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History of Alliance Building
| The Early Years: | |
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From 1825 until the end of the Civil War in 1865, the Mexican government rejected the institution of slavery and even welcomed fugitive slaves fleeing Texas. In addition, Mexico/Mexicans: 1) was prepared to compensate North American owners of fugitive slaves; 2) supported uprisings of enslaved Africans;and 3) played a major supporting role in the unacknowledged Texas to Mexico route of the “Underground Railroad”. During this time, it surfaced that the interest of some Mexican officials was not purely altruistic. Instead, fearing a U.S. military invasion, some officials began to see it as “wise to encourage the development of slave colonies along the Northern border as a way to lessen the threat posed by the U.S.” It was reasoned that “fugitives, choosing between liberty under the Mexican government and bondage in the U.S., would fight to protect their Mexican freedom more vigorously than any mercenaries.” Ron Wilkins | |
| The Movement Years: | |
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The Young Lords, a radical Puerto Rican organization established in the late 1950s, was fashioned after the Black Panthers. Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez met Black Panther leader, Fred Hampton, while in jail. Their conversation coupled with Jimenez’ reading about Lenin, Mao, King and Malcolm gave birth to the Young Lords. | |
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The civil rights movement of the 1960s also gave birth to Hispanic organizations like the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). In fact, MALDEF was established in 1967 with the assistance of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. |
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| Post Civil Rights | |
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In 1983, Harold Washington was elected as Chicago’s first African American Mayor. Overcoming a long pattern of electoral apathy and political repression, nearly three-fourths of all black voters turned out to deliver over 514,000 votes for Washington. He combined that total with votes from other key constituencies – 79% of the Puerto Rican vote, 68% of the Mexican American vote, and 38% of the Jewish vote – to defeat his Republican opponent. The major challenge facing Washington was to create a “broad-based, progressive, radical-reformist, multiethnic, multiclass coalition that would embrace African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, low-income working people, and the unemployed.” Though Washington won re-election in 1987, the campaign revealed several lessons: 1) Washington and supporters underestimated the ambitions, talents and assets of his White opponent, E.R. “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak, the boss of the Cook County Democratic Party machine. Vrdolyak ran a racialized campaign framed as “fighting to keep the city the way it is.” Though he led with a race supremacy argument, his true motive was patronage and power; 2) Each constituency seemed to view Washington’s reform agenda narrowly, through the prism of its own specific interests (i.e., black nationalists wanting Washington to support an African American for City Clerk instead of his preferred Latino candidate; 3) Persistent fiscal problems and an uncertain tax base frustrated a progressive agenda on housing, education, health care and employment; 4) Washington’s charisma was no substitute for an effective political organization that functioned independently of the City Hall and which could have kept together the various class and ethnic forces. Manning Marable | |
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Reflection Activity: History of Domination/Pursuit of Work & Opportunity>>
