'Crystal City 1969' raises awareness about discrimination against Chicanos
Written by Vidwan Raghavan, The Shorthorn staff
Wednesday, 08 December 2010 10:09 PM
In 1969, Chicano students in Crystal City, Texas broke out in protest over their school historically denying them an equal chance to participate in school activities.
Today marks the 41st anniversary of Chicano civil rights protests in Crystal City, which began when a Chicano student was barred from becoming the homecoming queen.
Playwright Raul Trevino and producer and director David Lozano co-wrote Crystal City 1969, to illustrate the events of the 1969 walkouts.
The importance of the play lies in addressing issues that have been have downplayed by society, Lozano said. He said many people that lived through this era were seeing it dramatized for the first time.
Crystal City 1969
Irving Arts Center
Dupree Theater 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving, TX 75062
8 p.m. Today all tickets are $25
8 p.m. Dec. 10 – 11 Students and seniors $10 and general admission $15
Latino Cultural Center, Dallas
2600 Live Oak St. Dallas, TX 75204
8 p.m. Dec. 16 General admission $10
8 p.m. Dec. 17 - 18 Students and Seniors $10 General admission $15
"You will never find anything about Crystal City in any history books," Lozano said.
Lozano was pained to find out that Mexican American students weren't allowed to be homecoming queen or participate fully in sports.
Amongst other things, the school had a policy whereby only one Chicano girl could be a cheerleader, said associate history professor Roberto Trevino.
"In 1969, one student protested this but she was denied permission to be a cheerleader and that triggered a student boycott," Trevino said.
The student, who was denied, was expelled which led to students protesting the policy.
Twenty-three at the time, Political science professor Jose Gutierrez arranged for a lawyer and got the student reinstated, which raised other students hopes that their protest for equal rights would bear fruit.
Supporting the protest was the Mexican American Youth Organization headed by Gutierrez.
The organization consisted of young adults, who were mostly college graduates and working professionals.
"I graduated from Crystal City," he said. "I have first-hand experience of the discrimination faced by Chicanos," Gutierrez said.
On Dec. 9, 1969 the students began their walkouts, which was marked with hundreds of students walking out of class, eventually leading to a shut down of the school.
"There are these wounds, these wounds from being slapped for speaking Spanish, being kicked for being Mexican, being put in shop class in a remedial school just for being Hispanic. When people see the play, this is the first time many of them are dealing with those wounds."
David Lozano,
Producer and director
In January the school board members capitulated and agreed on a compromise, but with clauses allowing them to renege, Gutierrez said.
On Jan. 10, following the compromise, Gutierrez and members of his youth organization started the Raza Unida party.
Raza Unida party members were elected to the Crystal City school board and this ensured the loopholes in the compromise were never used, Gutierrez said.
"There are these wounds, these wounds from being slapped for speaking Spanish, being kicked for being Mexican, being put in shop class in a remedial school just for being Hispanic," Lozano said
The story is about any person who has felt discriminated against and not solely Hispanics, said actor Priscilla Rice who plays the role of Severita Lara in the play.
"I do this out of a love and respect for the activists and the sacrifices they made," Rice said.
Gutierrez says he went to see the play last year and felt it did justice to the movement.
"It is historically accurate, but dramatizes certain events, which is fine because its primary purpose is to entertain, " Gutierrez said.
c/s
> http://bit.ly/dFh84w ~Comment: Much remains to be remembered, documented and sincerely share by those who were around during these times, while not getting too nostalgic about it all. We are in the here now, should have a good clear understanding of our history and have basic plans of actions to help carry on the Chicano Movement in alliances with many others causes and issues. We cannot isolate ourselves into any form of cultural nationalism. We must seek a new internationalism, even more new because nations ~independent nations~ cannot really exist under the boot of the Amerikan Empire. We need to think global, work local and never give up on ourselves. Future generations are counting on us. What we do or do not do will have a decisive impact on generations to come.
Venceremos! We Will Win!
Peta_de_Aztlan
Sacramento, California
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
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http://help-matrix.ning.com/
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F.Kennedy ~ c/s
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Be for real! Love La Raza Cosmca! Venceremos!