Chicano Park
Encyclopedia
Chicano Park is a 32,000 square meter (7.9 acre
) park
located beneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge
in Barrio Logan
, a predominantly Mexican American
and Mexican
-immigrant community in central San Diego, California
. The park is home to the country's largest collection of outdoor mural
s (67), as well as various sculpture
s, earthworks, and an architectural
piece dedicated to the cultural heritage of the community. For the magnitude and historical significance of the murals, the park was designated an official historic site by the San Diego Historical Site Board in 1980, and its murals were officially recognized as public art
by the San Diego Public Advisory Board in 1987. There is currently a movement to have the park listed on the National Register of Historic Places
due to its association with the Chicano civil rights movement
. Chicano Park, like Berkeley's People's Park
, was the result of a militant (but nonviolent
) people's land takeover. Every year on April 22 (or the nearest weekend), the community celebrates the anniversary of the park's takeover with a festival called Chicano Park Day.
in 1905. The first Mexican settlers there arrived in the 1890s, followed soon after by refugees fleeing the violence of the Mexican Revolution
, which began in 1910. So many Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans settled there that the southern portion of Logan Heights eventually became known as Barrio Logan.
The original neighborhood reached all the way to San Diego Bay
, with waterfront access for the residents. This access was denied beginning with World War II
, when Naval
installations blocked local access to the beach. The denial of beachfront access was the initial source of the community's resentment of the government and its agencies.
This resentment grew in the 1950s, when the area was rezoned
as mixed residential and industrial. Junk dealers and repair shops moved into the barrio
, creating air pollution
, loud noise, and aesthetic conditions unsuitable for a residential area. Resentment continued to grow as the barrio was cleaved in two by Interstate 5 in 1963 and was further divided in 1969 by the elevated onramps of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge
.
At this time, Mexicans were accustomed to not being included in discussions concerning their communities and to not being represented by their officials, so no formal complaint was lodged. This attitude began to change in the turbulent decade that brought the demands of African Americans, women, and other oppressed peoples for equality and full inclusion in American society. As the various campaigns coalesced under the banner of the Chicano Movement
(for the right to organize and collectively bargain
, led by César Chávez
and Dolores Huerta
of the United Farm Workers
, the rights to the full benefits guaranteed to veterans, led by Dr. Hector P. Garcia
of the American G.I. Forum, the right to equal and pertinent education, led by the student group MEChA
which issued the Plan de Santa Barbara
, for the rights of Mexicans guaranteed under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
, (especially land grants and bilingual education
) under Reies Tijerina
, and for recognition of the historic contributions of Mexican-Americans and the validity of Mexican culture) so too did the political awareness and sense of empowerment grow in Barrio Logan.
Community residents had long been demanding a park. The City Council had promised to build a park to compensate for the loss of over 5,000 homes and businesses removed for the construction of the freeway and bridge, as well as for the aesthetic degradation created by the overhead freeways supported by a forest of gray concrete piers. In June 1969, the park was officially approved and a site was designated, but no action was taken to implement the decision.
student, and Brown Beret
member named Mario Solis noticed bulldozers next to the area designated for the park. When he inquired about the nature of the work being undertaken, he was shocked to discover that, rather than a park, the crew was preparing to build a parking lot next to a building that would be converted into a California Highway Patrol
station. Since the community had many grievances against the local police
and law enforcement in general already, this was considered a slap in the face.
Solis went door-to-door to spread the news of the construction. At school, he alerted the students of Professor
Gil Robledo's Chicano studies class, who printed fliers to bring more attention to the affair. At noon that day, Mexican-American high school students walked out of their classes to join other neighbors who had already congregated at the site. Some protesters formed human chains around the bulldozers, while others planted trees, flowers, and cactus. Solis is reported to have commandeered a bulldozer to flatten the land for planting. Also, notably, the flag
of Aztlán
was raised on an old telephone pole, marking a symbolic 'reclamation' of land that was once Mexico
by people of Mexican descent.
Construction was called off. The occupation of Chicano Park lasted for twelve days while community members and city officials held meetings to negotiate the creation of a park. During that time, groups of people came from Los Angeles
and Santa Barbara
to join the occupation and express solidarity. Not trusting the city and fearing that abandoning the land would be tantamount to conceding defeat, an agreement was finally reached whereby the recently-formed Chicano Park Steering Committee would call for an end to the occupation of the land while remaining just on the outskirts of the disputed terrain to provide residents with information regarding the project. They maintained that the park would be re-occupied if negotiations failed.
