This exhibit highlights some of the challenges faced by the Latinx community in Texas and beyond during the early and mid-1970s in creating educational reform in the state. As you scroll through the images, you will see how political processes were used to push reform through, but also how perceptions, both public and private, underscored the difficulty of furthering equality in educational access.

In general, the discord in the Texas Latinx community about how best to achieve their goals often became divisive. Many community members used letters to the editor of local newspapers to express their perspectives, as seen below.

Ultimately, the RUP ended in 1978. After failing to secure officials in all but local elections, then asking Dr. Hector P. Garcia to run as an RUP candidate and being rejected, the party lost favor and broke apart. The South Texas/ Border Initiative was achieved through legal action nearly a decade later, which begs the question of whether political action could have ever accomplished what legal action finally did. The goals of the RUP and Dr. Garcia, along with his organization LULAC, all highlight the need for educational reform for Latinxs in Texas at the time, but the complexities of campaigns and public perceptions of them seem to have limited the ability to accomplish those goals for the RUP. By examining the shifting allegiances and influences of these historical entities, we can at least see how the American system of governance both gives voice to community desires and also creates impediments to successful reform.