Daily News Editorial, "Mayor V. tell the truth"
Quick diversion away from the sport pages, one was able to find this editorial in today's Daily News,"Tell the truth".First, lets remember that this editorial is directed towards the "POLITICO FORMERLY KNOWN AS ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, tony villar". Last I remember, this is the same man who could not tell the truth to his wife. So why would the editorial board of the "MOLDY GREEN SHEET" expect him to be truthful to the cities populace ?
Second, I do remember a ex. councilman who briefly moved into CD 14 on his way to a Third Floor office on Spring Street. There was something about serving a full term as councilman. Plus he promise to protect and keep a certain museum in the Arroyo Seco Valley.
Third, what about those "80 NEIGHBORHOOD WATCHES" he help create ?
Fourth, does anyone remember a certain councilman who voted three times "NOT TO RAISE" trash fees ? One would of thought that he was the "LATINO REAGAN", well that is a stretch. Then when becoming Mayor, he gets and takes credit for the implementation of the raised trash fees ?
So why waste newsprint on requesting an impossibility ? After all, you are asking the Mayor to state facts, not "PARKEque" Skelton creative "SPIN".
Excerpt from editorial:
"Already City Hall is gearing up a campaign of lies and gross distortions. Villaraigosa can do better. He can admit the money will fulfill the overly generous new contracts for city workers, the free cars for city employees and politicians' staffs, the junkets, the subsidies to luxury hotels"
Thought to Ponder:
If we are in a true "FISCAL EMERGENCY". Why don't we call on State and Federal leaders to send a "RAPID RESPONCE TEAM" of auditors ? They would be vested to "check the books" at City Hall. Thus, ascertaining if we are truly in a "FISCAL EMERGENCY".
Labels: daily news, mayor antonio villaraigosa, phone tax
Posted by Red Spot in CD 14 @ 10/28/2007 10:25:00 AM
46 Comments:
Why would anyone waste their breaathe offering an "opinion" on this thread?
You all make explicitly clear that if anyone doesn't join in your lynching, you'll just lynch the poster and the "we hate the midget Mayors" will join in.
Nothing like an exchange of opinions.
Why don't you rename the blog We Hate the Midget Mayor Collective?
Hey Pollonista,
Refresh your medmory on the real Tony Villar.
http://tonycastro.com/manmythinside.htm
What's Up, Doc?
Welcome to Los Angeles. Or as our mayor calls it, "Sex and the City."
Did you hear what happened today with Mayor Villaraigosa? I guess he tried to give someone the key to the city but it didn’t work because his wife had the locks changed
RIDDLE
STD+WOMEN+POWER+COCAINE+COMPULSIVE LIAR+MEXICAN+SMELLY BREATH+LIAR+LIAR+LIAR+BACK ROOM DEALER=?
Tony Castro as authority? He's got some major issues himself, that dude.
Sure I'd like another rich white guy, like Riordan, but the only white guys who might run are idiots like Hahn.
You make it easy to ignore your points because you don't have any.
Except we hate the midget Mexican mayor. You wanna see real Mecha, look at Alarcon and some of the others. Whose followers think MAV is an oreo cookie, not Mecha enough. They'd really give you something to bitch about.
"Midget Mayor" where ?
Don't get stuck on stupid, thus try to spin a race card of stupidity.
Never could...never would...never will and he wants to be "The GOV"!
Lie, lie, lie.
Poor little Red Spot, the apologist for some one who deservedly had his cojones removed three times over and still can't get past it and find something better to do with his life than whine about those who cleaned his clock. Or else Red Spot is that triple gelding himself.
The problem with the Daily News editorials is that they're beginning to sound like the whining we're "treated" to here at Mayor Sam on such a regular basis. There are plenty of facts to use against City Hall, so why keep pounding away based on unsubstantiated rumors, opinions and plain ol' BS?
Stop mistaking your opinions for the truth and go find some real truth before you post here again.
Ethics Violation Scorecard,
Antonio Villaraigosa 30+
Nick Pacheco 0
BTW, what about that scholarship fund that is no more ? Mothers of East LA.
