This unit will be written for students of Latin American Heritage in New Haven school district, but it can be used and adopted by Spanish or social studies teachers who work with the same student population and dynamics. The purpose of the unit is to create awareness about Latino identity in the 20
th
century and understand the social upheaval beyond the law changing, the relationship with the Civil Rights Movement, and the philosophy of striking as a non-violent means to achieve political and social results.
The purpose of the unit is multilayered. The unit in itself, as research and as an application of the research in practice, interrelates with other disciplines in order to bring different perspectives such as the nuances of historical, legal, and legislative actions to implement policies to end discrimination. Additionally, the language perspective of the Latino population can be seen through the struggles of maintaining self-identity while integrating with the American mainstream culture. The language factor is mostly related to the generation of Latino children who found it very hard to succeed in the American public schools due to the lack of instruction in both languages.
Primarily, the purpose of the unit is to teach the students about the Civil Rights Movement seen from the Latinos’ point of view in the U.S. during the 1960s and the 1970s. The unit will cover the major events and the efforts of the Latino advocacy groups in Southwest United States that changed state legislation about issues of fairness and offering equal education opportunities for bilingual and English language learners (ELL). Moreover, it will touch aspects of unfairness in the treatment of the Latino workers and ending discrimination in the workplace. Lastly, it will talk about the denial of equal opportunities in higher education for Mexican-Americans students. The unit will treat specific features of the Chicano Movement and the efforts of Latino activists from a leadership standpoint.
