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Hispanics
in Americas Defense
First in defense of the U.S.
Medal
of Honor: Hispanics
earned more Medals of distinction than any other group comprable to their
size at home
Bataan
Hero
Street
Stands alone in U.S. Military
History
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http://www.neta.com/~1stbooks/lawPreCR.htm
The following is only a sampling, and reflect the
continual abuses American Hispanics have faced from 1848 in California
and the southwest. Many of you in other parts of the U.S. may not
be aware that American Hispanics were segregated from "Anglos" in the southwest
and California in all aspects of living; that American Hispanic GIs returning
from WWI, Europe, the Philippines, and Vietnam encountered systematic
discrimination in housing, jobs, medical care by Veterans Hospitals, and
politics. The many anti-Hispanic official laws start with the
U.S. municipal, County, State including Federal levels.
Ordinary people follow the lead of offical discrimination against
Hispanics, and it became an accepted practice.
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"English Only", is in direct opposition to to the Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo which protects and guarantees the Spanish language,
and the New Mexico
Constitution mandates all teachers be proficient in Spanish.
"English only" also has been part of the continued effort to abolish
the Civil Rights provisions that are guaranteed in the Bilingual
Voting Requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Act (2OU S.C.
3281 et seq.)
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Despite their official status as whites, whether they were
white, or mestizo, most Mexicans and Americans Hispanics throughout the
Southwest and California lived:
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in segregated neighborhoods or barrios,
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their children attended segregated schools,
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Hispanics were prohibited from using public facilities, such
as swimming pools, or sitting in the white section at movie theaters, eating
in white-only restaurants, or staying in white-only hotels.
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Hispanics were segregated in movie houses, pharmacies, shops,
and banks
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At Anglo cafes, Hispanics could not stay in the premises,
but were
required to take out their purchases.
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1925 Federal Government report put out by the Department
of Labor warned that ninety
percent of Hispanics were of Indian blood and therefore
inferior to whites. One
Congressman described Mexicans as a "blend of low-grade
Spaniard, peonized Indian, and negro slave" and stated that U.S. law must
guard against "mongrelization" of the country. These racist opinions
led to the mass deportation campaigns of the 1930s, during which approximately
50,000 Hispanics were deported from Los Angeles alone.
the United States acquired a dominant relationship over
the Spanish-nSpanish
speaking people of the conquest M of California and the southwestern states,
For the past 150 years, everywhere these Spanish-speaking peoples ended
u p in a subordinate economic position as American "Anglos" sucked them
into a racialized labor market, including
1) Railroad construction in the Southwest
(1910s)
2) Urban factory labor in the 1920s and 1930s,
and now. Particularly in garment industry, but alsoin
canneries and food processing.
3) Farm work (1940s to Present Time
4) Domestic and restaurant labor in urban
areas (last 25 years)
http://www.csuchico.edu/~twaters/syllabi/257week6.html
.
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1930s: California, attempts at labor organization
in the Imperial Valley were meet with violence; then, and on many
other occasions American Hispanics suffered arbitrary arrests. Police
used vagrancy, disturbing the peace, and loitering. Employers
and other supporters in the Anglo community gave orders to the police,
and vigilante work of their own, some of it through American Legion posts.
(This is difficult, but it has to be said, lest history continues to repeat
itself).
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1940 to 1960: Anti-American Hispanic press coverage
of conflict between "zoot-suiters", the servicemen and police.
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1900s: Raids and mass deportations of undocumented residents,
and American Hispanics.
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1903 Clifton-Morenci, Arizona: The Clifton-Morenci
Strike, one of the earliest copper mine strikes in the Southwest, was brought
about by Hispanic American miners protesting prejudice in the mines. A
dual-wage system where American of Hispanic heritage miners were
paid much lower wages than Anglos for the same work, and unfair labor practices
aimed only at Hispanics. This occurred until well into the 1970s.
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1904 Clifton-Morenci, Arizona: Forty Anglo orphaned
and abandoned children were brought from New York by Catholic nuns to Clifton-Morenci
to be adopted by American Hispanic families. Upon their arrival,
Anglos bitterly resented the placement of these children into the homes
of the Americans of Hispanic heritage. Vigilantes broke into the homes
in the dark of night and kidnapped and forcibly removed the children, causing
further racial conflicts between the Americans of hispanic Heritage and
the Anglos. No protection was offered the Americans of Hispanic heritage
by officals.
