Pancho Medrano

Francisco F. Medrano (August 2, 1920 – April 4, 2002) was an American labor rights and civil rights activist.

His work extended throughout the state of Texas and the country, and his family became prominent Dallas civic leaders.

He is known for his motto: "In America, everything is politics, from the day you are born, until the day you die."

Medrano rejected contemporary views of Mexican-American social and legal whiteness, in part because of the treatment he received because of his physical appearance: he was rejected from a work position because he looked "too much like a Negro to be hired".

He expressed frustration with Mexican-American leadership, such as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the American GI Forum, for being unwilling to organize protests.

Medrano had no interest in identifying as Latino, and instead embraced the label of Chicano.

Medrano was born on August 2, 1920, to Sabas Medrano and Nicolasa Franco at their home in the Little Mexico neighborhood of Dallas, Texas.

He grew up attending Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, and was a member of the Asociacion Catolica de Jovenes (Catholic Youth Association) where a priest taught local children how to box.

Medrano often spoke of his memories of experiencing discrimination in Dallas.

He recalled how metal rails were built around Pike Park to keep Mexican-American and African-American children from playing at the park, and his mother had been denied service at a restaurant due to her ethnicity.

He attended St. Anne's School during his childhood and later Crozier Tech High School for a short period of time, but dropped out when the principal pulled him from class for a dress code violation because his shoes had large holes in the soles.

The principal connected Medrano to a job breaking rocks at a rock quarry near Bachman Lake, where Medrano could earn money to purchase acceptable clothing.

His boss at the quarry helped him into a Works Progress Administration (WPA) school, and through his training he gained employment at a North American Aviation plant.

There he was introduced to semi-professional boxing and union work.

He began boxing during his 40-minute lunch breaks as a local light heavyweight, and eventually becoming the heavyweight champion at North American Aviation.

Medrano was introduced to union work when organizers distributed literature at the plant gates.

He worked with organizers to create a union at the plant and lost his job for doing so.

The Local 645 of the United Auto Workers-Congress of Industrial Organizations (UAW-CIO) was formed in 1943, and Medrano was reinstated at his job.

In 1954, prominent Dallas Mexican Americans, including Medrano and Joe Landin, founded a Dallas chapter of the American GI Forum.

Various sources also place Medrano at the Selma and Birmingham marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., protecting Lyndon B. Johnson during his visit to Dallas in 1960, and working with Cesar Chavez in Texas.

He was later elected Sergeant at Arms for Local 645 (which became Local 848 in 1962), and in 1955 was elected as a trustee.

Medrano left his job to become a full-time UAW official in 1963.

In 1967, Medrano was assigned to work in Starr County to advance labor rights.

He served as UAW representative at the picket lines in Starr County, and was present in the county as violence between the Texas Rangers and picketers escalated.

Acts of violence occurred, included beatings of picketers by Texas Rangers during arrests.

Medrano had been arrested during one of these conflicts while taking photos of Texas Rangers arresting union picketers.

The camera was opened by a Texas Ranger who alleged that he was determining if the camera was a weapon.

Medrano was punched in the face as he was being arrested.

In 1968, Medrano filed a civil suit alleging that the Texas Rangers, Starr County officers and officials, and local farmers had conspired to break the unions working in Starr County, and that Texas laws that were enforced during labor disputes were unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs of this suit, Medrano v. A Y Allee, were Medrano, the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, the AFL-CIO, and picketers.

Defendants were the Texas Rangers, State of Texas officers, and other public officials from Starr County, including Texas Ranger Captain A. Y. Allee.

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of Medrano and his fellow plaintiffs, concluding that Articles 5154d, § 1 and 5154f of Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes and Articles 439, 474 and 482 of the Texas Penal Code were unconstitutional, thus rendering them null and void.

The court also restrained the defendants from interfering with the plaintiff's civil rights and the civil rights of the class they represented.

Medrano and activist Guadalupe Delesma requested that a school in the Dallas Independent School District be named after a Mexican American in 1970.

The case would be argued again at the Supreme Court in 1973-1974.

Until his retirement from the UAW, Medrano served as representative at several meetings with high-profile politicians and civic leaders.

In 1977, he visited President Jimmy Carter at the White House as part of a 15-member UAW delegation.

In October 1979, Medrano was called to attend a White House reception because of his work with the Medrano v. Allee lawsuit and his work with farm workers and undocumented migrants.

He met Pope John Paul II at the reception and took a paper he had written for the Pope to read as well as religious artifacts from community members for the Pope to bless.

Medrano called the meeting the chance of a lifetime, and possibly the most important pilgrimage in his life.