Whether you were born here or just immigrated here, we are taught that Thanksgiving Day is an American holiday to celebrate the “peaceful gathering” – the first autumn harvest – between the Plymouth colonists European invaders and Wampanoag Indians to give thanks for their wonderful bounty. This gathering soon became a symbol of cooperation and interaction between English colonists and the indigenous people.

Most of us remember learning about Thanksgiving in grade school that it was about the Pilgrims and Indians sitting down together to give thanks. The story goes like this: After the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620; the Pilgrims would have all perished if it was not for the help of their friend slave Squanto, an Indian who taught the Pilgrims how to fish, grow corn maize, and farm the land. At the end of their first year, the Puritans held a “harvest feast” celebrating the fruits of their labor. The feast was to honored Squanto and their new found friends, the Wampanoag Indians. The feast was followed by three days of “thanksgiving” celebrating their prosperity.

The trouble is, almost everything we’ve been taught about the first Thanksgiving in 1621 is only half the story. Little is told about the pilgrims persistent injustices to its indigenous peoples after this “harvest feast.” Even worse, the root of America’s history is on Colonial American history, which is solely based on the 13 New England colonies. But this is no surprise because this pattern of belief is one of the pillars of American nationalism. And because our desire to view this country in a positive light, it is also not surprising that the subject of US genocide against American Indians is conveniently swept under the rug.

Another typical attitude is to exclude Colonial Spanish America as being part of the American history. So it is not surprising that little attention is paid to prior exploration advances made by Spanish pioneers into the southern part of the United States extending from Florida across Texas and New Mexico to California. If we are to take this into account, the reality is, the first Thanksgiving feast was celebrated in 1598 in El Paso, Texas by Don Juan de Oñate – 22 years before the English colonial Thanksgiving.

Gaspar Perez de Villagrá, the Spanish poet who traveled with the group and who documented Oñate’s words days prior to the actual first recorded Thanksgiving feast on American soil on April 30, 1598:

“That, with their throats all miserable dry,
The tender children, women, and the men,
Afflicted, ruined, quite burnt up,
Did beg for aid from sovereign God,
This being the final remedy
That they should have in such distress.
And the sad, tired animals,
Feeble as those of Ninevah,
Worn down by the unchecked fast,
Thus all did show themselves worn out
By the weather they had borne.”

On April 30, 1598, camp was made along the Rio Grande and a Mass of thanksgiving was said in which Oñate took formal possession of the new land, called New Mexico, in the name of the Heavenly Lord, God Almighty, and the earthly lord King Philip II. Oñate wrote:

In the name of the most Holy Trinity…I wish to take possession of the land today…through the person of Juan Pérez de Donís, Notary of his Majesty and Secretary of the journey …in the voice and name of the most Christian King, our lord, don Felipe, the Second of this name…and for the crown of Castile…I take and seize one, two, and three times…the Royal tenancy and possession…at this aforesaid River of the North, without excepting anything and without limitation, with the meadows, glens, and their pastures and watering places…towns, cities, villas, castles, and strong houses and dwellings… the leaf on the mountain to the rock in the river and sands of it, and from the rock and sands of the river to the leaf on the mountain.

The celebration that took place in El Paso has far more right to be called the first American Thanksgiving than the one celebrated by the Puritans in New England. Granted that the United States began with the 13 colonies in New England and therefore could claim that theirs was our first thanksgiving.

This discussion might seem dull to some or as Henry Ford once said “History is more or less bunk.” So why dwell on who did what, right? Both had the same result – the extermination of indigenous peoples. There is another way to put this question, of course: why should it matter, since many of us prefer to live in the now?

If one were to look at the news these days one would enter upon familiar concerns: the condition of our economy, who would be the next president, the war in Iraq, and immigration. The present pales, however, in comparison to the nation’s preoccupation with its past. However, it is the past that imprisons Americans and it is the source that explains America’s present day “pathological mentality and behavior.”

The past is the true news, for it remains undecided, and it is the past to which people know they must refer so as to see ahead. So, shouldn’t we take into consideration the Colonial Spanish American history the moment these territories entered the Union as a part of the American federation?

Because the foundations of our political institutions come from the tradition that was established through the English colonies, many Americans mistakenly leave out how the US has been influence from other colonial powers. As a result, Florida, Texas, the Southwest and Puerto Rico are often marginalized in American history. Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, “Since we are the outcome of earlier generations we are also the outcome of their aberrations, passions and errors, and indeed of their crimes; it is not possible wholly to free oneself from this chain.”

While many of us acknowledge what we are “thankful for” with family and friends we must also commemorate this day with the knowledge how our ancestors helped settle and develop this land. Because “A community without history is like a person without a memory – incoherent.” – Bernard Bailyn

If you are like me who found it hard to put our moral beliefs into practice on this day, let me assure you, you are not alone. For those who want to oppose the commercialization of the whole holiday season, you can participate in Buy Nothing Day, which occurs the day after Thanksgiving.

