Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations

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The Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations (PASSO) was formed as an outgrowth of the success of the Viva Kennedy Clubs in the 1960 United States Presidential Election. PASSO, which comprised several Mexican-American activist groups, fought to increase Mexican-American participation in electoral politics and campaigned for candidates, generally of Mexican descent, who supported desegregated education, protection from discrimination and federal government jobs for Mexican Americans. Later, the group became involved in farm labor disputes and was ultimately disbanded.

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Postwar Plight for Mexican Americans

After World War II, few Anglo-Americans sympathized with the plight of Mexican Americans. In the 1950s, Mexican Americans endured chronic unemployment, limited upward mobility, segregated education and surging rates of illiteracy. Due to the renewed sense of optimism and prosperity after the war, the issues facing Mexican Americans were generally ignored. [1]

Major groups that were once dedicated to combating social problems faced by Mexican Americans such as League of United Latin American Citizens, which experienced a turbulent decade in the 1950s, and Alianza Hispano-Americana lacked organization, funding, influence and a national consensus on the best methods by which to address these major issues. Mexican American activists being more politically active in hopes of stimulating change in policy. [2]

League of United Latin American Citizens organization

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the oldest surviving Latino civil rights organization in the U.S. It was established on February 17, 1929, in Corpus Christi, Texas, largely by Hispanic veterans of World War I who sought to end ethnic discrimination against Latinos in the United States. LULAC was a consolidation of smaller, like-minded civil rights groups already in existence. With a goal of achieving assimilation, the organization initially admitted only United States citizens as members. The organization has a national headquarters, active councils in many states, and a professional staff.

The Entrance of Mexican Americans into Electoral Politics

By 1950, in five major states in the United States, the Mexican-American voting bloc saw unforeseen growth. In Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and California, over 80% of Mexicans were eligible to vote. By 1960, the Mexican-American voting block grew even larger, encompassing almost 30% of the overall voting population in some states. Savvy politicians such as United States Senator Dennis Chávez and then-Los Angeles City Councilman Ed Roybal saw potential for increasing civic engagement, political participation and most importantly, electoral turnout by Mexican Americans. [3]

Dennis Chávez Democratic politician from the U.S. state of New Mexico.

Dionisio "Dennis" Chávez was a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of New Mexico who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1931 to 1935, and in the United States Senate from 1935 to 1962. He was the first Hispanic person elected to a full term in the US Senate and the first U.S. Senator to be born in the state of New Mexico.

Previously, the national Democratic Party wrote off Mexican Americans as solid liberals who did not need special attention in the quest for the White House. On the other hand, the Republican and Progressive parties attempted to gain ground in the Mexican-American communities. During Henry A. Wallace's 1948 presidential bid, Mexican Americans organized Amigos de Wallace in California and some counties in a few southwestern states. Four years later, the Latin American Veterans and Volunteers for Eisenhower was formed in support of Dwight Eisenhower's successful presidential campaign. However, these groups did not achieve widespread success. [4]

Henry A. Wallace Vice President of the United States

Henry Agard Wallace was an American politician, journalist, and farmer who served as the 11th U.S. secretary of agriculture, the 33rd vice president of the United States, and the 10th U.S. secretary of commerce. He was also the presidential nominee of the left-wing Progressive Party in the 1948 election.

Viva Kennedy

The 1960 Democratic Party Convention was a major turning point in the movement to address some of the issues facing Mexican Americans. A few weeks before the convention, the founder of the American G.I. Forum Hector Garcia, a veteran and medical doctor from Corpus Christi, wrote a letter to national Democratic Party calling for inclusion of Mexican Americans in the electoral process and more importantly, in a potential Democratic presidential administration. Similar to the mission of the G.I. Forum to include Mexican Americans in military actions and strengthen the rights of returning soldiers, Garcia sought to expand the political parameters of American society to include citizens of Mexican descent, calling them "the greatest salesman of Democracy" and fighters of Communism. Garcia desired "judges of Latin American origin, American ambassadors, and consuls of our own origin". Additionally, in the letter, Garcia and other Forum members requested the inclusion of civil rights for Mexican Americans, especially those in the middle class in an effort to appeal to a major tenant of the Democratic Party agenda. [5]

Hector P. Garcia American physician

Hector Perez Garcia was a Mexican-American physician, surgeon, World War II veteran, civil rights advocate, and founder of the American G.I. Forum. As a result of the national prominence he earned through his work on behalf of Hispanic Americans, he was instrumental in the appointment of Vicente T. Ximenes, a Mexican American and American G.I. Forum charter member, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1966.

Shortly after the convention in which John Fitzgerald Kennedy was nominated, Councilman Roybal, then-Texas State Senator Henry Gonzalez and their mentor Senator Chavez, who like Garcia was concerned about the lack of federal government participation by Mexican Americans, met with Robert Kennedy to discuss strategy for the involvement of Mexican Americans in the general election. It was determined that Carlos McCormick, a fresh-faced law student who had managed Senator Kennedy's successful primary in West Virginia, would be at the helm of Viva Kennedy, the official Latin American arm of the Kennedy campaign.

