Museum of

Mexican American Civil Rights

Welcome to the

Museum of

Mexican American

Civil Rights

Museum

Curator

Hernandez v. Texas

Chicano Movemen

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Mendez vs. Westminster

UFW

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Un

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Farm

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Room 3

Ch

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Room 4

Mendez vs. Westminster

Entrance

Room 2

Hern

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Texas

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Cesar Chavez

César Chavez was born in Arizona. His family were farm workers. He attended 65 school because his parents could not find a permanent job. César Chavez was tired and knew something had to be done so he made the NFWA and demanded higher pay. His boycott and hunger strike helped a lot of farm workers.

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Image acquired at:

http://www.scott.k12.va.us/martha2/longhouses.htm

NFW Flag

The NFW flag was made by three people César Chávez, Richard and Manuel Chávez. They copied the eagle from the flag of Mexico. César Chávez wanted the eagle to be easy to reproduce. He picked the colors red for sacrifice white for hope and black for struggles of farm workers. Most of the farm workers were from Mexico so they understood the symbol that was easily understood by Mexicans.

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Image acquired at:

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/settlements/regions/northeast.html

UFW March

Most UFW (united farm workers) marches were in California. The last march with César Chávez was on April 29 1993. More than 50,000 mourner (a person who arenas a funereal) came to honor him. This march was the largest march of any leader.

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Image acquired at:

http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/History/indians5.php

Chicano Movement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-llwNYwTaHwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-llwNYwTaHw

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Image acquired at:

http://gonewengland.about.com/library/blplimoth9.htm

Mendez Conflict

On September 1943 Sylvia Méndez and his to brothers went with her Aunt to enroll at 17th street school in Westminster. Also she two cousins. Sylvia and her two brothers were denied at that school because they were dark skin and had a Mexican last name. But there cousins were accepted because they were lighter skin and had some French names. Sylvia Méndez had to go to a school ten blocks away. Sylvia’s parents sued the school. After that another family sued the school Brown Vs. Bore of Education. The Méndez family moved from Santa Ana to Westminster. Return to Room

Image acquired at:

http://www.culturecorner.org/Nov-19-05.html

The Court Case

On March 2, 1945, Mendez v. Westminster went to court. On March 18, 1946, Judge Paul J. McCormick said that the segregation in the school districts where not exiting. This victory helped other people like Brown vs. Board of Education to sue the schools.

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Image acquired at:

http://www.desertusa.com/ind1/ind_new/ind21.html

Rodolfo Gonzales

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He brought the first Chicano youth conference on march 1969. There a lot of Chicano activists and artists attended. He also known as a founder of the Chicano Movements. He's a boxer, poet and a political activists. He began his life as a fighter in Denver Colorado. Then in1960 he got interested in politics. He attended a poor people march in Washington DC in 1967. He made the Youth Liberation Conference from March 27 through March 31. Later he attended the Chicano Moratorium March and Rally march in Los Angeles. At the march he got arrested. Then he started another group called the La Raza Unida política party. They made a march and at the march there were gunfire and explosions. He had heart arrhythmia while he was driving and was paralyzed then he died.

Image acquired at:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14881/14881-h/14881-h.htm

What Hernández did

Pete Hernández was a 21year old kid who was a Mexican America cotton picker. He was drinking at a bar then he lost control so they had to kick him out. When he got to his house he got a gun and came back to the bar and shot Joe Espinosa on September 1951. He was accused of murder. The court didn't want to take his cases so his lawyer got all the Mexican names so he can his case. At the end he got the court cases but was still accused of murder and was on jail for life. Hernandez v. Texas, was a United States Supreme Court case that decided that Mexican Americans and all other race’s in the United States had equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

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Nazario JuarezGuillermo Ramirez

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