After decades of being criminalized, lowriders get government’s stamp of approval

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The U.S. Postal Service unveiled a new series of stamps on Friday that features five special cars. For the lowrider community, it’s validation of a vibrant, artistic expression that blossomed decades ago in Mexican American and Chicano communities with the transformation of everyday cars into rolling masterpieces.

Roberto Hernandez likes to ride low and slow in his 1964 Chevrolet Impala.

For years, that got him into trouble.

“I got arrested 113 times for cruising; I got 56 tickets. We were always looked upon as criminals,” said Hernandez.

Lowriding got its start in the Mexican American community during the hot rod era that came after World War II.

Latino youth who could not buy newer cars would buy older cars and fix them up, often finding creative ways to lower their profile.

“Some people would put sandbags or cement bags in the trunk so that it could be lowered,” said Hernandez.

Eventually, hydraulics lowered and raised the car or made them bounce.

That made lowriders gain even more popularity in the 1970s, but discrimination against Latinos gave rise to local ordinances banning cruising, which was a popular way for Mexican American youth to show off their cars.

Cities made it a crime to cruise past the same street more than once in a specified period of time, often citing possible violence or congested streets that would make it difficult for first responders to get to an emergency.

Lowriders said they were harassed by police for simply driving their cars.

In 1981, Hernandez formed the lowrider council to fight back against cruising bans.

The group sued San Francisco for discrimination. The city settled the case and overturned its cruising ban.

Two years ago, a new California law officially banned all local cruising bans.

Lowriders are now a symbol of pride.

“It’s an art form. It’s part of our culture. It’s something we invented,” said Hernandez. ” If you look at some of the paint jobs, they’re murals.”

Hernandez wanted lowrider vehicles memorialized on a postage stamp.

He had experience getting a stamp approved.

After farmworker rights leader Cesar Chavez died, Hernandez worked to get a stamp approved in his honor. The stamp was issued in 2003 after a slow approval process.

His advocacy for a lowriders stamp came to fruition with the unveiling this month of a forever stamp depicting five distinct lowrider vehicles.

There is a 1946 Chevrolet Fleet line, three Chevrolet Impalas from 1958, 1963 and 1964, and a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

“I’m smiling, we’re getting our stamp of approval. For us, it’s recognition on behalf of the U.S. Post Office and the government.”