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1942-1943, 17
Chicano youths were convicted of charges
ranging from assault to
first-degree murder for the death
of a Mexican American boy discovered on
the outskirts of the city. Throughout
the trial, the judge openly displayed
bias against Chicanos, and allowed
the prosecution to bring in racial
factors. Further, the defendants were
not permitted haircuts or changes of
clothing. In 1944, the Sleepy Lagoon
Defense Committee obtained a reversal
of the convictions from the California
District Court of Appeals, but the
damage had been done. Los Angeles
newspapers sensationalized the case and
helped create an anti-Mexican atmosphere.
Police harassed Chicano youth
clubs, and repeatedly rounded up Chicano
youth "under suspicion."
in the aftermath of the convictions and the press campaign,
conflict broke
out between U.S. servicemen in the
area and young Mexican Americans who
often dressed in the zoot suits popular
during the wartime era. Soldiers and
sailors declared open season on Chicanos,
attacking them on the streets and
even dragging them out of theaters
and public vehicles. Instead of
intervening to stop the attackers,
military and local police moved in
afterward and arrested the Chicano
victims. Spurred on by sensational,
anti-Mexican press coverage of the
"zoot-suit riots," these assaults spread
throughout Southern California and
even into midwestern cities. A citizens'
investigating committee appointed
by the governor later reported that racial
prejudice, discriminatory police practices,
and inflammatory press coverage
were among the principal causes of
the riots. The Sleepy Lagoon case and the
zoot-suit affair provided the basis
for Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit, which in
1979 became the first Chicano play
to appear on Broadway.
http://www.hispanics.com/mexicanamericans/ca/wwii.asp
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1940 to 1960: Anti-American Hispanic press coverage
of conflict between "zoot-suiters", the servicemen and police.
Anti Hispanic coverage continues today.
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1900s: Raids and mass deportations of undocumented residents,
and American Hispanics.
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1908: Validity of Spanish Land Grants were questioned in
U.S. Courts, and then deemed not valid. The lands became part of the new
Carson National Forest. (In direct opposition to the TGH)
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1911 (July) Company H, the National Guard in Yuma, elected
a American of Hispanic Heritage to the rank of lieutenant. The Adjutant
General refused to issue a commission to him.
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Prior to 1912 (and to date): Early U.S. Congressional
reports, attacked New Mexicans and Arizonans because of their lack
of English. As the historian Robert Larsen has written on this subject,
a report which accompanied the Territory’s 1893 petition for statehood
"attacked the contention that statehood should be withheld until every
inhabitant had learned to read and write the English language, because
this was contrary to the understanding which had existed among those who
signed the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo." (note: this proves the continuation
of Spanish in California and the S.W.)
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1911-15 Texas and Arizona Mexican Protective Group, of San
Antonio organized protests of lynching and unjust sentencing, as in the
case of the famous renegade Gregorio Cortez Lira, a scourge to the
Texas Rangers,qv a folk hero to Texas Mexicans.
to a federal commission on numerous cases of physical
punishment, including murder, by
agricultural employers in Central and South Texas.
His organization was succeeded by La Liga
Protectora Mexicana (the Mexican Protective
Leagueqv) founded by attorney Manuel C.
Gonzáles.
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World War I Southwest States, The Arizona-based
Liga Protectora Latina was also active in Texas and throughout the Southwest.
League activists and, especially, veterans of the World War II initiated
organizations focusing on civil rights.
Hispanic Americans soldiers returning from World
War I during the high point of immigration from Mexico were automatically
treated as foreign by many Americans, who regarded Mexican-heritage people
as a temporary labor force to use or as competition.
Evenso, many of the Mexican Americans found
that the war enhanced their own consciousness of their United States
citizenship. Having risked their lives for their nation and for the
Lone Star State, they resolved to exercise their
rights as citizens.
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In 1921 the Orden Hijos de
America (Order of Sons of America)qv pledged to
use "influence in all fields of social, economic, and
political action in order to realize the greatest
enjoyment possible of all the rights and
privileges...extended by the American Constitution."
Kindred groups included the Order of Sons of
Texas, the Order of Knights of America,qv and the
League of Latin American Citizens. These
organizations emphasized the rights and duties of
citizenship; only United States citizens could join.
The members, overwhelmingly middle-class males,
fought segregation and exclusion from juries and
sponsored educational citizenship programs. In 1929
the groups formed the League of United Latin
American Citizens,qv or LULAC.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/MM/vzmvj.html
With the advent of the Great Depressionqv in 1930,
mutualista activity decreased precipitously. Within
a year only a handful of organizations still existed,
mere shadows of their former selves. Mexican
Americans were among the first fired as even menial
jobs became scarce and attractive to Anglos. In
desperation, many coloniaqv residents turned to the
relief rolls. Local public officials tried to restrict
the dole to Anglo-Americans and led the cry for
deportation of the Mexican unemployed.