As chroniclers of Antonio Villaraigosa invariably come to discover, sometimes what comes out of the Los Angeles mayor's mouth - particularly when it's about his past - and what ultimately turns out to be true are not always entirely the same.
The D N represents the Valley, knows and cares nothing about the "other" side, the real city that people think of as Los Angeles all over the world.
When's the last time anyone thought of Woodland Hills or Encino when thinking or talking about L A versus New York or London in anything? Tourists want to see the ocean areas, Hollywood and Century City, Beverly Hills. And the amusement parks.
It's precisely these areas the D N knows nothing about. Their reader blogs are more full of KFI listeners than public radio or even KROQ. They're getting radicalized because gangs are moving to NoHo, Panorama City and the like, so that's where the anti-Mexican, anti-illegal sentiment is concentrated. "Those people" are messing up "our middle class quiet suburbs," is the theme. Hasta la vista, baby. No more Mexicans, no more taxes, just give us cheaper rates for water and power because we have bigger houses on cheaper land. Ha-ha to the rest of L A.
Just as the L A Times is accused of westside bias, they're only for the valley against the rest of the city. Their readership is small and not as educated, so they're not held to as high a standard. They do just harp on the same stuff with no facts just idiology.
Where's Mirthala??
The phone tax is a drop in the bucket compared to the impending rate hikes for renewable energy that the mayor's cronies on the DWP board are preparing to ram down everyone's throat. Neighborhood councils wake up and pay attention!! Ask questions!!
Throughout his life, Antonio's lies have destroyed
- innocent lives (I wonder what ever happend to that Sacred Heart girl that Tony, trying to escape a paternity suit, got his friends to say they threw a train on)
- families (along with the four he's abandoned there is also Martha & Richard's family he destroyed)
- careers (Pacheco and Becerra were and are infinitely more qualified and honest than Tony)
-community based organizationa (Parke and Tony's lies destroyed the Mothers of East L.A., there $40K a year scholarship was never replaced)
-friendships (I guess Hertzberg feels like one Tony's cheap one night stands, shouldn't have gave him your back, Bob)
-careers again (poor Mirthala, what's next, a Hustler spread?)
-the list is endless, I will need to continue at another time.
funkytown
pisto
smoke
women
dats my boy
tony bolony
what's up wit tony bolony's half brother?
INTERESTING
Caltrans Tenant association
How many la32 members live on Caltrans Property
2:04 Too late now for this year, but after the TUT vote in February, the hidden tax aspect of the DWP City Transfer will be a new battleground. Besides, by next year when people can actually see the 10%+ yearly increase in this tax the press might wake up. And then we have elections. Wait until Karen Sisson starts showing the numbers in her financial reports to Council. By next year the Water Transfer should be resolved too.
Imagine if the young stupid Mexicans gang members knew how to aim a gun imagine how many dead bodies there would be in Los Angeles. We need mass deportation of Mexican, send all these animals back to the zoo which is Mexico.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/homicidereport/
Newton Homicide: A 16-year-old is dead
South-Central Los Angeles: A 16-year-old Latino youth was shot and killed, and three other teenagers were wounded, one critically, in a shooting near 43rd and Wall Street in Los Angeles, LAPD Newton area at about 10:40 a.m. Oct. 26, according to police.
The 16-year-old and his three friends were hanging out when two Latino men or youths approached, and demanded: "Where are from." The victims said they belonged to no gang, but the suspects shot everyone in their group anyway. The youth died at the scene; a 15-year-old girl was struck several times and taken to a hospital in critical condition. Another 15-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were hit, but suffered less serious injuries. The suspects fled.
Money
Special Fee waivers
No Money
More cops
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-baby27oct27,1,6868551.story?
Four more gang members charged in infant's killing
One of the men is in custody, while the three others are wanted in the shooting of the 23-day-old baby near MacArthur Park last month.
By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 27, 2007
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office charged four more gang members Friday in the killing of a 23-day-old baby near MacArthur Park last month.
