Lastly, here's one about Bustemente and MEChA. I said they were a hate group and then retracted that after I read some stuff my lefty friend had posted. Now, I'm somwhere in the middle
Looks like I spoke to soon. While it does appear benign on its face I do think there are aspects of MECHa that are clearly troubling. It appears as if they're trying to tame their radical beginings or at least be more subtle about their aims. That firebrand rhetoric probably attracted alot of attention in the late 60's, it doesn't sell well today. More than likely there are som chapters and members who are radical sepratist and racist and other who just want to get some money from the school for some social events. I do think Bustamente needs to repudiate their more radical members and explain his views on things like that. He won't, however, because no one is going to ask. Sure as sh!t, he's not going to risk the chardonnay and limosine white liberals by endorsing their radical aims nor downplaying them as a social club and alienating a significant number of MECHa sympathizers.
A quick look at their constitution: http://soar.ucsc.edu/mecha/constitution.html
Section 2. The official symbol of this organization shall be the eagle with its wings spread, bearing a macahuittle in one claw and a dynamite stick in the other with the lighted fuse in its beak. The acronym MEChA shall be above the symbol with the phrase "La Union Hace La Fuerza" below.
NB: the slogan appears to have been updated from the original: "Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada"
U of Oregon still has links to the original (and explicitly racist) founding document: http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~mecha/plan.html
Some of the more charming excerpts:
"We do not recognize capricious frontiers on the bronze continent "
"We are a bronze people with a bronze culture."
Substitute "White" for "Bronze" and you get the picture.
"For La Raza to do. Fuera de La Raza nada. " (For The Race, everything. Outside The Race, nothing)
"Nationalism as the key to organization transcends all religious, political, class, and economic factions or boundaries. Nationalism is the common denominator that all members of La Raza can agree upon. "
"Economic ties of responsibility must be secured by nationalism and the Chicano defense units. "
Defense units = Brownshirts
"Institutions in our community which do not serve the people have no place in the community. The institutions belong to the people. "
"We must insure that our writers, poets, musicians, and artists produce literature and art that is appealing to our people and relates to our revolutionary culture. Our cultural values of life, family, and home will serve as a powerful weapon to defeat the gringo dollar value system and encourage the process of love and brotherhood. "
Free thought need not apply. This is positively totalitarian.
"A nation autonomous and free - culturally, socially, economically, and politically- will make its own decisions on the usage of our lands, the taxation of our goods, the utilization of our bodies for war, the determination of justice (reward and punishment), and the profit of our sweat.
El Plan de Aztlán is the plan of liberation! "
So, it's rebellion, sedition, revolution. Call it what you will.
Michele Malkin wrote an article about this very issue here: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/printmm20030820.shtml
I think she's off the mark with some stuff (like the logo which appears to have been changed) but I think she has a point. He does have some explaining to do. Likewise he gets a pass for dropping the N-bomb at an NAACP function! How is this possible? Sure he may have made a mistake, but imagine ANY non-democrat making that statement and they'd be on trial for war crimes. Look at Trent Lott. He tries to praise an old man on his birthday and says something stupid that could be construed as racist and the GOP ran him out on a rail.
Looks like I spoke to soon. While it does appear benign on its face I do think there are aspects of MECHa that are clearly troubling. It appears as if they're trying to tame their radical beginings or at least be more subtle about their aims. That firebrand rhetoric probably attracted alot of attention in the late 60's, it doesn't sell well today. More than likely there are som chapters and members who are radical sepratist and racist and other who just want to get some money from the school for some social events. I do think Bustamente needs to repudiate their more radical members and explain his views on things like that. He won't, however, because no one is going to ask. Sure as sh!t, he's not going to risk the chardonnay and limosine white liberals by endorsing their radical aims nor downplaying them as a social club and alienating a significant number of MECHa sympathizers.
A quick look at their constitution: http://soar.ucsc.edu/mecha/constitution.html
Section 2. The official symbol of this organization shall be the eagle with its wings spread, bearing a macahuittle in one claw and a dynamite stick in the other with the lighted fuse in its beak. The acronym MEChA shall be above the symbol with the phrase "La Union Hace La Fuerza" below.
NB: the slogan appears to have been updated from the original: "Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada"
U of Oregon still has links to the original (and explicitly racist) founding document: http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~mecha/plan.html
Some of the more charming excerpts:
"We do not recognize capricious frontiers on the bronze continent "
"We are a bronze people with a bronze culture."
Substitute "White" for "Bronze" and you get the picture.
"For La Raza to do. Fuera de La Raza nada. " (For The Race, everything. Outside The Race, nothing)
"Nationalism as the key to organization transcends all religious, political, class, and economic factions or boundaries. Nationalism is the common denominator that all members of La Raza can agree upon. "
"Economic ties of responsibility must be secured by nationalism and the Chicano defense units. "
Defense units = Brownshirts
"Institutions in our community which do not serve the people have no place in the community. The institutions belong to the people. "
"We must insure that our writers, poets, musicians, and artists produce literature and art that is appealing to our people and relates to our revolutionary culture. Our cultural values of life, family, and home will serve as a powerful weapon to defeat the gringo dollar value system and encourage the process of love and brotherhood. "
Free thought need not apply. This is positively totalitarian.
"A nation autonomous and free - culturally, socially, economically, and politically- will make its own decisions on the usage of our lands, the taxation of our goods, the utilization of our bodies for war, the determination of justice (reward and punishment), and the profit of our sweat.
El Plan de Aztlán is the plan of liberation! "
So, it's rebellion, sedition, revolution. Call it what you will.
Michele Malkin wrote an article about this very issue here: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/printmm20030820.shtml
I think she's off the mark with some stuff (like the logo which appears to have been changed) but I think she has a point. He does have some explaining to do. Likewise he gets a pass for dropping the N-bomb at an NAACP function! How is this possible? Sure he may have made a mistake, but imagine ANY non-democrat making that statement and they'd be on trial for war crimes. Look at Trent Lott. He tries to praise an old man on his birthday and says something stupid that could be construed as racist and the GOP ran him out on a rail.
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