Repatriation decimated mutualista ranks and
unemployment sapped their treasuries (see
MEXICAN AMERICANS AND REPATRIATION).
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/MM/vzmvj.html
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1930s Harris Bill: Hispanics were considered undesirable;
approximately 800,000 American Hispanics were rounded up, despite
U.S citizenship, and repatriated back to Mexico a country that was not
theirs.
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1944 World War II: Cival Rights attorney-civil leader
Alonso Perales questioned the War
Department as to why 50-75 % of all South Texas casualties
were American
Hispanics, although they constituted only 500,000 of
the state's 6,000,000 population.
American Hispanics garnered the most Medals of
Honor in that war, and American
Hispanic overrepresentation in combat has continued to
this day.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/MM/vzmvj.html
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This neglect of upholding the TGH continues today by officials
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After the war, Hispanic veterans saw discrimination in a
new light and decided they didn't have
to accept it any longer (by the American Forces
Press Service)
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In many places, realtors used special codes to identify people
of Hispanic ancestory to refuse them the right to buy property.
The veterans had been all over the world fighting in defense of this nation;
they saw it didn't have to be that way http://www.neta.com/~1stbooks/press3b.htm
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1930s: Attempts at labor organization in the Imperial
Valley were meet with violence; then, and on many other occasions
American Hispanics suffered arbitrary arrests. Police used
vagrancy, disturbing the peace, and loitering. Employers and other
supporters in the Anglo community gave orders to the police, and did some
vigilante work of their own, some of it through American Legion posts
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New Mexico, Tobias Leyba (the father of sixteen children,
lived all of his life in Canjilon. He is one of the eight men who faced
charges from the courthouse raid).Of the 1715 land grants made by the Spanish
and Mexican governments before the conquest of the Southwest by the United
States, over 80 per cent were lost to their owners in New Mexico alone.
The villagers, who did not understand the English language and laws which
"clearly violated the spirit of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo", soon
were almost landless. In recent years the Federal Government has further
diminished this land base by the establishment of national forests and
parks.
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1949 Texas Dr.
Hector Perez Garcia, his wife and daughters are denied service in a
restraunt in Three Rivers.
(This also occurred across the western states)
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1968: The history of abuse was summed up by the U.S.
Civil Rights Commission as "evidence of wide-spread patterns of police
misconduct against American Hispanics in the Southwest." That report,
and the rest of the civil rights movement, did something to correct the
abuse; but it was far from eliminated.
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Up to the at least the 1940s, Southwest Arizona, Utah, Colorado,
New Mexico and California: Birth certificates for American Hispanics did
not indicate they were American born. A new born of American Hispanic
origin (those who had been here for centuries included), was *born
in Mexico* or *Mexican* instead of American.
Note: American Hispanics are those at
risk to have health problems: 1) labels should be in Spanish, in
accordance with the TGH; 2) Studies show that Hispanics are lest likly
to seek medical care; 3) caretakers are not able to communicate in Spanish
to their patients; this goes back to 1848 and up to the present; not providing
Spanish to Californians and southwesterners is in direct violation of the
TGH.
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1912 Arizona. At the time Arizona was a U.S. territory,
then a state, and up to the present time has continued to infringe on the
rights of the Conquered Native Spanish speaking Americans. Prior to 1948
and past W.W.II. Hispanic veterans from California, and the southwest
were being
denied the
health and educational benefits by the U.S. for which they qualified
under the GI Bill.
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1913 (April) Arizona: American Hispanics protested
Arizona's anti-alien ownership law, which deprived them of their prior
rights to property.
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9th Century up past the civil rights period 1960s through
1980s: Arizona, Quotas were placed on the number of Hispanics
allowed in the teaching profession.
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1914 April 20, Colorado: State militiamen and
company guards began shooting directly at American Hispanic miners
including their children in tents. They set the tents on fire,
and many including children were burned to death.
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1917 (July 12) Bisbee, Arizona: More than
1000 copper miners, most of whom were Americans of Hispanic heritage, walked
out on strike. Vigilantes rounded up the strikers forced them to walk a
long distance, then abandoned them at the border without food or
water. Although charges were brought against the vigilantes because of
their inhumane and illegal actions, no litigation resulted.
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1920 (July) 200 Hispanic laborers employed in Arizona
cotton fields were refused their pay and sent to Nogales. Arizona Governor
Thomas Campbell began an investigation of charges that the laborers had
been abused.
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1920 Arizona: The Ku Klux Klan became active in Globe-Miami,
Phoenix, Tempe, Prescott, and Tucson. The KKK maintained its strong anti-Hispanic
philosophy against the American Hispanics in these towns.
