The Ratio of Inclusion in East Chicago, Indiana

Abstract

This chapter explores the work of the Concerned Latins Organization (CLO), an affiliate with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), to gain municipal employment in East Chicago, Indiana. In the 1970s, Latinas and Latinos organized and advocated for municipal employment, particularly in East Chicago’s Fire Department. Many of the Latino and African American applicants found themselves placed on waitlists for interviews, relegated to low-ranking positions, or unable to pay the exorbitant costs that were part of the application process. The chapter details the multi-pronged effort by the CLO in the streets and the court system, to force the city to pass an affirmative action hiring plan for municipal employment. This occurred at a time when industrial employment began to decrease and was coupled by the desire for the middle-class livelihood that city employment would provide. Influenced by the tactics of Saul Alinsky and the IAF, Latinas and Latinos initiated an avid grassroots campaign to pass city ordinance allowing for the hiring of more underrepresented groups into the city’s workforce. Through analyzing the CLO’s records, local city council meeting minutes, ordinances, newspapers, and court proceedings, this chapter charts the multifaceted organizing devoted to establishing an affirmative action hiring plan. The activists in the streets and the defendants in the courts articulated for their place within the city through their occupation and the opportunities that it held.