CHI 10
Mendez vs. Westminister
9 year old Sylvia Mendez was turned away from a California public school for "whites only" The rejection fueled her fathers determined journey through school, civic, and legal channels. Gonzalo Mendez, represented by a civil rights. Different kind of trail presented social science evidence. (Google this because it wasn't on lecture notes)
Felix Longoria
Who: Mexican American Soldier; served in the U.S. army during WW2. What: a local funeral home refused to bury his body since he was a Mexican American; he was to be buried at a certain portion of the cemetery separated by a fence at the time that was reserved by the Three Levels Community for Americans. The Felix Longoria affair became an early example of a unifying event in the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. Where: Died in the philippines in 1945; buried at Arlington National Cemetery. When: June 1945 (died), body returned to family (1947) Why: With the support from Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, arrangements were made for Felix's remains to be buried in the Arlington National Cemetery, in a military ceremony with full military honors.
International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers, local 890
Who: Mexican American workers What: Union organized to strike against the unequal pay and segregation against Mexican American workers. 1,400 members and 90 percent Mexican, most worked for a mining company - Empire Zink. White workers outside while the Mexicans were inside because it was more dangerous; had separate restrooms, dual wage system where whites were paid more, workers were demoralized, had bad pay, conditions, unhappy; so they went on strike with support of Local 890 - white folks; E.Z. called new Mexico government and workers were told to stop the strikes; so their wives began to strike - 15 kids and 45 women were jailed. When: Strike began Oct. 1950 Where: U.S. Why: The strike (of women) caused national attention to women and children who were jailed; film about it was created and the issue got publicized.
Lowrider
Who: Pachucos/cholos What: people would display their custom cars, began when Mexicans wanted to buy into the American dream; they would buy used cars and fix them up (add own touches; murals, lowered, hydraulics) When: Lowriders culture flourished in the 1970s Where: Southern C.A Why: Lowriders expressed their refusal of young Chicano Americans to be Anglicized; the cars/were used as an ethnic statement and continues to this day
"American Jobs for Real Americans"
Who: President Hoover coined this term "saying"; that Mexicans are not real Americans What: Hoover chose to blame Mexicans for the Great Depression, stated that Mexicans took jobs away from Americans, and should be removed from the U.S. When: (U.S.) When the Great Depression Hit (1929) Why: In 1920 Hoover welcomed Mexicans but once they got hit, Mexicans were blamed for the cause of the Great Depression. Coined this term and believed Mexicans should be forcefully removed from the U.S. and this led to repatriation (deportation)
Pocho
Who: Slang term for Mexicans, raised in the U.S.; white-washed; spanish is not spoken well; derogatory term. Born in the U.S. but have mexican parents Outsider What: Were seen as outsiders and were not accepted anywhere; Mexican immigrants did not trust Mexican Americans; Mexican Americans saw immigrants as vulgar, dirty, and know that anglos could not tell the difference between immigrants and Mexican Americans Where: America; began when workers from Texas moved to Wyoming to work in sugar fields (1949) Why: Mexican immigrants who adhere to their culture felt that Mexican Americans have let go of their culture, language, and traditions. (the term is maybe used still today)
Jose Diaz
Who: Spanish politician What: murdered at a party sleepy lagoon (Died August 1st 1942) Why: Targeted by LAPD, LAPD targeted those who had a zoot suit and targeted barrios- rounded 300 people who may have murdered him. 22 pachucos were charged for the murder- they belonged to the 38th street gang (never existed). Case was widely publicized. In the end 12/22 were convicted and sent to one of the toughest prisons in California; three women also convicted and sent to Ventura Reform School (one of them being Lorena Encinas whose brother was the murderer). This case made it possible to targeted individuals based on external appearance and by race.
