Prior to World war two, Chicanos living in Arizona faced severe employment
discrimination and also faced segregation in housing and public facilities.
Chicanos in general held the most menial jobs and had little opportunity
for promotions
in the schools. There was a definite objection to hiring Chicano teachers
even as Spanish teachers. Up to the 19 forties, Chicano teachers
represented less than 1% of the public school teachers in Arizona. They
were also greatly underrepresented on policy making school boards. In 1930
of the 1106 elementary school board members in Arizona, only 55 were
Chicanos.
Segregation of Chicano students was a widespread practice throughout the
schools and communities in Arizona. The whole school that I attended the
whole school system, elementary school was segregated that way. It was
ironic because each little building had two classrooms. It was a little
courtyard between the two on one side, they'd have the Mexican Children on
the other side, they would have the American Children. The principal
explained to me later that what caused that was the so called need for
Americanization. Um Of course, it was a philosophy that existed then not
only in the schools. But in other facets of social life in Miami, for
example, the Catholic church that we attended was segregated. The Mexicans
sat on one side while they were required to the so called Americans or
white or whatever sat on the other. When I became an altar boy, I asked
the priest what goes on and he said, well, that's, it's because we give
the sermon in Spanish and it's a lot easier to have all the people in one
area. Uh Of course, anyone could see through that because in Miami, just
about everybody spoke Spanish, whether they were Spanish speaking origin
or Mexican or Hispanic origin or not. It was a common language for
business, for social life, etcetera. The extremes of that which existed
right up until the early forties or during the early forties during the
World War Two period was segregation, not only in churches, uh where in
some cases, by the way, they had a totally American Presbyterian church
and right across the street from it was this little ramshackle Mexican
Presbyterian church. The tragedy there was that instead of people really
believing the message of the church, everyone was kind of cynical. And
yeah, we went to church, but we kind of felt that, you know, this is a
game they're playing. And in fact, among the Mexican uh young people,
young men, we used to laugh and say, uh when you die, what are you going
to Mexican heaven or uh American heaven, Mexican hell for American hell,
we had that same type of segregation in the community, social activities.
There was a Y MC A in Miami that catered primarily to the Anglo community.
A half a block away. Actually one building away because the company store
separated the two Y MC A s was the uh Mexican Y MC A. It was a little
small building. They had a pool table in there, a piano and uh in the back
they had a handball court. The um events that went on in the Mexican Y MC
A were cultural in a sense. Uh The American activities included the
swimming pool, weightlifting, boxing, all the activities that go with the
Y MC A function, uh on Fridays and Saturdays, they would begin to drain
the uh pool to put in fresh water and they would allow the Mexican Y MC A
kids to come in on Saturday morning and it was kind of ridiculous and
hilarious because as we would swim around, the water level would be going
down. And after a while, we were like tadpoles swimming down in the bottom
of the pool just playing at swimming. But the twist here or the paradox is
that we were conditioned to this. We thought this is life and we, I guess
assumed that from then on, life was going to be that way
when the United States entered World War I, I in December of 1941 The
Chicanos were once again asked to support their country and the war effort.
At the same time, the Chicano was involved in self preservation against
discrimination at home. They were also fighting in the war front abroad.
Their accomplishments and contributions to the war brought them into the
heroic limelight. They became the most decorated ethnic group of World War
two and they had the highest proportion of congressional medal of honor
winners of any minority group in the United States. Discriminatory
practices were built into the Selective Service Act of 1940. Workers in
the defense industry were granted occupational deferments where as workers
in the essential agricultural industry with a heavy concentration of
Chicanos were granted no deferments. Nearly all of the able bodied
Chicanos were liable for the draft. Even Mexicano nationals living in the
United States were immediately classified one a and drafted into the
service. Chicanos from the CD Marios joined all the branches of the armed
services available. Estimates indicate that 375,000 to 500,000 Chicanos
served in the armed forces during World War Two. These figures reveal that
Chicanos had a very high enlistment rate in proportion to the overall
population. Sylvester Es Herrera. Arizona's congressional medal of honor
winner was decorated by President Harry S Truman for his March 15th, 1945
heroism on a French battlefield.
