ETHNIC AND RACIAL MINORITIES Discussion

Taking Back Our Schools

Taking Back Our Schools covers the Los Angeles high school blow outs of 1968 thoroughly and with passion. Part 3 is also likely to be the most interesting to students because they can witness young people their own age forcefully agitating for change. It is also striking because the catalysts for the walk outs--high drop out rate, crumbling schools, lack of Mexican American teachers--still resonate today. This segment is visually interesting as well because the filmmakers made a conscious effort to interview actual participants (which they do in all the segments). Here they actually go back and forth between a photo or video of a participant from the 1960s to that same person being interviewed today, and it is insightful to see how that individual changed in the intervening thirty years. For example, at one point the video discusses how the students were trying to garner outside support for their cause in order to legitimate it in the eyes of the school board. Robert Kennedy agrees to meet with student leaders and offer his support (he was running for president at the time and was in California to meet with Cesar Chavez), and we see a picture of Kennedy surrounded by student leaders. The camera then focuses on a young Harry Gamboa--one of the walk-out leaders--standing next to Kennedy and the video then fades away to a current day interview with him.

Again... As you watch this video, think about contemporary movements that are connected to the same struggle the East LA Student Walkout Committees were engaged in.  Think about the themes they were faced with.  How is their plight relevant today?  Don't ignore the essential questions.  Watch the video while keeping the questions in mind.

It covers the Los Angeles high school blow outs of 1968 thoroughly and with passion. Part 3 is also likely to be the most interesting to students because they can witness young people their own age forcefully agitating for change. It is also striking because the catalysts for the walk outs--high drop out rate, crumbling schools, lack of Mexican American teachers--still resonate today. This segment is visually interesting as well because the filmmakers made a conscious effort to interview actual participants (which they do in all the segments). Here they actually go back and forth between a photo or video of a participant from the 1960s to that same person being interviewed today, and it is insightful to see how that individual changed in the intervening thirty years. For example, at one point the video discusses how the students were trying to garner outside support for their cause in order to legitimate it in the eyes of the school board. Robert Kennedy agrees to meet with student leaders and offer his support (he was running for president at the time and was in California to meet with Cesar Chavez), and we see a picture of Kennedy surrounded by student leaders. The camera then focuses on a young Harry Gamboa--one of the walk-out leaders--standing next to Kennedy and the video then fades away to a current day interview with him.

Transcript:

00:12 (chanting) 00:23 - 1968 was a time in which the entire planet 00:26 was feeling the reverberations of a new spirit. 00:34 Certainly, it was going on in Mexico. 00:36 It was going on in France. 00:37 It was going on all over the United States 00:40 with students of every single state 00:43 and college in town demanding 00:46 that there was and had to be a better alternative 00:49 to what was going on in the world at that time. 00:55 The Vietnam war was a big issue for everybody, 00:58 particularly for Chicano's because we were dying 01:00 there in higher proportions to anyone else. 01:02 And no one was acknowledging that. 01:05 So that our contributions didn't mean anything 01:07 to the country and we saw reflected in the world 01:10 that people thought that something could be done 01:15 and we felt that we had to do what we could do 01:18 with our lives as well. 01:20 That was a time in 1968. 01:24 (chanting) 01:28 (upbeat instrumental music) 01:30 - [Voiceover] There was never a school term like this one. 01:33 It began with a simple protest by students 01:35 who wanted a better education. 01:38 School officials became involved and the parents, 01:42 then the police and the FBI. 01:53 Before long, school children were branded as subversives, 01:56 their lives threatened, 01:58 all because they wanted a better education. 02:02 (rock instrumental music) 02:10 (world instrumental music) 02:24 (female vocal instrumental music) 02:35 (female vocal instrumental music) 02:56 (female vocal instrumental music) 03:31 East Los Angeles, 03:35 in the 1960's, this was home 03:37 to almost 100,000 Mexican-Americans. 03:42 It was the largest barrio in the United States. 03:49 - Growing up in East Los Angeles, 03:50 I wasn't actually aware of it as a young child 03:53 but it soon became apparent that I grew up 03:56 in a very isolated, very segregated neighborhood, 04:00 a community that was totally separate 04:02 from the rest of Los Angeles. 04:11 - [Voiceover] Education was seen as a way to breakdown 04:13 those barriers. 04:15 A way for young people to one day have 04:17 what everyone else had. 04:21 - Well, I was buying into this whole thing 04:23 about the American Dream, get an education, 04:26 you can be whatever you want to be 04:28 and I read all these books and listen to the teachers 04:31 even though at the back of my mind, 04:32 I'm saying something's going on here. 04:34 The reality that I see here is different 04:35 from what you're saying. 04:40 - [Voiceover] Something was definitely wrong. 04:43 Only one out of four Chicano's completed high school. 04:48 - The dropout rate was really 04:49 what some people called a push-out rate. 04:51 These were students who were being pushed out of school 04:54 because their needs weren't being met, 04:56 their culture was not addressed. 04:58 The school really wasn't doing anything for them. 05:04 - [Voiceover] Unemployment was almost double 05:06 the national average. 