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The Chicana Rights Project (CRP) was a
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
organization created in 1974 to address the legal rights of poor
Mexican-American 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 Mexica ...
women. The organization was guided by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and created by Vilma Martinez. The project was headquartered in San Francisco and San Antonio.


About

The project was founded by Vilma Martinez, president of MALDEF and the first woman in the United States to lead a significant civil rights organization. Funding for the organization was provided by the Ford Foundation, and was separate from funds for MALDEF. The foundation wanted to fund projects with organizations they already supported. For the first year, the foundation offered CRP $25,000. Every year afterward, the CRP had to justify itself to the Ford Foundation in order to receive funding for the next year. CRP started its first litigation in 1975, focusing on employment, health care and prison reform. The organization won unemployment benefits for Head Start workers in Texas. It also won complaints against military bases and other organizations for discrimination in hiring and promoting Chicanas. For example, the CRP won a complaint against San Antonio's Comprehensive Employment Training Act in which they addressed issues regarding sexual discrimination in their hiring process. The CRP also won cases against doctors who were forcing Spanish-speaking women to consent to sterilization, often asking them while they were giving birth, or just before a Cesarean operation. In California, these patients were pressured with threats of exposure to immigration authorities for those who were illegal aliens and threats of welfare payments being cancelled if they did not sign over their right to sterilization. In another case handled by the CRP, Chicana women were being experimented on in San Antonio by being given placebo
birth control pills Oral contraceptives, abbreviated OCPs, also known as birth control pills, are medications taken by mouth for the purpose of birth control. Female Two types of female oral contraceptive pill, taken once per day, are widely available: * The combin ...
without their consent or knowledge. The CRP also acted as a watchdog for the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). Their first filing against CETA in 1976 caused the number of minorities and women in the program to rise from 20% to 50%. In 1976, the CRP branched out, filing an amicus brief on behalf of a black woman, Margaret Miller, who was fired for rejecting
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
from her supervisor. CRP also represented Chicano men. CRP collected data on Chicana employment and educational discrimination. CRP used this data to show that Chicana women were discriminated against in different ways than Chicano men and white women in the United States. This research also revealed how legal rights were gendered and often ignored by the broader Chicano movement. CRP was also involved in educational outreach to Chicana women. This outreach included a series of
pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...
s on topics such as women's health issues, immigrant rights and employment.


History

Martinez immediately began work on the CRP after she became MALDEF president in September 1973. Martinez hired a lawyer and former
Congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
secretary,
Patricia Vasquez Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word '' patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United Stat ...
, in June 1974 to run CRP. As the organization grew, the CRP set up a task force, in 1976, which would identify and prioritize legal cases. On the board of the task force were Francisca Flores, Pauline Jacobo, Teresa Aragon de Shepro, Carmen Carrillo, Drucilla Ramey, Elizabeth Waldman and Jean Fairfax. By the summer of 1978, in order to gain more grassroots support, the CRP began to collaborate with Comisión Femenil, the
Chicana Service Action Center 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 ...
(CSAC),
Mujeres Unidas Mujeres (English: Women) may refer to: *Isla Mujeres, an island in the Caribbean Sea *Isla Mujeres (municipality), one of the ten municipalities of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo * "Mujeres" (Fanny Lu song), 2013 * "Mujeres" (Mozart La Para song ...
and the
Mexican American Women's National Association Mexican American Women's National Association, known today as MANA, A National Latina Organization, advocates for equality and empowers Latinas through leadership development. MANA was founded in 1974, making it one of the oldest active Mexican- ...
(MANA). In 1979, Vasquez resigned from CRP, saying she had "mixed feelings" about leaving and was resigning also because of "incompatible differences" between herself and Martinez. Carmen Estrada, who had been working in the CRP San Francisco office, took over Vasquez place as the head of CRP. When Martinez resigned from MALDEF in 1982, the project faltered without her leadership and support. In 1983, there was a lack of funds to continue the project and it ended.


Notable cases

* '' Lau v. Nichols'' (1974) * ''
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ''Regents of the University of California v. Bakke'', 438 U.S. 265 (1978) involved a dispute of whether preferential treatment for minorities can reduce educational opportunities for whites without violating the Constitution. The case was a la ...
'' (1978) * ''
Plyler v. Doe ''Plyler v. Doe'', 457 U.S. 202 (1982), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States struck down both a state statute denying funding for education of undocumented immigrant children in the United States and an independent school distr ...
'' (1982)


Notable members

* Francisca Flores * Vilma Martinez * Graciela Olivarez


References


Citations


Sources

*


External links


Guide to MALDEF records
{{Authority control 1974 establishments in the United States 1983 disestablishments in the United States Civil rights organizations in the United States Legal advocacy organizations in the United States Mexican-American organizations Women's rights organizations Chicana feminism