One of the men, Juan Pablo Murillo, is in custody. Three others, Giovanni Macedo, Juvenal Cardenas Mejia and Guadalupe Torres Rangel, are wanted. A fifth man, Luis Silva, was arrested and charged days after the shooting.
The men, all members of the 18th Street gang, have been charged with murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit both murder and extortion.
All the illegal Mexicans, midget and regular, have ruined our city.
Every freway and every sign is full of graffitti by Cholo taggers.
It isn't the Mayor, it is the citizens who should stop this travesty and report all violators.
When you see taggers, call 911 and turn them in right away.
Do not approach them personally, they are dangerous, but get the cops out there and have them busted.
Don't be part of the problem; be part of the solution.
Notice to all,
Lets stay away from the racial generalizations.
This city is up the creek, without a paddle. Yes, quality of life issues are paramount. Yet, another tax, without a visible return(ie. more police, gang reduction, graffiti abatement), will drive more middle class families out of the city.
In addition, who is going to want to start a business, or retain one, when the cost of doing so is going sky high.
"Tax and Waste" or "Tax or Spend" they are one in the same. It seems that the only people getting rich in this city today are Trial lawyers and shady Non-profits.
^^^^^^^
It's not racial generalization when you see an area which is predominantly Latino area and it looks like Tijuana and is dirty and full graffiti and gangs. There is political correctness and there is stating the obvious facts. Just drive around central L.A. and east L.A. and see what exists in these Latino neighborhoods.
Tell the truth
You have to be kidding. Not while Tony V is getting advise from Ace, Parke, Hacopian and Trujillo.
Tell the truth
You have to be kidding. Not while Tony V is getting advise from Ace, Parke, Hacopian and Trujillo.
"When you see taggers, call 911 and turn them in right away.'
The police will tell you they havent got time to come pick the kids up, the police are "too busy".
Why cant the kids and the parents be fined $500.00 per day.The cops do know who the 'tags" belong to. Arrest or fine them.
As a WHITE westsider who has lived his entire life in this city, I can speak with authority and clarity when I say that the Midget mayor has put the final nail in the coffin of Lost Angeles!!!!!
I have watched him from his days at UCLA in the 70's until the present! He was a punk trouble-maker then; and he (and his Mexican mafia) are now the ONLY reason this city is overflowing with crime, violence, corruption, and pestilence!
The midget mayor is trying to be "WHITE" now but he can NEVER change his stripes!!!! He is behind the hard core Mexicans like Alarcon, Nunez, etc.
WATCH OUT FOR NUNEZ...HE'S REALLY GOING TO CLAW HIS WAY UP THE LADDER! VILLAR PAVED THE WAY FOR ALL OF THEM!!!!!
L.A. is Tijuana and Villar & Co. are nothing more than dirty, filthy Mexican vermin!
Signed:
WE HATE THE MIDGET MAYOR COLLECTIVE!!!
Gotta give credit to the Daily News who has the guts to report the truth. Antonio supporters don't like the newspaper laying it out because thousands will read what we all know is the truth. Do you remember the bullshit corrupt way they lied about Prop R? They made it seem as if they would be cleaning up ethics. People didn't know any better voted but then there were 226,000 who voted NO. Even Latinos who supported and campaigned hard for Villaraigosa are disappointed in his lack of leadership. They had high hopes but he's only given the ngative stereotype of Latinos to be true. Even the weird Ask A Mexican guy slammed Antonio in the Orange County paper. AND wasn't it the DN that broke the affair scandal? The haters don't like the truth printed. Get over it, accept it, and move on.
so much paranoid deleting of posts, anything intelligent about this blog especially. chickens because you're attracting the pro- Mecha anti-semites who'll make tony look like the westside white guy. I don't like how parts of the city look like TJ, even the best neighborhoods have lots more burglary and petty crime like stolen plants and hoses (whose so-called gardeners' sprees to save money on supplies, we all assume in my hood), and the blight has crept over into the heart of Hollywood, where they're battling it out with the Armenians. (who could do more to make that area nicer, too.) But this has been going on for over two decades, and tony's actually trying to gentrify a lot of it. Getting blamed for selling out over it too.
