supply of nonunion labor. From 1965 to
1970, the union sponsored a strike
demanding union recognition and higher
wages from growers of California table
grapes. For inspiration Chávez turned to
the nonviolent resistance philosophy and
tactics of Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi
and African-American civil rights leader
Martin Luther King. Chávez called res-
olutely for nonviolence from his followers
and used La Huelga, or “The Strike,” to
draw national attention to the plight of
migrant farm workers, most of them
Mexican American. He also stressed the
importance of cultural heritage, encourag-
ing Mexican Americans to be proud of
their history. Building public sympathy
through such tactics as a dramatic 25-day
fast in 1968 (which caught the attention of
presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy,
who visited Chávez to pledge his support),
he sought and achieved a national grape
boycott. At the time, Chávez summed up
his motivation this way: “We are poor, but
we have something the rich do not own—
our bodies and our spirits and the justice
of our cause.” La Huelga ended with
growers accepting union demands and
negotiating agreements to improve the
workers’ condition.
In later years Chávez had difficulty
getting growers to honor their agree-
ments and faced other obstacles, such as
jurisdictional issues with the Teamsters
Union. But he had made an important
step in improving the lives of migrant
farm workers. In addition, he helped
Mexican Americans achieve a new level
of self-awareness and self-respect and
presented an enduring example of
Mexican-American leadership.
The Chicano Movement
LULAC, founded in the 1920s, had
sought only to protect the civil rights of
Mexican Americans. The Community
Service Organization (CSO), founded in
the late 1940s, focused on voter registra-
tion drives to elect Mexican Americans to
office. The Mexican American Political
Association (MAPA), founded in the
1950s, helped John F. Kennedy win elec-
tion as president. But some Mexican
Americans began to question the assimi-
lationist drive of such organizations.
Rooted partly in the example of Chávez,
partly in earlier efforts, Mexican
Americans actively sought political and
social change in the 1960s and 1970s.
Many of these activists were more vocal
and radical than their predecessors. They
emphasized difference from Anglos and
spoke of themselves proudly as Chicanos,
a slang term abbreviated from Mexicanos
and previously used by Anglos in a deri-
sive sense.
The new Chicano groups included
the Brown Berets, founded in East Los
Angeles in 1967. A paramilitary organiza-
tion of youths in brown berets, its mem-
bers spoke of themselves as brown rather
than black or white and organized to
defend their neighborhoods against crime
and police brutality. They also provided
social services, such as food drives, and
took part in public protests. In 1969
Chicano boxer, poet, and activist Rodolfo
“Corky” González drafted El Plan
Espiritual de Aztlán, “The Spiritual Plan
of Aztlán,” which called for the creation of
a separate Mexican-American state in the
Southwest, using the name of the mythical
homeland of the Aztec. Throughout the
Southwest, Chicano students demandedLA RAZA UNIDA 1931968 The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) is found-
ed in San Antonio, Texas, becoming the first national Chicano civil rights organiza-
tion. The Ford Foundation announces that it will help fund MALDEF activities. The
poet Alurista (Alberto Baltazar Urista) organizes the Movemiento Estudiantil Chicano
de Aztlán (MEChA), uniting local and regional Chicano student organizations
nationwide.
1970 In July, a National Chicano Moratorium Committee anti-Vietnam War march and
rally in Houston, Texas, draws 5,000 people. The following month, a second rally is
held in East Los Angeles’s Laguna Park, this time attracting 30,000. Before breaking
up the rally with tear gas and billy clubs, the police prevent Chicano activists Rodolfo
“Corky” González and Albert Gurule from speaking before arresting both men on
charges of robbery and carrying concealed weapons. (The two are later acquitted.)
When some members of the crowd respond by throwing rocks, chaos ensues, and
two bystanders are killed. A tear gas canister is thrown into a nearby restaurant, strik-
ing and killing Mexican-American journalist Ruben Salazar, whose columns in the Los
Angeles Times had provided a powerful voice for the Chicano movement.
1972 A new political party, La Raza Unida (The United People), holds its first national
convention in El Paso, Texas. Delegates decide to promote Chicano candidates for
local elections instead of supporting major party candidates in national elections.
José Angel Gutiérrez is elected national chairman.
1973 Texas lawyer Vilma Martínez becomes general counsel for MALDEF, beginning
an influential career that will help lead to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of- (The act granted special considerations, such as bilingual materials at the polls,
to Hispanic voters.) With the support of La Raza Unida, José Angel Gutiérrez wins
election as a judge in Zavala County, Texas.
SELECTED EVENTS IN THE
CHICANO MOVEMENT, 1968–1973
Rodolfo “Corky” González
(Colorado Historical Society)