After securing the support of Albert Peña, Jr., a prominent supporter of Lyndon B. Johnson during the convention and later the Chairman of Viva Kennedy Texas, McCormick met with Hector Garcia to gain support of members of the G.I. Forum. In exchange for a formal endorsement of Kennedy's campaign, the G.I. Forum requested public praise from Kennedy on the campaign trail. During a stump speech, Kennedy professed his admiration for "this splendid veterans organization of Spanish-speaking ex-servicemen." At their 1960 convention, Forum leaders spoke of the importance of electing Kennedy as President of the United States to desegregate schools, lift up the middle class and assist migrant workers, which are issues that appeal to Mexican American voters. [6]

With widespread support and under the tutelage of Carlos McCormick, G.I. Forum members helped to organize Viva Kennedy chapters in barrios across the United States. Women, businessmen and other subgroups passionately joined the effort to elect Kennedy. Low-key fundraisers would help to pay for get-out-the-vote efforts throughout the nation. Rallies featuring national allies of Kennedy and Spanish language advertisements helped to mobilize and spread support for the campaign. [7]

Despite the fact that then-Vice President Richard Nixon carried more states and won the popular vote, Kennedy emerged victorious in the 1960 United States Presidential Election by winning the electoral vote by a margin of 303-219. President-Elect Kennedy's close margin of victory signified a major success for the Viva Kennedy Clubs because it proved the importance of earning the Mexican American vote. In Texas, Kennedy earned 91% of the Mexican American vote or 200,000 votes, which helped him win the Lone Star State's 24 electoral votes despite losing the white vote. Sixteen of the seventeen Texas counties where there was a Mexican American majority voted overwhelmingly for Kennedy. Throughout the nation, 85% of Mexican Americans voted for Kennedy. [8]

President Kennedy did not end up providing the expected rewards that Mexican Americans were hoping for, which was mainly appointing a Mexican American official in any cabinet-level office in the new Administration . [9] The Viva Kennedy Clubs felt that they had a great lineup of individuals who could fit into Kennedy's cabinet-level administration such as El Paso mayor Raymond L. Telles, Jr., Los Angeles city councilman Edward R. Roybal, and New Mexico academic Vicente Ximenez. [10] Although, Telles was the first Mexican American Ambassador of Costa Rica, members of Viva Kennedy were disappointed because it was not cabinet-level. They also thought the other aforementioned individuals would be potential candidates for assistant secretary of state. However, that position went to Arturo Morales Carrion. Members of Viva Kennedy were thoroughly disappointed; they did not like Morales - Carrion as a representative because he was not Mexican American, he did not come from the Southwest, nor was he a part of Viva Kennedy prior to Kennedy's presidency. [11] After the nomination of Arturo Morales Carrion, President Kennedy helped nominate Hector G. Godinez as postmaster in Santa Ana in Orange County. Godinez was the national president of LULAC and was a World War II veteran; because of his background, many Viva Kennedy members believed he was appointed. [12] It is important to note that the new administration did extend an invitation to both Henry B. Gonzalez and Hector P. Garcia to become ambassadors. However, they both decline the offer. [13] Both Gonzalez and Garcia declared that they could not abandon their professional responsibilities in their communities for a permanent diplomatic post. [14]

Yet another result of Viva Kennedy was the development of Political Association of Spanish Speaking Organization (PASSO or PASO). Because of the Viva Kennedy connections, leaders from other Mexican American organizations such as LULAC and American G.I. Forum took the opportunity to create an organization that they believed would create national coordination. [15] PASSO was strongest in Texas even though it was a national organization.

The Creation of PASSO

After the electoral success, McCormick, Peña and Garcia met in Victoria, Texas to discuss the future of Viva Kennedy. The outcome was the conception of a short-lived group known as the Mexican American Political Association, which only a few weeks later joined forces with LULAC and Congressman Ed Roybal's Community Service Organization to form the Political Association of Spanish Speaking Organizations. The newly formed group espoused the policies of onetime LULAC President George I. Sanchez, which included more federal funding for education in Hispanic communities, a living wage for migrant workers, stricter control along the Texas-Mexican border and increased welfare for Mexican Americans. [16]

In 1962, PASSO collaborated with the Teamsters Union to unionize the employees of Del Monte Foods in Crystal City, Texas. The following year, PASSO helped to win all five seats of the Crystal City Council for Mexican Americans. In 1965, PASSO waged a campaign against La Casita Farms, one of the largest agribusinesses in Texas and in doing so, employed more radical tactics, which alienated the middle class members and caused many of them to depart the organization. At the height of the Chicano Movement that swept Texas, the remaining members of PASSO joined the Raza Unida Party, effectively abolishing the organization. [17]

Related Research Articles

The history of Mexican Americans, Americans of Mexican descent, largely begins after the annexation of parts of Mexico in 1848, the nearly 80,000 individuals then living in the U.S. became full U.S. citizens. Large-scale new migration augmented their numbers during the 1910s, as Mexico was torn by a high-casualty civil war. Until the 1960s, most lived within a few hundred miles of the border, although some resettled along frail lines from the Southwest to the Midwest.