05:08 Those who worked, earned about two-thirds, 05:11 of what other Los Angeles residents earned. 05:15 These conditions had a dramatic impact 05:18 on Mexican-American children. 05:24 - I started elementary school in the early 1950's 05:29 and I was the only student in my kindergarten class 05:32 that was a mono-lingual Spanish speaking child 05:35 and I was immediately led to the front of the class 05:38 and I was instructed on how to create a cone hat 05:42 out of construction paper. 05:45 The teacher painted a word on it 05:46 and told me I could take it off 05:47 when I learned to speak English. 05:49 And the word she had painted on that was the word Spanish. 05:57 - I remember going to elementary school taking my tacos 06:00 of frijoles and meat and rice 06:03 and being made fun of by the other kids, 06:06 in junior high especially, to the point 06:08 in where I didn't want to take tacos de carne to school. 06:12 I wanted to take bologna sandwiches. 06:17 - I remember feeling ashamed when my father 06:21 would go to school because he didn't speak good English 06:24 and translating for him. 06:26 Feeling ashamed of being Mexican and which fed 06:29 this growing anger in me, 06:33 and I think those same things were infecting everyone else 06:37 and everyone responded in a different way. 06:44 The burden was pretty heavy in terms of the shame 06:46 of not feeling that your parents were worth anything 06:49 because the teachers in schools treated them like children. 06:55 (soft Mexcian instrumental music) 07:01 - [Voiceover] There were clear signs of prejudice 07:03 and discrimination. 07:06 - I remember vividly when I was an honors student, 07:09 being asked by the white counselor, 07:12 what my father did for a living and me telling her, 07:15 "well, he's a laborer, he works with his hands." 07:19 And then she told me and I'll never forget. 07:21 These were the exact worlds, 07:22 "that is a very honorable profession, 07:25 "you should follow your father's footsteps." 07:30 - My homemaking teacher, she would say, 07:33 "you little Mexicans, you better learn and pay attention. 07:36 "This class is very important because, 07:40 "most of you are gonna be cooking 07:42 "and cleaning for other people." 07:45 - It was real clear to me, 07:46 that there was a definite tracking system. 07:49 Some students went into the academia tracking 07:52 and were being prepared to go to college. 07:56 Others were being tracked into going into the shop classes, 07:59 into the vocational areas. 08:01 It wasn't that there was anything wrong with that 08:04 but you didn't have a choice, 08:05 you were tracked into those areas. 08:09 - Students were grouped into the classes generally based 08:12 on some kind of ability rating, usually it was I.Q. 08:17 The lower groups didn't get the same benefits 08:19 and also didn't get the same support for going to college. 08:25 - [Voiceover] Gradually, these students realized 08:27 they were not alone in their frustrations. 08:31 - I heard that there were many more students who 08:33 had the same kind of yearning and anger and desire 08:37 to do something with their lives. 08:39 And not be stereotyped and pegged, 08:41 into being some sort 08:44 of commodity for labor. 08:46 - A lot of us had the same sort of complaints, 08:50 about what was happening in our lives 08:53 as far as our education. 08:55 So, we decided to take a survey. 08:59 - That's when we start to gather that information 09:02 and start interacting with the school district saying, 09:04 you're not meeting our needs and look at people 09:07 are saying they don't get college advisement's, 09:10 kids are saying they get pushed out of school, 09:13 that discipline is not fair. 09:15 They went from better food all the way to, 09:18 we want to go to college. 09:22 - We have the lowest reading rate in East L.A., 09:25 in the Eastside schools. 09:28 We have graduates that graduate from high school 09:30 that graduate, that are in the 12th grade that graduate 09:34 and are out to face the world 09:36 and can only read in an eighth and ninth grade reading level 09:39 and we believe this is a crisis. 09:41 - We were just being passed because 09:43 of our age and nothing else. 09:45 So, they really didn't care if we learned how to read 09:47 or we knew how to spell or anything else like that. 09:50 It was just a matter of, okay just go. 09:54 - I think the bottom line is the lack of concern 09:56 of the teachers towards the kids and whether the kids 09:58 were really getting an education or not. 10:02 The reality set in that teacher's weren't really concerned 10:07 for the kids. 10:10 - [Voiceover] Students called for bi-lingual instruction, 10:13 Mexican-American history courses, 10:16 an end to corporal punishment, 10:19 and the hiring of more Mexican-American teachers 10:21 and counselors. 10:23 Their efforts transformed America's understanding 10:26 of what was meant by Civil Rights. 10:32 They presented their demands 10:34 to the Los Angeles school board. 10:39 - Jay felt like, we were not counseling em 10:42 but were trying to have em go into industrial arts. 10:45 Well that wasn't true at all. 10:46 We were trying our best to get as many to go 10:48 into a four-year school as would. 10:52 - What can we do when we do not 10:54 have the absolute authority to control 10:56 what the whole of society is doing. 10:58 If we could distribute everybody equally 11:01 and have equal funds everywhere and have equal quality 11:04 of teachers, there would be no problem. 11:08 - They patted us on the back 11:11 and my recollection was that they literally 11:13 just threw away the results of our survey. 11:17 And that began to politicize this. 11:23 (light piano instrumental music) 11:25 - [Voiceover] The students were facing a problem that had, 11:27 for years, caused concern within their community. 11:32 As early as the turn of the century, 11:34 Mexican-American families called for educational reform. 11:40 They protested the segregation of their children 11:42 in so called, "Mexican Schools", 11:45 where teachers severely punished Mexican-American students 11:48 for speaking Spanish in the classroom. 