time could be shown. The Norris case had
established a “rule of exclusion,” which
had also been applied to other cases to
prove discrimination.
Cadena and Garcia then showed that
14 percent of the population of Jackson
County were either Mexican or had
Latin American surnames, and that 11
percent of the males over 21 bore such
names—underlining the point that
Hispanics were a clearly identifiable
group. The county tax assessor then tes-
tified that 6 or 7 percent of the freehold-
ers on the tax rolls of the county were of
Mexican descent. Since property taxpay-
erswere by state law qualified to serve on
juries, argued Cadena and Garcia, only
discrimination could explain the lack of
Mexican jurors in the county. Although
lawyers for the state argued that county
commissioners had not discriminated
against Mexicans but had only chosen
jurors on the basis of qualifications, the
court ruled that rationale to be insuffi-
cient, and ordered Hernandez’s convic-
tion to be overturned.
The court’s ruling extended to
Mexican Americans the equal protection
clause of the 14th Amendment, making
them the first minority group besides
African Americans to receive that explic-
it recognition. On that basis the court
overturned Hernandez’s murder convic-
tion. The court also made it easier for
other Hispanics to use the courts to com-
bat discrimination.
César Chávez and the
United Farm WorkersBy the early 1960s the lot of migrant farm
workers had not substantially improved
since the early 20th century, when south-
western growers first established the prac-
tice of hiring people of Mexican descent to
pick the nation’s fruits and vegetables.
Wages were low, housing and food
abysmal, education and health care scarce.
Workers were often cheated of their wages
or forced into debt. Attempts had been
made throughout the century to organize
migrant workers to demand better treat-
ment, but little progress had been made.
Into the arena stepped César Chávez
(1927–1993), an Arizona-born son of
migrant farmworkers, who had also spent
time laboring in the fields doing migrant
work. In 1952, Chávez was approached by
an activist named Fred Ross who worked
for a voter registration group called the
Community Service Organization (CSO)
about becoming a volunteer. According to
Chávez, Ross “did such a good job of
explaining how poor people could build
power that I could even taste it.” While
working for CSO, Chávez met Dolores
Huerta, a former elementary school
teacher who had also worked as a migrant
laborer. Growing up, Huerta learned
about the plight of laborers firsthand.
After her mother had earned enough
money to buy a hotel, she rented rooms
to braceros and other field workers, often
allowing them to stay for free so that they
would also have money for food.
In 1962 Chávez and Huerta broke
from the CSO when they decided the
time had come to form a union for
migrant workers. That year they founded
the National Farm Workers Association, a
union that would later become the United
Farm Workers, a member of the AFL-
CIO. Pressure from the union helped end
the bracero program, which had long
thwarted labor organizing by supplying
growers with a continually replenishedLA RAZA UNIDA 191Dolores Huerta (United Farm
Workers)1963 The Alianza Federal de Mercedes (Federal Alliance of Land Grants) is incorpo-
rated by Reies López Tijerina.
1966 On October 15, Tijerina and 350 supporters commandeer the Camp Echo
Amphitheater in Kit Carson National Forest, in northern New Mexico, and pro-
claim themselves leaders of the new state of Pueblo de San Joaquín de Chama.
When park rangers attempt to intervene, Tijerina orders that they be arrested for
trespassing.
1967 On June 5, members of the Alianza make an armed attack on a courthouse in
the village of Tierra Amarilla to make a citizen’s arrest of District Attorney
Alfonso Sánchez. During the struggle, a jailer and a police officer are wounded.
Although the New Mexico National Guard arrests 40 Alianza members at a near-
by campground, Tijerina escapes. He is captured on June 10 and tried for conspir-
acy for the Kit Carson National Forest occupation. While the conspiracy charge is
dismissed, Tijerina is found guilty of assault and sentenced to two years in prison.
The decision is appealed.
1968 On November 12, a jury finds Tijerina not guilty in the first of two trials for the
Tierra Amarilla raid.
1969 Tijerina loses the appeal of his assault conviction in the New Mexico District
Court, and when he appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court, headed by
Chief Justice Warren Burger, refuses to hear the case. In November, Tijerina is
convicted and sentenced to two concurrent prison terms for his role in the assault
on the county courthouse in Tierra Amarilla.
1971 Having served three years of his terms in federal prison, Tijerina is released on
parole.THE ALIANZA FEDERAL
DE MERCEDES