In the course of assaulting a German machine gun crew. He stepped on a
land mine and lost both legs below the knee. In spite of his injuries, he
courageously captured eight German enemy soldiers. Arizona. Governor
Osborne declared August 25th, 1945 as Sylvester Herrera Day and extended
him a hero's welcome, complete with a grand parade through the streets of
Phoenix.
Chicanas equally served their country well, during this period, when the
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps wax issued a call for linguists from Arizona
in February of 1943. The skills and knowledge of those Chicanas who spoke
and read the Spanish language were in great demand because it was such a
patriotic feeling among the Mexican and Mexican American women who wanted
to contribute to the war effort. They also were able to do their part by
joining in and enlisting in the wax or the waves. Once they became part of
that service, they were utilized in many ways. For example, women became
translators uh in their capacities. They were bilingual, they became
communication specialists. They also provided uh important uh clerical
assistance in some areas where they were needed because of their bilingual
skills. They decoded uh certain kinds of military information perhaps may
that it may not have been classified, but it was important. They also
provided uh translation services for other personnel within uh their
divisions. So in actuality, while they didn't contribute uh in a military
way, as the men were overseas fighting, they did contribute as individuals
, as Mexican American women and as uh women in the service by providing
much needed military assistance in their own units. La Social Hispano
Americana de Madres, Es Posas, Hispanic American Mothers and Wives
Association was another example of the patriotism espoused by the Chicano
community. The association was organized in 1941 to provide news
information and social activities for Chicano servicemen in the local area
of Tucson. The uh Sosa Hisano Americana de Madre is Posas, which is the
Spanish American Mothers and Wives Association was a very patriotic group
during the period of the mid forties. And at the height of the war in
Tucson, the uh founders and the organizers were men and one very hard
working woman. Uh Rosita Rodriguez, she was at that time in 1944 working
as a secretary assigned to the treasurer's office at City Hall. And she
had been very concerned about what she could do in the war effort and what
her friends could do because their husbands and their sons and their
brothers and their friends were being called uh for military service. The
uh members of the uh Sosa Hisano Americanas, the Madre Ce Posas were very
, very active in their community through the sales of war bonds and war
stamps. In a short period of less than 12 months, they sold over $1
million in war bonds, which was a feat that I think is of great
significance because while there were others who were selling war bonds
and selling war stamps in other areas of, of Arizona. This one particular
group of individuals sold over a million dollars and that was an
accomplishment that wasn't equaled at that time anywhere else in terms of
their activities. The major activity was the publication of their
newspaper which was called Chatter. The uh secretary of the Eac Mrs, uh
rather Miss Rodriguez was also the editor of Chatter. She along with
others uh information from the two Tucson newspapers. At that time, the
Tucson Citizen and the Arizona Daily star. She uh compared the events and
the news that was being printed in the Tucson papers took what she needed
from those two newspapers, printed the information in chatter and
translated some of that information for the soldiers who uh were bilingual.
And so therefore their chatter became very important vehicles of
information for the news for the soldier from Tucson. During the war. Many
women work in jobs that traditionally were closed to them. Some worked in
the railroad yards doing the work that traditionally was considered men's
work. Others also joined the local Red Cross organizations donating
hundreds of volunteer hours in community work. After world war two,
employment opportunities had changed little for the Chicano servicemen.
