Mexican Colonized History, 1821-1993

A Brief and Partial Chronology of Texas

The Summer of 1971

Researched, compiled & edited by Mario Longoria, Ph.D.

–1971. The year 1971 was of particular legal significance to Mexican Americans in Texas. At the time, many Mexican American students attending public schools in all grades were either de facto or legally segregated.

The following 1971 court cases as well as Intervention by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare to address the issue of “de segregation of schools in Texas. The judges and attorneys for the State of Texas were true to their racists’ inclinations with interpretations, arguments and intentions to prevent compliance with Federal Civil Rights’ laws and equality in education.

–Case: Alvarado v. El Paso Independent School District. The court dismissed a Chicano Class Action Suit that alleged racial and ethnic discrimination in the schools. The court reversed a lower decision of the class action de-segregation suit based on racial rather than legal principles.

–Case: (May 24) Ross v. Eckels. The court action involved the Houston Independent School District. The judge hearing the case was extremely prejudicial in his capacity to oppose the federal order to de-segregate the schools.

–Case: (June 1). Morales v. Uvalde Independent School District. The court stated that any segregation in Uvalde was de facto and they could not allow Mexican Americans to re-vamp and revise the entire school system which had been elected under the “so-called” democratic process of the people

–Case: (June 23). Thomas v. Bryan Independent School District. The court found that the school district officially segregated Mexican American children. As such, the court ordered Bryan ISD to abstain from discrimination on the basis of race, color or ethnic origin but adamantly refused to comply.

–Case: (June 28). United States v. Austin Independent School District. The court’s central issue was whether the Mexican American had been segregated by actions of the school district. The court conceded that even the most casual examination of Mexican American culture disclosed Mexican Americans as a separate ethnic group. But, the existence of an ethnic group, regardless of racial origin, and standing alone did not establish a case for integrating it with the remainder of the school population. Therefore, there was no compliance to de segregate.