A Class Apart

Faced with discrimination dating back to the Mexican-American War (1846-48), Mexican Americans in the post–World War II Southwest were systematically repressed through unwritten but rigid social codes, while their struggle for equality was overshadowed by the epic civil rights battles in the South during the 1950s and ‘60s. Edward James Olmos narrates this episode from the PBS American Experience series, focusing on the landmark 1954 legal case that struck down the Jim Crow–style discrimination experienced by Hispanics. What began as a small-town murder case that challenged the practice of trying Mexican American defendants with all-white juries eventually led to Hernandez v. Texas, in which a team of Latino lawyers, notably the charismatic Gustavo “Gus” García, successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that Mexican Americans were unfairly denied the protection of the 14th Amendment and suffered from discrimination in education, employment, and housing. Combining interviews and archival stills with on-location footage filmed in Texas and Washington, DC, A Class Apart is a timely and informative documentary. DVD extras include a “making of” featurette, bonus scenes, materials for educators, and a slideshow of images of Mexican American life in the late 1940s. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)