Community Service Organization
Who: The Community Service Organization was founded in 1947, which was an important California Latino Civil Rights Organization, most famous for training Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. It was founded in 1947 by Fred Ross, Antonio Rios, and Edward Roybal and was a source of political support for Roybal during his long political career. What: More than five decades ago, in colonias and barrios across California, Mexican-American men and women made history. They were workers and housewives, recent immigrants and returning soldiers. They toiled in the fields and on the railroads, in construction and in service jobs. For many years, they experienced racism and discrimination, and they believed they had no power to change the status quo. But through their efforts, they discovered otherwise. That main experiment was the Community Service Organization, an organizing effort trying to empower a generation of Mexican-Americans and change the course of history for their children. Through voter registration drives, citizenship classes, lawsuits and legislative campaigns, CSO tried to enable poor immigrants to make demands on the political system and to move into the mainstream of American society. Why: The CSO project was formed to capture the stories of the pioneers whose work in the 1950s marked the beginning of the Chicano civil rights movement. The alumni of CSO include famous figures, such as former U.S. Rep. Edward Roybal, the first Mexican-American elected to political office in Los Angeles, and Cesar Chavez, who learned to organize in CSO and went on to apply those lessons to building a union for farm workers. But the real story of CSO is about thousands of men and women who learned to hold house meetings, conduct voter registration drives, protest police brutality, and bring evening citizenship classes to neighborhood schools.
Roberto Alvarez vs. Lemon Grove
Who: The history of school desegregation legislation in the United States is not often associated with the Mexican Community in Southern California and is usually thought to have begun with the 1954 landmark Supreme Court case of Brown vs. the Topeka school board. It has recently come to light that the earliest court cases concerning school desegregation occurred in the Southwest in California in the 1930s. In these cases Mexican immigrants and their communities were the targeted groups of segregation by school officials. A case of particular importance, which has begun to take its place in the social history of civil rights, occurred in San Diego County during the 1930s, in the then rural community of Lemon Grove. What: This case: Roberto Alvarez vs. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District,was the first successful school desegregation court decision in the history of the United States. This case initiated when Roberto Alvarez sued the Lemon Grove school district on behalf of his son, because Mexican students like his own, were being segregated from the White students. The school district considered it a noble action to build their own school and thus moved them into a horse stable. Their justification to putting these students into a different school, was because Mexican students struggled in speaking English. As a result, it was a complete offense for these Mexican students and their parents and therefore, started to build their own committees to fight this unequal justice. Why: It is important in San Diego and U.S. history, not solely because it occurred but because the community took court action and won the case they established the rights of their children to equal education, despite local, regional and national sentiment that favored not only segregation, but the actual deportation of the Mexican population in the United States. The case is a testimony of the San Diego Mexican community's rights and their actions towards equality in education not only for their own children, but for the Mexican population in California and the United States.
Braceros Program
Who: U.S. and Mexican Government What: Contract Labor Agreement between the U.S. and Mexico to fill the labor gap in agriculture. 4.4 million workers came to the U.S.; many of them came undocumented; worked in 26 states (past in order to alternate three major problems): 1). eliminate undocumented immigration 2.) to bring order to farm labor market 3). to protect foreign nationals from work abuse; none of these goals were reached. Mexicans were attracted to this program based on money and a better life; they were mistreated and forced to use certain tools that could cause injuries to their backs and they were also exposed to pesticides. Where: Throughout U.S. especially in California, Arizona, Texas; started in Stockton. When: 1942- 1964 Why: agricultural need; attempt to deport illegal immigration; the workers had to give 10 percent of their earning to the Mexican Government - money that was supposed to be returned to them once they retire, they did not receive the money back. The program created chaos for employers, workers, labor unions. Braceros were blamed for worker abuse, lower wages, and it was taken out on them instead of the institution.
Philip Vera Cruz
Who: helped found the the United Farm Workers union. Born in the Philippines, Philip Vera Cruz came to the United States in 1926 and for the next 30 years worked for cheap labor on farms and in canneries and restaurants in Minnesota and Washington State. For a year, he attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. What: In the 1950's, he moved to California and helped bring together a small group of Filipino farm workers. That led to the formation in the 1960's of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, composed mainly of Filipinos, which engaged in a series of strikes in the California towns of Coachella and Delano. Merger Under Chavez Why: On September 8, 1965-1970, Philip and others led the Delano Grape Strike. That was the origin of the grape strike with a demand of 10 cents/hour increase in pay. The strike captured the spirit and imagination of people everywhere. The campaign to boycott nonunion grapes attracted national and international support. With the success of these strikes, the Filipino faction in September 16, 1965 joined with agricultural workers of other ethnic groups, largely Mexican, to form the United Farm Workers (UFW), under the direction of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. The union soon began a decade of strikes and other labor actions in its efforts to gain recognition and better salaries and working conditions. In 1975, Philip was the UFW officer in charge of Agbayani Village, a retirement home for farm workers who worked all their lives with no savings. The homes were built by volunteers from around the world.
