Understanding the Role of Conflict, Factionalism, and Schism in the Development of the Chicano Student Movement

At the height of the March 1968 East Los Angeles blowouts, ¹ Mike de la Peña reprimanded the Mexican American Student Association (MASA), the organization he presided over as president a few months earlier, for failing to endorse and assist in the week-long walkouts spearheaded by Lincoln High School teacher Sal Castro and a cadre of college and high school student leaders. Days prior to the walkouts, de la Peña and other MASistas who had attended community meetings to organize the protests had repeatedly warned the group's leadership that the eastside schools were “about to explode.” In response to de la Peña's criticism, executive committee member Ramón Olayo defended MASA's decision and argued instead for protestors to pursue educational reform by procuring additional meetings with school officials. Frustrated with a leadership he perceived to be out of touch with the politics of the emergent Chicano Movement, de la Peña angrily shouted, “all you ever do is talk!,” as he and two female members stormed out of the meeting. ² De la Peña's frustration stemmed from a growing factionalism that had been brewing between moderate and radical students since the beginning of the Chicano student movement. ³