Mexican Inclusion: The Origins of Anti-Discrimination Policy in Texas and the Southwest

Chapter 5. Good Neighbors and Good Citizens: People of Mexican

ChaPTer 5 Good neighbors and Good citizens People of Mexican Origin and the FEPC Previous chapters have explored how community involvement and transnational and international pressures influenced the direction of the FePC. But how did the FePC influence people of Mexican origin, in particular the small group of civil rights leaders such as Carlos Castañeda who became so involved with the agency? How would the tactics of a group virtually shut of out of the political process change with a taste of power, however limited and qualified? Would political entrepreneurs be shaped by the agency they sought to infiltrate? This chapter traces how Mexican american civil rights leaders shifted their preferred discourse and policy options from appeals based on whiteness and assimilation to using the resources of a federal civil rights apparatus to protect them on the basis of their national origin. Particular attention will be devoted to the way Mexican american civil rights leaders shifted their support from the Texas good neighbor Commission, the state-level agency organized around the precept of Caucasian rights, to the FePC. in profiling this shift, it will become evident how the institutional organization of the FePC shaped these changes. The FePC recognized plural forms of difference in american society and sought to combat discrimination that traditionally marginalized groups experienced in dealings with the federal government. in addition, the agency provided leaders from the community of Mexican origin an opportunity to help direct the FePC’s services to their community and develop approaches that took account of specific concerns such as language issues and reaching out to people mistrustful of the american state. a combination of federal and power and community leadership provided Mexican american civil rights leaders with framework for incorporation that produced results. some Mexican american civil rights leaders have traditionally been characterized as conservatives,1 and there were those who rejected working with african american groups to focus on embracing a white racial classification and assimilation into american society. This chapter, in contrast, shows Mexican american civil rights leaders more willing to build alliances. in supporting the Good Neighbors and Good Citizens • 81 FePC they focused on community-specific concerns rather than allying with african americans. While supporting the same policies as african american civil rights leaders, they created particular justifications for their goals based on their own community. as people of Mexican origin, for instance, they sought incorporation as part of the fulfillment of the good neighbor Policy. as american citizens, they grounded their appeals in the realization of american democracy. in addition to presenting the public comments of Mexican american civil rights leaders, this chapter also looks at their private interactions with FePC officials. it will become clear that Mexican american civil rights leaders directly involved with the FePC came to see their community as a minority group, one that was in need of federal intervention to gain equal opportunities in american society. in both private correspondence and public comments in the postwar era, Mexican american civil rights leaders no longer turned to appeals based on whiteness or assimilation. While John skrentny has portrayed people of Mexican origin and latinos as a whole as a disorganized community included almost by accident in civil rights policy,2 scholars such as Cynthia orozco have rejected this assertion. This chapter shows that Mexican american leaders did embrace inclusion in civil rights agencies, but by using community-specific rationale they hesitated in forming alliances with african americans. Classified as “whites” by the census but racialized as “Mexicans” in everyday lives, people of Mexican origin were caught between black and white and lacked strong community organizations . Thomas guglielmo put it succinctly when he discussed “Mexicans’ and Mexican-americans’ long-standing connection with whiteness and their equally long-standing desire, to distance themselves or at least their politics from Blackness.”3 However, in the postwar era Mexican american civil rights leaders who had worked with the FePC privately equated the status of their communities with the plight of african americans while stating publicly that people of Mexican origin were somewhere between black and white. lUlac Chapter 1 introduced the league of United latinamerican Citizens (lUlaC), formed in 1929 by a small Mexican american middle class seeking better opportunities in society.4 Coming together in 1929 with the merger of several Mexican american community groups, lUlaC members sought assimilation and acceptance in the southwest without challenging the societal organization. as Benjamin Márquez notes of lUlaC, “collective goals, those which would benefit all Mexican americans...