National Council of La Raza – America’s Immigrant Legacy

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chávez stood for equality, justice, and dignity for everybody. The people to whom Chávez dedicated his life did the work that almost no one else wanted to do. The situation is similar today: it is primarily immigrants from Mexico and Central America who do the dirty work in the hidden world of slaughterhouses that produces the neat packages of beef or bacon, which we buy in sanitized supermarkets. However, there are forces out there who want to tarnish Chávez’s record. One of those groups happen to be the immigration foes. Some claim Chávez was opposed to “illegal immigrants,” however, I and others would disagree. In the summer of 1968 Peter Matthiessen met Cesar Chávez and wrote an article about him for The New Yorker. Matthiessen noted that “half of the members of Chavez’s union are not United States citizens.”

Like many people whose dedication to a cause is total, Matthiessen noted, Chávez could be intolerant of those whose commitment was less than his. Yet for the most part, his dedication seemed ferociously selfless. Chávez could be “single-minded to the point of ruthlessness,” as some who worked with him confessed. Matthiessen noted that Chávez’s lieutenants neglected to tell him about some of their tactics that might make Chávez look like a hypocrite.

Regardless what some may think about this man, Chavez is still hailed as one of the country’s greatest civil rights leaders. Happy Cesar Chavez Day!

“We can choose to use our lives for others to bring about a better and more just world for our children. People who make that choice will know hardship and sacrifice. But if you give yourself totally to the non-violence struggle for peace and justice you also find that people give you their hearts and you will never go hungry and never be alone. And in giving of yourself you will discover a whole new life full of meaning and love.” – Cesar Chavez

Cesar Chavez’s Commonwealth Club Address (Click to hear his speech)

[Text version of the speech]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lee, Mrs. Black, ladies and gentlemen. Twenty-one years ago, this last September, on a lonely stretch of railroad track paralleling U.S. Highway 101 near Salinas, 32 Bracero farm workers lost their lives in a tragic accident. The Braceros had been imported from Mexico to work on California farms. They died when their bus, which was converted from a flatbed truck, drove in front of a freight train. Conversion of the bus had not been approved by any government agency. The driver had tunnel vision. Most of the bodies laid unidentified for days. No one, including the grower who employed the workers, even knew their names. Today, thousands of farm workers live under savage conditions, beneath trees and amid garbage and human excrement near tomato fields in San Diego County; tomato fields, which use the most modern farm technology. Vicious rats gnaw at them as they sleep. They walk miles to buy food at inflated prices and they carry in water from irrigation ditches.

Child labor is still common in many farm areas. As much as 30 percent of Northern California’s garlic harvesters are underaged children. Kids as young as six years old have voted in states, conducted union elections, since they qualified as workers. Some 800,000 underaged children work with their families harvesting crops across America. Babies born to migrant workers suffer 25 percent higher infant mortality rates than the rest of the population. Malnutrition among migrant workers’ children is 10 times higher than the national rate. Farm workers’ average life expectancy is still 49 years, compared to 73 years for the average American.

All my life, I have been driven by one dream, one goal, one vision: to overthrow a farm labor system in this nation that treats farm workers as if they were not important human beings. Farm workers are not agricultural implements; they are not beasts of burden to be used and discarded. That dream was born in my youth, it was nurtured in my early days of organizing. It has flourished. It has been attacked.

I’m not very different from anyone else who has ever tried to accomplish something with his life. My motivation comes from my personal life, from watching what my mother and father went through when I was growing up, from what we experienced as migrant workers in California. That dream, that vision grew from my own experience with racism, with hope, with a desire to be treated fairly, and to see my people treated as human beings and not as chattel. It grew from anger and rage, emotions I felt 40 years ago when people of my color were denied the right to see a movie or eat at a restaurant in many parts of California. It grew from the frustration and humiliation I felt as a boy who couldn’t understand how the growers could abuse and exploit farm workers when there were so many of us and so few of them.

Later in the 50s, I experienced a different kind of exploitation. In San Jose, in Los Angeles and in other urban communities, we, the Mexican-American people, were dominated by a majority that was Anglo. I began to realize what other minority people had discovered; that the only answer, the only hope was in organizing. More of us had to become citizens, we had to register to vote, and people like me had to develop the skills it would take to organize, to educate, to help empower the Chicano people.

I spent many years before we founded the union learning how to work with people. We experienced some successes in voter registration, in politics, in battling racial discrimination — successes in an era where Black Americans were just beginning to assert their civil rights and when political awareness among Hispanics was almost non-existent. But deep in my heart, I knew I could never be happy unless I tried organizing the farm workers. I didn’t know if I would succeed, but I had to try.

All Hispanics, urban and rural, young and old, are connected to the farm workers’ experience. We had all lived through the fields, or our parents had. We shared that common humiliation. How could we progress as a people even if we lived in the cities, while the farm workers, men and women of our color, were condemned to a life without pride? How could we progress as a people while the farm workers, who symbolized our history in this land, were denied self-respect? How could our people believe that their children could become lawyers and doctors and judges and business people while this shame, this injustice, was permitted to continue?

