The East Los Angeles Walkouts of 1968 - Chicano Blowouts

 

The East Los Angeles Walkouts of 1968

    Chicano Blowouts

East Los Angeles has historically been home to many Latinx and Chicano communities in Los Angeles. In the 1960s the dropout rate of Latinos in the East LA high schools was influenced by the quality of resources and academic opportunity in the following high schools; Lincoln High, Belmont High, Roosevelt High, Garfield High, Jefferson High, Venice High, and Wilson High. Chicano students were given a set of school rules to follow and when violated, they would be punished by being humiliated. The school district did not seem to find their treatment inhumane, and when brought to attention, they disregarded it at first. In 1968, Chicano activists and students seek for change in their schools and began building a list of 39 demands for the school district to apply at their schools. The list included access to quality education, the teaching of Latin American history, the removal of prejudiced faculty, the removal of janitorial punishments, and many more. The list was first presented to the principals of the high schools and was put down instantly with no hope of seeing change. This is when students performed a peaceful walkout where they would go to school and would walk out of their classes in the morning as teachers took attendance. 

The students knew that the schools receive their funding based on the attendance of students and walking out would really make them listen to their cause and cooperate with them. The first walkout was successful and peaceful but it was not enough for the request to be granted. The walkouts continued for several days and the city streets were filled with not only students but also family members fighting for the right cause. They held banners up with powerful statements, held up flags, and culturally important symbols that gave hope and portrayed the importance of the cause. The protests were filled with violence due to the presence of the Los Angels Police Department but were never the intention to have their cause heard through violence. The walkouts brought light to the work of many Chicano photographers and writers and gave a voice to the Chicano community as it was the first big political protest that fought for equality.