TWO E
E
E the nation's
second largest minority
IC
APR 3 n rnn
LEO GREBLER I JOAN w. MOORE I
RALPH C. GUZMAN
with JEFFREY L. BERLANT / THOMAS P. CARTER /
WALTER FOGEL / C. WAYNE GORDON / PATRICK H. MCNAMARA /
FRANK G. MITTELBACH / SAMUEL J. SURACE
COPY Z
THE FREE PRESS NEW YORK
COLLIER-MACMILLAN LIMITED, LONDON
r; .. ~ ,, ,. .. : . -:.· ',_( ,,.....,. _.,.~ ,, .. ~-~11.·~,.,, .. r:
. . . ~
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n many studies,
ocial distanc (l
nment worker \___..
! l t officers , tax i·
, FBI agents, 1
o the security
I workers and)V-­s.
Aside from
also conflicts
Americans in
fortable with
utely sensitive
l
ican Americans,
iction. Yet, the
the agency is
at immediately
ds, and lovable
to one among
pu1ation to see
ational trooper
of the past are
er. There is an
ost Anglos, the
conservationists
villagers were
r azing of their
ood as grazing
was shortened.
accustomed to
tional use that
hroughout the
528
. .:
r of ~ •
;- ~ .
t
I
J
✓.L~ _/ ,/
Contact with Governmental Agencies
Southwest, the Forest Service's expenditures for recreation surpass by a wide margin
its expen~itures f~r ran~e and revegetat~on purposes, an~ the implication is clear to / ~ I!"" L ,
the Spamsh-Amencan villa er that the n w 1 h 36 Ibe yjl)ager ✓ h '7' / '-
1s IS ossesse ot for the cause · 7 ~ U/'~
the Ani:;lo. The rifle fire and arson ~ncountere1! by the Forest Rangers in the forests ,; / ft./) '
- - - 2f New Mexico an d Colorado is a consequence .of rbis per~ption; accurate evaluatiQn ~ :i;.;::_.
of their weak bargaining position makes some ethnic leaders feel that violence is d.,, '( ~ ~
their only means of reachin,s. b ond the overnment a en to the wider audience !../:- -; -nt.. ~ ·
of American public opinion. Tijerina's actions and many similar though le " ';fP-- 7._ - /
broadly organized protests are the desperate expedients of angry rural people who · 'f,,::; 1, 'li:>r'- '
see a "helping" agency as an intransigent opponent of what they define ·a~ their , / . · .
collective welfare. ~ ,;; · b,-.,yk6; ~ .s
In brief, if service agencies worked ideally they would perform functions tha thr /: / c>1 /~xa;
]d h 1 h . 1· . r . . 'th h . f · · a/ -/Af.. {!/7J4'1 A, lv--C wou e p counteract t e mega Itanan 1orces m soc1ety.eentage a suspu;J.0 ~ 4.1~.et.-?-?i- - /,I/
attaching to all government services, however, probably whibirs rbeit effectiveness .? l'U /'/2.h ·
Such agencies not only provide services but they possess and exercise coercive power.
For a population whose right to live iu this society has been continually under.
question, the heritage of suspicion of government ageucies is justified in those
agencies' current operatiQ!!S. Even if their programs were designed for a minimum
of cultural tnct10n, their effectiveness in "reaching" Mexican Americans would
depend on their effectiveness in changing their operations so as to reduce the actual
exercise of coercive power.
LOCAL POL ICE AGENCIES A-Til ru)ff O f'-J "INHfJ?BJ1 .
p,4,,-setJS ,,
b
Ji tbe ~aer~jy~ powe: of the state is imjli~it or latli~nt in the operations of service l{ ~ J e__
ureauctac1es lt IS ex hcit in the case O ocal po ce agencies. In general, law ¼ '--r
enforcement units operate in a spirit of ra er l use mora ty. is is perhaps more ~ n ;:el:~ t~; ::::~:~.:=tjl:;:;:e :~~~i=~e~:e~;1;r~:c~! /4¼/
history of most law-enforcement a encies came the discove that the robability of P ~~.
ocatmg a aw-break~~ is i:naximized if attention is focused on the oorer areas o e ~
towns. us, suspicion IS attached to those who are or look poor. jp the case a( rbe t:z:;_:;~ · · _,
visible minonties, such as Negroes and Mexican Americans, the suspicion is easily \ ~t~m \ tJ
.,,,extended to all members of the groyp, There has Ion be n wides read conviction ' C~-A-SS
at Mexican Ameri ns ot onl oor but also inherentl
529
~? . ·.. . .. : .