Those who attack our union often say it’s not really a union. It’s something else, a social movement, a civil rights movement — it’s something dangerous. They’re half right. The United Farm Workers is first and foremost a union, a union like any other, a union that either produces for its members on the bread-and-butter issues or doesn’t survive. But the UFW has always been something more than a union, although it’s never been dangerous, if you believe in the Bill of Rights. The UFW was the beginning. We attacked that historical source of shame and infamy that our people in this country lived with. We attacked that injustice, not by complaining, not by seeking handouts, not by becoming soldiers in the war on poverty; we organized.

Farm workers acknowledge we had allowed ourselves to become victims in a democratic society, a society where majority rules and collective bargaining are supposed to be more than academic theories and political rhetoric. And by addressing this historical problem, we created confidence and pride and hope in an entire people’s ability to create the future. The UFW survival, its existence, were not in doubt in my mind when the time began to come.

After the union became visible, when Chicanos started entering college in greater numbers, when Hispanics began running for public office in greater numbers, when our people started asserting their rights on a broad range of issues and in many communities across this land. The union survival, its very existence, sent out a signal to all Hispanics that we were fighting for our dignity, that we were challenging and overcoming injustice, that we were empowering the least educated among us, the poorest among us. The message was clear. If it could happen in the fields, it could happen anywhere: in the cities, in the courts, in the city councils, in the state legislatures. I didn’t really appreciate it at the time, but the coming of our union signaled the start of great changes among Hispanics that are only now beginning to be seen.

I’ve traveled through every part of this nation. I have met and spoken with thousands of Hispanics from every walk of life, from every social and economic class. And one thing I hear most often from Hispanics, regardless of age or position, and from many non-Hispanics as well, is that the farm workers gave them the hope that they could succeed and the inspiration to work for change.

From time to time, you will hear our opponents declare that the union is weak, that the union has no support, that the union has not grown fast enough. Our obituary has been written many times. How ironic it is that the same forces that argue so passionately that the union is not influential are the same forces that continue to fight us so hard.

The union’s power in agriculture has nothing to do with the number of farm workers on the union contract. It has nothing to do with the farm workers’ ability to contribute to democratic politicians. It doesn’t even have much to do with our ability to conduct successful boycotts. The very fact of our existence forces an entire industry, unionized and non-unionized, to spend millions of dollars year after year on increased wages, on improved working conditions, and on benefits for workers. If we were so weak and unsuccessful, why do the growers continue to fight us with such passion? Because as long as we continue to exist, farm workers will benefit from our existence, even if they don’t work under union contract. It doesn’t really matter whether we have 100,000 or 500,000 members. In truth, hundreds of thousands of farm workers in California and in other states are better off today because of our work. And Hispanics across California and the nation who don’t work in agriculture are better off today because of what the farm workers taught people about organization, about pride and strength, about seizing control over their own lives.

Tens of thousands of children and grandchildren of farm workers and the children and grandchildren of poor Hispanics are moving out of the fields and out of the barrios and into the professions and into business and into politics, and that movement cannot be reversed. Our union will forever exist as an empowering force among Chicanos in the Southwest. That means our power and our influence will grow and not diminish.

Two major trends give us hope and encouragement. First, our union has returned to a tried and tested weapon in the farm workers non-violent arsenal: the boycott. After the Agricultural Labor Relations Act became law in California in 1975, we dismantled our boycott to work with the law. During the early and mid ’70s millions of Americans supported our boycotts. After 1975, we redirected our efforts from the boycott to organizing and winning elections under the law. That law helped farm workers make progress in overcoming poverty and injustice.

At companies where farm workers are protected by union contracts, we have made progress in overcoming child labor, in overcoming miserable wages and working conditions, in overcoming sexual harassment of women workers, in overcoming discrimination in employment, in overcoming dangerous pesticides, which poison our people and poison the food we all eat. Where we have organized these injustices soon passed in history, but under Republican Governor George Deukmejian, the law that guarantees our right to organize no longer protects farm workers; it doesn’t work anymore.

In 1982, corporate growers gave Deukmejian one million dollars to run for governor of California. Since he took office, Deukmejian has paid back his debt to the growers with the blood and sweat of California farm workers. Instead of enforcing the law as it was written against those who break it, Deukmejian invites growers who break the law to seek relief from governor’s appointees. What does all this mean for farm workers? It means that the right to vote in free elections is a sham. It means the right to talk freely about the union among your fellow workers on the job is a cruel hoax. It means that the right to be free from threats and intimidation by growers is an empty promise. It means that the right to sit down and negotiate with your employer as equals across the bargaining table and not as peons in the fields is a fraud. It means that thousands of farm workers, who are owed millions of dollars in back pay because their employers broke the law, are still waiting for their checks. It means that 36,000 farm workers, who voted to be represented by the United Farm Workers in free elections, are still waiting for contracts from growers who refuse to bargain in good faith. It means that for farm workers child labor will continue. It means that infant mortality will continue. It means that — It means that malnutrition among children will continue. It means the short life expectancy and the inhuman living and working conditions will continue.

