in 1968.

"I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally non-violent struggle for justice," Chavez declared, in a speech read on his behalf when his first hunger strike ended. "To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us be men."

The United Farm Workers and Chavez's Later Career

The grape strike and boycott ended in 1970, with the farm workers reaching a collective bargaining agreement with major grape growers that increased the workers' pay and gave them the right to unionize. The NWFA and AWOC had merged in 1966 to form the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, which in 1971 became the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).

Throughout the 1970s, Chavez continued leading the union's efforts to win labor contracts for farm workers across the agricultural industry, employing the same nonviolent techniques of strikes and boycotts. In 1972, he went on a second hunger strike to protest an Arizona law banning farm workers from organizing and protesting.

Thanks to the UFW's efforts, California passed the landmark Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975, giving all farm workers the right to unionize and negotiate for better wages and working conditions.

In the mid-1980s, Chavez focused the UFW's efforts on a campaign to highlight the dangers of pesticides for farm workers and their children. In 1988, at the age of 61, he underwent his third hunger strike, which lasted for 36 days.

Chavez died in his sleep on April 23, 1993, at the age of 66. The following year, President Bill Clinton awarded him a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. In a sign of the labor leader's enduring influence, Barack Obama borrowed a Chavez slogan- Si, se puede, or "Yes, we can"-during his successful run to become the first Black U.S. president in 2008.

Sources

Maureen Pao, "Cesar Chavez: The Life Behind A Legacy Of Farm Labor Rights." NPR, August 12, 2016.
Miriam Pawel, The Crusades of Cesar Chavez. (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014)
California Hall of Fame: Cesar Chavez. California Museum.

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Cesar Chavez: Quotes, Death & Accomplishments - HISTORY

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Cesar Chavez, labor leader, civil rights activist and founder of the National Farm Workers Association, dedicated his life to the rights of farm workers.

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The Cuban American Adjustment Act allowed Cubans and their spouses or children to become permanent residents of the United States if they were political refugees, were native to or a citizen of Cuba, and lived in the US for at least one year. Later in 1966, the “wet feet, dry feet” policy meant that any Cuban found coming to the US in US waters would be sent back to Cuba and therefore limited the application of the 1966 Adjustment Act. This is important today because the 1996 limiting of the Act proves that America is still working out how to hinder immigration and what ways of coming to America are more “legitimate” than others.

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In 1966 Mexican Farm Workers are outraged by their working conditions. Making only 25 cents an hour and having no access to clean water (had to drink from puddles at times) as well as no toilets. They wanted to make the minimum wage at least $1.25 as well as have better working conditions so they set off to protest. Inspired by civil rights movements (selma march) they head to Austin Texas and 10,000 plus people walk in solidarity to the state capital. Although this march didn't directly lead to any changes, it brought awareness to the situation as well as inspiring a movement.

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1967-- Brown Berets push for better schools, health, jobs, and more for Chicanos (Leah Prizant)

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1967-- Brown Berets push for better schools, health, jobs, and more for Chicanos (Leah Prizant)

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In 1967, students from Los Angeles, California, including David Sanchez, Jorge Licon, and Vickie Castro, came together at the Annual Chicano Student Conference to discuss discrimination and segregation of Chicanos in the school system. They decided to form  Young Citizens for Community Action, later changed to Young Chicanos for Community Action (YCCA). Their mission was to call for action on the public school disparities caused by the tri-fold discrimination of black , white, and Hispanic students. They decided to wear Brown Berets to show their unity and resistance thus giving them the name "Brown Berets." Chapters spread all over the US, including 28 cities in just 2 years. In LA, the Brown Berets protested police brutality on the part of the LAPD and the mass killings of soldiers, especially Chicano soldiers, in the Vietnam War. Several of their peaceful protests became violent when police came. Overtime, the organization resurfaced following murders or injustices against Chicanos.

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1968-- San Antonio Chicano Student Walkouts 

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1968-- San Antonio Chicano Student Walkouts 

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In 1968, students from Edgewood High School and Lanier High School, staged a walkout, setting off a string of walkouts in Southern Texas. Chicano students in Texas had faced racism and discrimination in the school system for a long time, and when things had not changed, they decided to take action. Students were treated unfairly at school, faced racist administrators and policies, and schools were never properly funded. The walkouts at Edgewood and Lanier were the earliest of the major Chicano student protests, which began the Chicano Student Movement in Texas.

