Ricardo Cruz
Encyclopedia
Ricardo Cruz aka Richard V. (Vincent) Cruz, was a Los Angeles, California
attorney
who fought for many Chicano Movement
causes. He was an early organizer of La Raza Law Students and the short-lived but highly effective Catolicos Por La Raza
in the 1960s and 1970s.
's MEChA
, who had independently begun work on Roman Catholic Church
issues. A coalition of students, welfare mothers, Brown Berets
, and Immaculate Heart
nun
s joined to become Católicos por la Raza. On October 11, 1969, a group of Chicano students tried to see Cardinal James Francis McIntyre, but only Cruz and Joe Aragon were admitted. Despite their showing the utmost deference, the Cardinal treated them, they said, "like trash". After their dismissal, 15 to 20 CPLR members pushed their way into the chancery (Church headquarters and the Cardinal's residence) and the Cardinal threatened to have them arrested. On October 18, 1969, the CPLR passed a resolution to pressure the church. On December 4, 1969, they held a press conference to make demands of the Church and to announce the first public demonstration to be held at St. Basil's. It was attended by only one reporter—the Los Angeles Times
s Rubén Salazar
. On December 7, 1969, about 500 people picketed St. Basil's without incident. They began planning for a demonstration to be held on Christmas Eve. They returned to St. Basil's on Christmas Day to continue the protest. On December 29, sympathizer Bishop Parilla from Puerto Rico celebrated mass in a dirt lot across the street from the church. From January 1–4, the Católicos engaged in a hunger strike on the lawn of St. Basil's. On January 22, 1970, Cardinal McIntyre resigned and the Católicos met with the new Archbishop Manning to discuss their demands. Exactly one month after the Christmas Eve protest, 3,000 people, many of them high school students, conducted a midnight march from the downtown chancery to St. Basil's, where they celebrated the 7:00 am mass. On September 13, 1970, the Católicos conducted their final action: a "Baptism by Fire", during which Cruz, his brother, and some 20 others burned their baptism
certificates.
was one of the wealthiest in the nation and served some of its poorest members, and where white domination of the Church's interior structures places Latinos at a disadvantage. This realization led him to further criticisms. The Second Vatican Council
, though reform-minded, was reluctant to embrace Liberation theology
, and as a result did not embrace social and economic struggles. The Católicos pressured the Church to pay heed to it members' material needs, as well as their spiritual needs. They also fought Anglo-America
n domination of the diocese, and pressured the Church to provide more scholarships. Because of their criticisms of the Church, they were regarded as a radical organization.
. On Christmas Eve
, 1969, Cruz led a march of several hundred demonstrators
to protest before the church's first Christmas Eve mass
. When they attempted to enter the church for mass, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
's deputies, disguised as ushers, brutalized them. The LAPD
arrived "for mopping-up operations" and beat and maced fifteen and arrested seven. Meanwhile, the parishioners inside continued singing and listening to Cardinal McIntyre decry the demonstrators as "rabble". At 5:00 am on January 20, 1970, LAPD officers arrested Cruz and twenty others, including Alicia Escalante, chair of the East Los Angeles Welfare Rights Organization, in connection with the Christmas Eve demonstration.
and Chicanos in the administration of the bishopric, stepped down in 1970. The Church began funding the Campaign for Human Development, which provided social services for the poor. Pressure from the Católicos also brought about the appointment of two Latinos within the church hierarchy, Bishop Juan Arzube, a South American, and Bishop Flores. And, following the events, the leaders of the archdiocese were less hostile to the incorporation of Mexican cultural elements into worship. Despite the success of the Católicos, Cruz faced trouble as a result of his involvement in the protest. In 1972, he served three months in jail as a result of the St. Basil's incident. In 1971, despite passing his exam, the State Bar of California
denied him certification due to his "moral turpitude for disrupting a religious service". He was subjected to 23 hearings, during which the American Civil Liberties Union
and new Los Angeles Archbishop Timothy Manning lobbied on his behalf, before finally being admitted to the bar in 1973.
", ("Attorneys of Aztlan") a consortium of Chicano attorneys based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area dedicated to addressing the issues of socio-economic discrimination against Mexican-Americans. The Abogados, along with La Raza Law Students, published Justicia O., a bilingual paper dealing with legal and criminal justice issues. He was active with Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
(MALDEF), and opened his own law practice in East Los Angeles
in 1974. Cruz helped form a Southern California
branch of the Raza Unida Party
, most notably organizing a voter registration drive in the city of Hawaiian Gardens
that sought the election of Chicano City council members. He was an organizer of the East Los Angeles
Chicano Moratorium
against the Vietnam War
and racist
police brutality
.
