4. Uvalde, Texas - 1970

In April 1970, 500 Mexican American students in Uvalde (80 miles west of San Antonio) began a month-long school strike. Though the walkout was sparked by the firing of a popular Mexican American teacher, the students presented 14 demands to the all-Anglo/white school board. The school board refused to discuss them, and perhaps 400 of the protest participants were forced to repeat their grade the following year.

In the excerpt below, Elvia Pérez, who was high school senior and a potential valedictorian candidate, discusses why she chose to join the walkouts.

“You have to put it in context. There had been a lot of activity in the Black community, and there was a lot of activity in California with Cesar Chavez…

School had always been such an important part of my life and to give up on it—to walk away, to walk out—was the right thing to do morally…but it was a big loss for me, as well…

I had a very keen sense of justice, and my sense of social justice prevailed, and I said, ‘This is something that I have to support. It’s the right thing to do.’ I made the decision, and my dad was not okay with it, but my mom convinced him…and so I joined the walkout…

Looking back, in hindsight…it was not as well organized as it could have been, but nobody had any experience in any of this, so we were just doing the best we could…

It did become a very divided issue in the community. Not everybody was in favor it…As a 17-year-old, I could see that it was the right thing, and it was difficult for me to see that adults were so afraid of taking that step of supporting their kids. So, a lot of kids didn’t walk out because they did not have support at home…

One thing…it’s clear as a bell, I remember being included with Olga Rodriguez and several other people in the meeting where we went to address the school board…

It was a shocker that we were seen as radicals and agitators, and I remember [thinking], ‘Gosh, that’s not who I am. I was awarded the Citizenship Award last year as a junior. The Optimist Club recognized me as a good citizen, and, all of a sudden, I’m a radical and an agitator?’

I remember that when we were walking into that building where the school board met and looking up the barrel of a Texas Ranger’s rifle. They were on the roof with their guns pointed down at us. That was harsh. I thought, ‘Gosh, this is America. We have the right to speak up and to speak out.’ And I just didn’t understand that…

We weren’t asking for anything radical. We were asking for help for the kids…the bilingual program had begun in the state, and we thought, ‘Wow. That would be a good thing, for kids to have support learning English, making that transition. It would be good to have some support for the kids.’ We wanted that. We wanted more Hispanic teachers, more Hispanic administrators. The town was 50/50 [Anglo and Hispanic], why couldn’t the schools reflect that?”

B) Photograph from the Strike

SOURCE:

Elvia O. Pérez, Interview by Reina Olivas, April 9, 2016, Voces Oral History Project, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcCPJWvmnR8&t=1620s.