Student Activism Traces Its Roots Back to 1968 East L.A. Walkouts by Los Angeles Times, Adapted by Newsela Staff on 04.25.16 Word Count 793 Level MAX

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Student activism traces its roots back to 1968 East L.A. walkouts By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 04.25.16 Word Count 793 Level MAX

Joe Rodriguez was a Garfield High School student during the mass student walkouts of 1968. He watched as students filed out of class and amassed in nearby streets, where some were beaten by police. Photo by: Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LOS ANGELES — Teachers at Garfield High School were winding down classes before lunch. Then they heard the startling sound of people running the halls, pounding on classroom doors. "Walkout!" they were shouting. "Walkout!"

Students left classrooms and gathered in front of the school entrance. They held their clenched fists high. "Viva la revolucion!" they called out. "Education, not eradication!"

It was just past noon on a sunny Tuesday, March 5, 1968 — the day a revolution began for Mexican-Americans, people whose families came to the United States from Mexico.

Soon, protests began at two more high schools on the Eastside of Los Angeles. Along with Garfield, students at Roosevelt and Lincoln high schools drew attention to run-down campuses, lack of college preparation courses and teachers who were poorly trained, racist or didn't care.

Protests Filled Students With Hope

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. By the time the walkouts — sometimes called "blowouts" peaked a week later, 22,000 students had stormed out of class. Some delivered passionate speeches. Some clashed with police. Scenes of uprising filled the news.

The East L.A. protests 50 years ago were the California version of the fury and hope that marked much of 1968.

The protests focused national attention on a new force on the American political scene: the Chicano movement. "Chicano" was once used as an insult. However, a new generation of Mexican- Americans took it over. These younger Mexican-Americans from big cities used Chicano with pride.

"We caught the entire nation by surprise," said David Sanchez, founder of a group of Chicanos who called themselves the Brown Berets, partly for their unique hats. They were also similar to the U.S. Army's Green Berets. They fought for what they wanted.

"In 1968, the kids kicked the doors open," said Pete Martinez, a former teacher at Lincoln.

Struggling High Schools In East LA

In 1968, Mexican-American students living east of downtown L.A. went to struggling high schools. The schools had some of the worst rates for dropouts, or quitting school, in the country. At Garfield, more than half of the students quit before graduating. At Roosevelt and Lincoln, about four of 10 students quit.

Eastside schools were old and overcrowded, and the community had little political power to help make improvements. There were no Mexican-Americans on the City Council or the Board of Supervisors.

Students who spoke Spanish felt trapped in schools, as they were put in low-level classes that led to low-skilled, low-paying jobs.

Protests of 1968 Similar To Those Today

The protests surprised many, but they grew out of years of young Mexican-Americans learning about social activism, or making a positive change in the world. Some learned at summer camps. Some learned at churches. Some learned at a coffee shop.

Sanchez, who was 18 years old at the time, opened La Piranya Coffee Shop and formed the Brown Berets. In 1967, hours before a protest against police harassment, he bought hats like the ones on posters of Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara. The Chicano Youths for Community Action became the Brown Berets.

The Brown Berets and other East L.A. students refused to wait for adults to act. This is similar to the high school students today from Parkland, Florida. After a mass killing at their school in February, the students organized protests to seize the gun control debate.

The Protests Begin

Joseph Rodriguez, then a sophomore at Garfield High, recalled sitting in science class when someone banged on the door and yelled, "Walkout! Walkout!"

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. "My teacher looked me in the eyes," Rodriguez recalled, "and said, 'I can see you're really interested in this stuff. You're free to go.'"

Police in heavy armor arrived and ordered the students back to class. Most refused.

Students carried American flags and signs reading, "We demand schools that teach" and "School not prison."

The unrest continued for about a week, and the school board eventually agreed to two demands — more teachers who could speak Spanish and English and smaller class sizes. Smaller classes allow students to receive more help from teachers.

Increase In Mexican-American College Students

A year after the protests, the number of Mexican-American students at the University of California, Los Angeles soared from 100 to 1,900. Over decades, college attendance by Mexican- Americans also increased greatly throughout the U.S. Chicano studies programs were founded at colleges and universities across the nation.