Are these make-believe threats? Are they exaggerations? Ask the farm workers who are waiting for the money they lost because the — the growers broke the law. Ask the farm workers who are still waiting for growers to bargain in good faith and sign contracts. Ask the farm workers who have been fired from their jobs because they spoke out for the union. Ask the farm workers who have been threatened with physical violence because they support the UFW, and ask the family of Rene Lopez, the young farm worker from Fresno who was shot to death last year because he supported the union as he came out of a voting booth. Ask the farm workers who watch their children go hungry in this land of wealth and promise. Ask the farm workers who see their lives eaten away by poverty and suffering.

These tragic events force farm workers to declare an international — a new international boycott of California grapes, except the three percent of grapes produced under union contract. That is why we — That is why we are asking Americans, once again, to join the farm workers by boycotting California grapes. The newest Harris Poll revealed that 17 million Americans boycotted grapes. We are convinced that those people and that goodwill have not disappeared. That segment of the population which makes the boycotts work are the Hispanics, the Blacks, the other minorities, our friends in labor and the Church. But it — But it is also an entire generation of young Americans who matured politically and socially in the ’60s and the ’70s, millions of people from — for whom boycotting grapes and other products became a socially accepted pattern of behavior. If you were young, Anglo and/or near campers during the late ’60s and early ’70s, chances are you supported farm workers.

For 15 — 15 years later, the men and women of that generation are alive and well. They are in their mid 30s and 40s. They are pursuing professional careers, their disposable incomes are relatively high, but they are still inclined to respond to an appeal from farm workers. The union’s mission still has meaning for them. Only today, we must translate the importance of a union for farm workers into the language of the 1980s. Instead of — Instead of talking about the right to organize, we must talk about protection against sexual harassment in the fields. We must speak about the right to quality food and food that is safe to eat. I can tell you the new language is working, the 17 million are still there. They are responding not to picket lines and leafleting alone, but to the high-tech boycott of today, a boycott that uses computers and direct mail and advertising techniques, which has made — which has revolutionized business and politics in recent years. We have achieved more success with a boycott in the first 11 months of 1984 than we achieved in the last 14 years, since 1970.

The other trend that gives us hope is the monumental growth of Hispanic influence in this country. And what that means in [is] increased population, increased social and economic clout and increased political influence. South of the Sacramento River, Hispanics now make up now more than 25 percent of the population. That figure will top 30 percent by the year 2000. There are now 1.1 million Spanish-surnamed registered voters in California. In 1975, there were 200 Hispanic elected officials at all levels of government. In 1984, there are over 400 elected judges, city council members, mayors, and legislators. In light of these trends, it’s absurd to believe or to suggest that we are going to go back in time as a union or as a people.

The growers often try to blame the union for their problems, to lay their sins off on us, sins for which they only have themselves to blame. The growers only have themselves to blame as they begin to reap the harvest of decades of environmental damage they have brought upon the land: the pesticides, the herbicides, the soil fumigants, the fertilizers, the salt deposits from thoughtless irrigation, the ravages of years of unrestrained poisoning of our soil and water. Thousands of acres of land in California have already been irrevocably damaged by this wanton abuse of nature. Thousands more will be lost unless growers understand that dumping more and more poison from the soil won’t solve their problems on the short or on the long term.

Health authorities in many San Joaquin Valley towns already warn young children and pregnant mothers not to drink the water, because of nitrates from fertilizers which has poisoned the ground water. The growers have only themselves to blame for an increasing demand by consumers for higher-quality food, food that isn’t tainted by toxics, food that doesn’t result from plant mutations or chemicals that produce red luscious-looking tomatoes that taste like alfalfa. The growers are making the same mistake American automakers made in the ’60s and ’70s when they refused to produce small economical cars and opened up the door to increased foreign competition.

Growers only have themselves to blame for increasing attacks on the publicly financed handouts and government welfare: water subsidies, mechanization research, huge subsidies for not growing crops. These special privileges came into being before the Supreme Court’s “one person, one vote” decision, at a time when rural lawmakers dominated the legislature and the Congress. Soon, those handouts could be in jeopardy as government searches for more revenue and as urban taxpayers take a closer look at front programs and who they really benefit. The growers only have themselves to blame for the humiliation they have brought upon succeeding waves of immigrant groups that have sweated and sacrificed for a hundred years to make this industry rich.

For generations, they have subjugated entire races of dark-skinned farm workers. These are the sins of growers, not the farm workers. We didn’t poison the land. We didn’t open the door to imported produce. We didn’t covet billions of dollars in government handouts. We didn’t abuse and exploit the people who work the land. Today the growers are like a punch-drunk old boxer who doesn’t know he’s past his prime. The times are changing; the political and social environment has changed. The chickens are coming home to roost, and the time to account for past sins is approaching.

