Aug. 29 marked the 45th anniversary of the National Chicano Moratorium march, when tens of thousands of Mexican-Americans held the largest minority-based anti-Vietnam War demonstration in the U.S.

During the historic march, nearly 30,000 Chicanos and Chicanas from around the nation took to the streets of East Los Angeles to speak out about the disproportionate amount of Mexicans who were being drafted and killed overseas. According to BBC, Mexican Americans were dying at twice the rate of their white counterparts in the war since white people were more likely to be exempted from the draft by going to college. However, many Mexican-Americans were plagued by poverty and racism and were not afforded this privilege.

In order to combat what they felt was an unjust exploitation of their community, anti-war activists began organizing in the late 1960s, which became known as the Chicano Moratorium.

The movement then peaked on Aug. 29, 1970, with a protest that ended in police riots and the deaths of three Chicanos.

"Our struggle is not in Vietnam but in the movement for social justice at home," chanted the protesters, which was the slogan of the march, reports teleSUR.

According to Mario T. García, a professor of History and Chicano Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara, the march was "the most significant civil rights and community empowerment movement by Mexican Americans in the country of that time."

The events "showed the courage and commitment of young Chicanos -- the Chicano Generation -- to take on the system and to demand that a 'war of choice' be ended, a war that was particularly injurious to Chicanos and other minorities," he told teleSUR. 

Rosalio Munoz, one of the organizers of the march, said that the peaceful protest turned into riots when squads of county sheriffs and Los Angeles police began beating demonstrators with billy clubs and using tear gas to disperse the crowd.

As a result, many demonstrators were arrested and injured, while Ruben Salazar, a renowned journalist and outspoken Chicano activist, was among the three people killed.

Now, 45 years later, Garcia says the anti-war movement was a major step in the Latino fight for civil rights in the U.S. According to the National Catholic Reporter, it was described as "a display of Chicano Power -- self-determination -- that has now evolved into Latino Power, as Latinos have become the largest minority in the country,"

However, other experts say that although the Chicano Movement laid the foundation for today's Latino political power, conditions for the Latino population have generally gotten worst.

"Our people remain afflicted with the effects of white supremacy. We have more of our youth in prisons than colleges. The age-old issues such as police brutality, high unemployment rates, youth, seniors, housing, and health care problems remain," wrote Herman Baca, the president of Committee on Chicano Rights, for The OB Rag blog.

According to U.S.-Latino journalist John Paul Brammer, the Chicano movement has been co-opted and turned into a "Latino power" that is "predicated on their ability to register and vote in elections."

"A greater vision for Latino empowerment is necessary for our people to overcome the obstacles we face, a vision that goes beyond electing the most Latino-friendly politicians the current political climate has to offer and beyond the issue of immigration," Brammer wrote for the Blue Nation Review.

In the wake of the challenges that Hispanic Americans face today, Brammer says that Latinos should commemorate the National Chicano Moratorium march by remembering that "our strength as a growing community does not begin and end with whom we vote for in 2016. Our movement can and should include social justice."