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Mexican American students in Los Angeles were protesting against unfair educational practices, including being unable to learn in Spanish, or being recommended to study a special needs curriculum. 15,000 high school students in East Los Angeles walked out of school for a week, and many of their leaders were arrested. Unfortunately, the LA Board of Education didn't do what the students asked, and they claimed that there was a lack of funding.

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Mario T. García; Sal Castro; Mario T. García

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Research Guides: A Latinx Resource Guide: Civil Rights Cases and Events in the United States: 1968: East Los Angeles Walkouts

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This Hispanic Reading Room research guide focuses on 20th and 21st century American court cases, legislation, and events that had important impacts on civil rights in Chicana/o/x, Hispanic, Latina/o/x, Mexican-American and Puerto Rican communities

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

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

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The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) was an activist and legal-aid organization established in 1968. It got its inspiration from the NAACP, and was created to help Mexican Americans have better access to their legal rights. It was originally founded by a group of lawyers that were fed up with the discrimination that Mexican Americans faced in the criminal justice system. Once the group was well-established, they began working on constitutional issues in order to achieve precedents that could protect Mexican Americans in the future. This group was and is important because they won many court cases that established that the discrimination against Mexican Americans that the government was carrying out was wrong, and gave Mexican Americans a pathway to challenge that discrimination in court.

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1968 -- Cesar Chavez begins a 25 day fast to protest the violent repression endured by California farm workers

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1968 -- Cesar Chavez begins a 25 day fast to protest the violent repression endured by California farm workers

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Cesar Chavez, the son of immigrant field worker parents, founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. He became a prominent union leader. Farm workers were suffering, having their rights crushed, and being put in harmful environments. In 1965, his union joined a strike of Filipino grape workers in Delano. By 1967/early 1968, the strike and boycotts were still going on, and some strikers were getting impatient with nonviolence. By only consuming water for 25 days as a way of taking responsibility for and strengthening his movement, Chavez recommitted the movement to nonviolence. When he finished his fast, it was passed on to other public figures. The strike succeeded by 1970, after a nationwide grape boycott.
Image: Chavez breaking his fast with presidential candidate Robert Kennedy by his side. Kennedy was assassinated a few months later.

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1967 - Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales founded the Crusade for Justice, a group seeking to advance Chicano rights and culture, in Denver, Colorado.  Subsequently he becomes the co-founder of a new political party focusing on the rights of Mexican Americans, called the Congreso de Aztlan. (Shamir Remy)

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1967 - Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales founded the Crusade for Justice, a group seeking to advance Chicano rights and culture, in Denver, Colorado.  Subsequently he becomes the co-founder of a new political party focusing on the rights of Mexican Americans, called the Congreso de Aztlan. (Shamir Remy)

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The Crusade for Justice was founded as a way to combat the injustices that Mexican Americans were experiencing back in the 20th century. It gained traction within the Chicano community throughout the 60s and 70s. The Crusade of Justice managed to open up a lot of opportunities that were previously closed to those in the Latino community. They brought awareness to issues that were very prominent back in the 60s such as the United States's involvement in the Vietnam War and police brutality against minorities of color. The group would eventually disband in the mid 1970s.

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1968 -- Chicano Resistance Against the Military Draft

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1968 -- Chicano Resistance Against the Military Draft

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In 1968, 19-year-old José Sanchez becomes the first Chicano to resist the military draft. On Mexican Independence Day in 1969, after receiving his draft to serve in Vietnam in the mail, Rosalio Muñoz resists as well. This inspires other Mexican Americans across the nation to resist the draft as well and to begin an antiwar movement.

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On September 16, 1940, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Selective Service & Training Act, requiring men ages 21 to 35 to register for the draft.

On September 16, 1969, on Mexican Independence Day, Rosalio Muñoz refused induction into the army; his action initiated draft resistance and an antiwar movement among Mexican Americans.

Muñoz decided - like thousands of other young people n the US - that if drafted, he would refuse to go fight in Vietnam. When he received his draft notice in the mail, Muñoz, who had been UCLA's first Chicano Student Body President, started organizing in the Chicano community.

