Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement: The Chicano Movement

The Chicano Movement, also known as El Movimiento, was one of the many movements in the United States that set out to achieve equality for Mexican-Americans. The Chicano Movement began in the 1940 's as a continuation of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, but built up strength around the 1960’s after Mexican-American youth began to label themselves as "Chicano" to express their culture and proudly distinguish themselves as Mexican-American youth. For many Americans, a Chicano was used as a demeaning term to describe Mexican- Americans, because it became identified with immigrants who are uneducated, unskilled, and poor; however a Chicano is defined as an individual of Mexican descent who lives in The United States. Chicanos wanted
Other civil rights movements during this time period that aimed to make a difference, such as the African-American Civil Rights Movement, inspired the Chicano Movement. Many Chicanos fought beside African Americans during this time of activism and the crusade for justice. They incorporated a vast amount of issues in their protests such as improvement in working conditions, wages, and land grants. They also sought to strengthen their education, as well as their voting and political rights.
The United Farm Workers of America, formed in the small town of Delano, California, was one of the first successful organizations that gave strength to The Chicano Movement. Cesar Chavez, a farm worker of the Delano vineyards, formed this organization. The United Farm Workers of America fought for the equality of
The Chicano Student Movement was established to dispute unjust school conditions for Mexican Americans. The Mexican American society had the highest high school dropout rate and lowest college attendance among any other ethnic group. Many schools in The United States did not treat Mexican Americans fairly, by prohibiting them or their teachers to speak the Spanish language and not allowing them to create political or cultural groups. Chicanos were often placed in vocational training classes or classes for the mentally disabled which discouraged them from higher learning. Chicanos wanted smaller class sizes, revision of their textbooks to include Mexican American history, and better educational services and facilities. Their demands weren’t met; therefore students threatened walkouts, which they called blowouts. The largest and most impressive blowout took place in Los Angeles, California in 1968, where approximately 15,000 Chicano students walked out of schools and generated similar actions among students in several black and white schools. Los Angeles public schools are paid based on the number of students in class each day, so by walking out before attendance was taken, the students could single out the schools financially. After several more blowouts at different schools, The Los Angeles Board of Education set up a meeting to discuss their concerns. Chicano