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'[[File:Ximenes Portrait.JPG|thumb|Vicente Ximenes|right]] '''Vicente T. Ximenes''' (December 5, 1919 – February 27, 2014) was a Mexican-American civil rights leader. == Early life == Ximenes was born in 1919<ref>{{cite web|title=A MEMORIAL RECOGNIZING VICENTE T. XIMENES' COMMITMENT TO ADVOCACY FOR HISTORICALLY UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS.|url=http://www.nmlegis.gov/sessions/05%20Regular/final/HM056.html|publisher=New Mexico Legislature|accessdate=23 August 2013}}</ref> and raised in the town of [[Floresville, Texas]], where he, along with the Mexican American community, were subjected to racial segregation. After graduating from [[Floresville High School]] in 1939, Ximenes became a chief clerk in the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]]. Ximenes also enrolled in the [[University of Texas at Austin]] where he became friends with Dr. [[Hector P. Garcia]], who would later organize the Mexican American civil rights organization the [[American GI Forum]]. ==Accomplishments in civil rights== *In February 1957, Ximenes was made aware of a racist incident in Colorado, where a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow a Mexican-American boy to carry the flag in that year's President Lincoln Day ceremony.<ref name=communityliteracyjournal>http://www.unm.edu/~wac/files/CommunityLiteracyJournalFall2012Vol71.pdf</ref> As the national chairman of the American GI Forum, Ximenes took the lead in publicizing this incident with local and national press.<ref name=communityliteracyjournal/> Ximenes also sent telegrams to the national office of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the American GI Forum.<ref name=communityliteracyjournal/> UNM Professor, and Ximemenes biographer, Michelle Kells explains that, "the Denver Star and Amarillo Globe-Times noted that the Lincoln Day flag-carrying pageant had been immediately cancelled following Ximenes’s complaint [and] DAR National President Frederíc Graves responded immediately by pulling the charter from the local Denver DAR chapter. She contacted Ximenes and offered to travel to Albuquerque to exchange flags with the American GI Forum as an act of reconciliation. Ximenes had to decide how much more negative press he wanted to promote, heaping political coals on the head of the DAR. However, Ximenes chose to take a restorative justice approach to the conflict, engaging in negotiations with DAR President Frederíc Graves. The flag exchange ceremony was promptly staged in front of the American GI Forum building in Albuquerque."<ref name=communityliteracyjournal/> *In 1967, on very short notice President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] tasked Ximenes with reorganizing what became the El Paso hearings. The meetings and hearings that took place at the El Paso hearings were the catalyst for more civil rights policy benefiting Mexican-Americans than may ever be calculated. Meetings on issues of language, education, labor and legal defense all took place during the El Paso hearings. As Professor Craig A. Kaplowitz notes, "the committee hearings designed to quell Mexican American frustration ironically gave rise to a grass-roots movement to form a national opposition political base." <ref>{{cite book |last=Kaplowitz |first=Craig |date=2005 |title=LULAC, Mexican Americans and National Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sWrox9R2I7wC&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=el+paso+hearings+1966+1967&source=bl&ots=G86W46L7bC&sig=mIBMBIXn99rkdfzDLE4P3WcZzN4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CLxnU_iZE8X4oATFvYLgAQ&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=el%20paso%20hearings%201966%201967&f=false |location= |publisher= |page=120 |isbn=1585443883 |accessdate=May 5, 2014 }}</ref> Hispanic-American rights author Henry A. J. Ramos explains that, "the year that followed the hearings saw important and unprecedented administration initiatives on behalf of Hispanic Americans."<ref>{{cite book |last=Ramos |first=Henry |date=1998 |title=The American GI Forum: In Pursuit of the Dream, 1948-1983 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eEgWJZSTRfIC&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=el+paso+hearings+vicente+ximenes&source=bl&ots=b255v9ZDwl&sig=omqFAtd_u9OrYmxHBxlM1Lv0zx4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ar5nU6yJL9fqoAT4yIGoBA&ved=0CFMQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=el%20paso%20hearings%20vicente%20ximenes&f=false|location= |publisher= |page=105 |isbn=155885262X |accessdate=May 5, 2014 }}</ref> ==Career== When the US became involved in [[World War II]] in 1941, Ximenes volunteered to join the [[U.S. Air Force]]. Ximenes graduated from Bombardier School at [[Kirtland Air Force Base]] as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1941. During the war, Ximenes flew 50 missions as a lead bombardier in North Africa and was later awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]<ref name="nmlegis.gov">{{cite web|url=http://www.nmlegis.gov/sessions/05%20Regular/memorials/house/HM056.HTML|title=2005 Memorial text for HM056|publisher=|accessdate=16 March 2017}}</ref> for bravery under fire. After serving in the war, he became an Air Force flying instructor at the [[Goodfellow Air Force Base]] from 