Muñoz showed up at the draft board with around 100 supporters and made the statement reproduced below. The draft board postponed his induction for a few months, and Muñoz continued to fight at every point in the induction process. He refused to cooperate with the board, insisting on speaking in Spanish instead of English and eventually undertaking a hunger strike:

"Today, the sixteenth of September, the day of independence for all Mexican peoples, I declare my independence of the Selective Service System.

"I accuse the government of the United States of America of genocide against the Mexican people. Specifically, I accuse the draft, the entire social, political, and economic system of the United States of America of creating a funnel that shoots Mexican youth into Viet Nam to be killed and to kill innocent men, women and children.

"I accuse the education system of the United States of breaking down the family structure of the Mexican people. Robbing us of our language and culture it has torn the youth away from our fathers, mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers. Thus it is that I accuse the educational system of uneducating Chicano youth. Generally, we are ineligible for higher education, and thus are ineligible for the draft deferments which other college age youth take for granted, which is genocide.

"I accuse the American welfare system of taking the self-respect from our Mexican families, forcing our youth to see the army as a better alternative to living in our community with their own families, which is genocide.

"I accuse the law enforcement agencies of the United States of instilling greater fear and insecurity in the Mexican youth than the Viet Cong ever could, which is genocide.

"I accuse the United States Congress and the Selective Service System which they have created of recognizing these weaknesses they have imposed on the Chicano community, and of drafting their law so that many more Chicanos are sent to Viet Nam in proportion to the total population than they send any of their own white youth.

"I accuse the entire American social and economic system of taking advantage of the machismo of the Mexican American male, widowing and orphaning the mothers, wives, and children of the Mexican American community, sending the Mexican men on to the front lines where their machismo has given them more congressional medals, purple hearts, and many times more deaths and casualties than any of the other racial or ethnic groups in the nation, which is genocide.

I accuse the legislature of the United States of gerrymandering the Mexican people out of their proper representation in the political system.

"I have my induction papers, but I will not respect them until the government and people of the United States begin to use the machismo of the Mexican male and the passion and suffering of the Mexican female to the benefit of themselves and of their own heritage, deferring all Chicano youth who serve our people, and providing the money and support that would make such work meaningful in social, political, and economic terms.

"I will not respect the papers until the United States government and people can provide the funds and the willingness to improve the educational system so that all Mexican youth, the intelligent, the mediocre and the tapados, just like the white youth, the intelligent, the mediocre and the tapados, have the opportunity to go to college and get deferments.

"I will not respect the papers until the welfare and other community agencies of the United States foster and allow for self-respect so that our youth can stay home and be men amongst our families and friends.

"I will not respect the papers until the systematic harassment of the law enforcement agencies has ended, and these agencies begin truly to protect and serve the Mexican American community as well.
Photo: Rosalio Muñoz, left, with supporters. The Vietnam war ended in 1975. [In 1973, the draft ended and the U.S. converted to an All-Volunteer military. The registration requirement was suspended in April 1975. It was resumed again in 1980.]

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Today in labor history: Chicano draft resistance

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On September 16, 1940, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Selective Service & Training Act, requiring men ages 21 to 35 to register for the draft. On September 16, 1969, on Mexican Independence Day, Rosalio Muñoz refused induction into the army; his action initiated draft resistance and an antiwar movement among Mexican Americans.

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A new political party named "La Raza Unida" is formed by José Angel Gutierrez in Crystal City, Texas. The party was created by Mexican Americans and their concern for lack of representation in local and county politics and the low voter registration. They focused on social and political movements as well such as labor rights, education reform, and sexism, setting a precedent for future community activism. Although it no longer exists today, its members are still actively involved with politics and organizing change.

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1970 -- Cisneros v Corpus School District 

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1970 -- Cisneros v Corpus School District 

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Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School district is a lawsuit that recognized Mexican Americans as a minority group that was illegally discriminated against. De Anda, attorney lawyer, argued that they were indeed discriminated against and they had won. In 1975, the case finally produced a new school system for Mexican-Americans and Black Children in Corpus Christi. This remains important to this day because it allows thousands of Mexican Americans to get their education and to achieve their dreams far beyond what they could've had without proper education.