I am told these days farm workers should be discouraged and pessimistic. The Republicans control the governor’s office and the White House. There is a conservative trend in the nation. Yet, we are filled with hope and encouragement. We have looked into the future and the future is ours. History and inevitability are on our side. The farm workers and their children and the Hispanics and their children are the future in California, and corporate growers are the past. Those politicians who ally themselves with the corporate growers and against farm workers and the Hispanics are in for a big surprise. They want to make their careers in politics; they want to hold power 20 and 30 years from now. But 20 and 30 years from now, in Modesto, in Salinas, in Fresno, in Bakersfield, in the Imperial Valley and in many of the great cities of California, those communities will be dominated by farm workers and not by growers, by the children and grandchildren of farm workers and not by the children and grandchildren of growers.

These trends are part of the forces of history which cannot be stopped. No person and no organization can resist them for very long; they are inevitable. Once social change begins it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. Our opponents must understand that it’s not just the union we have built — unions like other institutions can come and go — but we’re more than institutions. For nearly 20 years, our union has been on the cutting edge of a people’s cause, and you cannot do away with an entire people and you cannot stamp out a people’s cause. Regardless of what the future holds for the union, regardless of what the future holds for farm workers, our accomplishments cannot be undone. La causa, our cause, doesn’t have to be experienced twice. The consciousness and pride that were raised by our union are alive and thriving inside millions of young Hispanics who will never work on a farm.

Like the other immigrant groups, the day will come when we win the economic and political rewards, which are in keeping with our numbers in society. The day will come when the politicians will do the right thing for our people out of political necessity and not out of charity or idealism. That day may not come this year. That day may not come during this decade, but it will come someday. And when that day comes, we shall see the fulfillment of that passage from the Book of Matthew in the New Testament: “The last shall be first, and the first shall be last.” And on that day, our nation shall fulfill its creed, and that fulfillment shall enrich us all. Thank you very much.

Whether you were born here or just immigrated here, we are taught that Thanksgiving Day is an American holiday to celebrate the “peaceful gathering” – the first autumn harvest – between the Plymouth colonists European invaders and Wampanoag Indians to give thanks for their wonderful bounty. This gathering soon became a symbol of cooperation and interaction between English colonists and the indigenous people.

Most of us remember learning about Thanksgiving in grade school that it was about the Pilgrims and Indians sitting down together to give thanks. The story goes like this: After the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620; the Pilgrims would have all perished if it was not for the help of their friend slave Squanto, an Indian who taught the Pilgrims how to fish, grow corn maize, and farm the land. At the end of their first year, the Puritans held a “harvest feast” celebrating the fruits of their labor. The feast was to honored Squanto and their new found friends, the Wampanoag Indians. The feast was followed by three days of “thanksgiving” celebrating their prosperity.

The trouble is, almost everything we’ve been taught about the first Thanksgiving in 1621 is a fraudulent story. Little is told about the pilgrims persistent injustices to its indigenous peoples after this “harvest feast.” Even worse, the root of America’s history is on Colonial American history, which is solely based on the 13 New England colonies. But this is no surprise because this pattern of belief is one of the pillars of American nationalism. And because our desire to view this country in a positive light, it is also not surprising that the subject of US genocide against American Indians is conveniently swept under the rug.

Another typical attitude is to exclude Colonial Spanish America as being part of the American history. So it is not surprising that little attention is paid to prior exploration advances made by Spanish pioneers into the southern part of the United States extending from Florida across Texas and New Mexico to California. If we are to take this into account, the reality is, the first Thanksgiving feast was celebrated in 1598 in El Paso, Texas by Don Juan de Oñate – 22 years before the English colonial Thanksgiving.

Gaspar Perez de Villagrá, the Spanish poet who traveled with the group and who documented Oñate’s words days prior to the actual first recorded Thanksgiving feast on American soil on April 30, 1598:

“That, with their throats all miserable dry,
The tender children, women, and the men,
Afflicted, ruined, quite burnt up,
Did beg for aid from sovereign God,
This being the final remedy
That they should have in such distress.
And the sad, tired animals,
Feeble as those of Ninevah,
Worn down by the unchecked fast,
Thus all did show themselves worn out
By the weather they had borne.”

On April 30, 1598, camp was made along the Rio Grande and a Mass of thanksgiving was said in which Oñate took formal possession of the new land, called New Mexico, in the name of the Heavenly Lord, God Almighty, and the earthly lord King Philip II. Oñate wrote:

In the name of the most Holy Trinity…I wish to take possession of the land today…through the person of Juan Pérez de Donís, Notary of his Majesty and Secretary of the journey …in the voice and name of the most Christian King, our lord, don Felipe, the Second of this name…and for the crown of Castile…I take and seize one, two, and three times…the Royal tenancy and possession…at this aforesaid River of the North, without excepting anything and without limitation, with the meadows, glens, and their pastures and watering places…towns, cities, villas, castles, and strong houses and dwellings… the leaf on the mountain to the rock in the river and sands of it, and from the rock and sands of the river to the leaf on the mountain.

