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Protest Assignment

Purpose:

The third assignment is designed to foster your critical thinking ability as you expand your research skills. We will look at the difference between popular and peer-reviewed sources, as well as first person accounts and visual representations. For this assignment cycle, we will be joined by a research librarian. Required Texts:    Los Angeles Times, “The Chicano Moratorium” (readings available on Blackboard—use at least one of one in your paper) Walkout (film available from USC Libraries) Two or more popular sources found on your own.   Three or more peer-reviewed articles found on your own.

Background:           

Protests have long been a part of American culture. Examples include the Boston Tea Party, the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Women’s Suffrage Movement, Prohibition, and labor strikes. Civil Rights-era protests included marches, boycotts, and sit-ins, and some of these protest techniques were later used by anti-war activists, the Women’s Liberation Movement, the Grey Panthers, and LGBTQ+ rights groups. More recently, we have seen #MeToo, BLM, and anti-vaxxer demonstrations. Because 2020 was the 50th anniversary of The Chicano Moratorium, we will be looking at protests in the Los Angeles’ Hispanic / Latino / Chicano / Latinx community as a jumping off spot for this assignment.

Protest Assignment

The original Spanish name for Los Angles is “El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles,” indicating the influence of colonialism, Spain and Mexico. Ingenious people were put to work under harsh conditions at the Missions. Some of the early Mexican residents were wealthy landowners, and their landholdings were reduced or seized when California became part of the United States. During WW II, the U.S. government encouraged Mexican citizens to come to the California through the Bracero Program to harvest crops since many American workers were on the battlefields.  Unscrupulous employers who had exploited the workers refused to pay them, and then arranged for their deportation by law enforcement. There were no protests at the time, but the seeds of resentment were planted in the Mexican and Mexican-American communities in and around Los Angeles. The Zoot Suit Riots were an outgrowth of this resentment. One infamous protest occurred when City Planners seized Chavez Ravine to build Dodger Stadium, displacing many Mexican-American families who had lived there for generations. While the residents were promised new housing, the city never delivered.

Protest Assignment

The Vietnam War galvanized protests around the nation, and Los Angeles was no exception. East Los Angeles high school students were angered by the lack of educational resources and access to higher learning. The draft allowed college students to defer fighting in the Vietnam War, but the vast majority of Chicanos were unable to attend college because of the inadequate education and preparation they received from the Los Angeles Unified School District. The students protested by walking out of their classes. After the murder of Los Angeles Times journalist Ruben Salazar, the violent police response to the Chicano students’ marches ignited riots—and so began The Chicano Moratorium.  Writing Task:  Respond to the following prompt in a 5-6 page, thesis-driven essay:

In what ways, if any, can we build on the successes of previous protests and avoid failures    as we move toward an anti-racist society?    Suggestions:   Your thesis should be specific and disputable. Take a focused approach, addressing one issue in an original and insightful way, rather than simply making a list of issues or stating the obvious. If you are stuck, take your point and make it more complicated by asking yourself more challenging questions, and developing your focus in your assignment.    Incorporate your sources carefully, thoughtfully, and correctly, using MLA guidelines to reference sources appropriately within your paper and to create a Works Cited page.