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V. Carl Allsup General Entry

The Mexican-American struggle for access to the Texas public school system pursued a different strategy than that used by African Americans. As legal doctrine evolved after the Civil War, racial categories included only two groups, Caucasian and Negro. Segregation of Blacks occurred by overt, legal definition-it was the law of the land-whereas segregation of persons of Mexican origin was done by covert shifts within the law, as they were classified as White. In Texas, school officials separated Mexican-origin children by "pedagogical analysis" or language deficiency. This practice was developed in 1930 to reinstate the system temporarily suspended by Del Rio ISD v. Salvatierra, a suit against separation by national origin. In the post-World War II era, Mexican-American organizations and strategists re-established the "other White" concept; they also stressed the absence-of-law tactic, whereby segregation was unconstitutional where no law existed permitting such action. Several successful suits between 1948 and 1957 established Mexican Americans as "a class apart"; in succeeding years only one court finding failed to support that designation, but others did not always find discrimination. State officials began using the "other White" and absence-of-law arguments to justify grouping Black and Hispanic children to fulfill integration laws and to deny the existence of discrimination.

Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District (1970) was the first case to extend the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision (1954) to Mexican Americans. It recognized them as a minority group that could be and was frequently discriminated against. Such segregation and discrimination was ruled unconstitutional. The decision replaced the "other White" argument based on Hernández v. State of Texas, which had provided constitutional rights based on class discrimination where Mexican Americans had not been identified as a separate race. In 1968 José Cisneros and twenty-five other Mexican-American parents filed suit against the Corpus Christi Independent School District, charging operation of a dual school system at all levels on a de facto basis. The attorney for Cisneros was James de Anda, an experienced Mexican-American civil-rights lawyer who participated in the 1954 Hernández case before the Supreme Court and won the Hernández v. Driscoll ISD case in 1957. De Anda had begun that experience as an attorney for the American G.I. Forum. He argued that Mexican Americans were an identifiable minority group that had been illegally segregated by state action, whereas the school district maintained that since there was no history of state law requiring segregation, a dual school system could not exist. Judge Woodrow Seals found that the school board consciously fostered a system that perpetuated traditional segregation. This included a system that bused Anglo students to schools out of their neighborhoods, renovated old schools in Black and Mexican-American neighborhoods rather than building new ones, assigned Black and Hispanic teachers to segregated schools, and limited hiring of such teachers at other schools; the school board also lacked a majority-to-minority busing system. Judge Seals cited the "other White" argument as adjacent proof of segregation, but relied primarily on the application of unconstitutional segregation of Mexican Americans as an identifiable minority group based on physical, cultural, religious, and linguistic distinctions. The United States Department of Justice required further proof of historical evidence of segregation, and the school procrastinated on implementation of a plan to satisfy constitutional requirements. However, in 1975 the Cisneros case produced a new school system for Mexican-American and Black children in Corpus Christi.

Carlos M. Alcala and Jorge C. Rangel, "Project Report: De Jure Segregation of Chicanos in Texas Schools," Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 7 (March 1972). Carl Allsup, The American G.I. Forum: Origins and Evolution (University of Texas Center for Mexican American Studies Monograph 6, Austin, 1982). Carl Allsup, "Education Is Our Freedom: The American G.I. Forum and Mexican American School Segregation in Texas, 1948-1957," Aztlán 8 (Spring-Summer-Fall 1977). Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., "Mexican American Organizations and the Changing Politics of School Desegregation in Texas, 1945-1980," Social Science Quarterly 63 (December 1982). Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., "The Struggle Against Separate and Unequal Schools: Middle Class Mexican Americans and the Desegregation Campaign in Texas, 1929-1957," History of Education Quarterly 23 (Fall 1983).

Categories:

Education

Court Cases

Law, Law Enforcement, and Outlaws

Politics and Government

Court Cases, Controversies, and Scandals

Peoples

Mexican Americans

Activism and Social Reform

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

V. Carl Allsup, "Cisneros v. Corpus Christi ISD," Handbook of Texas Online, accessed February 03, 2021, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/cisneros-v-corpus-christi-isd.

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V. Carl Allsup General Entry The Mexican-American struggle for access to the Texas public school system pursued a different strategy than that used by African Americans. As legal doctrine evolved after the Civil War, racial categories included only two groups, Caucasian and Negro.

