In this essay I am going to be discussing the history of civil rights in Texas towards Latinos. I will be discussing the ethical and cultural perspectives that influenced the treatment of latinos, if things are better or worse now, and if any changes should be made to make things better for them.
The fight for equality started in the 1820s and 1830s when Anglo Americans began to claim land for their own. Prejudice against latinos started to grow and continued to skyrocket after the Texas revolution began. As time passed, we then came across a thing known as Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws, were laws created at the end of reconstruction that enforced segregation between colored people and whites. However, even though most of those laws did not extend to latinos, latinos living in Texas were still segregated from their white counterparts (most now term this, Juan Crow). In fact, Texas even passed “English-only laws” that further enforced the segregation of latinos in schools.The parents of the children affected were not very happy with the inequality their children were facing. As a form of protest, the parents withheld their childrens names from the 1910 federal census takers. They continued to protest and boycott segregated schooling. As other things went on, their time in the headlines came to a halt but their acts would continue to fuel latinos fight for civil rights for many years to come (Diaz 2018).
As the Mexican revolution arose in 1910, the discrimination only heightened. It was progressively unsafe to be a latino in Texas. This became true for one young boy in Thorndale, Texas. On June 19, 1911, Antonio Gomez was attacked by a couple of men exiting a saloon. He was thrown on the street by the saloon owner and immediately became surrounded by a crowd. The crowd then proceeded to beat young Antonio for seemingly doing nothing. Antonio then began to defend himself against one of the attackers, fatally stabbing them. At that time, someone a little bit older than Antonio would have been executed for such actions. Since Antonio was only 14 they legally could not do so. The anglos were so enraged by this, that a mob decided to drag him through the streets by a chain around his neck before finally lynching him. Before the lynching of Antonio Gomez, there was the brutal killing of Antonio Rodriguez. Antonio Rodrigues was a migrant worker in Rocksprings, Texas that was accused of rapping a white women. He was sent to jail, but not even that could protect him from what came next. In November 1910 an angry mob stormed the jail and seized Rodriguez. They doused him in oil and then set him alight, letting him burn alive till he died (Diaz 2018). These atrocious acts of violence continued on throughout the following decades.
In the 1920s the fight continued. On October 3, 1921, Latinos in San Antonio formed El Orden Hijos de América (OSA). OSA raised awareness of civil rights issues and fought for fair wages, education , and housing. This was a big step in the fight towards latino civil rights. The creation of many more latino civil rights organizations followed throughout the 1920s and 30s. Some of them included, The Federation of Mexican Workers Union (CUOM) and The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Also, at this time, a momentous achievement for latinos was attained when Octaviano Larrazolo became the first Latino U.S. Senator. Thing were starting to change.
At the start of World War II in 1939, we saw an increasing number of Texas latinos serving in the military. Those who didn’t fight, were playing supportive roles on the home front. Though latinos were being treated unfairly and had to fight for their civil rights, they still fought for a country that did not support them. Even after many latinos died during their service, latinos still did not receive the equality and civil rights they deserved. The fight for equality and civil rights would continue for years on end.
During the fight for equality and civil rights, Education was one of the very important factors that drove the fight. The fight for equal education and desegregation started with simple protests and boycotts but later evolved into something much bigger. Starting with the court case Hernandez V. Driscoll CISD In 1948, in which it resulted a decision that prohibited segregation of Mexican-American children on separate campuses on the basis of race . However, as stated by Allsup, “The Delgado decree permitted separate classes on the same campus and in the first grade, but only to correct deficiencies determined by tests given to all students” (2010). In 1957 a suit was filed against Driscoll CISD for segregation and unequal education of their latino students. The case stated that Driscoll CISD used a three level first grade system and a segregated second grade. The court decided that grouping the children of Mexican origin as a class was unethical and unfair. The school system did not really change significantly, but changes were still trying to be made. LULAC and the G.I. Forum continued to file suites in the hopes of improving the education system for mexicans and latinos alike.
