Ethnic Minorities Seek Equality
Transcript of Ethnic Minorities Seek Equality
Chapter 23.2, pp. 771-776
Latino-Person whose family origins are in Spanish-speaking Latin America
Largest ethnic group in U.S.
History of being denied equal opportunities
Research from 2012
Largest group of Latinos in the U.S.=Chicanos Chicanos=Mexican
Americans
# of Cuban immigrants grew in 1960s after rise of Fidel Castro One-party dictatorship
Suppressed all political dissent
In the 1960s, Chicanos began to organize in order to fight discrimination Education, employment legal system
El Movimiento Chicano or Chicano movement Encouraged pride in Chicano culture
Walk out at L.A. high schools in 1968 involved 10K students Students followed elsewhere (CA, TX, CO)
Wanted culturally sensitive courses, better facilities, & Latino staff members
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365053309/
Latino farm workers struggled to unite
Many Latinos in the Southwest were migrant farm workers Moved from farm to
farm, struggled to survive
Some of the most exploited workers in the U.S.
Cesar Chavez became a hero to these workers Est. United Farm
Workers in 1962 Union for migrant
workers
Chavez believed in non-violent protests Targeted grape growers
of CA in 1967 when they refused to grant better pay & better conditions Organized a nationwide
boycott of grapes grown on non-union farms
Later targeted lettuce & other crops
In 1975, CA passed a law requiring collective bargaining between grape growers & union representatives
Finally, workers had a legal basis to ask for better working conditions
Chavez died in 1993
Focused on education later in life Felt it was the “great
equalizer” & the best way for Latinos to gain more rights
His birthday, March 31st, is now a national holiday Has been celebrated in
CA since 1995
Anti-Japanese sentiment reached a peak during WWII Pearl Harbor & fierce fighting in the Pacific
Internment camps affected 120K Lost hundreds of millions of dollars in homes, farms,
businesses
U.S. officially apologized in 1988
Anti-Chinese feelings grew after the Communist takeover in 1949
In 1960 in CA: If a white man earned $51 A Chinese man earned $43 A Japanese man earned $38
Yet, Asian American made economic gains faster than other minorities
When Hawaii became a state in 1959 they elected two Asian Americans to Congress Daniel Inouye & Hiram Leong Fong
In U.S. history there have been: 7 Asian Americans in the Senate 30 Asian Americans in the House
Assimilation era Tribes were subdued by late 1800s
Gov’t had plans to assimilate natives into American society Boarding schools
Children became pariahs when they came home
Traditional culture, including language, suffered
Dawes Act
Reservation land often sold
Natives no longer had power over their land
By 1871 tribes were no longer recognized as independent powers, but were also not considered full citizens
1924 Snyder Act finally granted citizenship to all Native Americans born n the U.S. However, many states denied Native Americans the right
to vote NM & AZ didn’t allow suffrage until 1948
Reorganization Era 1934: Tribe’s “restored” and given opportunity to use
reservation land & create their own gov’t Nicknamed the “Indian New Deal”
Reversed privatization of land from Dawes Act
Return to local self-government on a tribal basis
Restored to Indians the management of their assets (mainly land)
Termination Era: Late 1950s, US gov’t felt Indian would gain more by
living in cities Set up programs that lured reservation residents to urban
areas w/ promised jobs & places to live
Tribes reduced in numbers eventually lost their status as being a tribe Hence the term “termination”
New organization in 1968, American Indian Movement (AIM) Est. by Dennis Banks & George Mitchell
“A new coalition that will fight for Indian treaty rights and better conditions and opportunities for our people” Followed the example of militant black groups like the
Black Panthers
Fought for autonomy, or self-government
Broken Treaties Caravan est. in 1972
Traveled to Washington, DC & occupied the BIA offices for 6 days
In 1969, 75 natives landed on Alcatraz Island in San Fran Bay They claimed the island was claimed the island was
theirs according to the Ft. Laramie Treaty from 1868
The occupation eventually failed when federal marshals removed the last of the protesters after 1.5 years
AIM at Wounded Knee, SD in1973 Led by Russell Means
Site of massacre in 1890 200 Sioux men, women, & children had been killed
Pine Ridge Reservation was incredibly poor, one of the poorest areas in the entire U.S. Means & AIM took over the village & refused to leave until the
gov’t investigated the treatment of Indians & poor conditions in which they lived
Marshals & FBI surrounded the village 300 arrested, 2 killed, 12 injured Finally ended after 3 months, gov’t agreed to re-examine
Indian treaty rights
Self-Determination Era—kicked off in mid-1970s More favorable treatment from U.S. gov’t
More control over their own schools & programs
Increased autonomy
More wins in court rooms