They were back in the pits and the shafts of the mining camps or out
picking lettuce and cotton in the farming areas. Despite the sacrifice and
the heroism, the Chicano serviceman remained unrecognized, unrewarded and
unappreciated by the Anglo Americans back home. While the Mexican American
serviceman was serving his country abroad, his Mexican American friends
were experiencing a form of racism and repression at home. For example,
the literature will tell you and individuals will tell you themselves that
while they were at home, these are the men, the Mexican American men,
while they were at home, they couldn't do some of those things that the
Anglo American soldiers could do. For example, Mexican American men
throughout Arizona, while they were still in their military uniforms could
not go to certain restaurants. They could not attend certain dances
because the restaurants and the dances were segregated. There were
separate uh seating locations for Mexicans in theaters. Uh There were
separate eating facilities for Mexicans and Mexican Americans and other uh
um bars, for example, or restaurants as I mentioned. Um So these men um
and the families of these men were very, very confused and uh very
outraged at this form of racism while they were serving their country at
home, they could not be provided the same service that others were being
given. So some individuals and some family members wrote to the governor
of the state, Sidney Osborne and complained about this form of racism that
was occurring in the state. Examples occurred in Clifton and Morei and
Globe in Miami, Phoenix, Tucson, Avondale, other places, Peoria, um other
areas that uh uh that are in are in the state. The letters are on file in
the governor's papers. At the State Capitol Library. And the governor's
papers show that these individuals and family members wanted the governor
to do something about racism in the state. And the governor while he was
very sympathetic, stated that he really had no authority to tell an
individual businessman how to run his business.
Racism and discrimination continued to haunt and follow them wherever they
went. In some cases, they remained constant obstacles in their quest for
acceptance and recognition as an American equal countless incidents of
racism and discrimination against Chicano servicemen occurred just a few
days before the Declaration of Sylvester Verra Phoenix's only
congressional medal of honor winner, Governor Osborne took action to have
signs removed from Phoenix business establishments which read no Mexican
trade wanted
throughout Arizona. Segregation and discrimination practices in public
facilities, housing, education and employment as well as recreation
continued through the 19 forties and 19 fifties efforts to break these
barriers began after the war and continued through the 19 fifties.
Many of these efforts were directed by returning Chicano war veterans who
began organizing trade unions, political civil rights and veterans
organizations dedicated to fighting injustices.
Some of the organizations that were active in the 19 forties and 19
fifties in Arizona were the CSO community service organization, the G I
Forum, Lulac, the League of United Latin American citizens, the Alianza,
Hispano Americana and in the mining communities, the Mine Mill Union, one
important factor in the successful development of Chicano organizations.
Following. World war two was the urbanization of the Chicano population.
The Chicano like other Americans moved from the rural areas to the cities
seeking jobs and economic security. By the end of 1950 80 to 85% of the
Chicano population were living in Arizona's major cities. Arizona. Chicano
servicemen who returned to Phoenix after World war two were subjected to
discrimination and decided it needed a change. In 1945 they applied for an
American legion charter. The charter was approved making the Thunderbird
Post 41 presently known as the Tony Sosa Post. Arizona's first Chicano
legion post and the second post in Phoenix Post 41 immediately became a
problem solving agent for the Chicano community.
The uh purpose of establishing our legion post. Of course, when we uh
returned, uh we felt that we have done our part for the country, for our
country and we felt that there were a lot of injustices that needed to be
to be overcome. Housing discrimination was one of the first barriers faced
by returning Chicano servicemen. That was our first issue because the city
of council announced that they would build a Hispanic uh project at an old
city dump located about fifth street in Henshaw road at the time. It's
Buckeye road now. And uh they assured us that they would cover the dump
and landscape and it would look pretty. And so this is where the Hispanics
are going to be the Anglers would be situated at 16th Street and Roosevelt
on a separate project. And our first reaction was that we did not accept
that concept that we wanted the housing and we desperately needed housing.
But we wanted all to be together at 16th Street in Roosevelt. And the
city council said no. When we were called in by the city council, we
explained to them, listen, we fought together, we lived together in the
service. Why can't we live together here? Why must we must we be? Why must
we be segregated here when we lived together and fought side by side in
the service? I said it just doesn't make any sense. And the city council,
the city manager there, Mr Roy Hein at the time explained, well, he says
it just isn't acceptable out here. I mean, it isn't that the feeling that
the city council has any feelings like that, but and this is the way we
think it should be. So we said it is unacceptable to us and we refuse to
accept the concept.
