Gus Garcia Accomplishments

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The late Civil Rights activist Gustavo Charles ‘Gus’ Garcia persevered through a troublesome era where continuous discriminatory policies and regulations towards Latinx identities were in place – specifically Mexican-Americans. When aligned with other historical Latinx figures, Garcia’s persistent activism can be seen as indispensable while taking into consideration of the hardships endured as one of the handful Mexican-American attorneys on the rise. Challenging unjust laws and practices through numerous court cases, Garcia slowly voided the notion of Mexican-Americans being identified as an inferior class. The accomplishments made during the span of his lifetime have been proven to be a substantial piece within Latinx history as he fought …show more content…

Shortly after his birth, he and his family migrated to San Antonio, Texas where he attended schools in the area for his preparatory education. Although his upbringing occurred during an existence of consistent mistreatment towards Mexican-Americans, Garcia manage to prevail and graduate as valedictorian of the Thomas Jefferson High School Class of 1932 at the age of sixteen. In addition to that, he was recognized as the “Most Intellectual Student” by his classmates while participating in the National Honor Society, news editor of the school’s newspaper, and secretary of the school’s debate team. Consequently, Garcia’s active involvement in his academics earned him a scholarship to attend the University of Texas at Austin. In 1938, Garcia graduated from the University of Texas Law School, receiving both his pre-law degree and law degree to begin his practice. Utilizing the legal knowledge obtained through his success at the university, Garcia began the initial start of his career by working as an Assistant District Attorney in 1938 as well as an Assistant City Attorney soon after in 1941. At the commencement of World War II, Garcia accepted his draft to enter the U.S. Army and served as a First Lieutenant member of the Judge Advocate General Corps in Japan. Following the war, Latinx activists quickly came to prominence upon their return …show more content…

As described by John C. Herrera at the time of his death, Garcia’s involvement during the Civil Rights movement gave a representational voice to Mexican-Americans during a time period that restricted them of equality. Despite his issues with alcoholism that led to his downfall, Garcia deserves to be recognized for being an indefatigable advocate of Mexican-American rights and ceasing their treatment as an inferior class. Garcia’s legacy as a Civil Rights attorney strongly lives on today as he redefined what it meant to be a Mexican-American in Texas and overpowered the discriminatory practices before