The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) is an organization based in California that promotes the interests of

Mexican-Americans Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican ...

Mexicans Mexicans ( es, mexicanos) are the citizens of the United Mexican States. The most spoken language by Mexicans is Spanish language, Spanish, but some may also speak languages from 68 different Languages of Mexico, Indigenous linguistic groups ...

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

s, and Latino economic refugees in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Founded in 1960, their goal was to further incorporate Mexican-Americans into American politics and society through increased voter turnout and election to public office. MAPA, alongside the rest of the member organizations of the Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations (PASSO), developed from the Viva Kennedy Campaign to elect

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

president.

History

The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) was organized by 150 volunteer delegates (previously involved in the Viva Kennedy Campaign) at Fresno in April 1960 as a means to elect Mexican American candidates to public office.

Edward R. Roybal Edward Ross Roybal (February 10, 1916 – October 24, 2005) was a member of the Los Angeles City Council for thirteen years and of the U.S. House of Representatives for thirty years. Biography Roybal was born on February 10, 1916, into a Me ...

, later elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, served as its first chair/president. During the 1960 election, MAPA campaigned heavily on behalf of the Kennedy campaign. Throughout the 1960s, MAPA was active in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

and the Chicano political movement, joining the short-lived Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations. MAPA members also aided Cesar Chavez and the

United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...

in political and labor negotiations. From 1960 to 1964 the organization grew over twelve times in size, with 36 total chapters. That year, MAPA endorsed

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

for president and became part of the Viva Johnson movement. Also in 1964, the organization influenced California governor

Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he w ...

to abolish the Bracero program in California, with some MAPA members appointed for the sake of coordination. In the late 1970s, MAPA became increasingly involved with California governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

, gaining appointments to his administration. In 2009, the group fell under scrutiny after MAPA president,

Nativo Lopez Nativo Lopez-Vigil (born Larry Lopez; October 3, 1951 – May 19, 2019) was an American political leader and immigrant rights activist in Southern California. Lopez was a national president of the Mexican American Political Association and the nat ...

, was charged with voter fraud. In recent years, MAPA has been on the decline, with subsiding membership and political activity. The organization is viewed by many as having outlived its usefulness, as with the increasing involvement of Mexican Americans in American politics, its founding goals have been achieved. In 2009 MAPA clashed with other Latino political organizations after Nativo Lopez voiced support for a boycott of the 2010 census.

Structure

MAPA is a grass roots-based coalition with an organizational structure that functions as a collective of communal circles working together, at different levels, towards political empowerment, self-determination and sustainability of the Latino community’s future. Its primary goal is community-focused political action. MAPA is officially a non-partisan organization and welcomes members of any political affiliation.

Tactics

To accomplish the goal of political empowerment for Mexican Americans, MAPA focuses on electing Mexican Americans to public office, registering voters, and raising political awareness and involvement from a grassroots level of community organizations.

Presidents

Edward Roybal Edward Ross Roybal (February 10, 1916 – October 24, 2005) was a member of the Los Angeles City Council for thirteen years and of the U.S. House of Representatives for thirty years. Biography Roybal was born on February 10, 1916, into a Me ...

, 1960–1962 * Julius Castellum, 1962 * Eduardo Quevedo, 1963–1966 *

Bert Corona Humberto Noé Corona (May 29, 1918 – January 15, 2001) was an American labor and civil rights leader. Throughout his long career, he worked with nearly every major Mexican-American organization, founding or co-founding several. He organized w ...

, 1966–1971 * Armando Rodriguez, 1971–1973 * Margaret Cruz, 1973–1975 * Manuel Lopez, 1975 – 1977 * Eduardo Sandoval, 1977 – 1981 * Julio Calderon, 1981 – 1983 * Fernando Chavez, 1983 – 1985 * Beatriz Molina, 1985 – 1989 * Ben Benavidez, 1989 – 1995 * Hector Brolo, 1995 – 1997 * Ben Benavidez, 1997 – 1999 * Gloria Torres, 1999 – 2001 * Ben Benavidez, 2001 – 2003 *

, 2004–2012 * Juan "Ralphy" Avitia, 2013–2015

References

External links