''Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston'' is a 2005 book by Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., published by the

Texas A&M University Press Texas A&M University Press (also known informally as TAMU Press) is a scholarly publishing house associated with Texas A&M University. It was founded in 1974 and is located in College Station, Texas, in the United States. Overview The Texas A&M ...

. ''Brown, Not White'' discusses Chicano activism in Houston, Texas during the 20th century. It is the third volume in the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

(UH) Series in Mexican American Studies, sponsored by the UH Center of Mexican American Studies. Dr. Tatcho Mindiola Jr. sponsored this publication series.Kreneck, p. 705.

Part one discusses the development of the Mexican-American community of Houston from 1900-1960.Shircliffe, p. 605. This section discusses how Hispanic activists of the day sought to have Hispanics classified as

White Americans White Americans (sometimes also called Caucasian Americans) are Americans who identify as white people. In a more official sense, the United States Census Bureau, which collects demographic data on Americans, defines "white" as " person hav ...

.Shircliffe, p. 605-606. Specifically chapter 1 discusses the Hispanic community prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and chapter 2 discusses Mexican children in the schools and how they were affected by educational policies. Chapter 3 discusses efforts from Hispanic individuals to reform the school system.Rosales, p. 87. Chapter 4 documents debates on how to reform the education system that took place within the Hispanic community.Rosales, p. 88. Part two describes the campaign for the Hispanic community to be recognized as a non-white minority, rather than white, in regards to a

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest Public school (government funded), public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the ci ...

(HISD) desegregation plan.Shircliffe, p. 606. In its initial 1970 desegregation plan,Quiroz, p. 228. HISD was trying to "desegregate" by mixing black and Mexican students together while not including Anglo Whites in the desegregation plan, and using the Mexican students' designation as "white" as a workaround. Mexicans responded by launching a strike, or ''huelga'', against HISD. Part three goes into detail regarding movements to classify

Mexican-Americans Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

as being a part of the racial minority groups. The book discusses the efforts of the Mexican American Educational Council (MAEC), an organization fighting HISD's original desegregation program, to be recognized by HISD and the court system.Alamillo, p. 221. José M. Alamillo of

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

wrote that " e of the most important contributions" of this book was saying that men and women of varying social classes and ages were central to the

Chicano movement The Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento (Spanish for "the Movement"), was a civil rights movements, social and political movement in the United States that worked to embrace a Chicano, Chicano identity and worldview that combated ...

, rather than Carlos Muñoz's statements saying that students were central to the movement. Rodolfo Rosales of the

Background

San Miguel previously wrote '' "Let All of Them Take Heed": Mexican Americans and the Campaign for Educational Equality in Texas, 1910-1981'', described by Thomas H. Kreneck of

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has an international border wit ...

as "an important history of Mexican American educational reform in the Lone Star State". San Miguel encountered information on the huelgas while researching the history of Houston's education system and decided to write a book about the subject. San Miguel used information from the Houston Metropolitan Research Center for this book.

Reception

Alamillo wrote that the book "contributes significantly to the history of Chicano movement and school desegregation in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

" and he recommended that teachers, community activists, and officials in school systems read the book. He argued that the author should have more fully explored racial conflicts between blacks and Hispanics. Barbara J. Shircliffe of the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

wrote that the author "greatly contributes to our understanding of the influence of the Chicano movement on local school activism among a broad group of Mexican Americans during the period."Shircliffe, p. 608. She suggested that the author could have added more information regarding Mexican-Black relations, especially regarding local politics and educational politics.Shircliffe, p. 607. Gilbert G. Gonzalez of the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

wrote that the author "examines and analyzes" the history "so well". Kreneck wrote that the book was "strong" but that it should have included a bibliography and acknowledgments section. Anthony Quiroz of TAMU Corpus Christi wrote that the book is "a fascinating and important account of the Chicano ''huelga'' in Houston" and he also stated that it could have benefited from more deeply discussing Black-Hispanic tensions.Quiroz, p. 229. Rosales supported how the author "made a conscious choice to provide an illuminating story where he provided more direction than analysis" but he added that sometimes the author provided "too much detail, which tended to clog, so to speak, the analysis."

References

* Alamillo, José M. (

).
Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston
(Book Review). ''

The Western Historical Quarterly The Western History Association (WHA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded in 1961 at Santa Fe, New Mexico by Ray Allen Billington, et al. Included in the field of study are the American West and western Canada. The Western History ...

'', 1 July 2002, Vol.33(2), pp. 220–221 eer Reviewed Journal Available at

JSTOR JSTOR ( ; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources founded in 1994. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary source ...

. * Gonzalez, Gilbert G. (

).
Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston
(book review). ''

Journal of American History ''The Journal of American History'' is the quarterly official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', the o ...

'', June, 2002, Vol.89(1), p. 310(1). Available at

. * Kreneck, Thomas H. (

)
Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston
(Book Review). ''

Southwestern Historical Quarterly The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

'', April, 2002, Vol.105(4), p. 704(2). Available at

. * Quiroz, Anthony (

).
Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston
(Book Review). ''

The Journal of Southern History The Southern Historical Association is a professional academic organization of historians focusing on the history of the Southern United States. It was organized on November 2, 1934. Its objectives are the promotion of interest and research in Sou ...

'', 1 February 2003, Vol.69(1), pp. 228–228. Available at

. * Rosales, Rodolfo (

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA or UT San Antonio) is a Public university, public research university in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Established in 1969,Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston
(Book Review). ''Journal of American Ethnic History'', 1 October 2002, Vol.22(1), pp. 86–88. Available at

. * Shircliffe, Barbara J. (

).
Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston
(Book Review). ''

History of Education Quarterly ''History of Education Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history of education. It is published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the History of Education Society and was established in 1949 as the ''H ...

'', 1 December 2002, Vol.42(4), pp. 605–608. Available at

Notes

{{Houston ISD 2001 non-fiction books History of Houston History of Mexican Americans Texas A&M University Press books Books about Houston Books about race and ethnicity in the United States

Contents

Background

Reception

See also

References

Notes