Longtime OC Weekly readers will remember my 2003 cover story on how conservatives use the Chicano students group MEChA to smear politicians. Read the latest update in in today's Times, where I argue MEChA isn't racist. Have at it, boyos!
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Man, you gotta talk to the Glenn Spencers and Michelle Malkins of the world!
Posted On: Thursday, Jun. 15 2006 @ 12:06PMI should also mention that the second major wave of Cuban immigrants in the early 1980's contained a shit load of people who weren't fit to be janitors. We don't really claim those people since they are often a big source of embarassment to us.
Posted On: Thursday, Jun. 15 2006 @ 12:06PMsnooze. sounds like a sister organizaion to the black student union groups that popped up when i was in school. no doubt there are some folks in any union that defines itself by race, class, geography, what-have-you that go a bit far. i can't see anything controversial here.
hell, if they scare fat white people, perhaps you could arrange a demonstration in front of my neighbor's house. just for kicks.. ya know.
Posted On: Thursday, Jun. 15 2006 @ 12:06PMBeing Cuban, and thus sitting atop the latino food chain, I never had much use for MEChA. My people generally weren't rabble rousers and trouble makers. The first wave of Cubans who arrived in this great country in the early 1960's were fleeing religious and political persecution from that son of mother fucking cunt, Castro. The vast majority were white collar professionals. They assimilated quickly, learned the language and were adept at success. They didn't bitch about having to learn english. They didn't ask for handouts and they didn't march asking for special consideration. They were humble, and proud, they minded their own business and quickly became part of the national fabric. Rather than banging on bongos and chanting nonsense on college campuses, they were busy being a part of the mainstream campus life and society.
Posted On: Thursday, Jun. 15 2006 @ 12:06PMGood ending. Should have titled it "Raza à l'américaine" but then I could have titled my blog post on it that. So we all win.
Posted On: Thursday, Jun. 15 2006 @ 1:06PMWhat a terribly hard experience for them and how proud we are about the fact they struggled so hard to assimilate in America... Not mentioning the fact that they had the lana to star up the Jose Marti Schools and the political backing of Republican party to ease that assimilation since they were Commie-haters. Hilarious. That United Fruit Company feria can help that assimilation out quite a bit. But hey, Mexicans shouldn't hate, they have ELAC and King Taco. Dry feet seem to help that assimilation a little bit more then wetbacks.
Posted On: Thursday, Jun. 15 2006 @ 1:06PMMy wife tells me that at UC Irvine MeCHa was exclusively for Chicanos. It may have not been their officially policy to discriminate, but they chose to keep their membership solely Mexican/Chicano. Being that my wife is of Salvadoran descent she joined PALS (pan american latino society) instead.
Posted On: Thursday, Jun. 15 2006 @ 2:06PM...or perhaps the fact that she is Salvadoran dissuaded her from joining a group that was majority Mexican.
Posted On: Thursday, Jun. 15 2006 @ 2:06PMAt my alma mater, Berkeley, there were/are 2 MeCha clubs. I had a grad student friend say he was chased out of one meeting for being too radical and he left the other meeting disgusted as they were arguing overwhat colour the t-shirt should be. heh--go osos!
Posted On: Thursday, Jun. 15 2006 @ 4:06PMIt's so funny how the Latino population is SO quick to call other people racist, but this group is obviously racist itself. What a bunch of hypocrites!
Posted On: Friday, Jun. 16 2006 @ 9:06AMWhat he said was that some of them are some of them are not so much. He said most of them believe in the Reconquista effort of taking back this land to Mexico, etc., while others are more concerned with education. No matter how you slice it, I am convinced that most are racist, and if there was a white club like this it would be called racist immediately and given much more negative press.
Posted On: Friday, Jun. 16 2006 @ 10:06AMI listened to Gustavo Arrellano on KFI this morning, and he admitted in no uncertain terms that many of the Mecha chapters are indeed racist and separatist.
