Hispanic Americans Flashcards
Context
Economic Situation
Hispanic Americans worked and lived mainly in states bordering Mexico (Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas)
Only employed seasonally - avg 134 days a year
Chicano families 80% of Californian welfare cases
Context
Civil Rights
Middle-class Mexican Americans - League of the United Latin American Citizens
Won important local victories on segregation, police brutality, voter registration
But didn’t gain great political power/support
Many Mexican Americans not US citizens and hoped to return to Mexico, so avoided mainstream politics
César Chávez
Who Was He?
Leading campaigner for Chicano rights
Set up National Farm Workers Association
First farming union since Depression, sole Mexican-run farming union
Brought up Roman Catholic
César Chávez
Economic
Workers often barred from accessing banks + insurance
Created credit union, helped Chicano workers to borrow money, established insurance scheme
Had advisors to help families deal with local authorities
Popular - membership of NFWA grew from 200 in 1962 to more than 1200 in 1965
César Chávez
La Huelga
Hoped to organise national campaign
Organised La Huelga (the strike) - lasted 5 years, involved over 10,000 farm workers against Califonia’s San Joaquin Valley grape growers
NFWA and Agricultural Workers Organising Committee (Filipino farmworkers) joined to create United Farm Workers
340 mile march called ‘The Pilgrimage’
César Chávez
Boycott
With help of white middle class liberals e.g. Senator Robert Kennedy, UFW organised national boycott of table grapes
At its peak, supported by 17 million Americans
How Successful?
Success in Negotiations
Strikes + boycotts effective, but took time
First success in 1966, Schenley Vineyards negotiated contract with farm workers
By 1970, Delano grape producers introduced wage increase, up to minimum wage
How Successful?
Legislation
Califonia Agricultural Labour Relations Act (1975)
Gave agricultural unions legal rights, and agricultural firms required to negotiate by law
How Successful?
Personal
Chávez a hero to many
Compared to Martin Luther King by Time magazine
How Successful?
Political Activity
Galvanised Mexican Americans and immigrants to activism
Stimulated civil rights movement, greater ethnic pride + purposefulness
Led to greater local + national gov attention
How Successful?
Long Term Failure
Grower opposition, mechanisation, and rising immigration weakened UFW
By 1980s, members harvested only 10% of grapes
How Successful?
Limited Power
Fed gov less sympathetic to Hispanic Americans
Lower numbers + lower levels of voter registration gave less voting power + political influence
Other Groups
Mexican American Political Association
Created 1960 to encourage Mexican Americans to register to vote + run for office
1962 - MAPA president Edward Roybal elected to House of Representatives
Other Groups
Young Chicanos for Community Action
Established later 1960s
Influenced by Black Panthers, campaigned for better education and employment in LA
Involved in Chicano blowouts of 1968 - series of school walkouts