11:52 - Keep in mind that the Spanish language 11:54 for many Mexicans is almost a characteristic 11:57 of being Mexican. 11:58 It's a defining characteristic, 12:01 not an incidental characteristic. 12:04 - Young children were taught that the culture 12:07 of their community, of their parents, 12:09 was really a hindrance to success. 12:12 If a child learned these kinds of things, 12:15 he began then, to look upon his cultural background, 12:20 upon his parents, upon his community in a negative way. 12:25 - So, you treat them and you teach them 12:28 at the lowest common denominator of labor 12:30 and how to use your hands. 12:31 And you get em out into the fields 12:33 and into jobs as quickly as possible. 12:35 That was the Mexican experience in schools. 12:40 - [Voiceover] By 1946, parents in Santa Anna, California 12:43 were fed up. 12:45 They filed suit against local school officials and won. 12:50 Mendez verses the Westminster School District, declared 12:53 the segregation of Mexican-American children 12:55 to be unlawful. 12:58 It set the stage for the landmark 12:59 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown verses Board of Education, 13:03 which declared segregated schools unconstitutional 13:07 throughout the United States. 13:11 Despite this ruling, segregated schools remain. 13:15 And even in integrated settings, Mexican-American students 13:18 still suffered from neglect and unequal resources. 13:24 - The end result of this is that the Mexican children 13:27 were given an inferior education which prepared 13:30 them for menial kinds of positions 13:32 and jobs as cheap laborers. 13:34 The kinds of positions that their parents filled. 13:41 - [Lyndon] Our greatest resource is the skill 13:44 and the vision and the wisdom of our people. 13:48 If your education falters of fails, everything else 13:52 that we attempt as a nation will fail. 13:55 If you succeed, America will succeed. 13:58 Over half of all the Mexican-American children 14:04 have less than eight years of school. 14:10 How long can we pay that price? 14:16 - There's a vast ignorance about the Mexican 14:19 and consequently there's a myth that the Mexican 14:23 is pliable, he is non-resistant 14:25 and that anybody can do anything to him that anybody wishes. 14:28 Well, this isn't true. 14:29 But now that he's become an urban Mexican, 14:32 and now that there's a more numerous generation of... 14:35 - [Voiceover] Doctor Ernesto Galarza, 14:37 a long time labor activist and educator sensed 14:40 that traditional perceptions 14:42 of the Mexican-American community 14:44 were about to be challenged. 14:46 - The tensions within the Mexican community are increasing 14:48 and they show themselves in the current protest movements. 14:54 - [Voiceover] Despite the earlier efforts 14:56 to improve education, a half-century of frustration 14:59 was about to explode in the East Los Angeles schools. 15:04 - This was a time in which enough Chicano students 15:06 had gained mastery of the tools that were necessary 15:09 to shake up the system 15:12 and had taken the ideals of the country to heart. 15:16 And so, we protested for our rights. 15:20 - Who is the political evolution of a group 15:22 of young Chicano's in East L.A., 15:25 from being involved in community civic-minded activities 15:28 as young citizens for community action 15:30 and then becoming culturally aware of their background, 15:34 their history, their race and becoming young Chicano's 15:37 for community action and asserting their real identity 15:41 and then getting involved and realizing 15:43 that the system wouldn't change unless you 15:45 became more direct action. 15:49 - During that time, we were building support. 15:52 We were all talking to other students at campuses, 15:54 we were talking to teachers. 15:56 People were talking to their parents 15:59 and we were building support in the community. 16:02 - I was a first year graduate student 16:05 and I was involved in the initial organizing 16:08 of UMAS, which stands 16:10 for the United Mexican-American Students. 16:13 And we had begun to talk with other leaders 16:16 in the area at the other campuses that we needed 16:19 to commit ourselves as college students 16:21 to the betterment of our community 16:24 and in particular, to changing things for the betterment 16:27 of our sisters and brothers in the high schools 16:29 for example and the elementary schools. 16:32 - [Voiceover] Sal Castro, an outspoken history teacher, 16:36 helped to organize the students. 16:38 - For years the schools have rapped 16:41 or have blamed the Mexican home for not doing a good job 16:45 in educating the kid. 16:46 In other words, if the kid doesn't go to school, 16:48 it's the Mexican parent's fault or the Mexican home's fault. 16:51 But I have yet to see a Mexican kid come into school 16:54 at the age of five or six years 16:56 of age not knowing a language. 16:57 - [Voiceover] Castro grew up in East Los Angeles 16:59 where he learned first-hand the problems 17:01 within these schools. 17:03 - He has learning-readiness, or he's ready to learn 17:05 when he walks into the school. 17:07 So, it's not the fault, it has never been the fault 17:09 of the Mexican home. 17:13 - [Voiceover] His activism was shaped by vivid memories 17:15 from his youth. 17:18 In the 1930's, Sal's father was deported to Mexico, 17:21 part of a U.S. repatriation program provoked 17:24 by the Great Depression. 17:28 In the 1940's, he witnessed the Zoot Suit Riots 17:31 when U.S. soldiers and sailors attacked Mexican-Americans 17:34 in the streets of Los Angeles. 17:43 By the spring of 1968, Sal Castro knew clearly 17:46 what he was up against. 17:49 - Most teachers approach a Mexican with a negative attitude 17:51 and that you have nothing to give to me, 17:53 I am going to make an Anglo come hell or high water 17:57 and whatever you have to say about it makes no difference. 18:00 - We had to now say the schools are not working. 