At a meeting on April 23, a young artist
named Salvador Torres
, recently returned to the barrio from the College of Arts and Crafts
in Oakland
, shared his vision of adorning the freeway support pillars with beautiful artworks. For this reason, he is sometimes referred to as "the architect of the dream". Finally, on July 1, 1970, $21,814.96 was allocated for the development of a 1.8 acre (7,300 m²) parcel of land.
of Sacramento
and the mural team of Charles "Gato" Félix, responsible for the murals at the Estrada Courts in Los Angeles. Many non-Chicanos also participated. Over time, more vegetation was planted to create a cactus garden.
Other additions to the park have been piecemeal, as the comprehensive "Master Plan" put forth by the artists was never adopted by the city. The park has expanded, and currently reaches almost "all the way to the bay", a phrase used as the rally cry to extend the park in a 1980 campaign. The Cesar E. Chávez Waterfront Park was begun in 1987 and completed in 1990, finally restoring beach access to the community. With the exception of three city blocks that are not part of the park, the original goal of creating a community park with waterfront access has been achieved. Major mural restoration projects began in 1984, and the murals have been restored almost continuously ever since.
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
) park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
located beneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge
San Diego-Coronado Bridge
The San Diego-Coronado Bridge, locally referred to as the Coronado Bridge, is a "prestressed concrete/steel" girder bridge, crossing over San Diego Bay in the United States, linking San Diego with Coronado, California...
in Barrio Logan
Barrio Logan, San Diego, California
Barrio Logan is a neighborhood in San Diego, California bordered by East Village and Logan Heights to the North, Shelltown and Southcrest to the East, San Diego Bay to the West, and National City to the South. I-5 forms the Northeastern boundary.-History:...
, a predominantly Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
and Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
-immigrant community in central San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. The park is home to the country's largest collection of outdoor mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
s (67), as well as various sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s, earthworks, and an architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
piece dedicated to the cultural heritage of the community. For the magnitude and historical significance of the murals, the park was designated an official historic site by the San Diego Historical Site Board in 1980, and its murals were officially recognized as public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
by the San Diego Public Advisory Board in 1987. There is currently a movement to have the park listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
due to its association with the Chicano civil rights movement
Chicano Movement
The Chicano Movement of the 1960s, also called the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, also known as El Movimiento, is an extension of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement which began in the 1940s with the stated goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment.-Origins:The Chicano Movement...
. Chicano Park, like Berkeley's People's Park
People's Park (Berkeley)
People's Park in Berkeley, California, USA, is a park off Telegraph Avenue, bounded by Haste and Bowditch streets and Dwight Way, near the University of California, Berkeley. The park was created during the radical political activism of the late 1960s....
, was the result of a militant (but nonviolent
Nonviolence
Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...
) people's land takeover. Every year on April 22 (or the nearest weekend), the community celebrates the anniversary of the park's takeover with a festival called Chicano Park Day.
Background
The area was originally known as the East End, but was renamed Logan HeightsLogan Heights, San Diego, California
Logan Heights is a neighborhood in central San Diego, California. It is bordered by Interstate 5 on the south and west, Interstate 15 on the east, and Imperial Avenue on the north.-History:...
in 1905. The first Mexican settlers there arrived in the 1890s, followed soon after by refugees fleeing the violence of the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
, which began in 1910. So many Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans settled there that the southern portion of Logan Heights eventually became known as Barrio Logan.
The original neighborhood reached all the way to San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
, with waterfront access for the residents. This access was denied beginning with World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when Naval
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
installations blocked local access to the beach. The denial of beachfront access was the initial source of the community's resentment of the government and its agencies.
This resentment grew in the 1950s, when the area was rezoned
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
as mixed residential and industrial. Junk dealers and repair shops moved into the barrio
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
, creating air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
, loud noise, and aesthetic conditions unsuitable for a residential area. Resentment continued to grow as the barrio was cleaved in two by Interstate 5 in 1963 and was further divided in 1969 by the elevated onramps of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge
San Diego-Coronado Bridge
The San Diego-Coronado Bridge, locally referred to as the Coronado Bridge, is a "prestressed concrete/steel" girder bridge, crossing over San Diego Bay in the United States, linking San Diego with Coronado, California...
.
At this time, Mexicans were accustomed to not being included in discussions concerning their communities and to not being represented by their officials, so no formal complaint was lodged. This attitude began to change in the turbulent decade that brought the demands of African Americans, women, and other oppressed peoples for equality and full inclusion in American society. As the various campaigns coalesced under the banner of the Chicano Movement
Chicano Movement
The Chicano Movement of the 1960s, also called the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, also known as El Movimiento, is an extension of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement which began in the 1940s with the stated goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment.-Origins:The Chicano Movement...
(for the right to organize and collectively bargain
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
, led by César Chávez
César Chávez
César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....
and Dolores Huerta
Dolores Huerta
Dolores C. Huerta is the co-founder and First Vice President Emeritus of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO , and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Early life:...
of the United Farm Workers
United Farm Workers
The United Farm Workers of America is a labor union created from the merging of two groups, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee led by Filipino organizer Larry Itliong, and the National Farm Workers Association led by César Chávez...