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1970 -- The killing of Journalist Ruben Salazar

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1970 -- The killing of Journalist Ruben Salazar

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Ruben Salazar was one of the only Mexican journalists in 1970. He was considered a bridge between Californian Mexicans and White people. Salazar was reporting at the scene of a march by Mexicans in Los Angeles who protested Mexican casualties in the Vietnam War. The protest began peacefully, and became violent, with police releasing tear gas. The Deputy Sheriff threw a tear gas canister at Salazar, causing his death. The death was deemed an accident and the sheriff wasn't punished. Because Salazar was the most prominent Latinx journalist at that time, this spiked anger among Latinx people because this figure who they greatly respected was killed, and who was giving them representation in the media, was killed. It highlighted how easy it is for people of color to receive injustice.

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It was a smoggy day Aug. 29, 1970, when journalist Ruben Salazar, 42, went to cover a gathering in East Los Angeles. Billed as the National Chicano Moratorium Against the Vietnam War, the event was held to protest Mexican American casualties in the Vietnam War. An estimated 30,000 people marched that day, in a largely peaceful gathering. But once law enforcement moved in, in response to reports of vandalism, the rally devolved into chaos and violence.

By the end of the day, three people were dead, including Salazar, the most prominent Latino journalist of his day. He died after being struck by a tear gas canister fired by a L.A. County sheriff's deputy.

Fifty years after Salazar's death, Latino scholars, journalists and activists still honor his legacy. His killing sparked outrage, activism and sorrow, while his memory inspires pride. Not only was Salazar's death a seminal moment in Mexican American history, but also the issues that mattered to him remain relevant today.

"Salazar was an ordinary man who believed that it was his job to tell the truth. He believed in the First Amendment, and I hope for young people there is something about his decency and integrity that they can take away," Phillip Rodriguez, producer and director of the 2014 documentary "Ruben Salazar: Man In The Middle," said.

Salazar was born in Mexico in 1928 and grew up in El Paso. He arrived at the Los Angeles Times in 1959, where he was one of only a few Latino reporters. In the late 1960s, as the Mexican American civil rights movement was developing, Salazar became news director at a Spanish-language television station, while continuing as the first Latino columnist for the L.A. Times. He was also the newspaper's first international correspondent and foreign bureau chief. Salazar interviewed President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Robert F. Kennedy, among others.

Salazar often served as a bridge between the Mexican American and the white communities in Los Angeles. "Who is a Chicano?" he wrote in 1970, presaging many later debates over Latino identity. "A Chicano is a Mexican-American with a non-Anglo image of himself."
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The circumstances surrounding Salazar's killing have long been controversial. Before his death, he told friends that he was worried about being targeted by law enforcement. But the subsequent coroner's inquest (a quasi-judicial proceeding) did not result in criminal charges against the sheriff's deputy who killed him.

"The inquest was like a Band-Aid, it was a joke," Stephanie Salazar Cook, his daughter, told NBC News in 2014. "Unfortunately, in that era of history, that kind of stuff happened and people got away with things." A review of Salazar's case in 2011 by the L.A. County Office of Independent Review found no evidence that Salazar had been targeted or intentionally killed.

The filmmaker Rodriguez believes that Salazar was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "The deputy who killed him may have acted lazily, or sloppily, with negligence or indifference to brown lives. But I don't think there is reason to see a conspiracy."

Some people feel that there has yet to be a definitive accounting of Salazar's death. "There should've been an independent review, with forensic experts, and more people from the community, which could have produced more conclusive findings," Félix Gutiérrez, professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Southern California, said.

"Imagine if a prominent Black journalist in the South covering civil rights had been killed by a sheriff's deputy," Gutiérrez said. "There would have been an aggressive federal inquiry."

Salazar was ahead of his time, Gutiérrez said, in his coverage of race relations, immigration and police misconduct.

He was also a singular figure, Gutiérrez added, because he cared about marginalized people. "Yet, today he is known more for the way he died than how he lived."

This summer, as the Black Lives Matter movement swept the nation, several journalists reported being harassed or harmed by law enforcement officials as they attempted to cover the protests. In Minneapolis, CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and his crew were arrested on live television as they covered a May protest over the death of George Floyd. In Long Beach, California, reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez was hit in the throat by a rubber-coated bullet allegedly fired by police.

"It is pretty easy for the police to see you as a person of color first, and a journalist second," said Samanta Helou Hernandez, a multimedia journalist and photographer based in Los Angeles. She was detained by law enforcement as she was covering a protest in June. "It was pretty scary. The first thing police do is turn you around and put the zip tie on your wrists." Hernandez was released after a colleague on the scene vouched for her. She said the incident served as a reminder to her "that freedom of the press is very much under threat."