18:04 They're taking our taxpayers money, the hard money 18:07 that our fathers and mothers worked for 18:09 and not returning it in any way. 18:11 We're the only ones losing out. 18:17 - [Woman] A massive walkout to shut down the schools 18:19 was what we somehow decided on. 18:23 Change wasn't going to come from within 18:24 it had to come from without. 18:35 - How many people were going to do it, 18:37 and who was gonna to do it was I think decided 18:41 that morning for a lot of us, me included. 18:46 (bell ring) 18:53 - And at nine am, while we were all sitting in class, 18:58 everyone was aware this was gonna happen. 19:07 - The signal was gonna to be, "blow out, blow out". 19:10 And so, we went around the school, "hey blow out, blow out" 19:12 so then, all of a sudden kids began to come out 19:15 of those classes and the teachers (mumbling) was going on. 19:17 - My friends would go down the hallway saying, 19:21 "walk out, walk out" and I remember looking at them 19:25 and thinking my god, am I really gonna do this? 19:30 (cheering) 19:43 - And then all of the sudden, the chanting began, 19:45 "Chicano power, Chicano power. 19:48 "(Spanish), we demand change." 19:55 (Mexican instrumental music) 20:00 (yelling) 20:01 - In the morning, as I walked into school 20:03 as the bell rang for the kids to go to school, 20:05 into the classroom, out they went. 20:08 Kids from all over, different hallways 20:10 and everything else, bam, onto the streets 20:13 with their heads held high, with dignity. 20:18 It was beautiful to be a Chicano that day. 20:24 (rock instrumental music) 20:28 (chanting) 20:50 (chanting) 20:53 - [Voiceover] 4,000 students walked out of five 20:55 Eastside high schools that day. 20:57 By the end of the week, 16 schools were affected 20:59 with more than 10,000 students out in the streets. 21:05 Reaction in the community was mixed. 21:07 Not everyone supported the blow outs. 21:09 - The majority of the students at Garfield High School 21:11 do not, do not condone or accept the method 21:15 which has been used. 21:17 - For me, it was kind of a sad time. 21:21 I felt embarrassed about the way people were acting. 21:25 It had felt uncomfortable, 21:29 to watch people acting 21:32 rudely, loudly, treating people with disrespect. 21:37 - You guys put us down, you guys know that. 21:40 (cheering) 21:44 - [Voiceover] School officials blamed outsiders, 21:46 singling out a group of young militants called, 21:48 the Brown Berets. 21:54 (marching) 21:57 - Some people seem to feel that it's the Brown Berets 21:59 who are running this show and getting everybody out. 22:02 Do you agree with that or who's responsible 22:04 for what's happening, is it the Brown Berets? 22:06 - It's the Garfield High School Strike Committee. 22:09 - [Reporter] Who organized this? 22:11 - [John] We organized this, 22:11 the Garfield High School Strike Committee. 22:13 - [Reporter] How'd you get the idea? 22:15 - We just saw that the school was bad. 22:20 - The Brown Beret organization became involved 22:23 as we were fearful that the police were going 22:26 to come down heavy on these kids and we wanted to protect 22:29 them as much as possible. 22:30 So, the Brown Berets represented the security. 22:36 - [Voiceover] The Brown Berets were a paramilitary group. 22:38 They advocated direct action and were often confrontational. 22:43 As such, they became a source of great concern 22:45 for the police and the local press. 22:49 - The Brown Berets are a group of young Chicano students 22:51 in college and we've finally gotten together 22:54 and are aware that the Chicano, the Mexican-American 22:56 and the Black man is not benefiting from 22:59 this great, American society. 23:01 Little by little... 23:02 - The newspaper, the local East L.A. Tribune, 23:05 started accusing the Brown Berets 23:06 of being outside agitated troublemakers. 23:10 We would tell everybody that, look at what they're writing 23:12 about us, you know who we are, we live here, 23:14 we grew up here and we're still here. 23:17 (marching) 23:18 - If the Mexican-American students want to lead 23:21 this protest, a protest which we unfortunately 23:23 have not had the courage as adults to lead in the past 23:26 then we will back and support the Mexican-American students 23:29 in their efforts. 23:31 - The administrators are saying 23:32 that we're disrupting the educational process. 23:33 That's not so, the educational process of Mexican-Americans 23:37 for over 20 years in East Los Angeles and 23:39 throughout the southwest has been disrupted 23:41 by its failure to communicate with the Mexican-American. 23:44 That is the disruption. 23:46 When 57% of the students at Garfield dropout year 23:49 after year, there has to be a problem. 23:51 We're not operating in a vacuum. 23:53 There's social injustice. 23:56 - [Voiceover] They needed to be jolted and shocked 23:59 and it's what happened. 24:00 I think the establishment, the status quo 24:02 was surprised that all these little Mexican kids 24:05 would be blowing out and walking out and protesting. 24:12 - What could the community have done? 24:15 Did they have a legitimate complaint? 24:16 Absolutely. 24:19 Did they bring that complaint to public attention 24:21 in the only way they could have? 24:23 Probably. 24:24 But were they right on everything? 24:27 No. 24:29 - [Voiceover] Striking students gathered at a local park 24:32 and demanded a meeting with school board members. 24:36 - I cannot tell the Board of Education to come. 24:39 My feeling is members, 24:42 members of the board of education 24:44 will be happy to come and talk with you. 24:50 - Now, what I said to you is that I realize your limitation 24:53 but I'm also saying that we, your students, 24:55 are demanding that they come. 24:57 We are only asking that you relay this information. 25:01 (cheering) 25:02 - And I remember that the area superintendent tried 25:04 to talk to us, but he didn't have anything to say. 25:06 What could he say to us? 25:08 And so, the students got up there and spoke 25:11 and there was this tremendous energy and fervor. 25:14 There was an excitement that we actually pulled it off. 25:19 - [Voiceover] Despite opposition, walkout leaders 25:21 from Eastside schools forged a united front. 