AV lied during his campaign. Then he lied and said he didn't make certain campaign promises. The he lied and said he fulfilled his campaign promises when he didn't. Then he lied and said things are going great, when they're not. He lies about the phone tax, his marriage, his cheating. He lies and says he has the biggest and best animal shelter in the nation, when it sure as heck is not true.
How does he cover up these lies, keep it from the public? Digital paper shredder, we lost those documents, they don't exist, we can't find them. This is how he answers subpoenas and public info act requests. Fortunately, some people have copies of these records.
Liar, liar, pantalones on fire
Can I just say it has been ABSOLUTELY REFRESHING without Zuma for the past few days.
Oh, yes, but Hahn told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help him Bill Wardlaw.
If you belive that, I've got a piece of land I'd like to sell you. It's beautifyl, scenic, just under a few feet of saltwater in New Jersey.
Politics doens't always give us great choices; sometimes it is the lesser of two evils.
The days of Hahn were ugy; Leland Wong, Ted Stein, James Acevedo, names that you may have conveniently forgotten, along with Troy ("Happy Endings") Edwards, Doane Liu and a group of hundreds.
It was corruption city.
How soon we forget.
Yeah, and Hahn lied in his campaign about Tony crying for the pardon of a known drug dealer.
Tony has got more than his share of shady creatures around him - starting with Alatorre. I recall a story in 1987 when Leland Wong was running for council district 1. Leland went public with the not so veiled threat that Alatorre made directly to him - it was widely reproted in the L.A. Times.
Don't even try and compare the two, I don't recall Hahn ever giving us such bold face lies.
Bloggin thoughts,
3:45 post,
"Chicklets for sale", just like at the border.
5:09 post,
RIGHT ON!!
5:25 post,
reverse 911 call, art class in progress.
5:34 post,
Donate to the "ANTI MIDGET MAYOR PAC".
6:24 post,
when is the 72 hour observation ending ??
more to come.....
"BLOGGIN RIGHT ON AWARD"
This goes to "6:19 PM". Right on with your insight.
Look guys I can't count how many times I've said if the Mayor does something good I'll blog. And I did once and repeated it on the air when I was on Kevin James - when the Mayor vetoed the first Tennie Pierce settlement. Of course he wimped out the second time around which means now he doesn't even have even one good thing he's done.
But if he does - I will blog it. And in case I've missed it - please remind me.
I'm not holding my breath though. But you can feel free to keep spinning.
I'sd like to second the motion about ZD's absence from this blog.
It reminds me of the stupid joke we used to tell when we were kids about the moron who was beating his head against the brick wall and when asked why said that it felt so good when he stopped.
At least the discussion can take place without the Hoo De Hoo's and all the profanity and wrong information.
By the way, you never hear Antonio talk about Alatorre, do you? It is all Alatorre puffing himself up and trying to sell his services as a lobbyist without registering as one.
One day soon, the Ethics Commission is going to grow some huevos and file an action agaisnt him for that and he will be going down hard. Again.
And, Alatorre has no position in government, makes no decisions, has no title.
Wong, Acevedo, Edwards, Stein, Liu, all of them had positions of authority and were empowered by Hahn. You just can't say he was clean because he let them run amok. The people saw it, and they made the change.
I know it is hard for some of you to accept anything that shows Antonio in a good light, but you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts. The facts are the facts.
Let's put both their baggage aside. I will say Villaraigosa has wayyyyy more baggage then Hahn. But at least the city had class with Mayor Hahn. You drive downtown and you didn't see the crap and gabbage you do now. Go into the Latino neighborhoods and you'll be shocked at how it does look like TJ with people selling stuff along the streets, illegal vendors all over, trash it just horrible to see. A big powerful person said he had to go to city hall for something and when he walked in he couldn't believe the people working there. It was a much lower class of adults dressed horribly and behaving very immaturely.
STUCK ON STUPID...STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES. How embarrassing!!!!!
....Tom LaBonge and Janice Hahn introduced a motion calling for the city to study implementing a reverse 911 system. Both said later they had not known the city already had such a system.
