Dr. Hector P. Garcia and the Civil Rights Act

BY CHRISTY MARTINEZ-GARCIA LATINO LUBBOCK MAGAZINE

nnually, on July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. This landmark law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in public accommodations, in publicly owned or operated facilities, in employment and union membership and in the registration of voters.

History books usually reflect only the contributions of African American to this monumental effort, but Mexican Americans also played a significant role, specifically that of Dr. Hector P. Garcia. The victories of Mexican American civil rights activists came slowly but steadily, laying the foundations for the Chicano Movement of the 1960s. In 1960, undeterred by death threats and agitator labels, Dr. Garcia entered the national political arena by cofounding the national VIVA KENNEDY clubs for the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy.

Acknowledging that the crucial Hispanic vote achieved by these clubs had turned the tide of the election, President Kennedy placated national Hispanic demands for greater participation by appointing Dr. Garcia ambassador to a West Indies treaty signing. Despite token appointments, the relationship between the MexicanAmerican people who campaigned for him remained unsatisfactory until JFK's death and Lyndon Johnson's rise to the White House in 1963.

AWith the 1964 Civil Rights act, Lyndon Johnson seemed to be more than anything, wanting to fulfill the legacy of President Kennedy. Johnson was keenly aware that he had not been elected in his own right. And Kennedy had submitted this legislation to congress in response to agitation by black Americans. So, that the major thrust of the legislation was to de-segregate the south, and to help African Americans in that regard. At the same time, Johnson understood that the other part of the bill did address Mexican Americans. The other part of the Civil Rights act was to establish the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to fight job discrimination. Johnson was virtually the only person in his own White House who equated civil rights beyond simply African Americans, and in particular including Mexican Americans. And certainly, Dr. Garcia was on the same wavelength. He understood immediately and he had been pushing for better federal policies to combat job discrimination.

Through the passage of the years, Dr. Hector Garcia remained vocal.

"I do not choose to be a Mexican chicharron [fried pork rind] in the American melting pot," he says proudly, explaining that while all Americans get mixed into the same "pot" they need not lose their cultural identity.

In July 1996, Dr. Hector P. Garcia died in Corpus Christi, the city he had called home since 1946. While his personal story ended on that day in Texas, his legacy lives on today.