25:25 - And we're supposed to have a meeting with a school board 25:29 and they (mumbling) out on us. 25:32 But what they're trying to do is split us up 25:34 and we don't want them to split us up, do we? 25:37 - [All] No. 25:39 - My decision to walkout was probably the lightest decision 25:43 in terms of what I probably, would have liked to have done 25:46 at that point, with that kind of youth and energy and anger. 25:50 - That's why we're not gonna be here, 25:53 like separate schools, we're all united Chicano's right? 25:56 (cheering) 25:58 - [Voiceover] The walkouts continued. 26:00 Tensions increased. 26:03 - [Voiceover] Could we please have it quiet, now listen. 26:07 The assembly won't stop until the police leave. 26:10 We are having a peaceful demonstration. 26:12 We did not need police officers at this (mumbling). 26:15 (cheering) 26:21 - The policemen, if they are here, should leave the area. 26:25 I think that we can take care of things ourselves. 26:28 (cheering) 26:33 - [Voiceover] Community leaders and school board members 26:35 tried to calm the situation. 26:39 - To the extent that you've dramatized the problem, 26:41 you help me. 26:42 To the extent that you've convinced the public 26:45 that you will demand at all cost, you handicap me. 26:49 Consider that. 26:52 - I was aware that there was frustration 26:55 within the minority community. 26:57 I was aware that there was great political opposition 27:00 within the majority community. 27:02 And so, I knew that in a sense that we were sitting 27:04 on a tinder box. 27:06 - Now I want to tell you what's been, 27:09 (mumbling) 27:10 I hate, I really hate to do this again 27:12 but we will just have to walk out once more. 27:15 (cheering) 27:20 - [Police officer] I command you (mumbling) people, 27:22 for the state of California to disperse immediately. 27:25 Two minutes. 27:27 - [Voiceover] Problems began to escalate. 27:30 Police were called in to maintain order. 27:33 - The police were not our friends back then. 27:36 They were there to keep us down. 27:40 And certainly, the authorities of the time felt 27:42 that we were just crazy, that the Mexicans 27:45 were getting out of control. 27:48 (policeman speaking Spanish over loudspeaker) 27:53 - [Policeman] Everybody start splitting man, I mean it man. 27:55 You better start picking them in the buses. 27:58 - [Policman] General order of assembly included 28:00 that man inside the football field, 28:04 anyone on the stands 28:06 will be arrested. 28:11 - Following the Watts Riot in 1965, 28:16 law enforcement began to undergo 28:20 what we called DRT Training, 28:22 Disaster and Riot Training, 28:25 recognizing that we 28:27 may be facing a period of unrest. 28:34 I'd be less than truthful if I sat here and said 28:38 that we always do everything perfectly 28:40 and never overreact. 28:44 There are occasions when individuals do overreact. 28:51 - The only thing that happened was that one of the gates, 28:53 on Wednesday afternoon, they couldn't get out of the gate 28:56 and one of the, of all things, the quarterback 28:59 of the football team tried to break the lock 29:01 and the police arrested him. 29:03 And I said, "you can't, we need him. 29:05 "Just take it easy, he's the quarterback." 29:08 (yelling) 29:10 - I felt two arms on each side of my body, grabbing 29:15 underneath my arms, pulled me away, 29:17 off from the main line of students. 29:24 They assumed I was an outsider from the school. 29:30 - People were just running into the streets, 29:33 just clubbing people, I mean the police 29:35 were just clubbing the people in the streets 29:37 and running after them. 29:39 And some of them were just sitting on the lawns there. 29:42 (yelling and sirens) 29:48 (whistle blows) 30:01 - At first, to see such resistance 30:04 and then to see outright hostility, 30:07 brutality, it didn't match the thing that we were doing. 30:12 We didn't commit a crime, we were protesting. 30:19 - I thought they had overreacted somewhat 30:22 and that might have been because I don't think they 30:24 had had such a thing before in their career 30:27 of confronting two or 300 high school students determined 30:31 to cross the street. 30:31 That's what it amounted to. 30:34 - I think what people saw was that even when kids 30:38 were involved in constitutionally protected activity, 30:41 such as legitimate protest, such as the walkouts were, 30:44 and yet, they were abused and jailed. 30:50 - Police were not kind to high school students. 30:53 They treated them in the same way 30:54 that they treated other Mexicans. 30:56 And that was not very good. 30:58 So, the parents were concerned that somebody would get hurt. 31:03 - We knew what the danger was, we could see it. 31:06 But we also couldn't stop it. 31:08 They were already there, they were doing it themselves. 31:12 So, it just spurred us on to get these reforms going 31:17 so that it would cool off. 31:19 - We've got to stay together and not have violence. 31:22 - [Voiceover] Schools authorities began 31:24 to pressure the striking students. 31:26 - The kids are now getting calls from principals 31:29 that they're gonna be suspended, 31:31 that they're gonna be expelled, 31:32 that anybody that was headed for college 31:34 and had grants or scholarships, 31:36 the scholarships were to be taken away. 31:38 We needed some public official to say, 31:41 "the kids are right." 31:45 - We all went to go meet Bobby Kennedy on the day he 31:47 was about to meet Cesar Chavez who was undergoing his fast 31:50 at the point to request that he support our efforts, 31:54 in which he did, and which he was very generous 31:57 with his words and offered us positive support. 32:02 - He knew all about the walkouts. 32:05 He had had a list of our demands. 32:08 He asked us a couple of questions. 32:11 And he told us that he supported everything that we did. 32:17 - We are not going to play games. 32:20 - [Voiceover] Parents concerned for their children's future 32:23 became actively involved. 32:26 - We are not going 32:27 to allow this situation to continue. 