National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials organization

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) is the leadership organization of the nation's more than 6,000 Latino elected and appointed Latino public officials in the United States.

Chicano Movement movement with the stated goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment

The Chicano Movement of the 1960s, also called the Chicano civil rights movement or El Movimiento, was a civil rights movement extending the Mexican-American civil rights movement of the 1960s with the stated goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment. Similar to the Black Power movement, scholars have also written about the repression and police brutality experienced by members of this movement which some connect to larger government-organized activity such as COINTELPRO.

The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) is an organization that promotes the interests of Mexican-Americans, Mexicans, Latinos, Chicanos, Hispanics and Latino economic refugees in the United States.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) is a national non-profit civil rights organization formed in 1968 to protect the rights of Latinos in the United States. Founded in San Antonio, Texas, it is currently headquartered in Los Angeles, California and maintains regional offices in Sacramento, San Antonio, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

Raza Unida Party Mexican-American political party

The Raza Unida Party, officially Partido Nacional de La Raza Unida is a Chicano (Mexican-American) nationalist organization. It was created in the early 1970s and became prominent throughout Texas and Southern California. It was started to combat growing inequality and dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party that was typically supported by Mexican-American voters. After its establishment in Texas, the party launched electoral campaigns in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and California, though it only secured official party status for statewide races in Texas. It did poorly in the 1978 Texas elections and leaders and members dropped away.

The American G.I. Forum (AGIF) is a Congressionally chartered Hispanic veterans and civil rights organization founded in 1948. Its motto is "Education is Our Freedom and Freedom should be Everybody's Business". AGIF operates chapters throughout the United States, with a focus on veterans' issues, education, and civil rights. Its two largest national programs are the San Antonio-based Veterans Outreach Program, and the Dallas-based Service, Employment, Redevelopment-Jobs for Progress, Inc. (SER). The current National Commander is Lawrence G. Romo.

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The Mexican American Youth Organization is a civil rights organization formed in 1967 in San Antonio, Texas, USA to fight for Mexican-American rights. The creators of MAYO, Los Cinco, consisted of José Ángel Gutiérrez, Willie Velásquez, Mario Compean, Ignacio Pérez, and Juan Patlán. MAYO and its political organization, Raza Unida Party, played an important part in Texas history during the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were a part of the larger Chicano movement in the United States, and played a role in bringing about civil rights for Mexican-Americans.

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1960 United States presidential election in New Mexico

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Viva Kennedy was a Mexican-American outreach program run by the presidential campaign of Senator John F. Kennedy from 1959 to 1963. Viva Kennedy functioned in the format of clubs networked across the Southwest, working to register Latino voters and increase the Latino turnout for Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential election against Richard Nixon.

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References

  1. ↑ Garcia, Ignacio M. Viva Kennedy: Mexican Americans in Search of Camelot. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2000.
  2. ↑ Garcia, Ignacio M. Viva Kennedy: Mexican Americans in Search of Camelot. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2000.
  3. ↑ Garcia, Ignacio M. Viva Kennedy: Mexican Americans in Search of Camelot. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2000.
  4. ↑ Garcia, Ignacio M. Viva Kennedy: Mexican Americans in Search of Camelot. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2000.
  5. ↑ Garcia, Ignacio M. Viva Kennedy: Mexican Americans in Search of Camelot. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2000.
  6. ↑ Cynthia E. Orozco, "VIVA KENNEDY-VIVA JOHNSON CLUBS," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/wcv01), accessed October 02, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  7. ↑ Garcia Bedolla, Lisa. Introduction to Latino Politics in the U.S. Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2009.
  8. ↑ Gomez-Quinones, Juan. Chicano Politics: Reality and Promise. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 1990.
  9. ↑ [1] García Bedolla, Lisa. Latino Politics. Second edition. Cambridge, UK ; Malden, MA: Polity, 2014. Print.
  10. ↑ [1] García Bedolla, Lisa. Latino Politics. Second edition. Cambridge, UK ; Malden, MA: Polity, 2014. Print.
  11. ↑ Paving the Road to The White House or to La Panamericana? The Post-Electoral Hopes of the Southern California Viva Kennedy Clubs, 1960-1963." N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
  12. ↑ Paving the Road to The White House or to La Panamericana? The Post-Electoral Hopes of the Southern California Viva Kennedy Clubs, 1960-1963." N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
  13. ↑ Pycior, Julie Leininger. LBJ & Mexican Americans: The Paradox of Power. 1st University of Texas Press ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997. Print
  14. ↑ Pycior, Julie Leininger. LBJ & Mexican Americans: The Paradox of Power. 1st University of Texas Press ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997. Print
  15. ↑ García Bedolla, Lisa. Latino Politics. Second edition. Cambridge, UK ; Malden, MA: Polity, 2014. Print
  16. ↑ Teresa Palomo Acosta, "POLITICAL ASSOCIATION OF SPANISH-SPEAKING ORGANIZATIONS," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/vep01), accessed October 01, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  17. ↑ Teresa Palomo Acosta, "POLITICAL ASSOCIATION OF SPANISH-SPEAKING ORGANIZATIONS," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/vep01), accessed October 01, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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