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1921 Texas: The Orden Hijos de América (Order
of the Sons of America) organized in San Antonio, Texas, to combat
unfair wages, education, housing, and civil rights abuses against American
Hispanics.
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1929 -Southern Pacific Railroad, refuses to provide skilled
apprenticeships to American Hispanics. The League of United Latin American
Citizens (LULAC) protests discrimination.
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1930 - 1950: "Operations Wetback": American Hispanics
were deported.
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In 1946, Mendez v. Westminister School District resulted
in banning separate Hispanics schools in California. However, according
to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, in late 1960s, one-quarter of
Hispanics in California attended schools with more than 50 percent
Hispanic enrollment.
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1948 Felix Longoria, a U.S. soldier was killed in battle
in the Philippines: When his body was returned to Texas for burial,
Longoria's hometown would not allow him to be buried in the "Anglo" cemetery.
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1949 - Dr Hector Perez Garcia founded the American GI Forum,
American Hispanic Veterans Veterans returning from the battles of WWII
were refused medical care by the Veterans Hospitals.
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Law -one Hispanic allowed per year in Medical school.
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1900s up to the Civil Rights Movement: California
and the southwest, American Hispanics were denied service in some restraunts;
were segregated from "Anglos" in their places of worship, where they ate,
and lived; swimming pools; segregated in clubs and associations.
The Civil Rights Movement did not eradicate all the discrimination practices
against Hispanics.
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New Mexico, Tobias Leyba ( lived all of his life in Canjilon.
He is one of the eight men who faced charges from the courthouse raid).Of
the 1715 land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments before
the conquest of the Southwest by the United States, over 80 per cent were
lost to their owners in New Mexico alone. The villagers, who did not understand
the English language and laws which "clearly violated the spirit of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo", soon were almost landless. In recent years
the Federal Government has further diminished this land base by the establishment
of national forests and parks.
-
1900s up to the Civil Rights Movement: California
and the southwest, American Hispanics were denied service in some restraunts;
were segregated from "Anglos" in their places of worship, where they ate,
and lived; swimming pools; segregated in clubs and associations.
The Civil Rights Movement did not eradicate all the discrimination practices
against Hispanics.
-
1955 Arizona: Court Case: Baca v. Winslow, United States
District Court No. Civ-394-Pct. A court suit to enjoin discrimination in
furnishing swimming pool facilities; the segregation pattern consisted
of permitting use of the swimming pool every other day to American Hispanic,
American Indians, and Blacks only. The Anglos used the pool only on the
day it was cleaned. Upon pressing the court case, the City of Winslow stipulated
to discontinue the segregation.
1954 Brown
v. Board of Education case This landmark U.S. Supreme Court
case found that the “separate but equal” doctrine was
in violation of the 14th
amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing all citizens
equal protection of
the laws. Its impact on the lives of not only black
children across this country, but
Hispanic children as well. Although targeted for
African Americans, “separate but equal” was systemically
applied to the children of the dominant minority population in areas where
there were no Blacks. Like so many other racially discriminatory
laws, no boundaries existed that turned off application of these laws to
other ethnic
minorities. The ultimate beneficiaries of these racist
societal edicts included all children of color. In
the Southwest where there was no significant concentration of African Americans,
Latinos became the target of discriminatory laws.
Latinos growing up during this period say that Plessy-Ferguson
gave mainstream America the legal license to openly discriminate against
African Americans, and it allowed educational institutions to subscribe
to "separate but equal" for other children of color. The education experience
and conditions of poverty found in the Southwest
were similar to those found in the South. Latinos were subjected
to education professionals and educational systems that lacked interest
or commitment in insuring that all
children, regardless of ethnic background, received equal
protection of the laws. In our part of the country, it was Latino children
who were being segregated within school districts and herded into separate
schools and classrooms. Also, we were the ones whose school supplies, schoolbooks,
teachers and learning materials were nothing more than hand me downs or
leftovers from other more affluent schools and neighborhoods.
(Hispanics who are white are also discriminated against
in the western states).
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1955 Arizona: Court Case: Ortiz v. Jack, U.S. District
Court of Arizona, No. 1723. After filing of court case, the Board of Education
of Glendale agreed to discontinue the segregation and discrimination of
American Hispanic school children. (Segregation continued in other parts
of Arizona).
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1970: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report,
documented unequal treatment of Hispanics by the Administration of
justice, law enforcement agencies, and the judicial system in the
Southwest. Many abuses were cited, among them were:
-
Lack of bilingual translators in court proceedings
-
Underrepresentation of Hispanics on grand juries, as
judges, and law enforcement officers.