The Anglo Veterans formed a group called the Garfield Property Owners
Protective Association. The association stated that if Chicanos would move
in, it would lower property values, giving the neighborhood an unsightly
appearance and the crime rate would go up. So when we uh when the media
council first opened and uh this was the first order of business where Mr
Poole got up and spoke and uh Mr Poole was uh he was a good speaker,
but a very derogatory one and he spoke of Mexicans in the neighborhood and
crime would go up and, and rape would go up and women, your women are
going to be molested. Well, the members of the city council were appalled.
They did not expect this kind of a presentation and they were frankly
appalled. But uh uh Mr Poole, Mr Poole did make that kind of a
presentation. Well, I got up speaking along the same lines that we could
contribute to the community that we were seeking a place for our families
and our Children. And that we had again fought side by side, lived
together, we could do the same thing here in the end, the legion post 41
and Chicano veterans won out the city council prohibited discrimination in
public housing for veterans. In addition, the housing project was named
after a well known Chicano veteran who had died in the war. Harry Cordova
in Tempe. Chicano servicemen organized themselves to fight discrimination
in public facilities. The first issue that they confronted was segregation
at the Tempe Beach swimming pool. The first strategy was that they would
both visit every member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce. What had
happened? The city of Tempe leased Tempe Beach and a swimming pool to the
Junior Chamber of Commerce to get around the segregation thing because I
don't believe it as a municipality, they could, they could keep Hispanics
out, but what they did, they leased it. I don't know what the lease
arrangements were, but it was leased to the Tempe Junior Chamber of
Commerce. So Danny and Raymond both uh went around to see what the
sentiment was and they said they felt that some were a little hostile,
some were non committal and some were for integrating the pool and of
course, the playground all around picnic grounds, et cetera. So now our
next step was then to ask for a ask if they vote again on the issue. On
May 20th, 1946 the Chamber of Commerce and MP voted to admit Chicanos to
the city swimming pool in response to pressure from the Chicano veterans
group in the mining community of Miami. However, Chicago veterans face
similar barriers.
When I came back to Miami in 1946 I found that conditions hadn't changed
as far as the segregation in the dance hall at the Y MC A and the schools
et cetera. And some of us formed an all American vets group. The intent
was that we were going to break these barriers, change these patterns
because in going out into the rest of the world, we had learned that
people or humans deal with each other on a human basis. And we met young
women of other cultural groups where we didn't run into these barriers of
segregation and discrimination and enjoyed our life and came back to Miami
and wanted to continue that life pattern and then share it with the others.
Um In the dance hall situation, American night was on Saturdays Spanish
night, which was really Mexican night, Spanish night was on Sunday. And
those of us that had, had the World War I, I experience had acquired
girlfriends there. Locally, we couldn't go to the dances with him. If they
were anglo, they couldn't go to the dance on Sunday. We couldn't go on
Saturday. It came to a boiler head there and we forced the issue. The all
American vets, we boycotted the dance hall. We formed a chain of the
tallest and biggest guys that we could find there to stand out in front
and discourage people from going in. It took the management of the dance
hall and the chief of police and the mayor about two weeks to discover
that we weren't going to give in and it was peaceful demonstration. None
of us ever got arrested. We were threatened but we weren't arrested. An
interesting development there was that the local newspaper
uh published an editorial somewhere about the middle of all this activity
about these returning American Gis who had come back as fascists and
communists. And uh other terms that we weren't even a knowledgeable as to
what they were calling us. But we had been fighting the so called fascists
in Europe and
most of the young men that I had known had gone to the Pacific because
when the draft called them in, most of them were drafted into the infantry
and shipped off as infantrymen to the Pacific. A few made it to Europe,
but we had become cognizant of the fact that in fighting fascists, we
weren't fascists and we weren't communist because we didn't even know what
a communist was in those days. But we were labeled all these things, uh
troublemakers, uh activists,
all interesting terms. When in fact, all we were trying to do was equalize
the human element, the the reception so that we would all be considered as
equal people. By the second week of this boycotting of the uh dance hall,
the management decided that they were losing money and they had better
change their way. And that integrated the dance halls in Miami.