Hernandez' experience did not change the way she views the police. "It doesn't make me biased against law enforcement; if anything, it gives me a deeper understanding of what is at stake." As a freelancer without press credentials, she explained, it is difficult to convince law enforcement that she is a journalist.

The lack of diversity in newsrooms continues to be an issue for Latinos, as well. A 2018 study by the Pew Research Center found that newsroom employees are 77 percent white, and 61 percent male.

The lack of Latinos in newsrooms is "disheartening," Hugo Balta, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, said. "Ruben Salazar is an example of the decadeslong fight for equality in newsrooms, and for equality in coverage of Hispanics/Latinos and other people of color." News organizations that do not support diversity, he offered, are incapable of producing content that is fair, relevant and accurate.

In July, a coalition of Latino journalists at the L.A. Times penned an open letter to their management, seeking better representation and improved community coverage. "Today The Times continues to fail, in its staffing and coverage, to reflect a region where nearly one of every two residents is Latino," the letter states.

Amid such contemporary controversies, Salazar's work from decades ago remains impactful and thought-provoking.

For Virginia Espino, a lecturer at the University of California Los Angeles, Salazar's reporting provides a window into a moment in history. "That students can read his writing and interpret it for themselves, it brings it to life for them."

Part of Salazar's legacy, Espino said, is his connection to the broader struggle for civil rights. "In his writing, Salazar was speaking truth to power, and it was an act of defiance that was unusual for the times." He amplified the Mexican American civil rights movement, she added, by providing it with a mainstream platform.

When she teaches about Salazar, Espino said that she feels inspired.

"My students are young and full of ideas as they come of age," she said. "In a sense, they are the grandchildren of Ruben Salazar - and I think that he would be very proud of their generation."
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'Ahead of his time': Latino journalist Ruben Salazar, killed 50 yrs ago, tackled racism, identity

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It was a smoggy day Aug. 29, 1970, when journalist Ruben Salazar, 42, went to cover a gathering in East Los Angeles. Billed as the National Chicano Moratorium Against the Vietnam War, the event was held to protest Mexican American casualties in the Vietnam War.

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Hispanic children in public schools were not being treated well so a freedom schools was opened called  Escuela de la Raza Unida. In one of the public schools, a principal allegedly put his hands on a student for showing an provocative film. The Hispanic community also wanted their history to be told.

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In 1973, Dade County in Miami, Florida unanimously voted to make Spanish the city’s second official language, which was a referendum sponsored by the growing Cuban community in that area.
Later that same year, Maurice Ferré became mayor of Miami. He was the first Puerto Rican to lead a major city in the US. He also spoke both Spanish and English.

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1973 - Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Co.

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1973 - Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Co.

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Espinoza an admitted resident of the US, and married to a US national brought suit against the Farah Manufacturing company after she was not hired because of her Mexican Citizenship. This violated the Civil Rights Act. The court ruled in favor of the Manufacturing Company and said that an employers decision to not hire someone because they are not citizen does not violate Civil Rights Acts.

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In 1978, Emmy Schafer, a Russian-born immigrant, successfully led the campaign to end bilingualism in Miami, with English becoming the sole primary language. She argued that it would lead to more unity and show national pride, as everyone could speak the same language. The passing of the law revealed a strong anti-Hispanic sentiment among whites, as the people negatively affected by this law were Spanish speaking immigrants from Latin America.

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Additional Info: Emmy Shafer was a Russian-born immigrant that led the campaign to end bilingualism in Miami. Her goal was to make English the only official language of the county. Her main argument for reversing the referendum was because she wanted to unify Miami. According to Shafer, "It sends the message that we want people to speak English. It will bring us closer. How can we have communication at home, on the street, in grocery stores, if we don't speak the same language?" (Latino Americans Timeline)

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Additional Info: Emmy Shafer was a Russian-born immigrant that led the campaign to end bilingualism in Miami. Her goal was to make English the only official language of the county. Her main argument for reversing the referendum was because she wanted to unify Miami.

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The Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1974, was a law that made bilingual education more accessible in public schools. This law not only required schools to provide for bilingual children, but it also prohibited discrimination in schools of any kind in regards to gender, race, or nationality. This act was so important because it allowed for Spanish speaking Americans to become more integrated into society, rather than being outsiders.

