American Experience

Answer the following questions as you watch the film.

1. In what town, and in what year, did Pete Hernández kill Joe Espinosa?
2. How did the United States gain control of large amounts of Mexican territory?
3. Did the Mexican American residents of these territories become U.S. citizens? Were they treated as the equals of Anglo citizens?
4. What stereotypes did many Anglos who settled Texas have about Mexican Americans? Where did these prejudices come from?
5. How did the segregation of Mexican Americans differ from the segregation of African Americans?
6. How many Mexican Americans served in the armed forces in World War II? How did their experience change Mexican Americans’ view of themselves?
7. What scandal arose regarding Private Felix Longoria? What did it symbolize? How was the controversy ended?
8. What is the Fourteenth Amendment? Why did Mexican Americans see it as a way to have their rights respected? Why did some states argue that it did not apply to Mexican Americans?
9. Who was Gus García? Did he believe Hernández was innocent or guilty? Why did he take the case?
10. Why did Hernández’s lawyers not sleep in town during the trial?
11. How many Mexican Americans were on Hernández’s jury?
12. What happened when Hernández’s lawyers tried to use the courthouse bathroom? Why was this relevant to their case?
13. How did the trial judge react when Hernández’s lawyers complained about the lack of Mexican Americans on the jury? How did the trial end?
14. What was the “class apart” argument on which Hernández’s lawyers based their appeal? What was the state’s argument in response?
15. Why were some Mexican Americans concerned about the appeal of this case?
16. How did the Texas Supreme Court rule on the case?
17. To what court did Hernández’s lawyers appeal next? In what way was this a “first” in U.S. history?
18. How did Mexican American activists raise money to pay for the court case?
19. What was the court’s ruling? What happened to Hernández?
20. How did the outcome of the case affect Mexican Americans across the country?