The celebration that took place in El Paso has far more right to be called the first American Thanksgiving than the one celebrated by the Puritans in New England. Granted that the United States began with the 13 colonies in New England and therefore could claim that theirs was our first thanksgiving.

This discussion might seem dull to some or as Henry Ford once said “History is more or less bunk.” So why dwell on who did what, right? Both had the same result – the extermination of indigenous peoples. There is another way to put this question, of course: why should it matter, since many of us prefer to live in the now?

If one were to look at the news these days one would enter upon familiar concerns: the condition of our economy, who would be the next president, the war in Iraq, and immigration. The present pales, however, in comparison to the nation’s preoccupation with its past. However, it is the past that imprisons Americans and it is the source that explains America’s present day “pathological mentality and behavior.”

The past is the true news, for it remains undecided, and it is the past to which people know they must refer so as to see ahead. So, shouldn’t we take into consideration the Colonial Spanish American history the moment these territories entered the Union as a part of the American federation?

Because the foundations of our political institutions come from the tradition that was established through the English colonies, many Americans mistakenly leave out how the US has been influence from other colonial powers. As a result, Florida, Texas, the Southwest and Puerto Rico are often marginalized in American history. Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, “Since we are the outcome of earlier generations we are also the outcome of their aberrations, passions and errors, and indeed of their crimes; it is not possible wholly to free oneself from this chain.”

While many of us acknowledge what we are “thankful for” with family and friends we must also commemorate this day with the knowledge how our ancestors helped settle and develop this land. Because “A community without history is like a person without a memory – incoherent.” – Bernard Bailyn

If you are like me who found it hard to put our moral beliefs into practice on this day, let me assure you, you are not alone. For those who want to oppose the commercialization of the whole holiday season, you can participate in Buy Nothing Day, which occurs the day after Thanksgiving.

The October 12th celebration is commonly known in many countries in Latin America as Día de la Raza, a holiday that is comparatively recent. Before I go on, it is important to address the meaning of “la raza” because I can already hear the complaints how the name of the holiday is just more proof raza means “race.” The Spanish the word raza carries the meaning of an extended community bound by cultural ties in addition to those carrying similar physical traits. During that time, the word raza was used in a cultural sense to reference the contended affinity between Spanish-speaking peoples on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. However, one must also be aware that during the early 20th century it was not surprising to find intellectuals employ racist theories because this was also the height of the eugenics movement.

The origin of Día de la Raza or Fiesta de la Raza goes back to the beginning of last century. In 1913, Faustino Rodriguez San Pedro, Chairman of Iberoamerican Union, proposed that 12th October be called Fiesta de la Raza and be celebrated throughout Spain and Latin America. Spain would later change the rename the holiday to Fiesta de la Hispanidad. In Costa Rica it is called Día de las Culturas and in the Bahamas it is called Discovery Day.

In 2002, Venezuela decided not to recognize Columbus and instead honor the native populations who suffered at the hands of Columbus and the Spanish conquistadores who came after him in their search for gold. Venezuelans refer to October 12 as Día de la Resistencia Indigena (Day of Indigenous Resistance).

The problem that arises among some Latinas/os is that our cultures and languages are heavily influenced by Native Americans. While people celebrate Columbus Day, it is crucial that we remember what this day represents because we cannot escape our past, and we shall never move forward unless we reconcile ourselves to our past and to nuestros hermanos y hermanas across the little river. Our accepted history is not the work of unbiased intellectuals, but rather religious and political zealots seeking fortune. In the US, Native Americans were dispossessed, subjected to mass murder, and locked on separate, Apartheid-style “reservations.” The same can be said of the Africans who would become slaves in the Americas. Every action was justified in the name of the Church.

The only reason Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand finally agreed to sponsor Columbus in 1492 was largely due to Isabella’s desire to spread Christianity and to compete with Portugal for new sources of wealth. The first thing Columbus did after arriving on shore was to take possession of this new land in the name of the Spanish throne, imposing a European bureaucratic order and intellectual structure over a region that did not practice these particular customs. The ship’s recorder entered in his journal on Thursday, October 11, 1492, the following:

The Admiral [Columbus] called upon the two Captains, and the rest of the crew who landed, as also to Rodrigo de Escovedo notary of the fleet, and Rodrigo Sanchez, of Segovia, to bear witness that he before all others took possession (as in fact he did) of that island for the King and Queen his sovereigns, making the requisite declarations, which are more at large set down here in writing.