....LaBonge's district includes the brush-ridden Hollywood Hills. Hahn's district includes the Port of Los Angeles, which has its own reverse 911 system.
LaBonge and Hahn weren't alone in their ignorance.
"I don't know if we have one or not," said Councilman Dennis Zine, whose district includes the mountains above Tarzana and Woodland Hills. "I think it's a great system, and we should have it."
Such a system is "needed in Los Angeles," said Councilman Jose Huizar, whose district includes the brushy northeastern hills. "We have signs saying no parking on some streets on red flag days, but our residents don't know it's a red flag day."
CAN THEY ALL BE THIS IGNORANT AND NOT KNOW WHAT THE CITY THEY REPRESENT HAS IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY? DIDN'T THEY JUST SAY OUR CITY WAS IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY?
4:07
Facts are facts......
Alatorre's sister has a position in Antonio's staff. Just like before, Alatorre is hiding behind his sister's skirt.
Everyone in politics knows that Antonio won't take a dump without consulting with Alatorre. The after he takes the dump he goes to Parke Skelton to make it smell nice.
Alatorre is so far up Antonio's butt ecen the L.A. Times had to report on this.
Check your facts or stop drinking the kool-aid, this mayor is a lying sack of shit.
4:07am,
Please post the wrong information that I have presented.
If I don't see you respond with an accurate post presenting my exact quote -- with you pointing out what was "wrong", I will just assume you are a lying, spinning sack of crap.
And I have a good idea...I'm gonna post 6:47am's comment on the main thread, and TWENTY (20) other LA related blogs. (You can do a Google Search...by the time you read this, it will be done.)
Loser, go back to your own threads, you know, the ones nobody cares to read.
Stay out of Red Spot's; we're doing fine without your meddling.
Antonio and Parke took every known Latino stereotype and embellished them into a campaign theme.
What Mexican would lie about their father being an alcoholic when in fact it was well known in the neighborhood that the alcoholic was the mother. Natalia died of a liver disease.
2:13
Add this to your list of things Antonio's life has destroyed:
Parke Skelton's reputation as the guru of the disenfranchised. He's almost on level with Clint Riley and Ritchie Ross as political smut peddlers.
No wonder Tom and Janice even call themselves the Mr. And Mrs. of the City Council. Like minds think and act alike.
MEChA and its Imprint on California Politics
MEChA, which stands for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (Chicano Student Movement of Atzlan), is a student organization that was born in 1969 in California and has spread to college campuses all over the nation. One of their main stated aims is to assist young members of the Hispanic community in entering higher education, a worthy goal. Other aspects of its philosophy are more controversial and strike many as divisive in the extreme.
Rather than use my own or others' characterizations of MEChA's philosophy, let me quote from their national webpage (nationalmecha.org):
"MEChA is a student organization that promotes higher education, cultura and historia (culture and history) . MEChA was founded on the principles of self-determination for the liberation of our people. We believe that political involvement and education is the avenue for change in our society.
Each word in MEChA symbolizes a great concept in terms of la causa (the cause). Movimiento (Movement) means that the organization is dedicated to the movement to gain self determination for our people. Estudiantil (Student as adjective) identifies the organization as a student group for we are part of our Raza's (race's) future. At the heart of the name is the use of the identity: Chicano. At first seen as a negative word, now taken for a badge of honor. In adopting their new identity, the students committed themselves to return to the barrios, colonias (neighborhoods/districts), or campos (fields) and together, struggle against the forces that oppress our gente (people). Lastly, the affirmation that we are indigenous people to this land by placing our movement in Aztlan, the homeland of all peoples from Anahuak.
