My impressions from Armando Navarro's book concerning La Raza Unida and the community are so many and varied that they can't really be condensed into a few words. Mostly it's "WOW". So many things from power consolidation (even includes a Latino beer franchise war) to education to political implosion and racial hypocrisy.
Navarro's general references and quotes from participants concerning brown people in Zavala county and beyond as "Mexicanos". This is further broken down into "Chicanos", "vendidos" (sell outs), and "Coconuts" (brown on the outside, white on the inside). In his writing, this is not so absolute as this paragraph seems to make it. The references to Caucasians are generally "whites" and "Gringos" (with the general meanings of oppressors, racists, or opposers of La Raza Unida) or Anglos (those in sympathy or at least neutral with La Raza Unida). While his prejudice is obvious, I do believe his assertion that he tried to leave his prejudices behind for writing the book.
There are several different impressions concerning brown people in the book. There were migratory workers with a home base in Zavala county and Crystal itself and there are no references concerning illegal residence or distinction between birth citizenship nationality or naturalization, but the story revolves around people who appear to have been American for generations. The Latino base for La Raza Unida support appears to have been poor people, it seems those with a middle class income tended to oppose La Raza Unida.
It may surprise some (I've understood this for some time), but a portion of brown resistance to La Raza Unida had to do with the manner of imposition and type of bilingual education in the local schools. There were parents who believed their children weren't learning English well enough under the party direction (instruction was primarily in Spanish) and Jose Gutierrez and the party turned a deaf ear to complaints. Some believed Gutierrez placed too much emphasis on race, that he needed to knock it back a notch.
Political machine Comunidadas Unidas (the power behind La Raza Unida) wielded complete control in the county concerning public and educational jobs, which were just about the only decent paying jobs in the county. There was influence in other occupations. Jobs were used to reward supporters of the party agenda and dissenters were fired. Gutierrez himself, without legal education, became a county judge.
Politics were nasty indeed. There was a lot of scurrilous polarization both between races and within the "brown community". Once in power, Communidadas Unidas engaged in voter intimidation and arranged such things as turning the power off to buildings hosting opposition meetings. There were threats of suing power companies and telephone companies which provided service to opposition groups. Proof of residency was sometimes required of whites and opponents in order to vote - contrasting with the fact that before La Raza Unida took power, Gutierrez brought in federal observers to ensure there was no white voter fraud. There was some voter fraud by Communidadas Unidas, but it was inconsequential to election outcome.
Towards the end, Gutierrez and his Machine were brought down not by hostile whites, but by (including but not limited to) increased brown hostility to policies, increased taxes, power consolidated in too few hands, resentments and aspirations within the machine, a police department which was infused with party politics and machine directives, bringing in people from outside the community to fill high pay jobs no one in the brown rural community were qualified to do, Gutierrez over reaching and dictatorial presumption, and the La Raza Unida trip to learn and bring back ideas from Cuba. Navarro quotes a local individual (which requires reading between the lines as to what is really meant concerning "Mexican" and self identity among multi generational Americans with Mexican ancestors):
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They were totally Mexican. They were also citizens of Texas and the United States. I don't think ideologically they identified with Cuba, Nicaragua, or even Mexico.
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These were people, regardless of ancestry, mix of culture, or status in society who had a mentality shaped by multi generational American experience.
In the end, there were even death threats by Latinos against Gutierrez, and three Latinos were apprehended by police trying to assassinate Gutierrez with a large rattlesnake with its rattles cut off. It was in a burlap bag and the intent was turning it loose in an enclosed area Gutierrez frequented. Gutierrez got a gun permit.
There was infighting within the machine (the machine grew so large Gutierrez had to subordinate some power) as well as attacks from a Latino opposition party - La Raza Libre (formed of long term opponents), and there lawsuits from within and without.
One of my more prominent impressions is corroboration of my belief that brown supremacists and ethnic nationalism need a continual influx of poor foreigners from Latin America and their children to shower goodies and privilege on as well as invoking the Anglo Sajon boogie man (the white man is out to get
YOU!!!!) in order to fulfill their racist agenda.