Cultural Nationalism ,Chicanocentricism, Cowardness
Take Your Pick
One of the advantages of growing old is
that, if you look back in time, you see patterns in behavior and events. You
can anticipate that the boulder that Sisyphus is pushing up the hill will roll
back.
This morning I clicked on to the Los Angeles
Times and read that Gov. Jerry Brown -- who signed the Agricultural Labor
Relations Act in 1975 -- vetoed the Farm Worker Safety Act, legislation.
Many supporters were
disillusioned. It was the 50th year anniversary of the United Farm Workers’
struggle to get farmworkers the same protections that many animals enjoy.
Moreover, Jerry Brown was a favorite among Latino voters. I remember two
years ago a left-leaning Mexican American attorney saying that his priority was
to get Brown elected and he would not contribute to anyother cause.
In the context of history, Brown’s flip
flopping is no surprise. I remember in 1978 his opposition to Proposition 13
which contributed to destruction of California’s education system, only to join
the sponsors once the initiative passed. Brown offered no moral
leadership. Brown also recently vetoed the Trust Act that would have
limited the state's law enforcement's interactions with federal immigration
enforcement efforts. It would have been a bold answer to Arizona’s
nullification of federal powers.
The adage to never trust a gringo or a
liberal who comes speaking Spanish rings true. Brown knows that the
United Farm Workers do not have the same cache among liberals that they did in
the 1960s and 70s so he relies on Mexicans and Latinos having a short memory
and on liberals not caring enough
about farmworkers and immigrants. How many voters are there who care?
Some will rationalize, well Brown signed the
state Dream Act and he is pushing Proposition 30 that will raise sales and
income taxes and save California’s public schools and colleges. They are really important. They don’t say
Latinos are not important but the inference is that they are not as important.
In the past fifty years we have seen almost
every reform passed in the sixties roll back on us. The 1954 Brown v. Board of
Education is unenforced, the Civil Rights and Voters Rights Acts have been
dismantled, bilingual education, affirmative act and the 14th Amendment have all
joined the fishes. Conservative Ann Coulter has publicly said what many
Republicans say behind closed doors -- that civil rights is a black issue and
does not apply to other groups or women.
All of this is not new. The history of the
14th Amendment is constantly in the courts. Passed originally to secure equal
rights for blacks it has over the years been widened to include all residents
of this country regardless of color or gender. However, depending on the power
of the Robber Barons it has also been abused to push a laissez-faire elite
agenda.
During the Gilded Age the Supreme Court
interpreted laws not based on the intent of Congress but on what was good for
corporations. To protect corporations from the states it made them
corporations. This encouraged rampant corruption and the Court in the 20th Century moderated this
until the ruling of Citizens United (2010) where corporations have once more
become persons.
If it were just a case of “Them and Us” it
would be easier to deal with the protection of the rights of Mexican Americans
and Latinos. Who is on whose side would be clear. But this is like when
you were a youth and you got into a fight and most of your supposed friends
stood by while you got jumped. “Poor Rudy, I don’t want to see him beat up but
there are other fights.”
Ideologically, I am clearly a radical. I
share the concerns of the progressive community on human rights. However, I
have always been put off by the liberals “Anything But Mexican” approach to
issue.
Historically, this not new, it dates back to
the Mexican American War. Not much was said about the Texas Rangers who were
latter day storm troopers. A multitude of historically incorrect movies
and TV series were produced -- making them the good guys. Even a baseball team
is named after the Rangers; I wonder what the reaction would be if Mexican
Americans called a team the “Hitler All-Stars.”
The progressive left media is in part to
blame for this, it is complicit by its silence. Just look at the
editorial boards, the columnists and number of articles on Latino issues.
Univision is more interested in showing cleavages than in exploring the issues.
The Huffington Post features articles on actors you didn’t know are part Latino
or Latina – like anyone gives a damn or it makes any difference.
An interesting study would be the
rationalizations used by the progressive left to justify not jumping in to help
Latinas/os while they are being mugged. In my study of Arizona miners I kept
reading from progressive unions such as the Western Federation of Miners that
all Mexicans were scabs, siding with the American Federation of Labor’s racist
policies that limited immigration. It did not occur to them that perhaps racism
played a role in their crossing picket lines. Mexicans were not only
segregated and the WFM condoned a double wage system. Once allowed equality
Mexicans were the most militant sector of labor.
Since the 1960s a common excuse among
armchair radicals has been that Mexican Americans are cultural nationalists
thus playing into the ultraconservative argument of reverse discrimination.
Armchair radicals want to define what id good and bad nationalism. At the same time,
they applaud the Vietcong and the Cuban Revolutions.
This wrongheaded reasoning is played out
Arizona where I have heard white progressives say that they are for civil
rights but that the defense of Mexican American Studies is regressive because
it is cultural nationalist. In the sixties and seventies this same wrongheaded
logic was used to dismantle many of the more political Black Studies programs
that were labeled Afrocentric.
How different is this wrongheaded logic to
calling Mexicans scabs because they do not agree with the racist policies of
the white leadership?
If progressives do not want to join the
fight and protect the rights of Mexican Americans and Latinos let them at least
be honest. They either don’t care about them or they are afraid. This is the
case in Arizona where the silence is deafening.
I have white friends who say well I am
supporting the Dream Act like President Obama, I am doing my part. The truth be
told, supporting the dreamers is a no brainer. These students are the best
students in the community, students who are not necessarily active in community
or campus affairs. Unlike many of us, they are not critical of the United
States and want to become part of it. Hopefully, once they study history,
their interests will become more political.
I am interested in human and labor rights
for all and I should be willing to jump into the fray to help every group. I
work hard on Chicana/o issues but this support automatically extends to Central
America and opposition to American Imperialism throughout the world. When I was
asked whether an organization I am involved in would be willing to write an
amicus brief in support of Mumia I said yes because capital punishment affects
us all – it is wrong.
I don’t believe that it is too much to ask
that people I have gone to jail with to support Mexican American Studies and
their making statements about things that they don’t know anything about
insults me.
The fight for equal education, the fight to
desegregate our schools, the fight against the horrendous dropout of Mexican
Americans, the right to study one’s heritage, the censorship of books, the
firing of whistle blowers, fraud in the appointment of school board members,
the brutalizing and intimidation of a community, the Democratic Party selling
out, labor leaders selling out, and the nullification of the Constitution for starters
should concern all of us.
Jerry Brown betrayed us and we should be mad
as hell. Everyone should jump into this fight, it ain’t fair.
So those who come to us whispering sweet
nothings in our ears, telling us how much they love Mexican food and mariachis
I say they should have the decency not to ask us for support for their causes.
Depositions begin this week in the case
against HB 2281. You can donate by clicking on to http://saveethnicstudies.org/ . We are run
entirely by volunteers; however, depositions are expensive. Please donate at
least $5 a month.
Depositions have started in the case against
Sean Arce and José González. Four hours of depositions were taken of both Arce
and Gonzalez. Our side deposed Ward this past week. Please donate: https://www.wepay.com/donations/144408
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