-
Unequal assignment of punishment and probation to convicted
Hispanics.
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Up to late 1980s: Two books were put out on American
Hispanics by the Federal Government, and over 40,000 were published by
the Government on "Anglos".
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Up to 1980s: Spanish surnamed applicants to Universities
denied entrance based on their surname.
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Proposition 187 in California aimed at Hispanics.
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Law -one Hispanic allowed per year in Medical school.
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New Mexico, Tobias Leyba ( lived all of his life in Canjilon.
He is one of the eight men who faced charges from the courthouse raid).Of
the 1715 land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments before
the conquest of the Southwest by the United States, over 80 per cent were
lost to their owners in New Mexico alone. The villagers, who did not understand
the English language and laws which "clearly violated the spirit of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo", soon were almost landless. In recent years
the Federal Government has further diminished this land base by the establishment
of national forests and parks.
-
1900s up to the Civil Rights Movement: California
and the southwest, American Hispanics were denied service in some restraunts;
were segregated from "Anglos" in their places of worship, where they ate,
and lived; swimming pools; segregated in clubs and associations.
The Civil Rights Movement did not eradicate all the discrimination practices
against Hispanics.
-
1955 Arizona: Court Case: Baca v. Winslow, United States
District Court No. Civ-394-Pct. A court suit to enjoin discrimination in
furnishing swimming pool facilities; the segregation pattern consisted
of permitting use of the swimming pool every other day to American Hispanic,
American Indians, and Blacks only. The Anglos used the pool only on the
day it was cleaned. Upon pressing the court case, the City of Winslow stipulated
to discontinue the segregation.
-
1955 Arizona: Court Case: Ortiz v. Jack, U.S. District
Court of Arizona, No. 1723. After filing of court case, the Board of Education
of Glendale agreed to discontinue the segregation and discrimination of
American Hispanic school children. (Segregation continued in other parts
of Arizona).
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March 3, 1968 California. Over a thousand students
walked out of East Los Angeles
Abraham Lincoln School; several thousands more walked
out of five other predominantly Mexican American high schools, all total
10,000 students joined the blowouts (strike).
Their demands were: Protest against racist teachers,
the lack of freedom of speech, few Mexican American instructors;
no Mexican American history
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1968 Los Angles, California: Sal Castro a instuctor
who helped students organize was one of the L.A. Thirteen who was arrested.
The L.A. Thirteen - Those arrested because of the
school walkouts in Los Angeles. (TGH violation, total disgregard for the
free speech by authorities. The TGH was invoked in Spanish and English
at this time, however the students were beaten by authorites.
Do not let the sacrifices of these courages people be forgot, invoke
the TGH; today they will not beat you).
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1970: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report,
documented unequal treatment of Hispanics by the Administration of
justice, law enforcement agencies, and the judicial system in the
Southwest. Many abuses were cited, among them were:
-
Lack of bilingual translators in court proceedings
-
Underrepresentation of Hispanics on grand juries, as
judges, and law enforcement officers.
-
Unequal assignment of punishment and
probation to convicted Hispanics.
-
Up to late 1980s: Only two books were put out
on American Hispanics by the Federal Government, and over 40,000 were published
by the Government on Anglos, and other ethnic groups.
Up to 1980s: Spanish surnamed applicants to Universities
denied entrance based on their surname.
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2000 California
who wanted to rent a house in San Jose, but were turned away by the owners
because they couldn't speak fluent English, have been rebuffed by a federal
appeals court. A jury found that landlords Carl and Mary Lindow's
policy was not intended to discriminate against Mexican Americans. Jurors
had previously been told by the trial judge that requiring an adult in
the household to speak English fluently did not necessarily violate federal
housing laws.
(this is common discrimination and TGH violation)
Obviously something is wrong with this long progression of
abuses from 1848, and many discriminatory practices continue to this day.
The above information is only a small part of ongoing discriminatory
practices against Americans of Hispanic heritage, and we have not
come to Cesar Chavez, the more recent abuses.
If you know of laws, et that discriminate against Hispanics,
Latinos, Chicanos, Indo-Hispano, Hispano, Spanish, Mexican Americans, please
provide the information here 1stbooks@neta.com
The
"Character" of the U.S-Southwest | Character
of California | N.M.
& Arizona | Constitution
Mandate Spanish in Schools | NM-AZ
Constitution Defined | Important
Documents for Mexican Americans | Mexican
Americans lost 75% of their Property Rights The Forgotten Conquered
People | U.S-Mexico
Border Tribes |
Canada/Mexico
Indigenous People | Guadalupe-Hidalgo
| Laws Discriminate
Against Hispanics
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