Posted On: Friday, Jun. 16 2006 @ 10:06AMi've been asking all around... and perhpas lisa can shed some light on this.
what is it that makes this group racist? i really want to know. you have any facts? or just regurgitating crap you've heard elsewhere?
Posted On: Friday, Jun. 16 2006 @ 10:06AMdon't you think there is a difference between a group of the ruling class race getting together and a minority group that is regularly accused of assorted crimes meeting?
i could find quite a number of people in the republican party who are racist but that doesn't make it a racist organization.
as a white dude, i am sincerely unimpressed by the threat these folks pose. it seems like another excuse for the right wing to bash people that disagree with them.
Posted On: Friday, Jun. 16 2006 @ 11:06AMIt's not about disagreeing with them, it's about the fact that it's a racist group, period. I don't care if they disagree with me.
Posted On: Friday, Jun. 16 2006 @ 1:06PMit seems like another excuse for the right wing to bash people that disagree with them.
The reason it seems that way is because it is.
it's so funny how the Latino population is SO quick to call other people racist, but this group is obviously racist itself.
Just about everyone is racist in one way or another regardless of their own race or skin color. My Lithuanian mother grew up in a Polish neighborhood where she was treated very badly because of her ethnicity. Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants have been killing each other for generations. In Liberia the descendants of former American slaves lord it over the native African population. I once knew an Italian-American who was marrying an Irish-American (Catholic) in spite of the fact that neither of their families would probably ever speak to them again.
People instinctively hate and fear "the other." I believe that, considering the amount of diversity that exists within the American population, we actually coexist reasonably well in this country. But we all have a long way to go.
I know someone is going to call me a Pollyanna for saying this, but if we each tried a little harder to resist our own racist tendencies rather than looking for ways to highlight the racism of others, we could advance toward the goal of real racial harmony in this terrific country of ours.
Posted On: Friday, Jun. 16 2006 @ 1:06PMThe basics of all MeCHA chapters can be radically different, reconquistadores want the club to be extremely focused on what they view as the real issue in their minds, some clubs work on helping students through education and also highlighting culture. The problem probably isn't in the colleges, first off, they need to decide on WHICH version of the MeCHA consitution to adopt, or create their own. The problem, in my view (four years removed from high school) is the high school chapters. They may start out as a club that wants to promote heritage, create opportunity and gather information on grants and scholarships for Latin students, but most clubs have to be backed by a college MeCHA chapter. If what the high school chapter wants isn't a direct line to what the college club wants, they're not sponsored. Santiago High School's MeCHA club hasn't been around for a while. It's starting up again, but it needs a college sponsor. Step in Santa Ana College's MeCHA chapter. . .I was a member of the SHS MeCHA (when there was one) and we did the culture promotion and information thing. Politics aren't a strong suit in high school, one can only imagine what will happen when politicized clubs get involved. . .
My Two Cents.
Manny says March 30 2007 4:10 AM
response to Hector says June 15 2006 12:35
The first batch (1960) that came to the USA were mafiosos and thats what Castro did"t want for Cuba. Your "beautiful" msjority of white collar proffessionals were working for gamblers, dope runners and prostitution. All these were the lures for the American pleasure seekers and the hell to the lower class cuban sugar cane laborers. Of course your second wave(1980) that was do embarrasing to you were mestizos or blacks which your ancestors used as slaves.
1776 " All Men are created Equal" except Blacks,Indians.Indigents and Women (they didn't vote until 1920).
Manny says March 30 2007 4:10 AM
response to Hector says June 15 2006 12:35
The first batch (1960) that came to the USA were mafiosos and thats what Castro did"t want for Cuba. Your "beautiful" msjority of white collar proffessionals were working for gamblers, dope runners and prostitution. All these were the lures for the American pleasure seekers and the hell to the lower class cuban sugar cane laborers. Of course your second wave(1980) that was do embarrasing to you were mestizos or blacks which your ancestors used as slaves