1943-1946. Ximenes eventually retired from the airforce with the rank of Major in 1947. Upon returning home from service, he realized that racial segregation persisted in his hometown. He later became a member of the American GI Forum after meeting with his old friend Dr Garcia. In 1950, he received his Bachelor's degree in Education from the University of New Mexico, and a Master's degree in Economics a year later. Ximenes then worked at the Bureau of Business Research from 1951 to 1961. In 1961, the Kennedy administration selected Ximenes to serve as program officer and economist for the [[U.S. Agency for International Development]] in [[Ecuador]], and in 1966, he was named deputy director of the [[Agency for International Development]] in Panama. Ximenes was also appointed as Assistant Inspector General for the War on Poverty. The following year, President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] appointed Ximenes as U.S. commissioner of the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]], where he served for five years. Upon his appointment, President Johnson said, "Mr. Ximenes' life is a very vivid story of what we call American opportunity. He is a distinguished public servant, a teacher, a war hero, a leader of the Mexican-American community. Today, he achieves another high honor as he becomes a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the United States Government. And we -- as a Nation -- are honored by his achievement."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=28292|title=Lyndon B. Johnson: Remarks at the Swearing In of Vicente T. Ximenes as a Member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.|publisher=|accessdate=16 March 2017}}</ref> Ximenes directed the historic El Paso hearings in October 1967 that were the turning point in the goal to become part of the mainstream of the United States for the Hispanics in the nation. In 1967 Ximenes was also selected as the chairman of President Johnson's new Cabinet Committee on Mexican American Affairs, a position he held from until 1972. Ximenes' tenure at this position produced changes in federal legislation and regulation that affected the entire nation. From 1972-1973 Ximenes was Vice-President for field operations of the National Urban Coalition. From 1972-1977 Ximenes served as a member of the board of trustees of the [[University of Albuquerque]]. In 1977 President Jimmy Carter appointed Ximenes as Commissioner of White House Fellows. He served with former Secretary of HEW John Gardner, Lady Bird Johnson, White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler, Thomas Johnson of the Los Angeles Times, and others. This position empowered Ximenes and others involved to appoint the top scholars and future leaders to serve as White House Fellows in the offices of Cabinet members and the White House. In 2007 Ximenes participated in the UNM Civil Rights Symposium as a speaker at the function.<ref>http://www.unm.edu/~wac/History-Legacy/CRS%202007%20Program%20Brochure.pdf</ref> == Honors and awards == In 2008, Ximenes was the Honorary Degree Recipient of "Doctor of Humane Letters" from University of New Mexico. Previously, Ximenes received an Honorary Ph.D. in Humane Letters from New Mexico Highlands University. Vicente Ximenes also has a scholarship established in his name at the University of New Mexico. This scholarship award is given to a graduate student in Rhetoric and Writing whose research or service demonstrates commitment to [[public rhetoric]] and civic literacy, and who exemplifies the work of Vicente Ximenes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unm.edu/~wac/scholarships/vicente-ximenes-scholarship.html|title=Writing Across Communities|publisher=|accessdate=16 March 2017}}</ref> The scholarship was established by a handful of UNM students and UNM professor Michelle Kells in March 2005. The scholarship maintains its funding entirely through donations. Vicente T. Ximenes is the recipient of numerous other awards including: the Common Cause Public Service Achievement Award, the State of New Mexico Distinguished Service Award, the Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Panama's highest honor and awarded by the president of Panama; the Aztec award by the Mexican-American Opportunity Foundation; the Albuquerque Human Rights Bridge Award by the Albuquerque human rights board; and the De Colores Lifetime Achievement award by the De Colores Board of Directors.<ref name="nmlegis.gov"/> == Personal life == Vincente T. Ximenes was married to Maria Ximenes, who died in 2009. Vicente died on February 27, 2014, at the age of 94.<ref name="abqjournal.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.abqjournal.com/361432/news/vicente-ximenes-rights-activist-dies-at-94.html|title=Vicente Ximenes, rights activist, dies at 94|first=Nicole Perez &#124; Journal Staff|last=Writer|publisher=|accessdate=16 March 2017}}</ref> Both Vicente and Maria are survived by three of their four children, Ricardo, Olivia and Ana Maria. Their oldest son, Estevan, died in 1978. They also had a granddaughter, Theresa, and two great-granddaughters, Chloe and Madison. == Media coverage == Michelle Hall Kells, Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Writing in the English Department of the University of New Mexico has written about Vicente's political efforts in a book: ''Vicente Ximenes and LBJ's Great Society: The Rhetoric of Mexican American Civil Rights Reform.'' Illinois University Press: Illinois. 