League of United Latin American Citizens
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The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is a political advocacy group for Latinos in the United States. Founded in 1929 in Corpus Christi, Texas, LULAC is the nation's oldest Hispanic advocacy organization. According to its website, LULAC has "approximately 115,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico," which it claims also makes it the nation's largest Hispanic organization. The current president is Rosa Rosales. The immediate past president was Hector M. Flores. The group is currently based in Houston.
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[edit] History
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LULAC was the lead plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case Hernandez v. Texas. In its landmark decision, the Warren court decided that Mexican Americans were a distinct ethnic group and were thus guaranteed equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
According to the LULAC website,
"LULAC advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide. The organization involves and serves all Hispanic nationality groups.".
[edit] Commentary
In a criticism echoed as "nativist, anti-immigration, and nationalist," Joseph Fallon, a writer for the Social Contract Press, accuses LULAC of being a Hispanic supremacist hate group. The accusation is based on LULAC's 1977 adoption of the stance that Latinos are a distinct ethnic group from Whites, the organization's support for bilingualism, and its demands that Hispanics be appointed to posts in the government.[1]
Among the reasons given during this time by LULAC was the need for social programs and funding for Hispanic programs such as those being offered to other U.S. minorities. This was often attributed to racial discrimination in schools and workplaces by anglo-americans.
Others have countered that this is just nativist posturing and noting that the Sons of Italy is famous for protesting negative stereotypes of Italian Americans in the media and the entertainment industry; or that the Sons of Norway, Ancient Order of Hibernians and B'nai B'rith are ethnically based organizations. [2]
It should be noted that LULAC, upon its founding, was originally dedicated to American Hispanics, both native and immigrant, and stood against illegal immigration.
Ezequiel D. Salinas was a national LULAC president, the first person from heavily Hispanic Laredo, Texas, to head the organization. During the 1940s and 1950s, he worked to establish LULAC chapters in parts of Texas where none had previously existed. He was an early advocate of civil rights for Mexican Americans.
However, it is also important to understand that LULAC was a strong supporter of integrationist policies during the 1950s and 1960s.
[edit] See also
[edit] External link
[edit] References
- ^ Fallon, Joseph. "Funding Hate - Foundations and the Radical Hispanic Lobby- Part III". The Social Contract Press, Fall 2000.
- ^ Marquez, Benjamin. LULAC: The Evolution of A Mexican American Political Organization. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1993).
[edit] Further Reading
- Craig Kaplowitz, LULAC: Mexican Americans and National Policy (Texas A&M University Press, 2005). ISBN 978-1585443888
