Ralph Cuarón (1923-2002) was a

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

organizer and leader of many local community associations and workers unions throughout his life. He was an advocate for Black-Brown unity and was heavily criticized for his activism by anti-communist politician Jack Tenney, being described as a "monster" for his idea of a Mexican-American ethnic

class consciousness In Marxism, class consciousness is the set of beliefs that persons hold regarding their social class or economic rank in society, the structure of their class, and their common class interests. According to Karl Marx, class consciousness is an awa ...

. Cuarón became the first national youth director of Asociación Nacional México-Americana (ANMA) in the 1950s, after being introduced to leftist organizers in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

by Francisca Flores. In the 1970s, Cuarón moved from

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...

to the mountains of the San Jacinto in Riverside County, where he became active in community organizing and meeting with labor leaders like Lou Diskin and community activists from the Young Workers Liberation League. The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

closely monitored Cuarón and his relationship with the local San Bernardino-Riverside County Communist Party, referring to his work as resulting "in the indoctrination of Chicanos." In 1974, he was hired as a custodian at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

and engaged in union and campus community organizing on issues of labor rights, political activism, and education reform.

References

Chicano American communists 1923 births 2002 deaths University of California, Riverside people {{Chicano-stub