, the rights to the full benefits guaranteed to veterans, led by Dr. Hector P. Garcia
Hector P. Garcia
Hector Perez Garcia was a Mexican-American physician, surgeon, World War II veteran, civil rights advocate, and founder of the American G.I. Forum. As a result of the national prominence he earned through his work on behalf of Hispanic Americans, he was instrumental in the appointment of Mexican...
of the American G.I. Forum, the right to equal and pertinent education, led by the student group MEChA
MEChA
M.E.Ch.A. is an organization that seeks to promote Chicano unity and empowerment through political action. The acronym of the organization's name is the Spanish word mecha, which means "fuse"...
which issued the Plan de Santa Barbara
Plan de Santa Bárbara
El Plan de Santa Bárbara: A Chicano Plan for Higher Education was written by the Chicano Coordinating Council on Higher Education as a manifesto for the implementation of Chicano Studies educational programs throughout the state of California...
, for the rights of Mexicans guaranteed under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
, (especially land grants and bilingual education
Bilingual education
Bilingual education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model.-Bilingual education program models:...
) under Reies Tijerina
Reies Tijerina
Reies Lopez Tijerina led a struggle in the 1960s and 1970s to restore New Mexican land grants to the descendants of their Spanish colonial and Mexican owners...
, and for recognition of the historic contributions of Mexican-Americans and the validity of Mexican culture) so too did the political awareness and sense of empowerment grow in Barrio Logan.
Community residents had long been demanding a park. The City Council had promised to build a park to compensate for the loss of over 5,000 homes and businesses removed for the construction of the freeway and bridge, as well as for the aesthetic degradation created by the overhead freeways supported by a forest of gray concrete piers. In June 1969, the park was officially approved and a site was designated, but no action was taken to implement the decision.
The takeover
The final straw came on April 22, 1970. On his way to school, a community member, San Diego City CollegeSan Diego City College
San Diego City College is a public, two-year community college located in San Diego, California. City College is part of the San Diego Community College District along with San Diego Mesa College, San Diego Miramar College and San Diego Continuing Education...
student, and Brown Beret
Brown Berets
The Brown Berets is a Chicano nationalist activist group of young Mexican Americans that emerged during the Chicano Movement in the late 1960s and remains active to the present day. The group was seen as part of the Third Movement for Liberation. The Brown Berets focus on community organizing...
member named Mario Solis noticed bulldozers next to the area designated for the park. When he inquired about the nature of the work being undertaken, he was shocked to discover that, rather than a park, the crew was preparing to build a parking lot next to a building that would be converted into a California Highway Patrol
California Highway Patrol
The California Highway Patrol is a law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and also acts as the state police....
station. Since the community had many grievances against the local police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and law enforcement in general already, this was considered a slap in the face.
Solis went door-to-door to spread the news of the construction. At school, he alerted the students of Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
Gil Robledo's Chicano studies class, who printed fliers to bring more attention to the affair. At noon that day, Mexican-American high school students walked out of their classes to join other neighbors who had already congregated at the site. Some protesters formed human chains around the bulldozers, while others planted trees, flowers, and cactus. Solis is reported to have commandeered a bulldozer to flatten the land for planting. Also, notably, the flag
Flag of Aztlán
The flag of Aztlán is an unofficial flag used by Chicano nationalists in the late 1960s and early 1970s.According to Salvador Roberto Torres, an early Chicano activist and artist and one of the founders of the Centro Cultural de la Raza and Chicano Park, "The symbol of the three face image, the...
of Aztlán
Aztlán
Aztlán is the mythical ancestral home of the Nahua peoples, one of the main cultural groups in Mesoamerica. And, by extension, is the mythical homeland of the Uto-Aztecan peoples. Aztec is the Nahuatl word for "people from Aztlan".-Legend:...
was raised on an old telephone pole, marking a symbolic 'reclamation' of land that was once Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
by people of Mexican descent.
Construction was called off. The occupation of Chicano Park lasted for twelve days while community members and city officials held meetings to negotiate the creation of a park. During that time, groups of people came from Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
to join the occupation and express solidarity. Not trusting the city and fearing that abandoning the land would be tantamount to conceding defeat, an agreement was finally reached whereby the recently-formed Chicano Park Steering Committee would call for an end to the occupation of the land while remaining just on the outskirts of the disputed terrain to provide residents with information regarding the project. They maintained that the park would be re-occupied if negotiations failed.
At a meeting on April 23, a young artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
named Salvador Torres
Salvador Torres
Salvador Roberto Torres is an artist and muralist from San Diego, California, an early exponent of the Chicano art movement. He was one of the creators of Chicano Park, and led the movement to create its freeway-pillar murals...