This racist report was endorsed by the chief of the Los Angeles Police De artment
in a letter to the foreman of the Grand Jury: ieutenant Ayres of the Sheriff's
Department, gave an intelligent statement of the psychology of the Mexican people,
particularly; the youths. He stated many of the contributing factors that caused the
ang activities."39
The persistence of a racist perception of Mexican Americans among police is
in icated by the testimony of the chief of the Los Angeles Po~ , ~_:,~rtment as
rec : {:-¼;_; /4~ ,/~ i7 c~tf ~ ~- -7'~ I
The Latin population that came in here in great strength were here before us, ) 2_
and presented a great problem because I worked over on the East Side when men ~c:;;
:1had to work in pairs-but that has evolved into assimilation- and it's because of some ·
of these people being not too far removed from the wild tribes of the district of the (
inner mountains of Mexico. I don't think you can throw the genes out of the question
when you ~iscuss behav,ior pattern~ of pe~ple. ~0
_ 1
, 7 ~~ i ~ .s u <'~ 'If •
In addition to tht'fact \!i{t Mexicans thus obviously qualify as members of the 'R
"poor and dangerous" classes, police have had two special reasons for close scrutiny ,,,.
of Mexican Americans. For one thing, the suspec·ts ~ ay ~,JY"'illegal." Second, until 'f
very recently ~he traffic in narcotics was defi ed~Y'ny areas of the Souttiwest r •
almost entirely as a Mexican problem. Thus Mexican-American lower-class co-m-_--t-+-1--­munities
have been liable to generalized suspicion on three grounds, and by three
law enforcement agencies concerned res ectively with general crime, narcotics, and
j llegal aliens. The latter two frequently _ conduct rai s and use mformers. All three
S agencies often work together. _ . rff The effects of such vulnerability on the relations of Mexican Americans with
11
~~ ~w enforcement agencies must be seen in historical context.• The longest contact
"f"' \~ has been with the Texa~ Rangers, a group of law enforcement officers organized in S
~C., ~ _!835 to pro~5ct _the frontier and.reduce~ to~ t~ke? force of 40 men exii&tly 100 years ()f'v ~"'.
.,cf "v~ ,. f I.ate(. Despite its present-day numerical msigmficance, the Texas Rangers ("los (J ~ V' ·
'\ v f'\ 0 Rinches") remain a symbol of Anglo control, perceived by the Texas Mexican ~ ! ; t 1 l ~r..J / '\ ,. ,. ~mericans as "a. fo~:e which ~as design~d to curb and crus? any sign of progress or d, ... ~d..,,j j
• lf 4.;1rJ ~ ,..mdependent action J~y Mexican Amencans.41 Its reputat10n was earned not onl . ·: Cl } 1
.
1 <{, ~\ during the frontier conflicts of the nineteenth century, but by incidents in the \~'\ ~ ,. \ cl u I' twentieth century as well. The b!ltdet region of Texas was in constant turmoil in the r J}'..,
I/) ,., , years I0I2-I020. dmjp~ the Mexican Revolution. 0,-rroao prapaganda efforts in '\ ets
/ C Mexico during World War I · d s · · -Americans If; \J-1 j
S ( -0<, , ~ lo~rnlty to the J Jnited State:-. As Webb comments in his definitive history of the -¥ t· ~\ O .,f f_ <l,langers: "After the troubles developed the Americans instituted a reign of terror (% Y
\ -~ r., f # if against the Mexicans. ~ . _! n !~e_o! gy ~(~loodsh~d that followed, the J' exas Rangers L , -t- -
\ <r ~f,, rf/-ft- -pfayed -~i prominent .part . .. . The reader would not be interested in a list of a hundred
1
~.!, j J ~ .) -/' or more clashes raids mu - - 0'hts t occurred . betw en I I _ and I, 2 • " , ~t\yt · ~ r' .
J}, ,. (._""' ~/4- C. J / ;J.-~ -~_L,~ ~ ~ ~. ~ / ? J ~-
,
~ ~ " \ -The historical portions of this section were developed from maferials prepared· b~l Fisher and J f· . \.I
Ji. John V. Kelly. .., tr· I
~ . \ . t., I
530 \j ·
/'
But he goes o:
psychology oi
and the horde
on the other i
against Mexic
legislator, J. '
met excesses ·
investigation
In these
having probl(
capable of ha1
from the stati
enforcement ,
to cope with i
Thus, in
police force,
short, vigilant
wsari3 s a yig
governor ~
disputes. Civl
In the H
to Mexican A
Rio Grande \i
,.of Jaw ea fu ~
_Mexican em u
police freque 1
r- maintained a
police adoptec
_various third
sessions. 46
In the 19
areas, most n
representative
particularly o
this strike M 1
As the strike
themselves. ~
Local police (
took a progra.
arresting stri}l
and local sher
comments : "
thr~ countie:
•
------ - ~- . . ... ,- . . . .
