The Mexican Texans

Chapter 4 The Late Twentieth Century: Identity in a Porous Society, 1960-2000

Late Twentieth Century ▼▼▼          The Late Twentieth Century Identity in a Porous Society, 1960–2000 N THE 1960 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, Mexican Texans mobilized to support the Democratic ticket. Their Viva Kennedy clubs were instrumental in John F. Kennedy’s narrow win in Texas and in the nation. Kennedy disappointed supporters by failing to appoint Hispanics to federal positions. But Lyndon B. Johnson, who became president in  after Kennedy’s assassination , did so. Johnson’s Great Society initiative delivered federal programs and appointments to an extent previously unimagined.New laws removed obstacles to political participation.The poll tax was abolished in . The federal Voting Rights Act of  expanded opportunities for minority candidates. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of  brought a series of programs to bolster students identified as “disadvantaged”: Head Start, Title I, and Migrant Education. The federal Bilingual Education Act of  opened the door to bilingual instruction in Texas, long a goal of Tejano parents and educators. On the state level, the Texas legislature in  quietly repealed the segregationist laws approved by that body from  through .1 Mexican Texans now had representation at the national level. In  Henry B. González won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives .Three years later,Eligio“Kika”de la Garza of South Texas joined him in the House. Emilio Abeyta, originally a priest and eventually I Mexican Texans ▼▼▼  an attorney from the Texas Panhandle, was one of many Tejanos who secured a job in a federal program. As he explains, “My job there was to look for, recruit, hire, promote, award Hispanics working in all of these twenty-one legal divisions of the Department of Justice. . . . I was there in the halls of Congress when the Voting Rights Bill was being debated and when it was voted on.And it ultimately affected the smallest person in Slayton,because we now have bilingual ballots and now have bilingual people at the polls. . . . The government is us.”2 Despite new job opportunities, some Mexican Texans desired change on a more fundamental level. They examined the philosophical underpinnings of U.S. society, raising issues of class and wealth.These younger activists were the seeds of the Chicano movement in Texas. For tactics, they turned to other movements sweeping the country in the s, including the civil rights movement and efforts to end the war in Vietnam. They drew upon the examples of César Chávez, who was organizing farmworkers in California , and Reies López Tijerina, who led Mexican Americans in New Mexico. Valley farmworkers on the protest march to Austin, June, . Institute of Texan Cultures illustration no. E--C Late Twentieth Century ▼▼▼  Following their successful Viva Kennedy campaign, Tejanos looked for ways to continue their political momentum. The GI Forum and several other groups came together to form the Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations (PASSO) in . From the start, the PASSO coalition faced disagreements between its moderate and more militant factions. In  PASSO joined with the Teamsters Union to bring about a political upset in Crystal City, a small town in Zavala County. Members conducted voter registration drives and organized cannery workers. Five Mexican Americans—from the town’s poor and undereducated majority—filed as candidates for city council. All five defeated the incumbents in close elections.Crystal City’s political establishment regained control in the election held two years later. Still, this incident disturbed political observers, for it showed that the Anglo power structure in South Texas could be broken.3 Tejano farmworkers, who earned barely enough to survive, learned of César Chávez’s strikes in the vineyards of California.Following his example, Tejano field hands in  mounted a series of wildcat strikes against melon growers in Starr County. Texas Rangers and local law enforcement officers ended the strikes. The farmworkers, undeterred, organized what became known as the Minimum Wage March. In June, , they walked  miles from the Rio Grande Valley to Austin, cheered along the way by supporters from LULAC, GI Forum, and PASSO. The Texas governor rejected their demands. Nonetheless, the Minimum Wage March energized support and an awareness of the farmworkers’ plight. This event is generally regarded as the start of the Chicano movement in Texas.4 New, more confrontational groups arose that rejected blending into the dominantAnglo society and criticized Tejano organizations that promoted this. College students in San Antonio formed the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) in . They...