On campuses across Aztlan. MEChA and Mechistas are often the only groups on campus Raza and non-Raza (Race and non-Race) alike that seek to open the doors of higher education para nuestras comunidades (for our communities) and strive for a society free of imperialism, racism, sexism, and homophobia. An inspirational statement in El Plan Santa Barbara that speaks to these notes:
"MEChA must bring to the mind of every young Chicana and Chicano that the liberation of her/his people from prejudice and oppression is in her/his hands and this responsibility is greater than personal achievement and more meaningful than degrees, especially if they are earned at the expense of her/his identity and cultural integrity. MEChA, then, is more than a name; it is a spirit of unity, of sisterhood and brotherhood, and a resolve to undertake a struggle for liberation in a society where justice is but a word. MEChA is a means to an end" (El Plan de Santa Barbara).
* (Translations of Spanish words in parentheses are added by me).
The motto for MEChA is as follows: Por la Raza todo. Fuera de la Raza nada -For the race everything. (For those) outside of the race-nothing-Not exactly a motto designed to inspire confidence in MEChA's desire to promote harmony.
Aztlan is an Amer-Indian term referring to the present-day southwest area of the US. According to MEChA, this area is illegally occupied by the US. El Plan de Santa Barbara refers to the plan of action that was part of the 1969 beginnings of MEChA at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
As you can see, the language is right out of the 1960s, but still appears on MEChA's website today. Divisive? You make the call. Critics of MEChA claim that the organization still believes that the US southwest should revert back to Mexico and that MEChA is in fact, a racist organization that sets back efforts to assimilate recent Latin immigrants and promote harmony between ethnic groups. MEChA, of course denies the racism charges and stresses its present-day efforts to promote higher education among Hispanic youth. Of course, MEChA supports the cause of illegal aliens in the US.
One interesting sidelight is the prominance in California politics of many of MECha's former members. Many of the state's leading Democratic politicians belonged to the organization during their collegiate years. This has caused many critics to question the commitment of these figures to represent all of their constituents.
California's most visible former Mechista is LA Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, who was a MEChA ;eader while attending UCLA. After UCLA, he attended the "People's Law School", which Frontpage Magazine referred to as "a factory for the manufacture of radical leftist lawyers" (See Frontpage 9-10-2003/License to Kill by Lowell Ponte) Prior to becoming mayor, Villaraigosa was speaker of the lower house of the California legislature and later LA city councilman. Until the recent disclosure of the break-up of his marriage and affair with Telemundo reporter, Mirthala Salinas, Villaraigosa had attracted the most attention as mayor by openly supporting the city's massive illegal alien population, appearing at many of their marches and proclaiming on one occasion, "We clean your toilets!". Under Villaraigosa's stewardship, LA is one of several "sanctuary cities" around the US-that is- cities that will not cooperate with immigration authorities and will not allow their police to inquire about immigration status when they come into contact with suspects.
Until the recent love scandal broke, Villaraigosa had been considered a leading candidate to become governor-and then go on to national office.
In statewide politics, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez is probably the most prominent former Mechista. Nunez was previously the political director of the LA County Federation of Labor and later the head of government relations for LA Unified School District. As the Democratic Party's top legislator, Nunez has been a vocal supporter for the measure that would have allowed illegal aliens to obtain California drivers licenses. In the 1990s, he led protests against Proposition 187 passed by California voters that would have denied benefits to illegal aliens. In one protest in October 1994, which was organized by Nunez and his colleague, Juan Jose Gutierrez, protesters waved Mexican flags and displayed an American flag with 13 stars. Governor Wilson was called a "pig", and "Anglos" were called upon to go back to Europe. Nunez's opponents, to this day, consider him a "Reconquista" (one who favors the return of the southwest to Mexico.)
Cruz Bustamante, who served as Lt. Governor under the disasterous administration of Grey Davis, was also a MEChA member in the 1970s at Fresno State. When Davis was recalled by voters due to his gross ineptitude, Bustamante unsuccessfully ran to succeed him, losing to current governor, Arnold Schwartzenegger. A career political technocrat, who bounces from one position to another, Bustamante's campaigns have been controversial for campaign finance irregularities, i.e. diverting campaign funds into other causes, such as defeating Ward Connerly's Racial Privacy Initiative. Bustamante, not surprisingly, is a strong supporter of racial preferences. He did have one slip-up a couple of years back when, speaking before a group of African-Americans, he let slip the N-word, immediately offering profuse apologies. Did that end his political career? Hardly. He is, after all, a liberal Democrat. Those stories don't have legs, as they say in the news media.