Still, perhaps the protests' greatest accomplishment was fostering in the Mexican-American community a sense of possibility and realization that a just cause sometimes requires speaking up.

"Until that day, it never crossed my mind that Garfield High was run-down, overcrowded and lagging behind public schools in wealthier white neighborhoods," said Rodriguez, who later became a prize-winning writer at the San Jose Mercury News. "All that changed after the blowouts."

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Quiz

1 Which sentence from the article shows Mexican-American students' MAIN problem?

(A) Soon, protests began at two more high schools on the Eastside of Los Angeles.

(B) The schools had some of the worst rates for dropouts, or quitting school, in the country.

(D) Police in heavy armor arrived and ordered the students back to class.

2 Read the section "Protests Filled Students With Hope."

Select the sentence that MOST suggests there were other protests in the country at the same time as the ones in East L.A.

(A) By the time the walkouts — sometimes called "blowouts" peaked a week later, 22,000 students had stormed out of class.

(B) The East L.A. protests 50 years ago were the California version of the fury and hope that marked much of 1968.

(D) “In 1968, the kids kicked the doors open,” said Pete Martinez, a former teacher at Lincoln.

3 Which option explains two MAIN ideas of the article?

(A) Mexican-American students in East L.A. protested for better schools. The community improved in several ways due to their leadership.

(B) Mexican-American students felt trapped in low-level classes and low-paying jobs. They also had poorly- trained or careless teachers.

(C) Students protests in 1968 for better schools were similar to the student protests in 2018 for more gun control. Police in heavy armor told students to return to class.

(D) Protests in California were led by groups such as the Brown Berets. Many schools east of L.A. had been run-down and overcrowded for a long time.

4 Which sentence from the article would be MOST important to include in a summary of the article?

(A) Teachers at Garfield High School were winding down classes before lunch.

(B) “Viva la revolucion!” they called out. “Education, not eradication!”

(C) It was just past noon on a sunny Tuesday, March 5, 1968 — the day a revolution began for Mexican- Americans, people whose families came to the United States from Mexico.

(D) Along with Garfield, students at Roosevelt and Lincoln high schools drew attention to run-down campuses, lack of college preparation courses and teachers who were poorly trained, racist or didn't care.

5 How effective is the introduction [paragraphs 1-4] at developing the topic of the 1968 student walkouts?

(A) Very effective; it provides a vivid description of the protests and also explains their main purpose.

(B) Very effective; it provides background about why individual students joined the protests for better schools.

(C) Somewhat effective; it helps the reader visualize the first day of the protests, but does not explain why people protested.

(D) Somewhat effective; it explains what happened during the protests, but does not explain who was affected.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 6 Read the paragraph from the section "Protests of 1968 Similar To Those Today."

How does this paragraph contribute to the article's overall point?

(A) by demonstrating the contrast between student activism in Florida and California

(B) by exploring the effects of the Brown Berets on other East L.A. student activists

(D) by introducing the effects of student activism on the debate about gun control

7 Read the paragraph from the section "Increase In Mexican-American College Students."

“Until that day, it never crossed my mind that Garfield High was run-down, overcrowded and lagging behind public schools in wealthier white neighborhoods,” said Rodriguez, who later became a prize-winning writer at the San Jose Mercury News. “All that changed after the blowouts.”

Why did the author include this paragraph?

(A) to indicate that most students were not bothered by the issues in public schools

(B) to repeat the problems that were being faced by students at Garfield High School

(D) to highlight how Rodriguez's role in the protests led to him winning many prizes

8 The author wrote this article mostly to explain that the actions of the protesters in 1968 were revolutionary.

What did the author do to illustrate this point in the article?

(A) The author carefully outlined the legal changes that the students wanted for the school and how they were able to achieve them.

(B) The author provides a few examples of how Mexican-American schools and communities were improved as a result of the protests.

(D) The author developed a convincing argument in favor of teaching more about the history of the Mexican-American students' social activism.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Answer Key