32:31 We are not going to let young people, 32:35 below the age of 18, do the work that belongs to us. 32:42 - [Voiceover] As their children had done, 32:43 they asked to meet with school officials. 32:46 Their request was denied. 32:48 - A very long list of participating groups. 32:51 - Seems that our voices are not heard. 32:55 What else have they left for us to do? 32:59 All we can do is support them. 33:02 - We spend three weeks trying to find one educator 33:07 to understand the meaning of lack of respect. 33:10 (speaking in Spanish) 33:15 - It's a real place where our (mumbling) 33:17 was going to definitely demonstrate its full potential 33:21 and strength was here in the city. 33:23 For the first time, what was more significant 33:25 is not what individuals were doing but what masses 33:28 of people were doing 33:29 and that's what the walkouts demonstrated. 33:31 Our movement was not a movement of cadres, 33:34 of individuals, of organizations 33:36 but of mass involvement. 33:39 - Men and women of the Mexican-American community. 33:43 - [Voicoever] Three weeks later, the school board bowed 33:45 to pressure and agreed to meet with parents. 33:48 - [Voiceover] We have allowed our young people 33:51 to get the short end of the stick for too long. 33:55 (clapping) 34:04 (rock instrumental music) 34:07 - [Voiceover] The students returned to school hoping 34:09 things would work out. 34:15 Parents and teachers from East L.A. began meeting regularly 34:17 with the school board to implement the students' demands. 34:22 The students had not only taught their parents 34:25 about education, they'd also expanded the concept 34:28 of what civil rights meant in America. 34:32 By early June, things seemed back to normal. 34:40 - 2:30 in the morning, 34:42 banging at the door, bang, bang, bang 34:44 and I go to the door, bang, door comes down. 34:48 The L.A.P.D., sheriffs, county sheriffs 34:52 with their weapons drawn, come right in 34:54 with their weapons pointed at my head. 34:57 - He grabbed me, threw me into a car, 34:59 pulled his gun, handcuffed me. 35:03 And I asked, what am I being arrested for? 35:05 They wouldn't tell me. 35:07 So, next thing I knew I was downtown in the glass house. 35:13 - They put the cuffs on me and he says, 35:15 you know, we're gonna take em off, they took em off again 35:17 and we're gonna give you 10 steps 35:20 and you can make a run for it. 35:22 I knew what they wanted to do. 35:24 And I said, (speaking in Spanish) I said to myself. 35:26 This is really serious business. 35:29 And I was scared for my life 35:30 and all I can remember thinking was my children, 35:33 my two children, what's going to happen to them 35:36 after they kill me? 35:37 And I put my hands back again, you better cuff me 35:39 and take me in. 35:41 - [Voiceover] 13 Chicano leaders involved in the walkouts 35:43 were arrested and indited on conspiracy charges. 35:47 One of them was Sal Castro. 35:52 If convicted, each defendant faced 66 years in prison. 35:57 - You know, in reality 36:01 it's not us that are indited, 36:07 it's not us that are up for conspiracy, 36:12 because in the long run the indictment 36:15 will be on the Board of Education. 36:20 The convictions will be on the individual members 36:24 of the Board of Education, 36:26 principles, vice principals and counselors 36:31 who have been completely negligent of their jobs 36:34 for years and years and years 36:37 and it's not only an indictment of the Los Angeles schools, 36:41 but of all the schools in the southwest 36:43 where Chicano's have gone to for years 36:46 and where the schools have failed miserably 36:49 in teaching them. 36:51 They will be indited and they will be convicted 36:55 and in the long run, our kids will win, 37:01 the Mexican will win, 37:05 the United States will win, 37:09 all of us, (speaking Spanish). 37:12 Gracias. 37:13 (cheers and applause) 37:22 - What we were told what we were arrested for, 37:25 we were shocked because in particular 37:28 they created a felony indictment. 37:31 Disrupting a public school is only a misdemeanor. 37:34 But the conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor was a felony. 37:38 (cheering) 37:43 - (mumbling) 13 was the first political trial 37:45 of the Chicano movement. 37:46 All of the sudden now, we had a real power hand 37:48 and we had some very very good, dedicated people 37:51 that were going to be given a terrible time in the courts 37:54 and possibly a criminal record for trying 37:56 to make the city and the state do its job better. 38:02 (chanting) 38:05 - I think that the community recognized that the arrest 38:08 was designed to stop this movement. 38:11 And so, we knew that we had to come to their defense. 38:14 It was just another thing they were throwing at us 38:17 that we had to surmount. 38:19 - The reason for the interest 38:21 of the American Civil Liberties Union in this case, 38:24 is that the indictment charges no more than acts 38:27 of urging others, for instance to engage in a boycott 38:30 of the schools and in our view such urging 38:33 is fully protected by the First Amendment 38:35 and the prosecution violates the Constitution. 38:40 - The entire conduct of these proceedings 38:42 has been political harassment. 38:44 It's an outright political attack 38:46 on the entire Mexican-American community, 38:49 directly and indirectly on all of the rest of us 38:52 because our civil rights are involved too. 38:54 The demonstration is the poor man's printing press 38:57 and his right to use it had got to be 38:59 as in-violent as the rich man's right to cut his newspaper 39:02 or else our talk about free speech is just a mockery. 39:07 - Police harassment or harassments is not new 39:10 to the Brown Berets. 39:12 See that Chief Retton and the Los Angeles Police Department 39:16 have mistook community sentiment. 39:21 - [Voiceover] The L.A. 13 were released on bail 39:23 on Monday, June 3rd 1968. 39:27 But their release was overshadowed by the assassination 39:30 of Robert F. Kennedy two days later. 39:32 - [Man] The Brown Berets have been arrested 39:34 on the same charges. 