State Senator Gil Cedillo, who represents East Los Angeles, was a MECha activist at UCLA in the 1970s. Like Villaraigosa, he followed UCLA by attending the aforementioned "People's Law School". Cedillo is derisively referred to by many as "One Bill Gil", a reference to his continuing promulgation of legislation that would give drivers licenses to illegal aliens.
Another former Mechista is Joe Baca, member of the US House of Representatives from the Inland Empire area around Riverside and San Bernadino (Rialto). Previously, he was a California state senator. Not long ago, he made headlines by referring to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) as a "whore". This all evolved in connection with strife within the Latino Caucus in Congress as well as Sanchez's criticism of Baca's use of campaign funds.
One point I would like to make here is this: MEChA would deny that they are a racist organization. They would state that their main purpose is to facilitate and assist other young Hispanics in obtaining a higher education, as I said, a worthy goal. Yet, they should realize that many are troubled by the fiery rhetoric of their motto and the questionable language on their website. Also troubling is the langauge emenating from their founding in 1969 and the "Santa Barbara Plan". It implies that they are promoting separatism from mainstream American society. Let me quote further from their national website (nationalmecha.org):
"The Mexican-American (Hispanic) is a person who lacks respect for his/her cultural and ethnic heritage. Unsure of her/himself, she/he seeks assimilation as a way out of her/his 'degraded' social status. Consequently, she/he remains politically ineffective. In contrast, Chicanismo reflects self-respect and pride on one's ethnic and cutural background. Thus, the Chicana/o acts with confidence and with a range of alternatives in the political world. She/he is capable of developing an effective ideology through action" (El Plan de Santa Barbara).
Is this what MEChA still thinks today? Or is this just a slogan from the past? I would hope that the latter is the case.
Now for a little personal imput: I am not Mexican-American nor Hispanic. I am a 62 year old, white Anglo who grew up and went to school with Mexican-Americans in West Los Angeles. This term, Chicano, I recall well from my teenage years. It was a street word for Mexican-Americans- a term many Mexican-Americans still reject. Unfortunately, it became trendy in the universities during the 1960s, and today, some universitities still have what they call "Chicano Studies Departments". My wife is a (legal) Mexican immigrant who came to this country with her family about 40 years ago. I myself speak Spanish, and we have done everything we could to raise our children to speak Spanish and, while being Americans, not to ignore their Mexican heritage. But it comes down to this: While the Mexican influence has always been a part of the fabric of southern California and, indeed, the southwest, this is still the United States and the language that everyone needs to know is English. If there are voices in the Mexican-American community that encourage people to reject their American heritage, to not assimilate with other Americans-including other ethnic groups, then they are doing a huge disservice to their community. Whether we are succeeding or not, our goal should be to accept immigrants from wherever and encourage them to assimilate and become Americans. It should not matter whether their skin is white, black, yellow or brown-we are Americans. More than ever, we Americans need to stand together against the forces that wish to destroy all of us. The politics of ethnicity and the so-called community leaders who practice it are wrong. They are only dividing us all.
As to the above-mentioned political leaders, all of whom are Democrats, there is no record of any of them repudiating their past membership in MEChA nor any of the language that MEChA has used or still uses. They insist that in their political lives, they are representing all of their constituents, but none of them (that I am aware of) have publically stated that MEChA's language is intemporate or out of date.
As for MEChA, if your goal is to help other Hispanics obtain higher education, I am with you on that. If, on the other hand, your goal is to drive a wedge between Hispanics and other ethnic groups and further, to achieve some sort of "reconquista" of the southwestern United States back to Mexico, then you are dead wrong. You would not only be hurting our country, but your community even more so because you are creating an impediment to assimilation. Any Mexican-American family that wants to teach their children Spanish and about the Mexican culture is always free to do so, but that is a personal decision. This is the United States, and we are made up of many ethnic groups. Our task is to come together.
by Gary Fouse
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/search?q=mecha
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