Let All of Them Take Heed: Mexican Americans and the Campaign for Educational Equality in Texas, 1910-1981

by Guadalupe San Miguel Jr.

Overview

The Mexican American community's relationship with the Anglodominated public school system has been multifaceted, complex, and ambiguous to say the least.

On one level, an organized community has consistently struggled for equality in the existing educational institutions. Its story, although full of crushed hopes and legal frustrations, is imbued with a sense of accomplishment. At another level, individual Mexican Americans who have attended segregated public schools over the years also have a complex and diverse story to tell. For some, there are fond memories of school activities gone by. For others, the school years have been negative in general_children have been victims of humiliating and depressing incidents of racial discrimination and social ostracism.

Texas' public school system is of particular historical interest because of the state's record, according to Guadalupe San Miguel, for providing the least amount of public education for Mexican Americans while fiercely defending its record of inferior and separate schooling. Additionally, Texas was the first state in which Mexican Americans organized to seek educational equality.

In "Let All of Them Take Heed," first published in 1987 and one of the earliest books to focus on this plight of the Hispanic community, San Miguel traces the Mexican American quest for educational equality in Texas over a period of fifty years. In describing this struggle over the years, he emphasizes the socioeconomic factors affecting it and the strategies the Hispanic community used to reach its goals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781585441105
Publisher:	Texas A&M University Press
Publication date:	09/01/2000
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Acknowledgments	xiii
	Introduction	xv
I	1910-1940
1.	From Dominating to Dominated	1
2.	Cross-Purposes	32
3.	Aroused from Our Slumbers	64
II	1940-1965
4.	On the Home Front	91
5.	Compelled to Litigate	113
6.	Beginning with the Beginner	139
III	1965-1981
7.	A Sustained Legal Attack	164
8.	We Cannot Afford to Rest	192
9.	Conclusion	214
	Bibliography	220
	Index	245
	Tables
1.	Gainful Workers in South Texas, 1850	5
2.	Gainful Workers in South Texas, 1900	5
3.	Mexican Immigrants Entering the United States, 1820-1930	15
4.	Population of Texas and Five Southwestern States, 1890-1930	17
5.	Language Ability of Mexican Children, 1928	21
6.	Occupations of Parents of Mexican Schoolchildren, 1928	22
7.	Occupations of Parents of Mexican and Other White Schoolchildren, 1928	23
8.	Location of Schools Providing Vocational or Industrial Education, 1929	46
9.	School Districts, Classes, and Children in the Preschool Instructional Program, 1960-1967	157
10.	Education Suits Filed by MALDEF in Texas, 1970-1981	174

What People are Saying About This

Arnoldo De Leon

. . . the classic on the history of Texas-Mexican efforts to achieve educational parity. Rare is the bibliography that does not list it as a standard text in Mexican American history.
—(Arnoldo De León, Angelo State University)

Editorial Reviews

Since its release, Guadalupe San Miguel’s Let All of Them Take Heed has remained the classic on the history of Texas-Mexican efforts to achieve educational parity. Rare is the bibliography that does not list it as a standard text in Mexican American History.”—Arnoldo De León, Angelo State University

Arnoldo De León

"Since its release, Guadalupe San Miguel’s Let All of Them Take Heed

Arnoldo De Leon