Title: A Civil Rights History: Latino/Hispanic Americans |
Headings: A Civil Rights History: Latino/Hispanic Americans
A Civil Rights History: Latino/Hispanic Americans
Content: In the 1960s, Latinos and Hispanics made their fight for equality even more visible, modeling their actions on the successful African-American struggle for civil rights. In 1962, Cesar Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association. In 1965, his fledgling organization started a boycott on grape growers that exploited their Latino and Hispanic workers. Latino and Hispanic activists also pushed educational institutions to include the contributions of Latinos and Hispanics in discussions of U.S. History. Throughout the 1960s, Latino-American and Mexican-American history departments opened at many major universities. In 1972, the Latino and Hispanic communities raised formalized their political activism with La Raza Unida Party, based in Corpus Christi Texas. Chapters gradually opened in cities across the country. In 1975, the 1965 Voting Rights Act was extended to the Southwest guaranteeing Latino and Hispanic Americans the equal opportunity to register and vote. Today, Latinos and Hispanics — at 38.8 million counted by the U.S. Census — are the nation’s largest and fastest growing minority. “Non-violence is not inaction.