00:02When you're editing a film like this for over a year, it's a process of evolution and some
00:08scenes evolve, some stay in, some fall out. What you're about to see is a selection of
00:13scenes, some of which evolved and some of which fell out.
00:16Narrator 500, on January 28th, pick up, on January 28th, 19th, you're also going to hear
00:24my voice as a temporary narrator. The music you may hear is solo piano. You may hear the
00:29voice of an actor, which was an approach that we were considering at one point. The pictures
00:34are in pretty raw state at some points. They may be low resolution without the moves that
00:40gave them such eloquence in the final film. So, we hope you'll enjoy this.
00:48By the time Peter Hernandez's mother sought him out, Gus Garcia was a legendary lawyer and
00:53a fixture on the glittering social scene of San Antonio's Mexican-American middle class.
01:02He loved to go to the bull fights in different border towns and somehow Gus had met this female
01:13performer and she came over to where we were sitting and threw her cape over the fence there,
01:21which meant that, you know, this bull was dedicated to him. So, of course, he was thrilled to death
01:26over there. While the romance of the bullring may have captivated Gus Garcia, the courtroom
01:32was a fierce orator's true arena, and he was set on using his skills to convert the small-town
01:38murder defense into a vehicle for civil rights. Within a year after the Hernandez case, Gus Garcia
01:51began to spiral downward. His alcoholism was compounded by mental illness, which took him
01:57in and out of institutions. I didn't see him those last few months when they said he was just
02:03beyond himself in San Antonio. All the reports that I got back were that his mind was deteriorating,
02:11that his behavior was changing, that his behavior was changing. He was said to have been trying to be a
02:17bullfighter
02:17with cars that were driving by. He was trying to do this and do that to cars that were passing
02:27by. And he died
02:30on a bench in that downtown plaza. That's where he had his final breath. Not tragic. I mean, somebody
02:41with such a brilliant mind. My God, what a waste. What a waste.
02:51Gustavo Gus Garcia died of liver failure on June 3, 1964, at the age of 48.
03:03In the course of making the film, we weren't always able to include as much background on all of our
03:08central characters as we would have liked, including John J. Herrera.
03:16John J. Herrera, a Houston-based attorney, descended from one of the signers of Texas' Declaration of Independence.
03:24John was really a personality. He worked for the Sanitation Department of the City of Houston,
03:30which translates into the Sewage Division. He was a cab driver during the Prohibition period
03:37and was arrested for selling liquor and, I think, did 60 days in the slammer
03:43on a federal offense and got a pardon from the president in order to be a lawyer.
03:47So that's quite a history.
03:52There are several historical characters that really deserve their due.
03:58Unfortunately, they have to be sacrificed to story, which is often the case.
04:01Among them was Dr. George I. Sanchez, a remarkable educator and strategist.
04:10While getting his master's degree, Cadena becomes friends with Dr. George I. Sanchez.
04:17Recognizing Cadena's brilliance, Sanchez sets his protege on the course of a new, daring strategy.
04:23Carlos Cadena spent about four nights a week over at Sanchez's house,
04:28and they were brainstorming on what kind of a case would they need.
04:35So Sanchez would say,
04:36why don't you take this course?
04:39Why don't you research for this paper?
04:42And so Cadena said,
04:45we had all the research done.
04:47He said the brief was written long before we ever had a case.
04:52The great joy of making these films is meeting people who were so courageous.
04:57Pauline Rosa came and did an interview with us all these years after she testified in Edna.
05:06To show there was a pattern of mistreatment in Jackson County,
05:10Garcia called as his witness Edna resident and mother of three, Pauline Rosa,
05:15the only Mexican-American who stood up to testify.
05:20Well, it was discrimination.
05:22They had signs on the cafes.
05:24No Mexicans allowed.
05:26They couldn't go to school.
05:28They just have one-room school.
05:30Under oath, Mrs. Rosa explained that when she tried to enroll her U.S.-born,
05:35English-speaking children in Edna's Anglo school,
05:38she was told they did not accept any Latin Americans.
05:41I've done it because I want to do it.
05:43Maybe later on it helps somebody,
05:46but nobody tells me what to do and what not to do.
05:49I just do what I want to do.
05:54One of the things that attracted me to the Hernandez case
05:57was the opinion itself.
05:59It's brief.
06:00It's eloquent.
06:01And some constitutional scholars feel that it's been underutilized.
06:09The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the Hernandez team.
06:13In his opinion,
06:16Chief Justice Earl Warren cited Pauline Rosa's testimony
06:19about segregated schools,
06:22the signs in Edna saying,
06:24no Mexicans served,
06:25and the courthouse bathroom labeled,
06:28hombres aquÃ.
06:32Throughout our history,
06:33differences in race and color have defined easily identifiable groups,
06:39which have at times required the aid of the courts
06:41in securing equal treatment under the laws.
06:45But community prejudices are not static,
06:48and from time to time,
06:49other differences from the community norm
06:51may define other groups which need the same protection.
06:54when the existence of a distinct class is demonstrated.
06:58And it is...
06:59The Hernandez decision
06:59tells us clearly
07:01the Constitution is concerned with protecting groups
07:05that have been treated as if they're inferior.
07:07In that vein,
07:09it helps us understand
07:11what the Constitution should protect today.
07:13The Constitution needs to protect social groups,
07:16groups defined by sex
07:19or by sexual orientation
07:20or by disability
07:22that have been mistreated socially.
07:24It needs to protect those groups
07:26from those patterns of mistreatment.
07:30That's the promise of the 14th Amendment.
07:38While we were working on the film,
07:40we were delighted to find out
07:42that some high school students
07:43in Falfourious, Texas
07:44were studying the Hernandez case
07:46and turned their studies
07:48into a history project
07:49that won at the history competition in Texas
07:52and then came
07:53to the National History Day competition
07:55in Washington.
07:56Meeting these students,
07:58we were struck by their enthusiasm
08:00for this story
08:01and the meaning of this story
08:03had in their lives,
08:04the way in which it really resonated
08:06with them today.
08:07We realized that the Hernandez
08:09versus Texas case
08:10still had a great deal of resonance
08:13among a younger generation
08:14of Latinos and Latinas.
08:16We're at the Supreme Court right now
08:18and it's just amazing to be here
08:20and to actually see where Gus Garcia
08:22argued his case
08:23in Hernandez versus the state of Texas.
08:26It's just an honor to be here
08:27since we've been studying this case
08:29for so long
08:30and actually been able to give the chat
08:32and we haven't been given the chance
08:33to come see this.
08:35Without Gus Garcia
08:37this probably wouldn't have happened
08:39as fast as it did.
08:41And it also made an impact
08:43on the society today.
08:45If this case wouldn't have been decided
08:47here at the Supreme Court,
08:48if Chief Justice or Warren
08:50would have not overruled it,
08:51maybe we would not be
08:54so free right now, the Hispanics.
08:57I mean, we can walk into any building we want.
08:59We can pretty much do whatever we want.
09:02We definitely think that Gus Garcia
09:04and his team of attorneys that argue here
09:08really opened the doors for our civil rights
09:11not only as Mexican-Americans
09:12but just civil rights for all minorities
09:16for us to have the freedoms that we do today
09:18we think really happened because of this case.
09:21too many people.
09:30You
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