During the 1970s, Cruz fought against the Los Angeles County policy of forcibly sterilizing
indigent and undocumented patients at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
, many of whom were sterilized without sufficient awareness that they had consented to being the procedure. Although he was not a litigant in the case, (Madrigal v. Quilligan), he was an early organizer of advocates for the women who felt they had been coerced. The case was dismissed, but the media attention he and other activists brought to the plight of the victims brought about a change in the policy.
In 1982, Cruz fought for and won the dismissal of a murder charges against a young Chicano prisoner, Gordon Castillo Hall. Hall had been convicted of murdering a Duarte
postal worker, but received inadequate representation. There is also evidence to suggest that the actual murderer had been identified but never prosecuted by the District Attorney
. Cruz cited these two miscarriages of justice, as well as the court's non-admission of exculpatory evidence, in his argument for dismissal of the sentence. Hall was released after serving three years in prison.
. Always a healthy man, he had neglected to obtain medical insurance. In addition, both the sterilization case and the Hall case were long, drawn-out affairs with little compensation. In order to help defray the cost of his treatment, he decided to take advantage of his reputation for throwing some of the best parties of the Chicano Movement to turn his 50th birthday celebration into a fundraiser. In a letter expressing regret that she could not attend, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina
commended Cruz as "a legal advocate who, instead of racking in the bucks, racked up a stellar reputation for his compassion, justness and commitment to those in need." The treatment was unsuccessful and Cruz died on July 21, 1993.
's Revolt of the Cockroach People and recorded as a major event of the Chicano Movement in Rodolfo Acuña
's Occupied America.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
who fought for many Chicano Movement
Chicano Movement
The Chicano Movement of the 1960s, also called the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, also known as El Movimiento, is an extension of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement which began in the 1940s with the stated goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment.-Origins:The Chicano Movement...
causes. He was an early organizer of La Raza Law Students and the short-lived but highly effective Catolicos Por La Raza
Católicos por La Raza
Católicos por La Raza is a political association organized by Ricardo Cruz in the later 1960s in Los Angeles, California.-St. Basil's arrests:...
in the 1960s and 1970s.
Católicos por la Raza
When he returned to Las Vegas, he teamed up with Los Angeles City CollegeLos Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
's MEChA
MEChA
M.E.Ch.A. is an organization that seeks to promote Chicano unity and empowerment through political action. The acronym of the organization's name is the Spanish word mecha, which means "fuse"...
, who had independently begun work on Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
issues. A coalition of students, welfare mothers, Brown Berets
Brown Berets
The Brown Berets is a Chicano nationalist activist group of young Mexican Americans that emerged during the Chicano Movement in the late 1960s and remains active to the present day. The group was seen as part of the Third Movement for Liberation. The Brown Berets focus on community organizing...
, and Immaculate Heart
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary are a Catholic teaching order for women. It is divided among three separate congregations. The original community of the order is headquartered in Monroe, Michigan. The Mother house currently houses more than 400 sisters, more than 100 of which...
nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s joined to become Católicos por la Raza. On October 11, 1969, a group of Chicano students tried to see Cardinal James Francis McIntyre, but only Cruz and Joe Aragon were admitted. Despite their showing the utmost deference, the Cardinal treated them, they said, "like trash". After their dismissal, 15 to 20 CPLR members pushed their way into the chancery (Church headquarters and the Cardinal's residence) and the Cardinal threatened to have them arrested. On October 18, 1969, the CPLR passed a resolution to pressure the church. On December 4, 1969, they held a press conference to make demands of the Church and to announce the first public demonstration to be held at St. Basil's. It was attended by only one reporter—the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
s Rubén Salazar
Ruben Salazar
Rubén Salazar was a Mexican-American journalist killed by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy during the National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War on August 29, 1970 in East Los Angeles, California. During the 1970s, his killing was often cited as a symbol of unjust treatment of...
