Spanish speaking peoples in Utah, oral histories: book 13, numbers 135 through 146

Page 131

IfTERVIEI-1: Garcia Page 13 the Hernadez case, and it happened about 1955, and in this Gus Garcia, with the help of Carlos Gardena, James DeAnda, 1 .. ave.ick, Jr., Johnny Herrera and Chris Alderete, took this case to the Supreme Court of the United States, and established the fact that the jury systems, in this case Hernandez, came ou~ of the area around Edna, Texas ... in this area a Mexican­American had never been allowed to serve in any petit jury, grand jury or any kind of a jury. Gus ... now at that time counted up to 200 or 250 counties in the state of Texas; there's about 70 or 80 who never allow Mexican-American to serve on ~he jury. So you are using the same tenant that although you cannot be discriminated against, a group of Anglos ~ear your case; they're Caucasian, you're Caucasian ... you say you are Caucasian; so there is no discrimination; against Gus Garcia the Supreme Court of the United States took to prove that. Although we were Caucasi~, fine; and we are legally Caucasian, we're white, as a separate class, again towit: Mexican-American, greaser, pepperoelly, spies and down the line. We could be discriminated against as much under the jury system. Which is a segregation-discriminated rather as a class of the white race . In a surprising move, the Supreme Court of the United J.,utl!:..: in tlw llcrrw.J.ez Cuse deciued Gus Garcia , Gardena and