PBS’s “A Class Apart” Documentary is a Must See
Imagine the Chief Justice of the United States asking the question if a person born in the United States is a citizen of the United States or asking an American attorney graduating from a prestigious law school if he will need an interpreter. Despite hundreds of thousands of naturally born Mexican American’s fighting in World War II’s bloody battlefields this was the world they found when they returned home. On February 23, 2009 at 8 central time, the PBS Series, The American Experience, will be presenting “A Class Apart”. The program tells the story of how two South Texas Mexican-American attorneys took the case of Hernández vs. Texas all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
Although the Treaty of Guadelope Hidalgo ending the Mexican American war in 1848 conferred American citizenship to the native Hispanic population of the territories ceded to the United States it was not borne out in reality. Mexican-Americans where treated as a separate and invisible class. More often then not they were openly barred from restaurants or schools despite being given the status as “white” in the segregated South.
By the end of World War II there was beginning to be a movement in the Mexican American community to push for their rights. ( see our story about Felix Longoria) Although it was very unusual for Hispanics to be admitted to professional school those that were lucky enough to get the opportunity began to champion the cause of Mexican American civil rights. The PBS documentary tells the story of a team of Texas Mexican American lawyers demanding that Mexican Americans who stood trial had a right to be judged by their peers. At that time no Mexican American had ever served in more than 70 Texas counties. Some well known local professionals from the Rio Grande Valley including Dr. Ramiro Casso and attorney Robert Sánchez remember the people and events of the day in the program.
Hernández vs. Texas was the first time Mexican American attorneys ever appeared before the Supreme Court. It is a case that many legal experts say has been mistakenly forgotten in it’s importance. There is no official transcript surviving so the documentary performs an important function in memorializing the memories of those involved who are still living.
Although one can argue that Mexican Americans have come a long way since the 1950s when the documentary is set there is still some very relevant lessons to be gleaned. After reading the transcript and seeing some of the footage, I strongly recommend Carlos Sandoval’s production of “A Class Apart” for everyone to see. The attitude at that time of the average non-Hispanic American who saw a Latino on the street was to assume he was an illegal alien, uneducated, and not proficient in the English language who was a member of an underclass. The question remains: Has that really changed?
Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years.He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
