USA native rights

• Assimilation is the process of integrating and becoming part of a culture, often resulting in the loss of tribal identity.
• Roosevelt's Indian New Deal reversed assimilation, aiming to have tribes run constitutionally under tribal councils.
• After Roosevelt, the BIA encouraged movement into towns and cities, offering incentives such as job and housing opportunities.
• 1953 'termination' resulted in Native Americans no longer being under federal control but protected by US federal law.
• By 1970, half of all Native Americans lived in towns and cities, leading to the start of the civil rights movement.
• In the 1960s, 350,000 Native Americans lived on reservations, facing poverty, poor quality housing, and education, with unemployment ranging from 20-80%.
• The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was established in 1944, working within the system to reverse the course of 'termination', secure rights and status of tribes, and influence policy and legislation.
• In 1973, the Northern Cheyenne of Montana won a federal court victory.
• The American Indian Movement (AIM) was established in 1968, with young urban members and a radical, anti-federal stance, demanding 'Red Power'.
• President Nixon sympathised with Native American rights campaigners and felt that it should be possible to make positive changes for about 830,000 people that it wasn't possible to do for the 22,600,000 black Americans.
• Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales led the Crusade for Justice, advocating for civil rights, cultural nationalism, and empowerment of Chicano communities.
• The Delano Grape Strike began in 1966, with Cesar Chavez and the UFW leading a strike against grape growers in California, protesting unfair labour practices and demanding better pay and working conditions for farmworkers.
• Land issues have still not been settled.
• The Chicano Moratorium was a massive anti-war protest organised by Chicano activists against the Vietnam War and the disproportionate impact of the draft on Hispanic communities, with the largest protest occurring in East Los Angeles.
• 1966 Congress’ Cuban American Adjustment Act said all Cubans who had lived in the US for a year were permanent residents.
• The La Raza Unida Party was formed in Texas, aiming to advance Hispanic political power, emphasising education, social justice, and political representation for Mexican Americans.
• Cesar Chavez was a civil rights activist and labour leader who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, later becoming the United Farm Workers (UFW), initiating protests against poor working conditions and advocating for better wages and labour rights for farm workers, many of whom were Hispanic.
• 1968, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education fund was set up to pursue civil rights in court.
• Sylvia Mendez was a crucial figure in the fight for school desegregation.
• Operation Wetback (1953-58) deported 3.8 million including US citizens.
• 1973, Supreme Court upheld ‘equal provision of education’ against a Texas school.
• The East Los Angeles Walkouts were high school student protests in Los Angeles, staging walkouts to protest unequal educational opportunities and demand better conditions in schools serving Hispanic communities.
• The Chicano Youth Liberation Conference was organised in Denver, Colorado, marking a significant moment in the rise of the Chicano Movement, focusing on civil rights, education, and cultural identity for Mexican Americans.
• Civil rights did produce changes within states.
• The level of change varied from place to place.
• The level of enforcement of legal rights varied from place to place.
• In 1962, Cesar Chavez co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), later becoming the United Farm Workers (UFW), initiating protests against poor working conditions and advocating for better wages and labour rights for farm workers, many of whom were Hispanic.
• Her parents were plaintiffs in the landmark case Mendez v Westminster, which ended segregation in California schools and paved the way for desegregation across the United States.
• Cesar Chavez led a 25-day fast in 1973 to protest the use of pesticides on
• Lau v Nichols led to the 1974 Equal Opportunities Act (providing bilingual teaching in schools).
• Local campaigners improved schools and housing.
• 1954 ruled Hispanics were equal citizens.
• Hispanics were covered by legislation such as the ruling in Lau v Nichols.
• The US immigration services, from 1953 onwards deported millions of Hispanic people.
• Dolores Huerta was an influential labour leader and civil rights activist, co-founding the United Farm Workers union alongside Cesar Chavez, advocating for the rights of farmworkers and empowering Hispanic communities.
• 1975 Voting Rights Act extension provided language assistance at polling stations.
• Legal acceptance of Hispanic rights was slow coming.
• The law was rejected and several similar laws proposed in other states were rejected after action by SOC or similar local groups.
• In 1962, homosexuality was illegal in every state due to legislation being a state matter.
• Proposition 6, a 1978 law proposed in California, aimed to ban gays, lesbians and supporters of their rights from working in state-funded schools in California.