Research Catalog

Title

"We want better education!" : the 1960s Chicano student movement, school walkouts, and the quest for educational reform in South Texas / James B. Barrera.

Author

Barrera, Baldemar James, 1974-

Publication

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2024]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xix, 296 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

"In "We Want Better Education!", James B. Barrera offers a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the educational, cultural, and political issues of the Chicano Movement in Texas. This movement became the political training ground for greater Chicano empowerment for students. By the 1970s, it was these students who helped to organize La Raza Unida Party in Texas. This book explores the conditions faced by students of Mexican origin in public schools throughout the South Texas region, including Westside San Antonio, Edcouch-Elsa, Kingsville, and Crystal City. Barrera focuses on the relationship of Chicano students and their parents with the school systems and reveals the types of educational deficiencies faced by such students that led to greater political activism. He also shows how school-related issues became an important element of the students' political and cultural struggle to gain a quality education and equal treatment. Protests enabled students and their supporters to gain considerable political leverage in the decision-making process of their schools. Barrera incorporates information collected from archives throughout the state of Texas, including statistical data, government documents, census information, oral history accounts, and legal records. Of particular note are the in-depth interviews he conducted with numerous former students and community activists who participated or witnessed the various "walkouts" or student protests. "We Want Better Education!" is a major contribution to the historiography of social movements, Mexican American studies, and twentieth-century Texas and American history. Barrera documents and pays homage to an honored way of life and livelihood that is disappearing from the region"--

Series Statement

Elma Dill Russell Spencer series in the West and Southwest

Uniform Title

Elma Dill Russell Spencer series in the West and Southwest.

Subject

• 1900-1999
• Mexican Americans > Education > History > Texas, South > 20th century
• Mexican American high school students > Political activity > History > Texas, South > 20th century
• Student movements > Texas, South > History > 20th century
• Chicano movement > Texas, South
• Educational change > Political aspects > Texas, South
• Chicano movement
• Educational change > Political aspects
• Mexican Americans > Education
• Student movements
• Mexican Americans
• Mexican American high school students
• Political participation
• Educational change
• South Texas
• United States

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Historical Background of South Texas Prior to the 1960s -- Mexican American Civil Rights Activism and the Rise of the Chicano Student Movement in South Texas -- The Chicano Student Movement in South Texas Begins in San Antonio's West Side -- The 1968 Edcouch-Elsa High School Walkout: Chicano Student Activism in Deep South Texas -- The 1969 Kingsville School Walkout: Chicano Student and MAYO Activism Spreads to Mid-South Texas -- The 1969-70 Crystal City School Walkout: The Climax and Decline of the Chicano Student Movement in Rural South Texas -- Conclusion -- Appendix A. Lanier High School Walkout Demands -- Appendix B. Edgewood High School Walkout Demands -- Appendix C. Edcouch-Elsa High School Walkout Demands -- Appendix D. Kingsville Gillette Junior High School Walkout Demands -- Appendix E. Crystal City High School Walkout Demands.

Call Number

JFE 24-92

ISBN

• 9781648430886
• 1648430880
• 9781648430893 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2023019182

OCLC

1380464942

Author

Barrera, Baldemar James, 1974- author.

Title

"We want better education!" : the 1960s Chicano student movement, school walkouts, and the quest for educational reform in South Texas / James B. Barrera.

Publisher

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2024]

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Elma Dill Russell Spencer series in the West and Southwest

Elma Dill Russell Spencer series in the West and Southwest.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Research Call Number

JFE 24-92