Mainstream history is often perverse; it tends to cherry pick certain historical documents and overlooks others, such as Columbus’s own journals and letters. These documents reveal how Columbus had the authority take possession of the New World through the power of the word. Historian Stephen Greenblatt writes, “For Columbus taking possession is principally the performance of a set of linguistic acts: declaring, witnessing, recording” By declaring that the island was nonexistent to inhabitants, it allowed Columbus to rename the lands, rivers, peoples, and the authority to kidnap the natives and force them to learn Spanish and convert to Christianity. The power of the word was nothing short of a christening of the New World under Spanish rule. Greenblatt notes, “Such a christening entails the cancellation of the native name – the erasure of the alien, perhaps demonic, identity – and hence a kind of making new; it is at once an exorcism, an appropriation, and a gift”

Throughout history, we have widely accepted the view that the extinction of these peoples at the hands of the Spanish should be seen as a blessing and for all of its cruelty. We are also told that the rituals of the Aztecs and other indigenous groups equal the brutality of European conquerors in the New World. The contradiction is that this righteous morality has always been applied to our indigenous ancestors, but the actions of our European ancestors have always been viewed merely as a product of their time and culture. We also accept the view that widespread slavery was morally acceptable compared to the confined atrocities that occurred in a few of the original indigenous nations.

It is easy for history to be lost, to seep through the cracks of cultural memory. In this time of historical amnesia, questioning the nature of history is relevant to current political discourse. What is often left out is how the Spanish Inquisition also played an important role in the “New World.” The inquisition was controlled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella and carrying out the task, Ferdinand and Isabella appointed a Dominican monk, Tomas de Torquemada as the Inquisitor General. Although the Spanish Inquisition has achieved the greatest historical notoriety, the Portuguese institution was regarded as being more rigorous and cruel. The Portuguese inquisitors were sadly known as “devours of human flesh.”

The establishment of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Spain in 1478, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, and the admission of almost 100,000 Spanish Jews into Portugal are backdrops to the colonial history. The methods of the Spanish Inquisition, like all forms of Christian religious trials, were the negation of every principle of justice known to man. No age group was spared the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition. Records showed that women as old as ninety and girls as young as thirteen were either tortured or burnt.

The genocide of indigenous peoples and the annihilation of age-old civilizations known as the Black Legend of Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World and has been recorded by Fray Bartolomé de las Casas. Prior to Columbus’ return trip to Hispaniola, Pope Alexander VI issued his papal bull Inter Caetera, which gave and granted the regions and lands discovered beyond the Atlantic to the kings of Castile and their successors.

We have indeed learned that you, who for a long time had intended to seek out and discover certain islands and mainlands remote and unknown and not hitherto discovered by others, to the end that you might bring to the worship of our Redeemer and the profession of the Catholic faith their residents and inhabitants, having been up to the present time greatly engaged in the siege and recovery of the kingdom itself of Granada were unable to accomplish this holy and praiseworthy purpose; but the said kingdom having at length been regained, as was pleasing to the Lord, you, with the wish to fulfill your desire, chose our beloved son, Christopher Columbus, a man assuredly worthy and of the highest recommendations and fitted for so great an undertaking, whom you furnished with ships and men equipped for like designs, not without the greatest hardships, dangers, and expenses, to make diligent quest for these remote and unknown mainlands and islands through the sea, where hitherto no one had sailed; and they at length, with divine aid and with the utmost diligence sailing in the ocean sea, discovered certain very remote islands and even mainlands that hitherto had not been discovered by others; wherein dwell very many peoples living in peace, and, as reported, going unclothed, and not eating flesh. Moreover, as your aforesaid envoys are of opinion, these very peoples living in the said islands and countries believe in one God, the Creator in heaven, and seem sufficiently disposed to embrace the Catholic faith and be trained in good morals. And it is hoped that, were they instructed, the name of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, would easily be introduced into the said countries and islands. Also, on one of the chief of these aforesaid islands the said Christopher has already caused to be put together and built a fortress fairly equipped, wherein he has stationed as garrison certain Christians, companions of his, who are to make search for other remote and unknown islands and mainlands. … And we make, appoint, and depute you and your said heirs and successors lords of them with full and free power, authority, and jurisdiction of every kind; with this proviso however, that by this our gift, grant, and assignment no right acquired by any Christian prince, who may be in actual possession of said islands and mainlands prior to the said birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, is hereby to be understood to be withdrawn or taken away. Moreover we command you in virtue of holy obedience that, employing all due diligence in the premises, as you also promise — nor do we doubt your compliance therein in accordance with your loyalty and royal greatness of spirit — you should appoint to the aforesaid mainlands and islands worthy, God-fearing, learned, skilled, and experienced men, in order to instruct the aforesaid inhabitants and residents in the Catholic faith and train them in good morals.

This papal command marked the beginning of colonization and Catholic Missions in the New World. What is not told in our history books, upon Columbus’s return to Hispaniola with 17 ships and more than 1,200 men, he ordered the enslavement of six indigenous women for the purpose of allowing his crew to rape them. In eight years, Columbus’s men murdered more than 100,000 Indians on Haiti alone. Overall, dying as slaves in the mines, or directly murdered, or from diseases brought to the Caribbean by the Spaniards, over 3 million Indian people were murdered between 1494 and 1508.

