How a 1968 Student Protest Fueled a Chicano Rights Movement

June 7, 2023
(11 min.)
Has lesson plan

A massive protest by Mexican American high school students was a milestone in a movement for Chicano rights.

Thousands of high school students walked out of classes in East Los Angeles in 1968 to protest inequality for Mexican Americans in the public education system. Among the students’ concerns were classes that omitted Hispanic history, a lack of bilingual teachers and a system that steered Chicano students to vocational training rather than college-prep classes.

After school administrators ignored students’ demands for improvements, the students planned a series of walkouts in protest. As many as 15,000 people joined in, including students from other high schools, teachers, parents and community activists.

The police confronted the demonstrators with violence, and 13 organizers were arrested. Charges against them were eventually dismissed on First Amendment grounds.

The protest, one of the largest by students in U.S. history, set the stage for a Chicano movement seeking a broad array of civil rights reforms for Latinos.

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For teachers
  • Producer: Scott Michels
  • Editor: Brian Kamerzel
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For Educators

Subjects
Civics and Government English Language Arts Ethnic Studies U.S. History
Topics
1960s Civil Rights  Latinx History Race and Racism
Introduction

This 11-minute video examines how thousands of high school students walked out of classes in East Los Angeles in 1968 to protest inequality for Mexican Americans in the public education system. Among the students’ concerns were classes that omitted Hispanic history, a lack of bilingual teachers and a system that steered Chicano students to vocational training rather than college-prep classes.

Lesson Plan 1: The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts (Soc. St.)
The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts (Soc. St.)
The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts (Soc. St.)
Overview
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Students will learn about and analyze the events surrounding the 1968 East Los Angeles student walkouts.

Objectives
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Students will:

  • Analyze the historical context and significance of the East Los Angeles student walkouts in the 1960s.
  • Analyze the motivations and goals of the student activists during the walkouts.
  • Evaluate the impact and long-term consequences of the East Los Angeles student walkouts on education and civil rights in the United States.
Essential questions
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  • What impact did the East L.A. student walkouts have on education and civil rights in the United States?
Additional resources
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Standards
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College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

  • D2.Civ.14.9-12.Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
  • D2.Civ.5.9-12.Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
  • D2.His.3.9-12.Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.
  • D2.His.9.9-12Analyze the relationship between historical sources and the secondary interpretations made from them.
  • D3.4.9-12.Refine claims and counterclaims attending to precision, significance, and knowledge conveyed through the claim while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both.

Common Core Literacy Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.1:Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.2:Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.9:Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Lesson Plan 2: The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts (ELA)
The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts (ELA)
The 1968 L.A. School Walkouts (ELA)
Overview
▼

Thousands of high school students walked out of classes in East Los Angeles in 1968 to protest inequality for Mexican Americans in the public education system. Among the students’ concerns were classes that omitted Hispanic history, a lack of bilingual teachers and a system that steered Chicano students to vocational training rather than college-prep classes.



Objectives
▼

Students will:

  • Analyze the events surrounding the 1968 East Los Angeles student walkouts.
  • Explain the idea of civil disobedience and evaluate its impact on history. 
  • Write a five-paragraph essay making connections between the L.A. Walkouts and other instances of civil disobedience in U.S. and/or World History.
Essential questions
▼

What role does civil disobedience have in shaping society? 

Additional resources
▼
Standards
▼

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies:

  • D2.Civ.12.9-12. Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
  • D2.Civ.14.9-12. Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
  • D2.His.12.9-12. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources.
  • D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
  • D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.
  • D2.His.17.9-12. Critique the central arguments in secondary works of history on related topics in multiple media in terms of their historical accuracy.

Common Core Literacy Standards:

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.2: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. 
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.