La Raza Unida Party Research Paper

The La Raza Unida Party (LRUP) was the first attempt to create a national political party to represent the rights of Mexican Americans. Up until this party was founded, no ethnic group had ever formed its own political third party. From its beginning roots to its significance today, La Raza Unida Party has played a major role in the civil rights of many Chicanos and Latinos alike. La Raza Unida Party was founded in Crystal City, Texas. Jose Angel Gutierrez and Mario Compean founded LRUP in 1970. Its creation was started when Diana Palacios, a student of Mexican descent and student at Crystal City High School, wanted to be part of the cheerleading team. At that time, only Anglo students and with the exception of one Latin student, were allowed to be on the cheerleading team. On December 9, 1969, 700 students walked out of CCHS as an act of solidarity. After representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice intervened, and the school board eventually agreed to all of the demands the Chicano students had requested. …show more content…
Anglos saw them as second-class citizens that did not deserve the same rights and freedoms they possessed. To discourage minority ethnic groups from voting, Anglo political leaders imposed poll taxes and literacy tests were issued in order to stop them from voting. As a solution to this problem, many Chicanos had parties where food was sold to cover the poll tax. Gerrymandering of districts separated the Latin community so that whites were the predominant race in that district. This benefited Anglos so that Latinos wouldn’t hold any political