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Muñiz, Ramsey

CANDIDATE DETAILS

Affiliation

La Raza Unida

Name

Ramsey Muñiz

Address

Corpus Christi, Texas , United States

dreyfuss@interconnect.net

Website

[Link]

Born

December 13, 1942 (81 years)

Contributor

Karma Policeman

Last Modifed

Juan Croniqueur
Nov 30, 2015 03:03am

Tags

Hispanic - Imprisoned -

Info

Twenty-five years ago, in 1972 and 1974 in Texas, over 200,000 people voted for Raza Unida Party's gubernatorial candidate, a young state legislator named Ramsey Muñiz. The vote stunned the ruling class. It was a blow because of what it represented; a mass movement of Chicanos for self-determination and against racism that was sweeping the entire Southwest. For the first time in the 20th century the Democratic Party--which for decades had controlled state politics--was denied a
majority vote. Texas would never be the same again.

Behind the vote

The late 1960s and early 1970s was a time of profound change in the United
States. The movement to end the U.S. war in Vietnam, the formation of Black
and Latino liberation groups such as the Black Panther Party and the Young
Lords Party, the women's and gay movements were writing chapters in history
that would never be erased. It was a time of revolutionary upheaval.
Oppressed people were on the offensive, making change and wrestling
concessions from the ruling class.

The movement in Texas was no exception. Like other oppressed communities,
Chicanos and Mexicanos in Texas were on the move--organizing and
demonstrating for representation, education, jobs, against police brutality,
for immigrant rights and an end to racism. From these struggles emerged an
all Chicano party, La Raza Unida. La Raza Unida was born in rural south
Texas as a result of the vile racism that is so inherent to Texas history.

Since the U.S. government initially robbed Texas and the rest of what is now
the Southwest United States from Mexico in 1848, racist control of the
Indian and Mexican population has been intrinsic to the system. Before the
1960s, even though Mexicanos made up the overwhelming majority of the south
Texas population, Anglos dominated every aspect of life. Jim Crow
segregation
was the order of the day. In some rural towns, drugstores were closed to
Mexicans until the late 1940s. Restaurants and movie houses did not open to
Mexicans until the early 1950s. Families of Mexican GIs who had died in
World War II were refused the right to bury them in many south Texas towns.
The population of San Antonio has always been more than half Mexican. Yet it
was not until 1981 that its first Mexicano mayor since 1840 was elected.
It was no wonder that a movement emerged.

Rural Texas leads the way

In 1968, Chicanos outnumbered whites in the high school of Crystal City, Texas,
by eight to one. Their numbers were not reflected anywhere in leadership
positions--in the high school or in the city. Chicano students said
"basta"--enough is enough--over a cheerleader position. They challenged the
rule that only one Mexican could be a cheerleader. The students of crystal
City led a historic walk-out for Chicano rights. The issue quickly became
more than representation on the cheerleading squad. The students demanded
the right to speak Spanish, study Chicano history and be taught by Chicano
teachers.

Before long, the movement broadened. It swept the entire state. The call went
out for Chicanos to have their own political party. A few years before, in
1963 in Crystal City, five Mexicanos had bravely tried to become the city's
first majority-Mexicano city council. In 1966, farm workers in Starr County
had led a heroic fight against the mighty agribusiness of south Texas.
Thousands of workers went out on a wildcat strike against La Casita farms,
a huge corporate operation, known by the strikers as the "General Motors"
of the
Rio Grande Valley.

In both these fights--for the democratic right to representation on the
Crystal City Council, and for the rights of super-exploited agricultural
workers--the hated Texas Rangers played a key role in squashing the
struggle. For over a century, the Texas Rangers had been a law unto
themselves, killing and beating both Indians and Mexicans since their
dawning day. They refused to turn over the keys of city hall to the
elected council members in 1963 in Crystal City. They helped break the
1966 farm-worker strike by arresting and beating strikers and their
supporters. These were just two incidents of thousands of racist abuse by
the infamous Texas Rangers. But in the 1960s and 1970s, the
people--organized and fighting back--took center stage.

"Little Cuba"

When 200,000 people voted for Ramsey Muñiz in 1972, the ruling class was
stunned. Not only did Chicanos back Raza Unida Party--but a significant
number of Black Texans along with progressive whites also supported its call.
By 1972, chapters of RUP appeared in 16 states throughout the
country--including
Michigan, California, Colorado and New Mexico.

When Raza Unida Party cam to control Zavala County in south Texas, it prompted
arch-racist Gov. Dolph Briscoe to denounce Zavala County as a "little Cuba."
He said RUP was a communist threat. This inflammatory rhetoric opened the
door to the racists who began a campaign of terror and intimidation.
Mexicanos were fired from their jobs, for example, if they were suspected of
supporting the party. Briscoe blocked federal funding for Zavala County
programs. He passed
legislation that tightened political party recognition. Because of that, to
this day it is impossible for any third party of the working class to
challenge the status quo in Texas elections. This campaign was the Texas
version of the war the federal government carried out against the oppressed
nationalities. The Texas Rangers, with the Department of Public Safety's
Highway Patrol, maintained constant surveillance over RUP members and
supporters. Death threats and arrests were common. Texas Attorney General
John Hill led an investigation into misuse of public funds in Zavala County.
Three RUP members were indicted. The charges were later dropped or found
baseless.

Ramsey Muñiz--a leading spokesperson for Raza Unida Party and an eloquent
orator--was a prime target. Elected as a Democrat, to the Texas State House, in 1972, he accepted the RU's nomination for Governor and set off on a whirlwind campaign for Governor. He captured 10 percent of the statewide
gubernatorial vote in 1972. He won 40 percent in 18 south and west Texas
counties. So Muñiz represented a real challenge to the ruling class. The
state charged RUP leaders with drug smuggling. In the midst of a second, strong bid for Governor, Muñiz was arrested and imprisoned in 1974. He still garnered almost 15 percent. But the movement was thrown into disarray, and broken.

Years later, the movement would come to find out about COINTELPRO. What
many suspected back when was true: The federal government had
systematically set out to break the movements of oppressed nationalities for
self-determination. Black, Native American and Latino leaders would be set
up and framed to silence the many leaders who had emerged in the struggle.

When Ramsey Muñiz was arrested in 1976 and again in 1994, it was not for
breaking any laws. It was for his role in the struggle. It was because
Raza Unida was holding national conventions that passed resolutions
condemning the U.S. war in Vietnam, demanding community control of the
police and an end to police brutality. Muñiz was arrested because the 1972
RUP convention voted not to support any presidential candidate in that
election year. Muñiz was arrested because he, along with hundreds of
thousands of others, was demanding representation from a system that had
historically denied them full participation in the political process.

On Dec. 16, 1994, Ramsey Muñiz was given a life sentence after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute drugs. He was sent to the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth,Kansas. Today a movement is emerging demanding freedom for Ramsey Muñiz. To show
support or find out how to help, readers can contact Advocates of Justice,
5403 Everhart Road #216, Corpus Christi, TX 78411-4895. Information can
also be found at:

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