. - ·r· , . - ·•
~ ~-,•··t•,.,,f: );-;',;.,J:;j:~.,_:i,~:, .,,; :, , ~' ~- .iii'..:•:-~i.: ,_ ·f~'. = ir2':,-:_ ,', . .- ,;.:.':~:~~~~.; . ; . ~-~.( _1;-.::,·;·; ~~:~:;;;.,..;k.~t;;~j;v ~•~: ~: ,,:~ .: /,:(1;,;;J: .. 't. :-, f,:~- "" - ,;;,S~~~~{:- -.~-,-~~·-j~:..,.:......ft: £{{::-.:.·l--:.'tf
A~ r.( P O LI T I CAL I N T E RA CT I O N
~ had killed a fleeing youth. In late September 1966 the American Civil Liberties
fl lJ J · n o ened a " olice mal ractice com laint center,, in the M ·
l"I area of East Los geles. The ACLU accepted about ten cases a month in their first
fl C, \.,\) ti two vears of operation. 56 However, tangible outcome in the way of change in police
r' f ~ practice, including the recruitment and training of officers and the disciplining of t v)L offending officers, h been inconsequential. These non-judicial channels have been
t, so unsatisfying tha · late 1 68 the ACLU ·oi · · ·
\ q ~ California's Western Center for Law and Poyercy i~n~~~~~~~~~~~;,:;:.
Ang:eJe5 PaJice Department for bara5sment of minority cjtjzeg~ an indication of
the complexities and of the difficulties in instituting reform. Efforts to achieve more
responsible law enforcement t~have moved from "n~l" channels to political
organization to judicial relief+~ without much effect-1 The conditio7 • in the Los
Angeles area is duplicated in mapy places rbrousbout the Saurbwes;_,
The 2roblem is compounded by the 11 owiJ1ioaoess of Mexican Americans to ·
file complaints. As a document issued by the Council on Mexican-American Affairs
concludes, Mexican-American "complainants were very reluctant to take their
grievances to law enforcement."57 This is substantiated by the fact that of 1,328
complaints alleging police brutality presented to the U.S. Department of Justice
between January, 1958 and June, 196o, gnly ten were from persons known to be, of
Mexican descent. 58
Information on day-to-day details of police practice in areas of heavy Mexican •
concentration is very poor. A study in the mid-196os showed Mexican Americans in~II •
San Diego to believe that , ~
San Diego police "exist for the protection of the ... . Anglo community," and
· · y have oniy''restraining and punitive" functions [in the minority areas] .... Several ,
olice practices were singled out for unfavorable comment. 11 was felt that police f
, re discriminato condescending, and paternalistic. This is c;videnced b indiscri-and
fris n o ot mmon · t e use of
. a in(7 terms such as ancho · 'muchacho," and "ami o"; and excessive J. patrolling within the Mexican-American commumty.
These complaints, according to our interviews, barely scratch the surface of dis­\
t...) · content with the police: Condescension may be irritating, but brutality terrifies and
\j \ ~· vnrages.
~ Post-arrest judicial processes, in turn, ate almost totally unanalyzed.60 At this 1\6; 1 iwriting, a motion challenging the constitutionality of indictments returned by the
·;, \r t1 ~os Angeles County Grand Jury was being heard· it attacked rbe jucy as grasslx.
t ~\ der-re resentin the Mexican-American o ulatio The many complexities of '~.(J,*·~ court procedure and of lawyer-client interaction, so critical to the outcome of a case, _ l i\~~ have barely been studied. These processes; interestingly, have not been a significant
I
~ 1-1 source of protest by Mexican-American groups. Thus, the operations of the courts,
,J,;.~ 4l one of the most sensitive government functions, must be left unexploi-ed, though it
,J I • ·~ , may be one of the potentially explosive points of contact between Mexican Americans
1 ,(i ~ i' · and the government. ~~it )\)
534
•1
I
IMP L
The <lat
least deficien
Accordingly,
on police pt
"helping" ag
such as the
"helping,, ag
many of the
enforcement
latent in all
outset of thi
American soi
(Governmen
are far more
States than t
If our analysi
.., and police f
significant el
-;ttached to t
reach" orien
Patrol and it - activities la
relations hi~
affect the Be
individuals a
other handl
contemporar
rary echo, an
in the prese·
coercive and
Until\\
Americans a
-added to tfo:
"alien" in l
,teparrjations
Americans,
decade later .
Patrol to exa :
The "probal
harassment ,
trative arbitr