While some Chicanos went to the war front, others became part of the labor
force so vital to the war efforts. There were approximately 3000 to 10,000
Chicano miners employed in the copper industries during the war. Their
employment was usually restricted to common labor and semi skilled jobs.
Craft unions of the A F of L would not allow Chicanos in their unions.
The Chicano miners were subject to pervasive social and economic
discrimination, housing education and recreation activities typically were
segregated. The Chicano miners face segregated employment in the Mexican
gangs as well as substandard job classifications and pay scales and a lack
of standard seniority provisions. The copper companies had two pay scale
classifications called the Southwest differential. Anglo American males
with no experience were paid $6.36 per shift as a helper. The Chicano who
had experience was classified as a common labor and paid $5.21 per shift
in 37. Uh I got a job with a company as a labor you might say, and at that
time was 35 cents an hour. And uh
they did, well, uh there were certain jobs that uh Mexican American or
they say Mexicans could not have, have. In other words, they could not be
operators. They were not allowed to be truck drivers, cat scanners, shl
operators and things like that. You could be a labor. And then uh on labor
, they had 444 classes. They had labor, A Labor B. Labor C and Labor D
which had sometimes you were only meant about a quarter of a cent
difference in, in the hourly rate. But uh it always happened when a
Mexican was hired, he started as a Labor D Anglo. He started at Labor A or
maybe Labor B but not, not any lower than that. And uh this went on for,
well, until about 1943
and A. So it was that way that uh they were, were discriminated on the job.
Well, the analysts had, like I said, they had, they had the, they
operated the shovels and they operated the bulldozers and they operated
the trucks and uh they did uh the journeyman repairs and uh things like
that. And, and uh Mexicans were not uh hired or promoted to those jobs,
even though they were working as a helper in one of the crafts, they were
not. Uh well, shall I say, accepted in a craft union? They had a, what
they call it, a Federated labor's union. And all the Mexican uh workers
were told that it was better for them to be all together in one. So they
started that they were allowed into the Federated Labors union of the FFL.
And uh I know I, at that time I was a helper and a bulldozer. But uh I
could not, I tried to sign up with the upper engineer but they told me
that I had to go to the labor union of the, the Federated with excuse, say
, well, I think you Mexican boys and that was the expression used. You
Mexican boys would be better. I think you'll feel better by being all
together among yourselves and things like that. So I just signed up, I
paid my initiation fee and I didn't pay any more dues. I said, what's the
use of join a union? When they, here, we thought that uh we, we're joined
the union to end the discrimination on the job. And then we find out that
this craft unions were discriminating the same as the company
efforts by Chicanos to eliminate discrimination and inequities in the
mining communities were successful. The International Union of Mine Mill
and smelter workers became the champion of Chicano miners rights. The Mine
Mill truly pioneered the civil rights movement in the mining communities
and led the fight against racial discrimination and allowed Chicanos to
work in the leadership positions within the union. My meal uh naturally
had the reputation of being anti discrimination and the moto was a ninja
21 is a ninja 12 because they said that if a worker try to keep another
worker, say we try to keep a, the Mexicans, it might say vulgar keep him
in the gutter, he had to stay there to hold him down. So therefore, the
Anglo was in disadvantage and the Mexican worker was a disadvantage for
the same thing, you know. So the company, uh that way they didn't have to
raise wages so much because uh the anglers were trying to keep the
Mexicans down. And at the same time, they didn't know it, but they were
keeping themselves down too. And mind me also was an end to all of that.
