The University of Wisconsin Press Chicano Studies / Political
Science / American History The Cristal Experiment A Chicano
Struggle for Community Control A history of Chicano political
revolt in 1970s Texas Amidst the turbulence and militancy of the
1960s and early 1970s, the Mexicano population of the dusty
agricultural town of Crystal City, Texas (Cristal in Spanish),
staged two electoral revolts, each time winning control of the
city council and school board. The landmark city council victory
in 1963 was a first for Mexican Americans in South Texas, and
Cristalthe "spinach capital of the world"became was for a time
the political capital of the Chicano Movement. In The Cristal
Experiment, Armando Navarro presents the most comprehensive
examination to date of the rise of the Chicano political
movement in Cristal, its successes and conflicts (both internal
and external), and its eventual decline. He looks particularly
at the larger and more successful "Second Revolt" in 1970 and
its aftermath up to 1981, exami