, recently returned to the barrio from the College of Arts and Crafts
California College of the Arts
California College of the Arts , founded in 1907, is known for its broad, interdisciplinary programs in art, design, architecture, and writing. It has two campuses, one in Oakland and one in San Francisco, California, USA...
in Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, shared his vision of adorning the freeway support pillars with beautiful artworks. For this reason, he is sometimes referred to as "the architect of the dream". Finally, on July 1, 1970, $21,814.96 was allocated for the development of a 1.8 acre (7,300 m²) parcel of land.
The creation of the park
While the creation of the park was actually begun on the day of the takeover, with minor landscaping improvements being undertaken by the occupiers, the murals that brought the park to international prominence were not begun until 1973. With few exceptions, the artists and their organizations raised the money necessary to purchase muriatic acid to wash the columns, rubber surface conditioner to prepare them, and paints. Artists were invited from all over the state, with notable contributions from the Royal Chicano Air ForceRoyal Chicano Air Force
The Royal Chicano Air Force is a Sacramento, California-based art collective. It was one of the main centers of the Chicano art movement in California during the 1970s and 80s and continues to be influential into the 21st Century....
of Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
and the mural team of Charles "Gato" Félix, responsible for the murals at the Estrada Courts in Los Angeles. Many non-Chicanos also participated. Over time, more vegetation was planted to create a cactus garden.
Other additions to the park have been piecemeal, as the comprehensive "Master Plan" put forth by the artists was never adopted by the city. The park has expanded, and currently reaches almost "all the way to the bay", a phrase used as the rally cry to extend the park in a 1980 campaign. The Cesar E. Chávez Waterfront Park was begun in 1987 and completed in 1990, finally restoring beach access to the community. With the exception of three city blocks that are not part of the park, the original goal of creating a community park with waterfront access has been achieved. Major mural restoration projects began in 1984, and the murals have been restored almost continuously ever since.
Controversy
Since its inception, Chicano Park has been a source of controversy. There have been disputes within the community about who decides who gets to paint the murals, what imagery should be represented, who is responsible for the restoration of the murals, etc. But conflicts between the community artists and city and state officials have been much greater. Conflicts have also arisen between defenders of the park and neighboring Anglo-American communities.- In 1979, a San Diego Grand juryGrand juryA grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
investigation forced the Chicano Federation to vacate the park building. - A demand for a kiosk, called the Chicano Park kiosko and based on traditional community centers in Mexican villages, was fulfilled in 1977, but only after a great deal of bureaucratic wrangling and disputes over the style of architecture to be used. Councilman Jess Haro wanted the architecture to be in the Spanish style, while the barrio residents wanted an indigenous style of architecture. The community won out, and today the kiosko resembles a MayanMaya civilizationThe Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
temple. - Barrios Sí, Yonkes No. An effort to have the barrio re-zoned as (only) residential provoked the ire of the neighborhood junk dealers, who vandalizedVandalismVandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
the murals, especially the "Barrio Sí, Yonkes No" mural created to commemorate the effort. - In the mid-1990s, CaltransCalifornia Department of TransportationThe California Department of Transportation is a government department in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems throughout the state...
decided to retrofitSeismic retrofitSeismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. With better understanding of seismic demand on structures and with our recent experiences with large earthquakes near urban centers,...
the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge to make it earthquakeEarthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
safe. Fearing that the murals would be damaged or destroyed, the community mobilized to stop the project to protect the murals from what they viewed as official insensitivity to the history and culture the murals represented. Eventually, a compromise was reached whereby the murals would be boarded over with plywood to protect their surfaces from damage during the retrofitting process, and would be restored to their previous condition afterward. - A 2003 plan to renovate the park was stalled when Caltrans objected to the word "Aztlán", which for years had been spelled out in rocks on the park's grounds. Calling the term "militantMilitantThe word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
", they claimed that using federal funding for the project would violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964Civil Rights Act of 1964The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
by showing preference to Mexicans and Mexican Americans. However, Caltrans district director Pedro Orso, after consultations with civil rightsCivil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
experts from within the agency and from the Federal Highway AdministrationFederal Highway AdministrationThe Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...
, decided that the word did not violate the law, and the $600,000 grant was allowed to go through. - There are communist motifs scattered throughout several of the murals, including portraits of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, and references to Salvador Allende, and Ho Chi Minh (as "Tio Ho" a take on his Vietnamese nickname, "Bac Ho" which means "Uncle Ho").
External links
- The website of the Chicano Park Steering Committee, with a map and history
- The site of San Diego State University's documentation project on the park, with photos of many of the murals
- An independent community site about Chicano Park, with fora
- From the San Diego Historical Society
- Mural photographs by Carlo Terlizzi Photography