Claiming Rights and Righting Wrongs in Texas: Mexican Workers and Job Politics during World War II

Chapter 4: The Fight for Mexican Rights in Texas

Chapter 4: The Fight for Mexican Rights in Texas In , when the owner of the American Café in the Texas panhandle town of Levelland refused to serve a Mexican farm worker, Texans learned how quickly Mexican officials could turn a local case of discrimination into an issue of international importance. At another time, it would have been a routine, though serious, matter for the Mexican government to ask the State Department to investigate an act of discrimination. But by , Mexican officials had become more assertive and at times uncompromising, especially when local Spanish-language newspapers, Mexican consuls, and Mexican civil rights leaders would join in openly condemning discrimination. Mexican of- ficials, as well as LULAC leaders with whom they often allied themselves, were bold with their repeated use of the wartime language of democracy, generously punctuated with references to the United States’ Good Neighbor Policy and Mexico’s position as its principal ally in the Americas. The United States government usually responded immediately to complaints that arrived in consular offices and the Mexican embassy. Time and again, the State Department agreed with Mexico’s claims against discrimination by invoking the United States’ commitment to improved relations in the Americas and by interceding in cases like the Levelland incident. The ensuing discourse, along with the efforts to settle local cases of discrimination, reproduced the larger process of inter-American cooperation. No longer was discrimination against Mexicans a domestic issue or kept out of diplomatic sight as back-channel communication. Stated differently, the war against “El Grito de Guerra.” (Artist: David Arreola, Secretaría de Gobernación, Mexico. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin.) 98 Chapter 4 fascism opened a Mexican fight on the home front against discrimination that matched the Double V campaign associated with the African American cause. This chapter examines the LULAC’s push for civil and labor rights and its relationship with two national initiatives: Mexico’s advocacy policy and the United States’ Good Neighbor Policy. LULAC’s collaborative middle position was exemplified by Manuel C. Gonzales, who was the secretary general of the organization in Texas during the war and the legal counsel for the Mexican consulate at San Antonio between the early s and late s. George I. Sanchez and Carlos Castañeda also demonstrated their organization ’s mediating position by serving prominently in U.S. and state government positions. Their links to the corresponding national policies provided LULAC leaders an opportunity to advance their claims for equality with the language of justice and democracy as Americans, in the original sense of the word. An international emphasis on the Mexican fight over civil and labor rights may seem to be directing our attention away from the domestic space that the FEPC and LULAC inhabited for most of their history. This discussion, however, would represent a digression if the FEPC had not been caught up in the politics of intergovernmental relations and LULAC had not joined with Mexican consulates in devising a broad political agenda during the Second World War. But they did. Moreover, FEPC officials understood that their work on behalf of Mexican workers had a bearing on relations with Mexico. LULAC leaders were also conscious of the international importance of their politics. They spoke openly, although not always in agreement, among themselves or others about the difficult conditions under which Mexicans worked, and they looked to Mexico, the FEPC, and the Good Neighbor Policy to help workers share in the recovery opportunities of the war. This can be best understood by first examining how LULAC made use of Mexican and U.S. policies to address discrimination in Texan schools and businesses. The Educational Campaign Despite LULAC’s focus on discrimination in workplaces and business establishments , it is best known for its fight against discrimination and segregation in schools. Although other groups had a similar focus, LULAC was the first organization to lead a wide-ranging response to the problem of unequal educational opportunities. The organization began its work in , less than The Fight for Mexican Rights in Texas 99 a year after its founding, when it supported lawyers in the preparation of a legal challenge against school segregation at the Del Rio Independent School District in Southwest Texas. The Texas courts found it unconstitutional to segregate Mexican children on the basis of their national origins. The ruling declared, however, that the...