Introduction
The 1975 Voting Rights Act has historically been treated exclusively an extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act which outlawed discriminatory voting practices mainly addressed towards Black communities. However, a significant portion of the 1975 ruling made major changes for other minority populations. Expansion upon the 1965 Voting Rights Act provided a layer of protection for language minorities in the United States including Native Americans, Asian Americans, Alaskan Natives, and Spanish speakers.
Argument
This ruling was created in response to reported discrimination in mainly southwestern states, specifically Texas. Because the intended original area of protection was Texas, there is a clear case to be made of how the 1975 Voting Rights Act Extension and Expansion affected specifically Chicano communities. Chicano is a term specific to individuals of Mexican descent born in the United States. Chicano is mainly thought to be an identity focused in southwestern states like Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico. When looking at the 1975 ruling in the context of the Chicano community it is important to consider three specific facets of the situation; bilingualism in the United States, the origin of Mexican American identity, and the Chicano civil rights movement. All three sources addressed in this historiography give deeper insight into and analysis of one of the three topics listed. In Chicanos in the United States: A History of Exploitation and Resistance, Leobardo F. Estrada, F. Chris García, Reynaldo Flores Macías, and Lionel Maldonado explore the circumstances surrounding the origins of the Chicano identity and what role the United States played in the creation of that identity. In Jonna Perrillo’s piece The Perils of Bilingualism: Anglo Anxiety and Spanish Instruction in the Borderlands, Perrillo describes the experience of Mexicans and Chicanos and their education on the topic of bilingualism. Chicano Politics, Reality and Promise 1940 – 1990 by Juan Gόmez-Quiñones gives an in-depth look at the organization of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and what progress came out of the movement as of the early 90s. All three of these sources, when combined, provide a fuller picture of the circumstances around the creation of Chicano identity and the work before and after the 1975 Voting Rights Act Extension and Expansion.
Chicanos in the United States: A History of Exploitation and Resistance
Leobardo F. Estrada, F. Chris García, Reynaldo Flores Macías, and Lionel Maldonado give necessary context on the Chicano identity and history of oppression and discrimination against Chicanos on the part of the United States in their work Chicanos in the United States: A History of Exploitation and Resistance. They provide context on the military conquest, dispossession and displacement, political, military, and cultural resistance, the U.S. southwest, migration, repatriation, and visibility of Mexicans and Chicanos in the setting of the United States. They argue that “[u]nlike those who believe that social, political, and economic influences in the region were largely the result of Anglo penetration, we argue that practices and institutions indigenous to Mexicans were largely taken over by colonizing Anglos” ( Estrada, García, Macías, Maldonado 103). Because of the presence of sociologists and political scientists in the credit author group, there is an insight of social history sometimes left out by other traditional historians and scholars. This work draws from many scholarly articles and books, government reports, and statements of influential individuals commenting on the state of Mexican Americans. The contributing authors make a clear case for the impact of U.S. intervention in creating the situation of the present day Mexican American which includes poor educational opportunities, low socio-economic status, and continued discrimination and oppression. With the context given in this work, one understands the creation of the Chicano identity and state of Chicanos across the United States, both of which significantly contributed to the importance of the 1975 Voting Rights Act Extension and Expansion within Chicano communities.
The Perils of Bilingualism: Anglo Anxiety and Spanish Instruction in the Borderlands
In The Perils of Bilingualism: Anglo Anxiety and Spanish Instruction in the Borderlands, Jonna Perrillo builds on the context given in Chicanos in the United States: A History of Exploitation and Resistance by Leobardo F. Estrada, F. Chris García, Reynaldo Flores Macías, and Lionel Maldonado and uses it to specifically address bilingualism in the United States. Perrillo draws from many first hand accounts from educators and students, recorded school curriculum, and political statements to argue that “Spanish was a commodity that Anglos deeply desired and were hard pressed to acquire precisely because of their marginalization of the people best equipped to teach it to them,” and that, “language was not only an instrument of power … but also one for profit” ( Perrillo 71). Jonna Perrillo, an education historian, brings important insight on the educator stance on the issue of bilingualism in schools. Perrillo provides many examples of how the Spanish instruction of Anglo children differed from that of their Mexican American peers. Chicano students were punished for speaking Spanish while Anglo students were praised. Anglo students were encouraged to learn phrases useful for speaking to a maid and giving directions for the day while Chicano students were taught phrases about washing hands and flushing the toilet. Perrillo provides clear and thorough evidence of the nuances and motivations for bilingual instruction in the United States. With this additional information specifically on bilingualism, we can better understand the significance of the section of the 1975 ruling on providing bilingual voting material for Spanish speaking citizens.
Chicano Politics, Reality and Promise 1940 – 1990
Perhaps the most widely associated event with the Chicano community, the Chicano Civil Rights Movement was a time of increased, recognized political activism for Chicanos. In the book Chicano Politics, Reality and Promise 1940 – 1990, Juan Gόmez-Quiñones provides information necessary to “place in historical perspective the political experience of the Mexican people north of the Rio Bravo” (Gόmez-Quiñones 1) using many works from fellow scholars and primary accounts of political events and demonstrations. The Chicano Civil Rights Movement, also called El Movimiento, addressed issues such as immigrant rights, workers rights, Chicano political participation and voting rights, and land reclamation. Quiñones provides important insight as a historian, but even more important insight as an involved activist. Quiñones was a Chicano activist through and through until the end. Through that history of activism he is able to provide unique insight into the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and how that movement formed and unfolded. Using Quiñones’ insight and information, we can fully understand how El Movimiento made events like the 1975 Voting Rights Act Extension and Expansion possible and empowered Chicanos to advocate for the right to participate politically.
Conclusion
By using all three of these sources to form a picture of the circumstances surrounding the 1975 Extension and Expansion itself as well as the origins of the Chicano community, we can fully understand the impact of the ruling on Chicanos. Chicano history has long been brushed under the rug in and beyond the classroom. However, Chicanos are a strong presence in the United States, particularly in the southwest, and continue to fight for equal representation in the country they have dedicated so much to. Understanding our history as Chicanos is imperative to understanding and shaping our future. Understanding specifically the history of voting rights and political participation in our community is still important in a time when voting rights have been continuously under attack and we have seen a four year term under Trump. Although it is not surprising, when I attempted to get information from authors other than U.S. American and Chicano identifying, my attempts rarely produced any results. When I asked friends and family about the 1975 Voting Rights Act Extension and Expansion, not one of them knew of the ruling. Chicanos are still invisible in U.S. history. Despite this, Chicanos continue to fight for visibility and equal rights. The only way the future can change is if we fully understand our past and how to move forward from it.
Sources
Congress.gov. “Text – H.R.6219 – 94th Congress (1975-1976): An Act to amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to extend certain provisions for an additional seven years, to make permanent the ban against certain prerequisites to voting, and for other purposes.” August 6, 1975. https://www.congress.gov/bill/94th-congress/house-bill/6219/text.
Estrada, Leobardo F., F. Chris García, Reynaldo Flores Macías, and Lionel Maldonado. “Chicanos in the United States: A History of Exploitation and Resistance” in Daedalus 110, no. 2 (1981): 103–31. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20024726.
Gόmez-Quiñones, Juan. Chicano Politics, Reality and Promise 1940 – 1990. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 1990.
Perrillo, Jonna. “The Perils of Bilingualism: Anglo Anxiety and Spanish Instruction in the Borderlands,” in The Journal of American History, Volume 108, Issue 1, June 2021, Pages 70–92, https://doi.org/10.1093/jahist/jaab064.