Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston (University of Houston Series in Mexican American Studies, No. 3)

Strikes, boycotts, rallies, negotiations, and litigation marked the efforts of Mexican-origin community members to achieve educational opportunities and oppose discrimination in Houston schools in the early 1970s. The Houston Independent School District sparked these responses because it circumvented a court order to desegregate by classifying Mexican American children as "white" and integrating them with African American children--leaving Anglos in segregated schools. In Brown, Not White Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., traces the evolution of the community's political activism in education during the Chicano Movement era of the early 1970s. San Miguel also identifies the important implications of this struggle for Mexican Americans and for public education. The political mobilization in Houston signaled a shift in the activist community's identity from the assimilationist "Mexican American Generation" to the rising Chicano Movement with its "nationalist" ideology. It also introduced Mexican American interests into educational policy making in general and into the national desegregation struggles in particular. This important study will engage those interested in public school policy as well as scholars of Mexican American history and the history of desegregation in America. Read more...

Strikes, boycotts, rallies, negotiations, and litigation marked the efforts of Mexican-origin community members to achieve educational opportunity and oppose discrimination in Houston schools in the early 1970s. These responses were sparked by the effort of the Houston Independent School District to circumvent a court order for desegregation by classifying Mexican American children as "white" and integrating them with African American children—leaving Anglos in segregated schools. Gaining legal recognition for Mexican Americans as a minority group became the only means for fighting this kind of discrimination.

The struggle for legal recognition not only reflected an upsurge in organizing within the community but also generated a shift in consciousness and identity. In Brown, Not White Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., astutely traces the evolution of the community's political activism in education during the Chicano Movement era of the early 1970s.

San Miguel also identifies the important implications of this struggle for Mexican Americans and for public education. First, he demonstrates, the political mobilization in Houston underscored the emergence of a new type of grassroots ethnic leadership committed to community empowerment and to inclusiveness of diverse ideological interests within the minority community. Second, it signaled a shift in the activist community's identity from the assimilationist "Mexican American Generation" to the rising Chicano Movement with its "nationalist" ideology. Finally, it introduced Mexican American interests into educational policy making in general and into the national desegregation struggles in particular.

This important study will engage those interested in public school policy, as well as scholars of Mexican American history and the history of desegregation in America.

In the early 1970s, thousands of Mexican-origin students, parents, and community members participated in legal and political actions against the Houston public schools. Their actions were sparked by the school district's effort in 1970 to circumvent a desegregation court order by classifying Mexican American children as "white," integrating them with African American children, and leaving the majority Anglo children unaffected by the court order. The Mexican-origin activist community's struggle culminated in 1972, when the courts and schools recognized Mexican Americans as a distinct ethnic minority group and were thus forced to include Mexican American interests in the formulation and implementation of school policies. This book explores the history of the struggle and its intersection with the Chicano Movement and other social forces during the protest era. It documents the diverse responses of Mexican-origin activists to educational discrimination in the early 1970s and explores the role that the ideology and practice of "Chicanismo" had on Mexican-origin grassroots activism in Houston. The book's general thesis is that the activists' diverse responses reflected a shift in community identity from one based on the assimilationist ideology and politics of the "Mexican American generation" to one based on Chicano ethnic identity and the politics of struggle. (Contains references in extensive chapter notes and an index.) (SV) Part one discusses the development of the Mexican-American community of Houston from 1900-1960. This section discusses how Hispanic activists of the day sought to have Hispanics classified as White Americans. Specifically, chapter 1 discusses the Hispanic community prior to World War II, and chapter 2 discusses Mexican children in the schools and how they were affected by educational policies. Chapter 3 discusses efforts from Hispanic individuals to reform the school system. Chapter 4 documents debates on how to reform the education system that took place within the Hispanic community. Part two describes the campaign for the Hispanic community to be recognized as a non-white minority, rather than white, in regards to a Houston Independent School District (HISD) desegregation plan. In its initial 1970 desegregation plan, HISD was trying to "desegregate" by mixing black and Mexican students together while not including Anglo Whites in the desegregation plan, and using the Mexican students' designation as "white" as a workaround. Mexicans responded by launching a strike, or huelga, against HISD. Part three goes into detail regarding movements to classify Mexican-Americans as being a part of the racial minority groups. The book discusses the efforts of the Mexican American Educational Council (MAEC), an organization fighting HISD's original desegregation program, to be recognized by HISD and the court system Illustrations -- Tables -- Preface -- Diversification and Differentiation in the History of the Mexican-Origin Community in Houston -- Providing for the Schooling of Mexican Children -- Community Activism and Identity in Houston -- The Community Is Beginning to Rumble -- Pawns, Puppets, and Scapegoats -- Rain of Fury -- All Hell Broke Loose -- Simple Justice -- Continuing the Struggle -- The Most Racist Plan Yet -- A Racist Bunch of Anglos -- Reflections on Identity, School Reform, and the Chicano Movement -- Notes -- Index. In this book, the author traces the evolution of the community's political activism in education during the Chicano Movement era of the early 1970s. He identifies the implications of this struggle for Mexican Americans and for public education. It is aimed at those interested in public school policy, and scholars of Mexican American history.