Católicos: Resistance and Affirmation in Chicano Catholic History

Five: Religion in the Chicano Movement: Católicos Por La Raza

131 five Religion in the Chicano Movement Católicos Por La Raza We are demanding that the Catholic Church be Christian. —católicos por la raza Do we have to stay out of our own Church? A Church that is not only hypocritically wealthy, but which does not respect our culture. It is our duty, as Chicanos and Catholics, to return the Catholic Church to us. —richard cruz Let the poor people in! Let the poor people in! —católicos por la raza outside of st. basil’s church, los angeles, december 24, 1969 while the church in the 1940s and 1950s attempted on a larger scale than before to address the needs and interests of its growing Mexican American adherents, especially in the Southwest, by the 1960s events and the new protest movements of that politically tumultuous decade outpaced the Church’s efforts. Rather than being proactive, the Church now became defensive and subject to increased criticism by Chicano Catholics. If Mexican American Catholics in an earlier period, as exemplified by the work of Cleofas Calleros and Alonso Perales, labored cooperatively with Church reformers, both inspired by Catholic social doctrine, this new period of unrest in the United States, and indeed worldwide, witnessed the deterioration of this alliance and the emergence of new Chicano oppositional movements against the Church as part of what was perceived as a repressive establishment. This chapter addresses the change in Chicano-Church relations. The Chicano movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s represented the most significant and widespread protest by Mexican Americans in the history of the United States. Reacting to a legacy of conquest in the Southwest in 132 católicos the nineteenth century, to a history of labor exploitation, and to experiences as second-class citizens characterized by various forms of discrimination and segregation, including lack of access to high-quality education, Mexican Americans by the 1960s challenged the system as never before. The movement was a Chicano uprising. As part of its agenda, the movement gave birth to Chicano studies, defining it in very strong ethnic, nationalist terms. In turn, Chicano nationalism was largely portrayed as an expression of secular values and goals. The role of religion , especially Catholicism, was not perceived by early students of Chicano studies to have played a major role in the movement. And yet while secularization characterized a good deal of movement politics, religion was not absent . Religion, primarily but not exclusively Catholicism, played a role in the formation of a movement value system focused on social justice. Religion in some cases also proved to be the basis for community organization. Andrew Greeley refers to “cultural Catholics”; however, there were also what I would call “political Catholics.”1 This chapter is a case study of the role of Catholicism in the Chicano movement in Los Angeles as exemplified by Católicos Por La Raza.2 Origins of Católicos Por La Raza Católicos Por La Raza began as an extension of some of the early movement activities in Los Angeles that had sprung up in reaction to the inspirational struggle of César Chávez and the farmworkers when they struck for union recognition in 1965. Many movement activists in urban locations such as Los Angeles received their political baptism by making a pilgrimage to Delano, the headquarters of the union, to take food to the striking farmworkers and by supporting the initial grape boycott when it was launched in 1967 as a way of pressuring the growers to negotiate with the union. Católicos and the movement in Los Angeles also have to be seen in relation to increased racial tension in Los Angeles, as exemplified by the 1965 Watts riots. That conflict between African Americans and police and state national guard forces led to thirtyfour deaths and many casualties.3 The school “blowouts” in East Los Angeles during the spring of 1968, when several thousand Mexican American students, inspired by the teacher Sal Castro , walked out of their schools to protest inferior education, likewise helped to ignite the movement in Los Angeles.4 The walkouts had been preceded by the growing politicization of Chicano youth as a result of the annual Mexican American Youth Leadership Conferences.5 religion in the chicano movement 133 Católicos Por La Raza was one of many offshoots of these early protests and interacted with still many others. The...