. On December 7, 1969, about 500 people picketed St. Basil's without incident. They began planning for a demonstration to be held on Christmas Eve. They returned to St. Basil's on Christmas Day to continue the protest. On December 29, sympathizer Bishop Parilla from Puerto Rico celebrated mass in a dirt lot across the street from the church. From January 1–4, the Católicos engaged in a hunger strike on the lawn of St. Basil's. On January 22, 1970, Cardinal McIntyre resigned and the Católicos met with the new Archbishop Manning to discuss their demands. Exactly one month after the Christmas Eve protest, 3,000 people, many of them high school students, conducted a midnight march from the downtown chancery to St. Basil's, where they celebrated the 7:00 am mass. On September 13, 1970, the Católicos conducted their final action: a "Baptism by Fire", during which Cruz, his brother, and some 20 others burned their baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
certificates.
Criticisms of the Church
The Catholic Church's refusal to support the UFW grape boycott was all the more blatant when the Episcopalians and several Jewish organizations joined it. Cruz saw hypocrisy in the Church's silence and inaction, as it used few of its vast resources to better the worldly condition of its members. This condition was exacerbated in Los Angeles, whose ArchdioceseRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the...
was one of the wealthiest in the nation and served some of its poorest members, and where white domination of the Church's interior structures places Latinos at a disadvantage. This realization led him to further criticisms. The Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
, though reform-minded, was reluctant to embrace Liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
, and as a result did not embrace social and economic struggles. The Católicos pressured the Church to pay heed to it members' material needs, as well as their spiritual needs. They also fought Anglo-America
Anglo-America
Anglo-America is a region in the Americas in which English is a main language, or one which has significant British historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural links...
n domination of the diocese, and pressured the Church to provide more scholarships. Because of their criticisms of the Church, they were regarded as a radical organization.
Conflict at St. Basil's
Having failed to obtain reform within the archdiocese through peaceful means, the Católicos targeted the recently-constructed (to the tune of $4 million) St. Basil's Catholic Church on Wilshire BoulevardWilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...
. On Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, 1969, Cruz led a march of several hundred demonstrators
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
to protest before the church's first Christmas Eve mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
. When they attempted to enter the church for mass, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is a local county law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. It is the fourth largest local policing agency in the United States, with the New York City Police Department being the first. The second largest is the Chicago Police...
's deputies, disguised as ushers, brutalized them. The LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
arrived "for mopping-up operations" and beat and maced fifteen and arrested seven. Meanwhile, the parishioners inside continued singing and listening to Cardinal McIntyre decry the demonstrators as "rabble". At 5:00 am on January 20, 1970, LAPD officers arrested Cruz and twenty others, including Alicia Escalante, chair of the East Los Angeles Welfare Rights Organization, in connection with the Christmas Eve demonstration.
Aftermath
Shortly after the incident, the Catholic Church announced its support for the boycott. Los Angeles Archbishop McIntyre, accused by the Católicos of paternalistic attitudes towards MexicansMexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
and Chicanos in the administration of the bishopric, stepped down in 1970. The Church began funding the Campaign for Human Development, which provided social services for the poor. Pressure from the Católicos also brought about the appointment of two Latinos within the church hierarchy, Bishop Juan Arzube, a South American, and Bishop Flores. And, following the events, the leaders of the archdiocese were less hostile to the incorporation of Mexican cultural elements into worship. Despite the success of the Católicos, Cruz faced trouble as a result of his involvement in the protest. In 1972, he served three months in jail as a result of the St. Basil's incident. In 1971, despite passing his exam, the State Bar of California
State Bar of California
The State Bar of California is California's official bar association. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, and prescribing appropriate discipline...
denied him certification due to his "moral turpitude for disrupting a religious service". He was subjected to 23 hearings, during which the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
and new Los Angeles Archbishop Timothy Manning lobbied on his behalf, before finally being admitted to the bar in 1973.
Legal career
As an attorney, Cruz helped organize "Abogados de AztlanAztlán
Aztlán is the mythical ancestral home of the Nahua peoples, one of the main cultural groups in Mesoamerica. And, by extension, is the mythical homeland of the Uto-Aztecan peoples. Aztec is the Nahuatl word for "people from Aztlan".-Legend:...
", ("Attorneys of Aztlan") a consortium of Chicano attorneys based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area dedicated to addressing the issues of socio-economic discrimination against Mexican-Americans. The Abogados, along with La Raza Law Students, published Justicia O., a bilingual paper dealing with legal and criminal justice issues. He was active with Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is a national non-profit civil rights organization formed in 1968 to protect the rights of Latinos in the United States...
(MALDEF), and opened his own law practice in East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles, California
East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
in 1974. Cruz helped form a Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
branch of the Raza Unida Party
Raza Unida Party
Partido Nacional de La Raza Unida is an American political party centered on Chicano interests. The party was termed La Raza in reference to the Mestizo people. During the 1970s the Party campaigned for better housing, work, and educational opportunities for Mexican-Americans...
