Latino Civil Rights during the Carter Administration, 1979-1981
Latino Civil Rights During the Carter Administration gives rich insight into the efforts of the Executive Branch of U.S. government to reach out to the burgeoning Latino population during the last 2 years of the Carter Administration. In the summer of 1979, the Carter Administration created the White House Office of Hispanic Affairs in order to address issues of critical importance to the Latino community. The coming decade of the 1980s was being hailed as “the Decade of the Hispanic,” and many were looking to the president and Congress to show more respect for Latinos and their manifold contributions to the United States. Major topics covered in this collection include inflation, bilingual education, police brutality, political unrest in Latin America, Haitian refugees, and immigration (legal and otherwise), Puerto Rican self-determination, and the U.S. Navy’s use of Vieques Island. Latino Civil Rights during the Carter Administration also documents some of the most important Latino organizations of the time, including LULAC, TELACU, La Raza, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the American G.I. Forum.