A class apart documentary. A Class Apart: A Mexican American Civil Rights Story 2022-10-17
A class apart documentary Rating:
9,5/10
123
reviews
A Class Apart is a powerful and moving documentary that tells the story of a group of Mexican American civil rights attorneys who fought for justice and equality in the face of discrimination and prejudice. The film focuses on the landmark case of Hernandez v. Texas, in which a group of Mexican American farmworkers in Texas were charged with murder and denied a fair trial because of their ethnicity.
The film begins with a brief history of the Mexican American experience in the United States, highlighting the discrimination and segregation that Mexican Americans have faced for centuries. It then delves into the specifics of the Hernandez case, which involved the wrongful conviction of Pete Hernandez, a Mexican American man who was accused of murdering a white man in a Texas town.
Throughout the film, the lawyers who represented Hernandez and his family describe the challenges they faced in trying to get a fair trial for their client. They faced racism and prejudice at every turn, with the prosecution and the judge openly biased against Hernandez and his defense team. Despite these obstacles, the lawyers fought tenaciously on behalf of their client, using every legal maneuver at their disposal to try to secure a fair trial.
One of the most striking aspects of the film is the way in which it illustrates the systemic nature of racial discrimination and the ways in which it can be deeply embedded in the legal system. The lawyers in the Hernandez case were up against a system that was stacked against them from the start, and it took incredible courage and determination for them to stand up for what was right.
Overall, A Class Apart is a powerful and thought-provoking documentary that offers a poignant and timely reminder of the ongoing struggle for justice and equality. It serves as a powerful testament to the resilience and determination of the human spirit and the importance of standing up for what is right, even in the face of overwhelming odds.
"American Experience" A Class Apart (TV Episode 2009)
When a student at the famous boarding school Tuna Kvarn is found dead, investigators are met with a wall of silence. Joe Espinosa arguing with Pete … with Pedro. Herrera took Hernandez's case, in which he was found guilty of murder. After graduating from law school in 1950, DeAnda searched for a job for months -- most white firms would not hire someone of Mexican descent. Ultimately, the case came up before the Supreme Court in 1954 and the Court sided with Hernandez' lawyers. We had an outhouse. Olivas Lisa Ramos On-Camera Interviews Gloria Villa Cadena, Wife of Carlos Cadena Norma Cantú, Professor Ramiro Casso, M.
In 1848, the victorious United States acquired huge swaths of Mexican territory, and along with it, tens of thousands of residents who were offered American citizenship as part of the treaty ending the war. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH Maria E. Elliot has always thought about doing the eye color experiment, but she was never sure of when to do it. We were considered invisible. Three years later, Hernández vs.
A Class Apart: A Mexican American Civil Rights Story
Constitution — something that could only be accomplished by bringing a case to the Supreme Court. La Bauve Adela Longoria Cerra Chicago Tribune Detroit Free Press The American Newspaper Repository Collection Rare Book, Manuscript, And Special Collections Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina Tino and Millie Duran, Publishers, La Prensa Delores Espinosa The Hearst Corporation Frank Lerner Lyndon Baines Johnson Library Library of Congress Los Angeles Public Library: Security Pacific Collection Shades of L. Pedro Hernández, a field worker with a bad leg, was already inside. So he stole sixteen extra minutes. And some people see it as a threat to, to, to a political structure, a social structure, a threat, to a way of life. During World War II, more than 300,000 Mexican Americans served their country expecting to return home with the full citizenship rights they deserved.
"American Masters" Cary Grant: A Class Apart (TV Episode 2004)
Narrator: The activists also took their fight to the courts. Gus GarcÃa Audio: Para mi fue una gran satisfacción participar en este caso y decirles las verdades a los señores magistrados de la suprema corte en Washington. But it also says theirs was a risky legal strategy. A team of unknown Mexican American lawyers took the case, Hernandez v. Narrator: For Gus GarcÃa, the future would be shadowed by tragedy. They suffered casualties and earned honors disproportionate to their numbers.
Narrator: It happened in the small town of Edna Texas, the distraught woman told lawyer Gus GarcÃa. Early films included Latino actors, however they did not always have a lead role or even a positive one. Narrator: At 36, Gus GarcÃa was already a local legend. All of a sudden you start seeing allegations that are cloned from the attitudes that they had in the Deep South about black people and see these values being applied to Mexicans … to Mexican Americans. Loaned by John Wildenthal Family 082-0416. .
Truman Library Los Angeles Times Collection, UCLA Library Department of Special Collections Special Collections, The Univ. Legally speaking, Hispanics had the same rights as everyone else--but practically speaking, this was not so. Before the landmark trial, Garcia was known for his work ending segregation of Mexican American children in schools. Supreme Court, where they won the right to have Mexican Americans serve on juries alongside whites -- a major civil rights victory for Latinos. Michael Olivas: It was very clear that the social isolation was a perfectly symmetrical system, one that hermetically sealed Mexicans and blacks away from whites in all the daily aspects of life.
After the Hernandez case, Mexican Americans across the country would no longer be considered second-class citizens under the law. Hispanic Stereotypes In Film 235 Words 1 Pages Stereotypes are the main reason of the misconception of Hispanic, but are repeatedly use in cinema. As he rode the subway, he realized it was a chapter of U. . It's also credited for expanding coverage of the 14th Amendment to women. Many funeral parlors even refused to prepare Mexican American bodies for burial.
A Class Apart: A Mexican American Civil Rights Story
Mike Herrera: He went off on a toot, and everybody knew but nobody knew where he was. Narrator: Gus GarcÃa died of liver failure in 1964, at age 48. Pauline Rosa was a Mexican American resident of Edna, Texas in the 1940s and 50s, when Latinos were legally considered "white," but met with discrimination. Ignacio GarcÃa: The American GI Forum takes it to the people. They would put their very identity on trial.
