<P> The Chicano Movement also addressed discrimination in public and private institutions . Early in the twentieth century, Mexican Americans formed organizations to protect themselves from discrimination . One of those organizations, the League of United Latin American Citizens, was formed in 1929 and remains active today . </P> <P> The Chicano Movement had been fermenting since the end of the U.S.--Mexican War in 1848, when the current U.S--Mexican border took form . Since that time, many Chicanos and Chicanas have campaigned against discrimination, racism and exploitation . The Chicano Movement that culminated in the early 1970s took inspiration from heroes and heroines from their indigenous, Mexican and American past . </P> <P> The movement gained momentum after World War II when groups such as the American G.I. Forum (AGIF), which was founded by returning Mexican American veteran Dr. Hector P. Garcia, joined in the efforts by other civil rights organizations . The AGIF first received national exposure when it took on the cause of Felix Longoria, a Mexican American serviceman who was denied a funeral service in his hometown of Three Rivers, Texas after being killed during WWII . After the Longoria incident, the AGIF quickly expanded throughout Texas and by the 1950s, chapters were founded across the U.S. </P> <P> Mexican American civil rights activists also achieved several major legal victories including the 1947 Mendez v. Westminster court case ruling which declared that segregating children of "Mexican and Latin descent" was unconstitutional and the 1954 Hernandez v. Texas ruling which declared that Mexican Americans and other historically - subordinated groups in the United States were entitled to equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution . </P>

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