39:35 - [Voiceover] The Chicano movement was suddenly 39:36 on the defensive against the police 39:38 and even the F.B.I. 39:41 - The day that we were at Lincoln High School 39:44 for the first blow out, there were guys with suits on, 39:47 with cameras, taking our pictures. 39:50 It was part of, I learned later on, 39:52 part of the F.B.I. counterintelligence program, 39:56 or COINTELPRO, that had been created to deal 40:01 with the civil rights movement and the Black Power movement. 40:05 And documents that I got also showed the infiltration 40:09 of UMAS and Chicano student organisations. 40:13 - It changed the political landscape of the movement 40:16 and it changed my life because instead 40:19 of pushing for social justice, 40:22 we had to completely reverse 40:25 into defending ourselves. 40:27 So, that the political struggle became a struggle to keep, 40:31 some of its own leadership out of jail. 40:34 And I remember, just beginning to have this sense 40:38 that I was being watched and people started talking 40:42 about it. 40:42 We started talking about provocateurs 40:47 and infiltrators 40:49 and certainly after these arrests everyone was paranoid. 40:57 - [Voiceover] The Brown Berets were a special target. 41:00 - The L.A.P.D. at that time was doing surveillance 41:04 or taking a lot of photographs, we didn't realize 41:06 this til way later on when we were arrested. 41:09 We felt it was an attempt to try to stop the movement, 41:13 the growing movement, and little did we know 41:16 that the Berets by then had already been infiltrated 41:19 by the sheriffs and the L.A.P.D. 41:22 - One of the walkout leaders who said he was 41:24 from Wilson High School, turned out to be an L.A.P.D. 41:29 - Everyone was suspect and with good reason. 41:31 It turned out that a significant number of the people 41:33 in these various organizations were police officers 41:36 or informants. 41:37 Many of them were actually the people 41:41 who were proposing violent actions. 41:46 - Officials were keeping tabs on certain individuals 41:50 which were then being referred to the F.B.I 41:53 on subversive activities, in which I was one 41:55 of those people who was listed as a, 41:57 one of the 100 most subversive individuals 41:59 in the United States in 1970. 42:05 - What I started to see, was a series of arrest 42:08 and threats 42:11 against me personally and other Berets. 42:14 "You guys are troublemakers, 42:15 "you're making our people look bad 42:17 "and we're gonna be sure that you spend the rest 42:20 "of your life in prison or you end up dead." 42:24 - And I began to get these documents as the years 42:26 went on in doing my research and sure enough, 42:30 I got a bunch of documents on myself 42:33 and then I realized why it was that that night that I 42:36 was arrested that early morning that I was arrested, 42:38 why I was almost killed. 42:40 Because in those documents, the F.B.I., 42:43 J. Edgar Hoover himself had identified me 42:47 and the rest of us "conspirators" and protesters 42:51 as subversives, dangerous, 42:55 armed subversives. 42:58 And my god, all we were doing was non-violent protest. 43:04 (light instrumental music) 43:08 - [Voiceover] As schools opened in the fall, 43:10 the East L.A. 13 felt the full impact of their indictments. 43:15 - I walked in this morning 43:16 and they told me I could not teach. 43:18 That I would have to go downtown to personnel 43:21 but that I could not teach. 43:22 - [Voiceover] Who told you that? 43:23 - The principal. 43:24 - There was a ruling part of the education code 43:27 that if you were arrested, you cannot be in the classroom. 43:30 And then, because I was indicted, I was an indicted felon, 43:33 for sure, I could not be in the classroom. 43:36 So, I was gonna have problems as far as teaching. 43:42 (chanting) 43:43 - [Voiceover] The struggle in the 43:44 East Los Angeles school system came down to a single, 43:47 defining moment. 43:49 Students and parents fought to get Sal Castro reinstated. 43:57 - This was a person who put himself out on the line 43:59 and his community came to his support 44:02 and at that point, whether you liked him 44:04 or you didn't like him wasn't even the issue. 44:06 The issue was that this community, 44:08 the Chicano community in Los Angeles had to have a role 44:13 in what the schools did. 44:14 - [Voiceover] What do you think it will take to get people 44:16 to pay attention to the demands 44:18 of the Mexican-American community? 44:20 - Well, that's a good question, 44:21 actually in looking in retrospect there 44:24 are about 15,000 kids out in the streets 44:28 in that week of March. 44:30 There were about 16 schools involved, not only senior highs 44:34 throughout the East Los Angeles but also in West Los Angeles 44:37 in support of the kids in East L.A. 44:39 There were junior high schools involved. 44:40 There were about 45 high school students arrested, 44:43 there were about 25 adults and the majority community seemed 44:46 like it was unconcerned, business as usual. 44:51 - We picketed that high school every day with a contingent 44:55 of people picketing to call for Sal Castro 44:58 to be returned to Lincoln and in between our daily pickets 45:01 at Lincoln we also went to the school board meetings 45:03 which were on Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons 45:07 to address them and ask them to return Sal to Lincoln. 45:12 - It was Zapata, Zapata who said I would rather die 45:16 on my feet than live on my knees. 45:20 (applause) 45:23 In front of Lincoln High last week, 45:26 the cripple and the blind berated so that you might 45:29 have eyes to see and courage to stand on your feet 45:32 and to deal in good faith 45:34 with the Mexican-American community. 45:37 - [Voiceover] After 10 days of picketing without results, 45:40 Chicano activists resorted to a new tactic. 45:43 (clapping) 45:47 Instead of walking out, they sat in. 45:51 - We said, well, we're not gonna leave. 