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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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In 1975, Congress extended the Voting Rights Act from 1965 and made amendments to protect the language minorities in the United States from voting discrimination. The law requires that jurisdictions with majority or a significant number of voters with limited to no English proficiency to provide voting materials and assistance in the voter's spoken languages in addition to English. This amendment provides minorities who lacks English proficiency to vote and have a voice in the elections.

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1980 -- Cuban premier Fidel Castro permits Cubans to immigrate to Florida from the port of Mariel.   125,000 Cubans flee the country as a result in what is known as the Mariel Boatlift.   The newly arrived Cubans are branded as mentally ill or criminals by the media.   Only 4% were from mental hospitals, but more than 25,000 had criminal records.

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1980 -- Cuban premier Fidel Castro permits Cubans to immigrate to Florida from the port of Mariel.   125,000 Cubans flee the country as a result in what is known as the Mariel Boatlift.   The newly arrived Cubans are branded as mentally ill or criminals by the media.   Only 4% were from mental hospitals, but more than 25,000 had criminal records.

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The event that caused the Mariel Boatlift to happen was when five people drove into the Peruvian embassy and were granted political asylum. During the chaos, a Cuban guard was killed in crossfire, so the government needed the five back for a trial. The embassy refused so that caused Castro to take all the Cuban guards off of the embassy. This then caused floods of Cubans requesting asylum from the embassy. Two weeks later Castro said the Mariel ports were open to everyone as long as they has a ride. 125,000 Cubans in all arrived in the US which was very overwhelming for the government. This started to negatively impact Jimmy Carter when they found out that some of the exiles were released from Cuban jails and mental hospitals and then came to the US. A lot of them were placed in refugee camps or federal prisons awaiting deportation. Out of the 125,000 exiles, more than 1,700 were jailed. The exodus ended in October 1980 through an agreement with the US and Cuba.

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On April 20, 1980, the Castro regime announces that all Cubans wishing to emigrate to the U.S. are free to board boats at the port of Mariel west of Havana, launching the Mariel Boatlift. The first of 125,000 Cuban refugees from Mariel reached Florida the next day.

The boatlift was precipitated by housing and job shortages caused by the ailing Cuban economy, leading to simmering internal tensions on the island. On April 1, Hector Sanyustiz and four others drove a bus through a fence at the Peruvian embassy and were granted political asylum. Cuban guards on the street opened fire. One guard was killed in the crossfire.
READ MORE: The Mariel Boatlift: How Cold War Politics Drove Thousands of Cubans to Florida in 1980
The Cuban government demanded the five be returned for trial in the dead guard's death. But when the Peruvian government refused, Castro withdrew his guards from the embassy on Good Friday, April 4. By Easter Sunday, April 6, some 10,000 Cubans crowded into the lushly landscaped gardens at the embassy requesting asylum. Other embassies, including those of Spain and Costa Rica, agreed to take a small number of people. But suddenly, two weeks later, Castro proclaimed that the port of Mariel would be opened to anyone wishing to leave, as long as they had someone to pick them up. Cuban exiles in the United States rushed to hire boats in Miami and Key West and rescue their relatives.

In all, 125,000 Cubans fled to U.S. shores in about 1,700 boats, creating large waves of people that overwhelmed the U.S. Coast guard. Cuban guards had packed boat after boat, without considering safety, making some of the overcrowded boats barely seaworthy. Twenty-seven migrants died, including 14 on an overloaded boat that capsized on May 17.

The boatlift also began to have negative political implications for U.S. President Jimmy Carter. When it was discovered that a number of the exiles had been released from Cuban jails and mental health facilities, many were placed in refugee camps while others were held in federal prisons to undergo deportation hearings. Of the 125,000 "Marielitos," as the refugees came to be known, who landed in Florida, more than 1,700 were jailed and another 587 were detained until they could find sponsors.

The exodus was finally ended by mutual agreement between the U.S. and Cuban governments in October 1980.
READ MORE: The Secret Cold War Program That Airlifted Cuban Kids to the U.S.-Without Their Parents

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Fidel Castro announces Mariel Boatlift, allowing Cubans to emigrate to U.S.

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On April 20, 1980, the Castro regime announces that all Cubans wishing to emigrate to the U.S. are free to board boats at the port of Mariel west of Havana, launching the Mariel Boatlift. The first of 125,000 Cuban refugees from Mariel reached Florida the next day.