La Raza Unida Party Analysis

The La Raza Unida Party began in the 1960’s as a social movement in the small South Texas town of Crystal City. Although Mexican Americans made up the majority of the population at 85% they had very little clout within the political landscape, which was dominated by Anglos. The Mexican Americans experienced no political representation and many were denied the right to vote because they didn’t speak or read English and many could not afford the poll taxes. The discrimination experienced by the Mexican Americans in this small town was comparable to the discrimination of African Americans in the Deep South, yet the brave Mexican’s in Crystal City, Texas chose to band together to generate change, awareness, and hope in creating new perspectives with respect to politics. Prior to watching this documentary I had never heard about the La Raza Unida Party. It seems that so much of American History is focused on the discrimination of the African Americans that the Mexican Americans were simply forgotten about. I am glad you chose this as a

The cheerleading squad would only allow one Mexican American cheerleader with the remainder to be of Anglo descent. One young girl, Diana Palacios chose to challenge this rule based on population alone since Mexicans outnumbered Anglos 8:1, but she and parents lost to the school board. Palacios gained support from her peers, as 700 Mexican Americans walked out of the high school until the following demands were met: they be allowed to speak Spanish on campus, Spanish history be taught, and allow more than one girl on the cheerleading squad. Representatives from the Department of Justice were called to mediate the crisis which led to the school board meeting all the students demands and three months later Palacios found herself as head cheerleader of the varsity cheerleading squad. This incident led to the forming of the Raza Unida