2018. Dr. Kell's gave a public reading of her work in Albuquerque in April 2018. The LBJ Library published the Civil Rights Summit of 1972 on YouTube. Video of Day 2 of the Summit, which features Vicente Ximenes, can be found at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRuxcklyr00]. Ximenes was featured in a PBS [[American Experience]] documentary called ''[[The Civilian Conservation Corps]]'' which premiered in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/transcript/ccc-transcript/|title=WGBH American Experience . The Civilian Conservation Corps - PBS|publisher=|accessdate=16 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/ccc/|title=WGBH American Experience - PBS . The Civilian Conservation Corps|publisher=|accessdate=16 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="imdb.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3670269/|title=Vicente Ximenes|publisher=|accessdate=16 March 2017}}</ref> Ximenes was featured in a documentary called ''[[The Longoria Affair]]'', which premiered in November 2010 on [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]].<ref name="imdb.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2010/11/the_longoria_affair_an_old_wound_that_still_f.html|title=PBS - Ombudsman - The Longoria Affair, an Old Wound That Still Festers|first=|last=PBS|publisher=|accessdate=16 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/longoria-affair/|title=The Longoria Affair - Texas Civil Rights Case - Independent Lens - PBS|publisher=|accessdate=16 March 2017}}</ref> This documentary, written and directed by [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1785965/ John J. Valadez], describes how Mexican-American Rights progressed after a World War II Veteran, Felix Longoria, was refused burial in his home town of Three Rivers Texas because of his ethnicity. In 2010 the Wilson County News published an interview with Ximenes.<ref name="wilsoncountynews.com">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140416193425/http://www.wilsoncountynews.com/article.php?id=28433&n=south-texas-living-latino-rights-advocate-vicente-ximenes-has-floresville-roots ]</ref> An article honoring the life of Vicente Ximenes was published in the Albuquerque Journal, March 2, 2014.<ref name="abqjournal.com"/> A chapter in the book, "Leaders of the Mexican American Generation", edited by Anthony Quiroz and published in 2015 featured Vicente Ximenes and his work in Civil Rights. ==Legacy== Unlike many other well known members of the Mexican-American rights movement in the U.S., Ximenes' legacy is one in which systemic change was attempted from within the government, through years of civil service. Ximenes put it simply in one interview: “You have to work with other people to succeed in whatever goal you set out to do.”<ref name="wilsoncountynews.com"/> Several academic, professional, and personal associates of Ximenes speak to his legacy in a posthumous [http://vicenteximeneslegacy.blogspot.com/ tribute blog for Dr. Ximenes], established to honor Ximenes' legacy shortly after his death in February 2014. One notable reference to Ximenes' legacy, from UNM Provost Chaouki Abdallah, states that, "Dr. Ximenes' unparalleled contributions at the state and national-level distinguish him as one of the most influential figures in US civil rights history."<ref>http://www.unm.edu/~wac/files/ProvostTributetoVicenteXimenes.pdf</ref> ==Sources== *[http://econtent.unm.edu/cdm/ref/collection/videos/id/233 Vicente Ximenes Presentation Video on Civil Rights] at econtent.unm.edu *[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/voces/template-stories-indiv.html?work_urn=urn%3Autlol%3Awwlatin.162&work_title=Ximenes+%2C+Vicente Ximenes Interviewed For The Oral History Project] at lib.utexas.edu *[http://www.silverhorizons.org/pdfs/HOF_Bios/05Ximenes.pdf Ximenes] at silverhorizons.org *[http://www.justiceformypeople.org/interview_ximenes.html Interview] at justiceformypeople.org *[http://www.nmlegis.gov/sessions/05%20Regular/memorials/house/HM056.HTML HM056] at the New Mexico legislature *[http://www.museumstuff.com/learn/topics/Vicente_T._Ximenes Vicente T. Ximenes] at museumstuff.com *[http://graduation.unm.edu/honorarydeg.html Honorary Degrees] at graduation.unm.edu *[https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/longoria-affair/ Longoria Affair] at pbs.org ==Notes== {{reflist}} {{Chicano and Mexican American topics |state=expanded}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ximenes, Vicente T.}} [[Category:1919 births]] [[Category:2014 deaths]] [[Category:Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights]] [[Category:American people of Mexican descent]] [[Category:American civil rights activists]] [[Category:American military personnel of World War II]] [[Category:Civilian Conservation Corps people]] [[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)]] [[Category:University of New Mexico alumni]] [[Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni]] [[Category:People from Floresville, Texas]] [[Category:People from Albuquerque, New Mexico]] [[Category:Hispanic and Latino American history]] [[Category:Activists from Texas]] [[Category:Equal Employment Opportunity Commission members]]'