¡Justicia for Santos!: Mexican American civil rights and the Santos Rodr?guez affair in Dallas, Texas, 1969-1978

Abstract

On July 24, 1973, Santos Rodr?guez, a twelve-year-old Mexican American boy, was fatally shot by a white Dallas Police officer, Darrel L. Cain, while interrogating him in the front seat of a squad car. Within a few days, Mexican American and Chicano activists coordinated and organized demonstrations at Dallas City Hall. The Rodr?guez affair of 1973 occurred during period of Dallas? history when police brutality, widespread poverty, and city officials? neglect of minority communities defined race relations in the city. This thesis explores the roots of the Mexicano community in Dallas, and their quest for civil rights from the late 1960s to late 1970s, scrutinizing the factors that prompted for collaboration and division between Mexican Americans and Chicano activists. The study examines a handful of activists and organizations, and scrutinizes the objectives and triumphs that they attained in their pursuit towards equal rights, and how the Santos Rodr?guez affair ultimately became a catalyst for unifying the Mexicano community.