Push/Pull Model
Who: migrating Mexicans; people in Mexico that don't have money to feed their families, have a poor education system, hear that the U.S. has all these opportunities like jobs and a better education system, through word of mouth and mass media. What: The push factors involves a force which acts to drive people away from a place, while the pull factors draws them into this new area. The push factors consisted of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917), which drove people out of Mexico, due to their low status and low income; Mexicans sought stability in employment, better life for their families. The pull factors consisted of the U.S. needing Mexican workers for cheap, labor intensive work. As a result these Mexicans became the answer to these labor demands. Where: U.S. and Mexico When: Began in 1869 because that is when the U.S. Transcontinental railroad became popular; also early 1920's b/c influx due to war (violence(Mex. Rev.) Why: led to an influx of Mexican immigrants, faster pace of migration being pushed/pulled; brought up the issue of weather Mexicans would have to stay/leave. Led to migration restrictions; gave Americans the idea that immigrants were "birds of passage,"- would perform their labor and then leave; many Mexicans were abused; mexicans believed to be biologically and culturally inferior, blamed for taking jobs from Americans, there was hostility towards them.
The Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee
Who: the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee (SLDC) was organized by the community, following the trial of the murder in Sleepy Lagoon. What: The murder in the Sleepy Lagoon, initiated when pachucos/as along with other community members, frequented Sleepy Lagoon. On the evening of August 1, 1942 a fight broke out in a party located in Sleepy Lagoon, and as a result, a dead body of José Díaz was found the next morning (a pachuco). Needless to say, when the police became involved in this murder scene, they blamed all of the pachucos/as and thus gathered these people to find out who the killer was. It is important to note that this event became an excuse to target this specific group of people and thus was a perfect opportunity. Anyone who was dressed as a pachuco/a were arrested, and thus 22 young men were charged for murder. Furthermore, the press started to associate the term gang for pachucos/as (highly publicized trial that dealt with Mexican Americans). As a result, these young men were identified as the 38th street gang members who were denied their own civil rights. Why: As an outcome, the SLDC was formed in order to raise community awareness and fund a legal appeal for the young men of the 38th Street Gang who were serving sentences. The committee quickly drew people from the community through the use of mass media, education, political arena, and labor unions. Most of these members, were the parents of these 22 young men, who attended the meeting everyday and had fundraisers to pay for their attorneys. It was no surprise that famous people started to join afterwards and call this a racist trial against Mexicans. Alice McGrath (jewish; empathic towards Mexicans because her own people were targeted)joined the SLDC after the members of the 38th Street Gang were imprisoned. She became the executive secretary of the organization. Every 6 weeks she paid visits to the sentenced members, reviewed the progress of the committee, distributed the SLDc news bulletins and raised morale. By 1944 the SLDC had raised enough money and the case was moved to the Second District Court of Appeals. As a result, the judge overturned the verdicts of the case and the members were released and their sentences overturned.
Porfirio Diaz
Who: was a Mexican general, President, politician, and dictator. He ruled Mexico with an iron fist for 35 years, from 1876 to 1911. His period of rule, referred to as the Porfiriato, was marked by great progress and modernization and the Mexican economy boomed. The benefits were felt by very few, however, as millions of peons labored in virtual slavery. He lost power in 1910-1911 after rigging an election against Francisco I. What: Porfirio Díaz was born a mestizo, or of mixed Indian-European heritage, in the state of Oaxaca in 1830. He was born into extreme poverty and never even reached complete literacy. Díaz created an economic boom by allowing foreign investment to develop Mexico's vast resources. By 1910 the economy had declined and national revenues were shrinking, which necessitated borrowing. Money flowed in from the United States and Europe, and soon mines, plantations, railroads, and factories were built, along with production. Why: With wages decreasing, strikes were frequent among the poor. (the rich grew richer and the poor grew poorer) Agricultural workers were faced with extreme poverty and debt peonage. Because of Diaz's internal racism, he did very little for the lower classes: he did not improve education, and health was only improved as a side effect of improved infrastructure primarily meant for business. Dissent was not tolerated and many of Mexico's leading thinkers were forced into exile. Wealthy friends of Díaz were given powerful positions in government and allowed to steal land from Indian villages without any fear of punishment. The poor despised Díaz with a passion, which exploded into the Mexican Revolution.