, most notably organizing a voter registration drive in the city of Hawaiian Gardens
Hawaiian Gardens, California
Hawaiian Gardens is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the smallest city in the county and was incorporated on April 9, 1964. The population was 14,254 at the 2010 census, down from 14,779 at the 2000 census.The town's unusual name originated in a 1920s refreshment...
that sought the election of Chicano City council members. He was an organizer of the East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles, California
East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
Chicano Moratorium
Chicano Moratorium
The Chicano Moratorium, formally known as the National Chicano Moratorium Committee, was a movement of Chicano anti-war activists that built a broad-based coalition of Mexican-American groups to organize opposition to the Vietnam War...
against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
police brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
.
During the 1970s, Cruz fought against the Los Angeles County policy of forcibly sterilizing
Compulsory sterilization
Compulsory sterilization also known as forced sterilization programs are government policies which attempt to force people to undergo surgical sterilization...
indigent and undocumented patients at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, also known as County/USC, by the abbreviation LAC+USC, or by the name Los Angeles County General, is a 600-bed public teaching hospital located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California...
, many of whom were sterilized without sufficient awareness that they had consented to being the procedure. Although he was not a litigant in the case, (Madrigal v. Quilligan), he was an early organizer of advocates for the women who felt they had been coerced. The case was dismissed, but the media attention he and other activists brought to the plight of the victims brought about a change in the policy.
In 1982, Cruz fought for and won the dismissal of a murder charges against a young Chicano prisoner, Gordon Castillo Hall. Hall had been convicted of murdering a Duarte
Duarte, California
Duarte is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 21,321, down from 21,486 at the 2000 census....
postal worker, but received inadequate representation. There is also evidence to suggest that the actual murderer had been identified but never prosecuted by the District Attorney
Los Angeles County District Attorney
The District Attorney of Los Angeles County prosecutes felony and misdemeanor crimes that occur within the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County, California....
. Cruz cited these two miscarriages of justice, as well as the court's non-admission of exculpatory evidence, in his argument for dismissal of the sentence. Hall was released after serving three years in prison.
Honors
For his work on behalf of the Chicano community, Cruz earned the following recognition:- Outstanding Service In The Field Of Law, Association of Mexican American Educators, State of California, November 14, 1981
- Skip Glenn Award, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, November 21, 1981
- Benito JuárezBenito JuárezBenito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
Legal Award, Mexican American Bar Association, 1982
Religious views
In response to a 1973 survey, Cruz wrote:"Well, once I got rid of religion, then my spiritual self, my identity, my fears, my strengths, my confidence, everything, everything, became much more realistic. No longer was I relating to heavens and hells, goods and evils and spooky stories and mortal and venial [sic] sins. I became what I am - an animal, a human animal. My choices became my own two feet in other words. I had to stand up like a man instead of like I did for many years - praying for somebody to do this or that, usually with respect to me. Now I make them do it or not, if it's good. It's been a great benefit for me to get rid of religion."
Illness and death
Cruz, a 33-year smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. Always a healthy man, he had neglected to obtain medical insurance. In addition, both the sterilization case and the Hall case were long, drawn-out affairs with little compensation. In order to help defray the cost of his treatment, he decided to take advantage of his reputation for throwing some of the best parties of the Chicano Movement to turn his 50th birthday celebration into a fundraiser. In a letter expressing regret that she could not attend, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina
Gloria Molina
Jesus Gloria Molina is an American politician, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and the current chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.-Background and career:...
commended Cruz as "a legal advocate who, instead of racking in the bucks, racked up a stellar reputation for his compassion, justness and commitment to those in need." The treatment was unsuccessful and Cruz died on July 21, 1993.
Literature
The events at St. Basil's were memorialized in Oscar Zeta AcostaOscar Zeta Acosta
Oscar Zeta Acosta was an American attorney, politician, minor novelist and Chicano Movement activist, perhaps best known for his friendship with the American author Hunter S. Thompson, who characterized him as his Samoan Attorney, Dr...
's Revolt of the Cockroach People and recorded as a major event of the Chicano Movement in Rodolfo Acuña
Rodolfo Acuña
Rodolfo Francisco Acuña, Ph.D., is an historian, professor emeritus, and one of various scholars of Chicano studies, which he teaches at California State University, Northridge. He is the author of Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, which approaches the history of the Southwestern United...
's Occupied America.