They did a, they did a good job of organizing and, and uh as soon as the
year was up when the A FL was certified, they petitioned for an election
and Manuel won the election and they took all the whole, the whole shebang.
You might say all the officer or at least most of the officers were
Mexican Americans and, uh, naturally the meetings, uh, most of the
meetings that were held by, I mean, attended by Mexican American. And so,
uh, they start calling it the Mexican Union. And, uh, when we came to
negotiations, they always started saying, well, I wonder what the Mexican
Union is gonna get this time. I wonder what they're gonna do this time.
But after we settled our agreement and made us some wages, they go over
there and we used to call them the me too because we, uh, we negotiate for
two or three months and, uh, the craft, you just stay back back. Of course
, I'm not blaming the local guys, you know, but it was the way that the,
the business agents in Phoenix and Tucson handle it. And then, uh, after
we settled with the company, they go down there in a couple of days, they
come back with a, with a signed agreement, which was almost identical to
what we, the same wage scale that we had agreed to. The same vacation
benefit, the same pension benefits when we got it, the same, uh, uh, paid
holidays, things like that in 55. Prior to prior to how we start
negotiation. We also organized a woman's auxiliary and, uh, naturally they
were the wives of some of the officers, plus a lot of the other women.
They were, see, they, they had been, uh, want to, to, to, to know what was
going on. And, uh, some women I like, like the, the wife of Henry and my
wife, they approach us and says, uh look, uh uh you guys are doing all
this and, and sometimes we don't even know what you're doing or what
you're asking for and things like that. So it's all right. So we organized
ac uh slaves auxiliary and, and they became proactive.
The mine mill union had positioned itself as a major collective bargaining
agent by the end of world war two for the production workers in the copper
industry. Unlike other unions, the mine mill did not turn a deaf ear to
the complaints of discrimination by the Chicano membership. Mine Mill
officials consistently sought contract agreements prohibiting
discrimination in both pay and employment practices. The mine mill union
brought three copper companies before the National Labor Relations Board
for its employment practices against Chicano miners.
So we filed a charge with the Nonfish
Commission uh on discrimination against the Mexican worker
and after long and extended hearings and a lot of testimony,
no fair
commission ruled in our favor. I order the companies to stop uh the no, we
spell and the the companies accepted it. They, they didn't like it but uh
they knew we'd strike it. They didn't accept it. The National Labor
Relations Board ordered the Miami the consolidated and the interest
smelting refining companies to halt their discriminatory employment
practices towards Chicano miners. The mine mill was so popular with the
miners that by the end of world war two, they represented three quarters
of the copper producing workers of the Southwest
in the 19 fifties. The local mine Mill Union 616 of Clifton Morei
organized voter registration drives that led to the election of Chicano
representatives on the school board and town council.
The post war period in Arizona was another important period in which
Mexicano and Chicano labor aided the United States economy. Agricultural
workers were again in great demand to raise and harvest the lettuce,
citrus and cotton fields in Arizona under agreements made both by the
United States and Mexico. In 1942 50,000 workers were imported to Arizona
and other Southwester States. Under a program known as the Bracero program
, the Mexicano workers under this agreement were to work only in
agricultural areas were not to displace domestic workers and were exempt
from military service. Although the agreement contained provisions for the
protection of workers. Many abuses were common
after world war two, the growers throughout the Southwest became
accustomed to efficient and cheap labor. They used their influence to
extend the Bracero program in 1951 and again in 1955
agriculture in 1950 was Arizona's largest basic industry employing a labor
force of over 50,000 to supplement the Bracero workers. Labor contractors
were hired to recruit more Chicano labor.
Thousands of migrant workers came from Texas to work the cotton harvest.
