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Chicano Movement Essay

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The Chicano Movement had a long lasting impact on American society not only for the Chicano people but it also sparked Hispanic groups everywhere in the U.S to speak up for, and against, what is unjust. The term Chicano/Chicana means an American person of Mexican descent. The Chicano Movement was the largest civil rights and empowerment movement by Mexican Americans during the 1960s and 1970s when Mexican Americans and other Latinos fought against discrimination for equal opportunities. This movement got its inspiration from the Civil Rights movement and consisted of many different movements and organizations that were all fighting towards similar goals. The Chicano Movement highlighted a time in history when Mexican Americans promoted cultural …show more content…

One of the main factors that politically empowered the Chicano people were its political organizations. The League of United Latin American Citizens(LULAC) was founded in 1929 and believed that Mexican Americans were American citizens and should have equal, fair and right treatment (Latino Social Movements). However, since this was not the case, the organization was able to resist the segregation of Mexican Americans through the Supreme Courts. The LULAC fought for equal treatment for Mexican Americans through the courts and played an important role in the 1947 Mendez v. Westminster case. This case was about a 9-year old girl, named Sylvia Mendez, who was turned away from a public school in California because the school was a “whites only” school while she was Mexican American. Her father brought this issue to court and eventually, the court ruled in favor of the Chicano people by calling the segregation of children of “Mexican and Latin” descent, unconstitutional due to the Fourteenth Amendment (Chicano Movement-Gale). This case was a major turning point for the Chicano people because it desegregated schools in California for all Mexican Americans. While fighting for civil rights in the courts and through political organizations, the Chicano …show more content…

The Chicano Movement created more bilingual education programs and hired Chicano teachers which ultimately led to an increase in the college enrollment of Mexican Americans. There was also an increase in Latino involvement in government roles and in elections and farm workers gained the right to collective bargaining. Not only did the Chicano movement aid an increase in political and educational participation but there was also a resurgence of Chicano art and culture (Chicano Movement). The Chicano Movement has an important legacy that played a major role in the past but also in modern

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