Bernal, Joe J. (1927-)

Joe J. Bernal, a civil rights leader and community activist who played a key role in establishing bilingual education in Texas, was born in San Antonio, Texas, into a family of nine children. He graduated from Lanier High School in the heart of San Antonio's barrio in 1944. Following his service in the armed forces during World War II, he returned to San Antonio in 1946, where, through the G.I. Bill, he completed a BA at Trinity University and earned an MEd from Our Lady of the Lake University. He later completed a PhD in cultural foundations of education at the University of Texas at Austin.

For 14 years (1950–1964), Bernal worked as a classroom teacher in three South Texas school districts, an experience through which he became painfully aware of the intense discrimination experienced by Mexican American children in Texas public schools. He then worked for 10 years in the area of social services, first as a family and youth counselor for a United Way Agency and then as executive director for a community center. Bernal later served as executive director for the Commission for Mexican Affairs at the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Ultimately, Bernal's dissatisfaction with the appalling state of affairs in the Texas public education system, combined with a strong desire to improve conditions for his community, led him into a political career through which he became known for his passionate struggle on behalf of minorities, seeking social justice and equal educational opportunity. In 1964, Bernal was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, where he served one term before being elected in 1966 as Texas's only Latino senator. During his 6 years in the Texas State Senate (1966–1972), Bernal authored many groundbreaking bills, including the state's first bilingual law in 1969, which, in permitting native-language instruction to occur when pedagogically justifiable, had the effect of repealing existing penal code penalties for teachers using a language other than English in the classroom. During his tenure in the Texas Senate, Bernal was primary author for a number of landmark education bills, such as creating free statewide kindergarten programs, providing teachers a 45-minute planning time period, and establishing the University of Texas at San Antonio. He was also responsible for backing legislation that added dental and nursing schools to the University of [Page 59]Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. His legislative contributions extend beyond education, with notable social justice achievements that include authorization of the first minimum-wage law and expunging from state statute all laws supporting segregation of the races.

Following his career as an elected public official, Bernal continued his advocacy efforts on behalf of the Mexican American community through various avenues. He first worked as a researcher and trainer for the Intercultural Development Research Association, focusing on Mexican American educational issues, and later served in the Carter administration as regional director of ACTION, a federal agency that coordinated volunteer activities in Texas and four neighboring states.

Bernal's substantial contributions to bilingual education have extended far beyond his early legislative achievements. For 7 years, he served as an executive board member for the National Association for Bilingual Education, and for 2 years, he served on the executive board of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education as legislative chair. As a founding board member of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), Bernal ensured that bilingual education remain a core agenda item intricately connected to struggles for obtaining equal educational opportunity for language minority students. As the founding chair of Mexican American Democrats of Texas, he led ongoing efforts to address weaknesses in the Texas bilingual education law and to strengthen key eligibility and accountability provisions in the law.

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