A Senate Campaign: a perspective from the La Raza Unida party
Luis Diaz de Leon discusses his campaign for U.S. Senator as a Raza Unida Candidate. De Leon, a social worker and community organizer, is originally from Texas, but has lived for the last seven years in California. He discusses some of the differences between California and Texas politics and explains that he returned to Texas because he felt he should get involved with the people he had worked with in the past, including Jose Angel Gutierrez and the Raza Unida Party. He had formerly been a loyal democrat, but he decided to join La Raza when he realized that there was no difference between the democratic and republican parties.
He decided to run for senator because he saw that the Raza Unida party was winning elections and becoming a viable third party. Moreover, he explains, the candidates: John Tower and Robert Krueger have not been committed to the needs of the people. De Leon then discusses some of the difficulties his campaign has faced and the personal reverberations he has encountered. Yet, he remains committed to his agenda, which emphasizes education, employment, energy and the environment. He believes that even if he does not win, he is bringing up important issues that the other candidates will have to address.
KEYWORDS
Anti-War MovementBilingual Education
Catholic Church
Chicano Politics
Colorado Mining Council
Community Organizing
Crystal City
Democratic Party
Democrats
Dolph Briscoe
Drake University
Education
El Paso, Texas
Energy
Environment
Environmental Justice
Gas Companies
GI Bill
Hank Grover
John F. Kennedy
John Tower
Jose Angel Gutierrez
La Raza Unida Party
Laredo
Latinos
Lavaca Company
Liberals
Lubbock, Texas
Mexican American Youth Organization
Oscar Wyatt
Our Lady of the Lake University
Political Campaigns
Racial Exclusion
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Krueger
San Francisco, California
Social Justice
Stanford University
Temple, Texas
Texas Politics
Third Party Politics
Two Party System
Vietnam
Worden School of Social Work