45:53 And we'll sit here and we'll stay here until you 45:55 make the decision that our needs of the Chicano community 45:58 in the city are taken care of. 46:00 And the community has the right to make decisions 46:02 about the kinds of people who teach in their schools. 46:06 - It just seemed like the next logical step, 46:09 we had to kind of apply a little bit more pressure. 46:14 We were determined to occupy that room, 46:15 that was our main function. 46:18 We slept there, we kept that room occupied 46:21 through that whole period. 46:26 - I'd never done anything like that before 46:29 and it was civil disobedience and civil disobedience means 46:32 that you have to take the consequences. 46:34 So, we knew what the stakes were 46:36 but we knew we had to do it. 46:40 (light Spanish instrumental music) 46:57 - At one point, they turned off the air conditioning, 46:58 at one point the turned off the phones, 46:59 at one point they turned off the heat. 47:01 You know, and they did all these interesting things 47:02 to make us uncomfortable. 47:04 But there were things you read, a lot of books, 47:06 we sang (laughs), we had mass. 47:09 It was a time to talk about what we were gonna do next. 47:15 (light Spanish instrumental music) 47:27 And every day, we thought it was gonna end every day. 47:29 We thought, okay, it'll be over, they're gonna listen. 47:33 - Our people want the school system 47:37 to respect the integrity, to have respect 47:39 for the dignity of the person regardless 47:42 of his cultural background and regardless 47:44 of his economic power. 47:47 We live in a society that respects money 47:50 and we, in the Mexican community are insisting 47:53 that the schools learn to respect people. 48:00 - I still have a very vivid memory of the people sitting 48:04 on the floor as I walked to my office. 48:07 I wish I could have had them come into my office, 48:12 or come into the Board in an executive session 48:14 and see all of the problems. 48:16 Then they would understand that we didn't want 48:18 to do to them what they thought we were doing to them. 48:24 - [Voiceover] After seven days, the board agreed 48:26 to vote on Sal Castro's reinstatement, 48:30 but they demanded that protesters end the sit-in 48:33 or be arrested. 48:37 - That last night, the officers made the announcement 48:40 that they were going to begin arrests 48:42 and those of us who didn't want to be arrested had to leave. 48:47 - [Voiceover] 35 demonstrators refused to leave. 48:52 (sirens) 48:57 - [Voiceover] You are hereby notified that this building 48:58 will be closed at 10 o'clock pm. 49:02 That any permission, implied or otherwise 49:06 to remain on these premises is hereby revoked. 49:10 You will be considered trespassing and in violation 49:13 of California penal code section 602N. 49:22 - It was clear to us that we did not have the power 49:26 and that they could crush us if they decided to 49:29 as certainly, they had crushed many other movements. 49:36 - [Voiceover] The next day as the board prepared to vote, 49:39 Chicano leaders made a final appeal. 49:43 - Is that too much Mr. Castro is the issue. 49:46 What a man means to every teacher (mumbling), 49:50 freedom shall we call it, to a negro, to a Mexican, 49:52 to an Anglo shall we say. 49:58 - We are here to express to you 50:06 that in accepting a Mexican teacher who says 50:09 that it is good to be Mexican, 50:13 you're also accepting a principle, 50:19 that may govern our city, 50:22 without barbed wire in the middle of the street 50:28 for out of one flesh, 50:30 has God made all men. 50:36 (applause) 50:49 - [Voiceover] The Los Angeles School Board began to vote 50:51 as the community watched. 50:54 - Roll-call please, Mr. Carter. 50:56 - Yes. 50:57 - Doctor Harding? 50:57 - Yes. 50:58 - Doctor Nowland? 50:58 - Yes. 50:59 - Doctor Roose? 50:59 - Yes. 51:00 - Doctor Wood? 51:00 - No. 51:01 - Reverend Jones? 51:02 - Yes. 51:02 - And we'll be adjourned. 51:04 (cheers and applause) 51:22 (cheers) 51:35 (rhythmic clapping) 51:43 - [Voiceover] Sal, they called you a troublemaker, 51:44 a rebel rouser, and everything else. 51:45 Are you that? 51:46 - [Sal] No, I don't think so. 51:48 I'm a reformer in education. 51:50 - [Voiceover] What does that mean? 51:51 - There are many changes that have to be made 51:53 because at this point education is not relevant 51:55 to kids in general and Mexicans in particular. 51:59 - [Voiceover] Sal Castro and the other 52:01 L.A. 13 defendants won their battle with the school district 52:04 but they still faced the possibility of long prison terms. 52:08 Their legal battles would continue for two more years. 52:12 - The East L.A. 13, which was of course the case 52:15 coming out of the walkouts was ultimately thrown out 52:19 of court on appeal, again based on the Bill of Rights, 52:24 freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, 52:26 freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances. 52:31 - The walkouts were the first, significant urban struggle 52:36 of the Chicano's and all that our kids are trying to do 52:40 was to make the schools work better. 52:44 - What the walkouts did, 52:46 it focused the attention now, 52:50 on the Chicano's in the city 52:52 because these kids were serious. 52:54 These kids that went to school from that time, 52:56 they were gonna do something, 52:57 they were gonna change the world. 53:00 (cheering) 53:02 - [Voiceover] Los Angeles was only the beginning. 53:05 Soon after the blow outs, Chicano students 53:07 across the country staged similar protests, 53:10 igniting a movement for educational reform 53:13 that would continue for many years to come. 53:22 - We were very successful at informing the public 53:25 about how serious the conditions were, 53:30 also in getting our parents 53:33 and other community people involved. 53:36 (upbeat Spanish instrumental music) 53:42 - The blow outs made us all realize that, 53:44 wow, collectively we have a strong voice 53:46 and it gave us a power that we didn't realize we had before 53:50 and we knew that we were gonna win in one way or another. 53:55 (upbeat Spanish instrumental music) 54:10 (female vocal instrumental music) 54:30 (female vocal instrumental music)