Historical Context
The described piece is a video documentation of Juan Chavez’s interview. The speaker talks about the events that happened in the 1970s in the state of Texas. The maker of this video is a historical project called Civil Rights in Black and Brown (CRBB). Chavez speaks about his time in the La Raza Unida Party, a US political party that centered on the rights of Mexican-American people (Chavez, 2016). This political party was somewhat popular in Texas during the 1970s when Latinos in the US started to become dissatisfied with other existing parties. This interview takes place in 2016 as Chavez recalls his experience and talks about people that marched through the states to the capital to promote their party and speak about the rights of Mexican-Americans.
Main Points
The interviewee talks about the events that happened during the period from 1970 to 1980. In 1975, Chavez along with a number of other activists started to encourage workers to create a union and a charter. Then, this group of people marched to different states every year and promoted their ideas to other people. According to Chavez (2016), they never succeeded. The speaker also recalls himself running for the city council in his home district.
The main point that Chavez explores in this interview is the history of a particular La Raza Unida party chapter, which the interviewee was a part of in the 1970s. He supports his points with various facts about historical events. The author can be considered reliable in his retelling of this story as he was a participant in all activities of the described situation.
Understanding of Audience
This interview is a part of the CRBB collection of videos about the history of the La Raza Unida Party. The intended audience of this video may include activists of the movement as well as curious individuals and historians. The creators of this video are interested in trustworthy historical retellings. Although one cannot assess the viability of all elements discussed in the video, its reliability is not baseless. The interviewers, as well as the speaker, have some knowledge about the presented topic. There is no rhetoric strategy as the interview discusses particular historical events.
Purpose
The creation of this video may have a goal of giving the audience some information on the history of the La Raza Unida party by engaging the participants in these events. The history of this party is significant to the Mexican-American population of the US. The CRBB made this clip to start a discussion about Latinos in the US, especially their fight for rights and opportunities. Furthermore, the speaker talks about his political career, which shows how the place of Mexican-Americans in politics has changed over the years.
Analysis
This video is significant to the Latino population of the US for a number of reasons. First of all, it provides information about the history of the party that was created by and for Mexican-American citizens. The knowledge about the events that are connected to this party can help current activists and historians to evaluate the place of the Latino population. Moreover, the story about the La Raza Unida is told from the point of view of the participant, which allows one to see the events not from an outsider’s perspective but an activist’s side. Such an outlook is vital for empowering the minority population and giving them a chance to speak about their history. This video provides the Mexican-American community with an opportunity to talk about their past and discuss their experience in the US.
Reference
Chavez, J. (Interviewee). (2016). La Raza Unida chapter. Web.