In the early 1920s, economic hardships during the Great Depression caused widespread resentment towards Latin American workers, who were blamed for taking U.S. jobs. In 1929, Latino veterans of World War I founded the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, in Corpus Christi, Texas to protest discrimination against Latin Americans in the United States. The organization was bolstered after World War II, when many returning Latino combat veterans felt that they had earned their civil rights. LULAC launched programs to teach Latino children English words before they entered first grade and launched lawsuits against school districts that practiced segregation. LULAC continues to fight for Latino civil rights today, and has over 115,000 members nationally.
|
|