The Struggle in Black and Brown: African American and Mexican American Relations during the Civil Rights Era

2. The Movement in the Mirror: Civil Rights and the Causes of Black-Brown Disunity in Texas

TWO The Movement in the Mirror Civil Rights and the Causes of Black-Brown Disunity in Texas BRIAN D. BEHNKEN Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregated schools illegal in Brown v. Board of Education, local and state government in Texas began examining ways to prolong separate education. The American G.I. Forum, one of the most important Mexican American civic organizations in the Southwest, hoped to halt these efforts. But when G.I. Forum executive secretary Ed Idar Jr. sent out a bulletin that vaguely promoted the unification of African American and Mexican American civil rights groups to fight for school integration, others in the forum firmly rebuffed his idea. For instance, G.I. Forum official Manuel Avila feared that Idar’s proposal might damage the Mexican American civil rights struggle. “I only hope this does not hurt our cause,” Avila wrote, “but I can already hear the Anglos saying , ‘those nigger lovers, look it came out in their official organ with their blessing.’” Avila told Idar that “anybody reading it [the bulletin] can only come to the conclusion we are ready to fight the Negroes’ battles.” “To go to bat for the Negro as a Mexican-American,” he added, “is suicide.”1 Manuel Avila’s comments helped to divide African Americans and Mexican Americans during the civil rights era in Texas. BEHNKEN 50 He was not alone in airing such statements. Indeed, shortly after his letter, Felix Tijerina, the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (lulac), the premier Mexican American civil rights group in Texas, also rejected the concept of black-brown unity, declaring “let the Negro fight his own battles.” Blacks also refused to unify with Mexican Americans . Reverend D. Leon Everett of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (naacp) disclaimed unification with Mexican Americans because, “there is every reason to believe they are anti-Black.” Repeating the sentiments of Avila and Tijerina, Everett stated, “let them fight their own battles.”2 Numerous African Americans and Mexican Americans reacted negatively to the concept of black-brown unity during the civil rights movement in Texas. Mexican Americans and African Americans had a long history of civil rights activism in Texas and they won many significant victories during the civil rights era. Yet, their efforts were rarely unified. Comparing both civil rights movements and exploring relations between African American and Mexican American remains a relatively understudied aspect of civil rights scholarship.3 But, such a comparison can offer many new insights on American race relations and civil rights scholarship. Comparing movements and groups illuminates the level of political development in each community , the evolution of racial formation, and the character of two civil rights struggles disconnected from the Deep South and the Southwest. This chapter explores the main causes of African American– Mexican American disunity during the civil rights era in Texas . A number of factors led to the development of two separate movements. These included the impact of Jim Crow segregation on race relations, the importance of geographical distance, the use of divergent tactics, and differences in leaders and leadership groups. Most important, racial animosities bifurcated these civil rights movements. Racism reduced the chances for THE MOVEMENT IN THE MIRROR 51 cooperative ventures between these two groups. All of these factors contributed to the development of two civil rights struggles. The segregation of Mexican Americans and African Americans helped separate these two movements. Both groups fought to defeat a similar form of Jim Crow segregation. Anglo racism allowed for the development of a dual racial caste system in Texas. Jim Crow meant the denial of services in public facilities , disfranchisement, neighborhood segregation, and segregated schools.4 While “colored only” and “white only” signs were visible throughout the South, in Texas “No Mexicans Allowed ,” “No Mexicans Served Here,” “Hombres Aqui” (men here), “No Mexicans Hired,” “No Mexicans Need Apply,” “No Dogs or Mexicans Allowed,” and “No Chili, Mexicans Keep Out” were also commonly displayed.5 In addition to these statewide aspects of segregation, many local communities also implemented laws to shore up the Jim Crow system. For instance, ordinances in Houston segregated streetcars in 1903. Other local statutes kept the races separated at city hospitals, libraries, and swimming pools.6 In Dallas and San Antonio, local custom guaranteed that blacks and Mexican Americans could only live in certain portions of these cities...