Chapter 20 Section 3

States with high populations of Mexican descents Many people of Mexican descent lived in Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. The numbers of Mexicans living in the Southwest steadily increased in the 1800s because the United States acquired territory where Mexicans lived.

Migration In the 1910s and 1920s, some Mexican Americans moved to cities in the Midwest and Northwest. They hoped to find jobs in factories

Barrios Most Mexican Americans in the Southwest lived in barrios, partly due to ethnic discrimination. Barrios are poor Hispanic and Latino neighborhoods.

Discrimination during the Great Depression Discrimination in employment also kept Mexican Americans from finding well paying jobs. Many worked on farms. Mexican Americans faced more discrimination during the Great Depression.

Repatriation Federal officials deported (sending people from one country to another) many Mexican immigrants in a program known as “repatriation.”

Ike and Deportation More than 3.7 million Mexicans were also deported while Eisenhower was president. Many of them were legal residents. Some had even been born in this country.

Latin America In the 1950s, other Latinos arrived in the country. They included large numbers of Puerto Ricans, and Cubans fleeing a revolution. By the late 1960s, more than 9 million Latinos lived in the United States.

Beginning to organize Latinos in the American Southwest were often treated as outsiders whether they were citizens or not. They began to organize to work for equal rights and fair treatment.

LULAC In 1929, several Mexican American groups created the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Its purpose was to fight discrimination against Latino Americans. LULAC helped end segregation in public places in Texas. It also ended the practice of segregating Mexican American children in schools. LULAC openly criticized officials for deporting so many Latinos. It also won Mexican Americans the right to serve on juries in Texas.

American G.I. Forum After World War II, Latino veterans were not allowed to join veterans’ groups. They also could not get the same medical care that other veterans did. The American G.I. Forum was founded to protect the rights of Latino veterans who were denied medical services by the Veterans Administration.

A “dis”service The American G.I. Forum worked on behalf of a Mexican American soldier killed in the war received national attention. A funeral home in Texas had refused to hold his funeral. With the help of President Johnson, the soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Prejudice in the 1960s Latino Americans still faced prejudice in the 1960s. They did not have the same rights to education, housing, and employment as other Americans. Latinos began campaigns to try to improve their economic status. They also wanted to end discrimination.

Chavez and Huerta In the early 1960s, Latino leaders César Chávez and Dolores Huerta formed two groups to fight for farm workers’ rights. The result was a strike against California growers in 1965. The workers demanded union recognition, higher wages, and better benefits.

UFW When that effort failed, Chávez organized a national boycott of table grapes. Around 17 million people stopped buying grapes. Profits tumbled. In 1966 Chávez and Huerta merged their two organizations to form the United Farm Workers (UFW). The boycott lasted until 1970. Grape growers agreed to raise wages and improve working conditions.

MAYO Latino youths also became involved in civil rights. The Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) led school walkouts and demonstrations.

Bilingual Education In 1969, protests by MAYO led to creation of a bilingual education program, in which immigrant students are taught in their own language while they learn English.

La Raza Unida Its success led to a new political party, La Raza Unida, in 1969. La Raza Unida, also called, “United People,” worked for Latino causes, encouraged Latinos to vote, and helped to elect Latino candidates at the local level.

Berkeley…again At the University of California at Berkeley in 1969, students staged a sit-in to demand the creation of a Chicano Studies program.

Overall Many Mexican Americans began to fight prejudice and celebrate ethnic pride. Leaders began to promote bilingualism, or teaching immigrant students in their own language while they learn English.