A few
last
notes…
WATTS RIOTS OF 1965
AUGUST 11-16
MORE THAN 35 WERE KILLED, SEVERAL
HUNDRED INJURED IN 6 DAY RIOTS IN
LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD.
ENTIRE BLOCKS WERE BURNED, AREA
STORES LOOTED…
1966 MILITANT BLACK PANTHERS FORMED BY
NEWTON AND SEALE—THEY HAD THEIR OWN
NEWSPAPER AND CLAIMED THE RIGHT TO CARRY
WEAPONS. THEY ALSO RAN A FREE BREAKFAST
PROGRAM FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHLDREN. THE
DEMANDED GREATER OPPORTUNITIES AND BENEFITS
INCLUDING FULL-EMPLOYMENT, DECENT HOUSING
AND EDUCATION.
JUNE 12, 1967 LOVING V. VIRGINIA
PROHIBITING INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE
IS JUDGED UNCONSTITUTIONAL BY THE
SUPREME COURT
In 1958, two residents of Virginia,
Mildred Jeter, a black woman, and
Richard Loving, a white man, were
married in the District of Columbia.
The Lovings then returned to Virginia
and was charged with violating state
law., They were found guilty and
sentenced to a year in jail (the trial
judge agreed to suspend the sentence
if the Lovings would leave Virginia and
not return for 25 years).
RACE RIOTS OCCURRED
IN WASHINGTON D.C.
AND OTHER CITIES
THROUGHOUT THE
COUNTRY AFTER KING’S
DEATH
IN D.C. RIOTING AND LOOTING
OCCURRED. 6 WERE KILLED AND 350
INJURED DURING 2 DAYS OF
DISORDER. RACIAL VIOLENCE
OCCURRED IN 125 CITIES. BETWEEN
45 AND 50 PEOPLE DIED AND MORE
THAN 2,600 WERE INJURED AND
DAMAGE EXCEEDED $65,000,000.
SWANN V. CHARLOTTEMECKLENBURG BOARD OF
EDUCATION (1971)
The Supreme Court upholds busing as a
legitimate means for achieving integration
of public schools…
1992—AFTER COPS SEEN ON
VIDEOTAPE ARE FOUND NOT
GUILTY OF BEATING RODNEY
KING, RIOTS ERUPT IN LOS
ANGELES…
SOME ACCOMPLISHMENTS AFTER 1965
1967 THURGOOD MARSHALL IS
FIRST TO BE APPOINTED TO
SUPREME COURT
1989 COLLIN POWELL APPOINTED FIRST
BLACK JOINT-CHIEF-OF-STAFF FOR THE
ARMED SERVICES/ IN 2001 NAMED FIRST
AFRICAN-AMERICAN SECRETARY OF STATE
1989 FIRST ELECTED STATE
GOVERNOR (VA) DOUGLAS WILDER
2005 CONDOLEEZA RICE IS FIRST
AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE
SECRETARY OF STATE
IN 2008, BARACK OBAMA WAS
THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN
MAN TO BE ELECTED PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.
IN 1983 THE FEDERAL HOLIDAY
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY
WAS ESTABLISHED…
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRMAS
INCREASED MINORITY REPRESENTATION IN
COLLEGES, PROFESSIONS, AND BUSINESSES.
THIS ACT, HOWEVER, HAD SOME
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES. SOME SAW
THIS AS REVERSE DISCRIMNINATION. IN
1978’s UNIVERSITY REGENTS V. BAKKE CASE,
THE SUPREME COURT UPHELD AFFIRMATIVE
ACTION, BUT NOT THE USE OF RACIAL
QUOTAS.
LIKE AFRICAN AMERICANS, MEXICAN
AMERICANS ALSO FACED DISCRIMINATION…
IN THE 1960s, A CHICANO MOVEMENT
EMERGED WITH ITS FOCUS ON ISSUES LIKE
FARM WORKERS’ VOTING AND POLITICAL
RIGHTS.
LEADERS OF THE MOVEMENT FOR HISPANIC
CIVIL RIGHTS INCLUDED…
HECTOR PEREZ GARCIA…SURGEON, WW2 VET. HE
NOTICED MEXICANS IN HIS TEXAS
COMMUNITY RESTRICTED FROM POOLS,
HOSPITALS AND RESTAURANTS, AS
WELL AS LIMITED VOTING AND
EMPLOYMENT. WHEN A SOLDIER KILLED
IN WWII WAS REFUSED BURIAL BY A
TEXAS FUNERAL HOME, HE ARRANGED
FOR BURIAL AT ARLINGTON
NATIONAL CEMETARY. HE WAS THE
FIRST MEXICAN AMERICAN TO SERVE
ON THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL
RIGHTS.
