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March 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of the Chicano student
walkouts from five high schools protesting unequal
conditions and discrimination by teachers and administrators
in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Hundreds of
students walked out that first day. Thousands more students
walked out of classrooms as the movement spread throughout
California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Colorado.
The 1968 walkouts were the subject of the 2006 HBO movie
Walkout, produced by Moctesuma Esparaza, who spoke at
the Education Writers Association meeting in Los Angeles.
Two Pomona College professors are available to explain the
significance of the walkouts, their effectiveness and their
importance as the beginning of the Chicano Movement.
Gilda Ochoa is an associate professor of Sociology
and Chicana/o Studies and the author of Learning from
Latino Teachers (2007) and Becoming Neighbors in a
Mexican American Community: Power, Conflict and Solidarity
(2004).
Tomás Summers Sandoval is an assistant professor of
history and Chicano studies whose research has focused on
racial identity and civil rights. His current project is a
book on the formation of the Latino community in San
Francisco.
“The school blowouts are often credited as the start of the
Chicana/o Movement. They drew national attention to the
experiences of Mexican Americans in schools, encouraged
other walkouts throughout the Southwest and Midwest, and
helped to set in motion the formation of Chicana/o Studies
classes, programs, and departments in colleges and
universities throughout the United States,” explains
Ochoa.
“If the Chicano Movement is framed as the Chicano movement
for civil rights,” says Summers Sandoval, “this is the
Western incarnation of brown power movements that sought to
change their society. This is a part of the 'American'
story, as important as any other well-known civil rights
endeavor.”
Despite the walkouts’ national impact, there is still much
progress to be made. Latino students are still the least
likely of all groups to graduate high school. A 2005 Harvard
University report noted that only 39% of Latina/o students
in the L.A. Unified School District graduated on time. A
2006 UCLA study, based on year 2000 census data, found that
out of every 100 Chicano students who begin elementary
school in California, 54 will drop out or be pushed out of
high school, 46 will graduate and eight will graduate from
college with a bachelors degree.
You can reach Gilda Ochoa at (909) 607-2604 or
read more about her.
You can reach Tomás Summers Sandoval at (909) 607-2916 or
read more about him.
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