Campesinos who were dependent on farm labor settled near farms on small
Campos in communities such as Guadalupe. So Norita Sali Puede and San
Francisco. Others settled on the fringes of rural towns such as Chandler,
Glendale, Casa, Grande, Eloy Yuma and Somerton. During the 19 forties,
organizing efforts by Chicano workers to improve working conditions were
often met with resistance by law enforcement officials. In 1947 Governor
Osborne called the National Guard when a strike was organized by the Cio
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Workers Union in the Alhambra and Tollison
districts in Arizona's educational institutions, the discrimination and
segregation patterns towards Chicano students in the 19 twenties and 19
thirties remained after world war two. In 1949 a civil rights report on
education in Arizona reported that the towns of Au Saint John's Douglas
Safford and Duncan had Chicano and other minority students segregated in
their schools. Other schools that practice segregation were Miami Glendale
, Tollison, Tempe Flagstaff Superior and Clifton. The language barrier
became the most popular reason given by school administrators for
segregating Chicano students. Most schools felt that placing Chicano
students with a limited command of the English language with Anglo
students would impede the educational progress of the Anglo students. The
disadvantages of this system were summarized by a school principal where
segregation was practiced.
We have two separate school districts for grammar schools in our town.
Originally, the intention was to separate the Mexican Children from the
Anglo Children, graduates from the Spanish school speak very little
English which is reflected in their performance in high school. An average
of about 15 or 20 Mexican students in high school each year. And there's
not been a Mexican graduate from high school in the last three years
in the town of Tesson. The Chicano community along with returning
servicemen decided to fight discrimination and segregation in their
schools. With the assistance of Frank Robles, the Chicano legislator and
Ralph Estrada, a legal attorney for the Allianz Hisano Americana. The
Chicanos filed in the federal courts against the Tollison School district
State Senator Manuel Lito Pena remembers the case when we were growing up
um in Thomas and the school elementary school who was on the north side of
Van Buren and that's the way it was during the war. And when I, when I
left uh to the army, when I came back and I was just charged in 1946 in
late 46 um they had built, uh they had built a school on the uh on the uh
uh north side of that urine and it was uh designed strictly for the
Chicano kid and the Mexican kid. What happened there is that um um it was
a young fellow by the name of uh John Camacho. Hi and Thomason who was
studying for the ministry of some religious order. And he put together a
group
of, of uh of families in Thomas and to um try to correct the
discrimination that was going on there. Um
And he did put a group together. There was a fellow by the name of
Faustino Curiel who became the uh the chairman of uh of that group. And I
was uh elected the uh the vice chairman of the group and it was called uh
Muo Uno Mexicano Mmum.
Um It was, it was a, it was a fairly long struggle because I believe it
started about 1947.
Uh and contacts were made with the uh with the superintendent of the
schools who who refused to uh integrate the students. And contacts were
made with the, with the school board. Uh and particularly the, the
chairman of the school board fill up the name of Shey who was a farmer in
, in the Thomson area. Uh and they refused to uh integrate schools. And,
and so we wrote letters to just about everybody that we could and uh
that's throughout the country. We wrote letters to people all over the
country. Um We wrote letters to our, our congressional delegation in
Washington. We had one response from uh from the senator and my father who
send me a copy of the state constitution where he outlined that it was a
state problem and they, we ought to take care of it. Here. There was
another fellow by the name of Frank Robles, who was a um member of the
House of Representatives from, from uh Tucson. Uh He didn't write, he came
to Thomson and, and uh sat down with us and, uh in essence, that's really
when the, when the, uh uh when they struggle to correct that situation and
Thomas and began to take form because he, with his leadership and his, and
this credibility that he had, uh we formed a uh a more cohesive group in
Thomson. As a matter of fact, the, the entire, the entire uh uh the
northern part of Tollison was involved in the discrimination case. It was
, um it was the first case in, in the, in the country there was, there was
a f uh on, on discrimination. The Texas case was filed after our case. It
was litigated before ours. So that's the one that's, that's uh