CESAR CHAVEZ…AN ORGANIZER OF FARM WORKERS IN
CALIFORNIA. MIGRANT WORKERS USUALLY PERFORM
SEASONAL FARM WORK AND TRAVEL FROM FARM TO
FARM AS WORK APPEARS. CHAVEZ STARTED A GROUP TO
SUPPORT FARM WORKERS’ RIGHTS AND DEMANDED
INCREASED WAGES AND BETTER CONDITIONS. HE
EMPHASIZED RELIANCE ON NONVIOLENT MEANS
(STRIKES, FASTS…TO ACHIEVE GOALS.) HE ORGANIZED
NATION-WIDE CONSUMER BOYCOTTS (EXAMPLE:
GRAPES).
DELORES HUERTA…WORKED CLOSELY WITH CHAVEZ.
SHE HELPED
FORM THE NATIONAL FARM WORKERS ASSOCIATION
(UNITED FARM WORKERS) SHE SPEND HER LIFE USING
STRIKES, MARCHES, BOYCOTTS AND HUNGER STRIKES
TO CAMPAIGN FOR LEGISLATION TO EXTEND AID TO
FARM WORKERS. IN THE 1980s SHE EXPANDED HER
EFFORTS TO INCLUDE WOMEN’S RIGHTS, THE
ENVIRONMENT, AND IMMIGRATION POLICY. SHE WAS
AWARDED THE MEDAL OF FREEDOM BY PRESIDENT
OBAMA IN 2012.
MEXICAN AMERICANS ALSO EXPRESSED THEMSELES THROUGH A
GREAT APPRECIATION OF THEIR CULTURE. COPYING GREAT
MEXICAN MURALISTS OF THE 1930s LIKE DIEGO RIVERA,
MEXICAN-AMERICAN ARTISTS BEGAN PAINTING MURALS IN
BARRIOS (ETHNIC NEIGHBORHOODS) THROUGHOUT THE
SOUTHWEST IN THE 1960s. MURALS BECAME AN IMPORTANT
ARTISTIC MEDIUM TO SUPPORT IDENTITY AND JUSTICE. IN EL
PASO ALONE, MORE THAN 100 WALL MURALS WERE COMPLETED.
AMERICAN INDIANS ALSO PUSHED FOR CIVIL
RIGHTS IN THE 1960S...
IN 1963, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REVERSED A
POLICY FROM 1953 THAT MADE RESERVATIONS THE
RESPONSIBILITY OF STATE GOVENRMENTS. THEY
BEGAN ENCOURAGING TRIBAL LIFE ON
RESERVATIONS.
THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 PROHIBITED
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST NATIVE AMERICANS.
IN 1970, NIXON ANNOUCNCED THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT WOULD HONOR ITS TREATY
OBLIGATIONS. HOWEVER, AMERICAN INDIANS
STILL FELT MISTREATED. UNDER THE SLOGAN “RED
POWER,” THEY FORMED THE AMERICAN INDIAN
MOVEMENT.
THEY SOUGHT GREATER RESPECT FROM THEIR
HERITAGE. THEY PUSHED FOR USAGE OF THE TERM
“NATIVE AMERICAN” AND FOUGHT BIASED
PORTRAYALS IN TEXTBOOKS, TELEVISION AND
MOVIES. THEY GAINED ATTENTION BY OCCUPYING
GOVERNMENT MONUMENTS ON ALCATRAZ ISLAND
AND WOUNDED KNEE, SOUTH DAKOTA.
IMPORTANT COURT CASES EXTENDING CIVIL
RIGHTS INCLUDED:
MENDEZ V. WESTMINSTER SCHOOL DISTRICT (1947)…
In some California schools, Mexican-American children were
segregated. It was ruled in this case that separation within a
race was not permitted if not required by a specific state law
and avoided the issue of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Later
that year California repealed its school segregations laws
which applied to Japanese and Chinese children)
DELGADO V. BASTROP ISD (1948)…Based on the
previous case, the Texas Attorney General decided that
segregation of Mexican-American children was illegal.
Delgado sued Bastrop ISD, claiming that separation of
Mexican-American children without a specific state law
was a violation and the U.S. District Court agreed.
Segregation of Mexican-American children was ordered
to stop in Texas.
HERNANDEZ V. TEXAS (1954)…After a conviction for
murder Hernandez appealed to the Supreme Court
because no Mexican-American jurors had served in his
county for more than 25 years. The court ruled that
Mexican Americans were entitled as a class to protection
under the 14th Amendment (he had the right to be tried
by a jury from which his class was not excluded)
WHITE V. REGESTER (1973)…Required single-member
districts in Dallas and Bexar counties, so local groups
could elect their own representatives. (Texas did not
have the right to discriminate by setting up multimember districts)
EDGEWOOD ISD V. KIRBY (1984)…Required school
finance to increase funding for students in poorer
districts. (Kirby was the Texas Education Commissioner)