acknowledged as the first case. But Toli and Gonzalez versus Sheeley was
filed was filed first by, um, by her attorney Ralph Estrada from Tucson
and it lasted a couple of years. Uh We, we went through uh the federal
courts and the federal judge uh uh issued a temporary injunction uh to the
school board and Thomas and uh telling them to stop discrimination. And I
believe he did that uh to allow the school board to um, do it on their own
voluntarily. They didn't, uh they didn't. Uh and um I called Frank Roz and
uh af after about three months after the uh temporary injunction, then, uh
Frank came down and we uh uh visited the schools. I visited the
superintendent of the schools and reminding him what the judge has said
and uh but nothing came of it. So, so Ralph Estrada, our attorney went
back to court and this time the judge issued a permanent injunction for
that school board and any future school boards in Thomson to uh to stop
discrimination and, and ordered the school board to begin integration
within 15 days. And, and I remember
that when we went to court, um, the second time, the final time that the
United States Marshal had gone out to bring in the superintendent of
schools fellow, the name of Kenneth Dyer. And uh, and the, and the, and
the school board trustees into court where they, where they had to face
the judge. And I remember the judge was very angry, very angry with them
because they, they had not done what he wanted them, what he asked them to
do. He didn't tell them to do it the first time, but the second time he
told him to do it and if they didn't start integrating within 15 days, he
would find him in contempt and, and drag him back in and, and treat with
them. At that time. The end result is that that was the end of
discrimination. And Thomson,
the case known as Gonzalez versus Shey was the first such case filed in
the Southwest. The federal courts ruled in favor of the Gonzalez family
and found that schools assigned to Chicano students were inferior to those
provided for other Children. In terms of facilities, equipment and
personnel, segregation practices continued in the schools of Glendale,
Douglas Miami and Winslow when the Allianz chose the Glendale district as
their next target. Glendale, fearful of losing the case, refused to fight
and agreed to close down the Mexican school. In 1954 the town of Winslow
limited the use of the swimming pool to Chicanos to once a week. That day
was Wednesday, the day before the pool was emptied and cleaned. The
Alianza legal staff brought suit on behalf of four Chicano residents of
Winslow. Winslow officials knowing they would lose. The suit agreed to
allow the Chicano community use of the pool whenever it was open to the
public. Now, here in Phoenix, we had, we had no swimming pool so the
Mexican could, could swim in. Um We had cities pools, university, uh
swimming pool and uh the old swimming hole up here on 35th Avenue in Van
Buren. Uh None of these riverside, uh None of these were allowed the
Chicanos and, and that was throughout the state that came down uh theaters
, we were allowed. Uh We had one theater by the name of Rex Theater,
Little Dinky three theater theater in downtown Phoenix. And, and the
strand I believe we were allowed one particular day during the week to, to
go to the theater that began to disappear. Uh Also discrimination and of
the restaurants there there used to be signs of, in restaurants, uh,
that said, um, um, no dogs or Mexicans allow them. And, uh, you know, that
kind of stuff makes me angry still and really, but that kind of stuff
existed. Yeah. But I'm convinced that the Thomson case had a lot to do
with ending discrimination. Um, I know, I know I did in Phoenix and I
don't, it throughout Arizona and I'm convinced that it had an impact
throughout the uh the Southwest, wherever the Chicago community is.
Chicanos also started political organizations and statewide voter
registration drives. The community service organization was established by
Chicanos in Arizona for the sole purpose of encouraging Chicanos to
register and vote. We are creating um a, a power base by registering
people to vote and we let everybody know that here was a group of people
that are ready to vote for whoever and depending upon how they performed
uh with the problems that faced the, the Chicano community. Um The CSO I
believe ran uh through 1955
56 in that in room. We must have registered. I know we did, we wrote to
thousands and thousands of people. Uh not only here in Phoenix, but
throughout Maricopa County,
the Chicano community had served notice to Arizona's public officials
through grass root organizational activities and legal court action that
segregation and discrimination in public facilities and educational
institutions would no longer be tolerated. These efforts served as a
catalyst and laid the foundation for the role that Chicanos would play in
the civil rights movement of the sixties.
Hm.