What Columbus did to the indigenous in the Caribbean, Cortez did to the Aztecs of Mexico, Pizarro to the Incas of Peru, and the English settlers of Virginia and Massachusetts to the Powhatans and the Pequots. Columbus’ government was brutal and violated human dignity and the moral senses of his contemporaries. He was the first to establish institutions of slavery and brutal conquest that would lead to the demise of the nations and people who already called the Western Hemisphere their home. He is also responsible for completing the modern Latin American identity by introducing Europeans, Africans and Asians to the family identity of the Americas.

Growing up, we are told that Columbus should be hailed as a brave explorer whose daring, perseverance, and navigational knowledge led to the “discovery” of America. In reality, this country honors a man who opened the Atlantic slave trade and launched one of the greatest waves of genocide known in history. And because of this, we live in a culture that includes the principle that if somebody else has something we need, and they won’t give it to us, and we have the means to kill them to get it, it’s not unreasonable to go get it, using whatever force we need to. We are also taught to spin historical atrocities to deflect accountability and avoid responsibility. To this day, the Catholic Church denies taking part in the greatest waves of genocide known in history and is spinning the black legend, claiming it is a negative propaganda campaign developed in the 1500’s by the English and Dutch to demean Spanish history, culture, and character of Hispanic people.

So it should not be a surprise in this colonial society “whiteness” is still being rewarded and “Indianness” continues to be stigmatized. Many of the colonized are quick to forsake their native culture in a quest to become more “white,” both physically and culturally. The desire to shed one’s native ethnic identity is one of the most devastating consequences of colonization. In short, life since 1492 has been a process of de-Indianization – the quest to consciously and unconsciously separate ourselves from our indigenous roots.

Praised for its socio-political critique of American society, I Am Joaquin by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales remains at the core of Chicano cultural identity. I acknowledge I am the conqueror and conquered, however, you won’t find me celebrating Columbus on Columbus Day.

Bell has been in jail since December because he has been unable to post a $90,000 bond, unlike the other five students. Carwin Jones, Theo Shaw and Robert Bailey Jr, all initially charged with attempted-murder charges, now face aggravated-battery charges. An unidentified minor is being tried in juvenile courts. It has also been reported that District Attorney Reed Walters, will be filing an appeal the reversal of Bell’s conviction to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

A huge rally is being organized that is supposed to be taking place later on this week by several local and national civil rights groups. The rally was intended to be on the day, Sept. 20, Bell was set to be sentenced, but now, with recent development of the case, the media are wondering why the rally will still take place. Alan Bean, director of Friends of Justice, has said the demonstration will turn into a “celebration” of the power of public opinion to influence the Jena 6 matter.

Kevin of Slant Truth is correct that it wouldn’t have been possible without all of the help from people who brought attention to this case.

This would not have been possible without all of the help that so many people put into bringing attention to this case: The Afrosphere/Spear, The Friends of Justice, Color of Change, Sylvia from the Anti-Essentialist Conundrum (no longer available), Elle, PhD, Tom from Automatic Preference, every blogger and activist out there that worked to help spread the news of this case, and everyone that commited themselves to going to Jena, LA. on 20 Sept.

According to ColorofChange, over 200,000 people have signed petitions criticizing the prosecution of the black students and calling on Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco to intervene in the case. As for this weeks protest, bus caravans headed toward Jena have been organized at scores of churches across the country and organizers had predicted more than 20,000 protesters might show up in the town of 3,000.

On the late night political talk show “Real Time with Bill Maher,” rapper/actor Mos Def said he will be in Jena this Thursday when Maher asked if what happened in Jena represents “America, or is this an isolated [incident].” Mos Def replied:

It’s enough of America for it to be America for me. I shouldn’t have to live in two Americas. I should be living in the same country as everybody else. [applause] I should be able to enjoy full citizenship—

Fuck that. That shit is wack! If people – if people ain’t – they should be more upset about it. What the fuck am I supposed to tell my kids? What am I supposed to tell my son? That you’re just supposed to be a second-class citizen? What’s next? You hurt some white man’s feelings and you got to go to jail now? Fuck that. That shit is bullshit, it’s wack. [applause] I’m going down there for the sentencing, and I’m calling everybody – anybody black, concerned parties, from Will Smith to Jay [–Z], 50 [Cent], Kanye [West], you got something to do, you can’t do it; you can’t show up; sign a petition, respond to me online because what – I’m talking about – and this is – this is compounded.

This is Sean Bell, the San Francisco 8, these dudes is 59, 60 years old, man, grandfathers – they’re going to collect them from they homes all across America to bring them up on some Black Panther terrorist charges. Ann Patterson in Chicago, 30 years for community organizing; framing all these people and all this shit. Jose Padilla – they done destroyed this boy’s mind and his life. Over – over what? All this shit is connected!

Mos Def spoke truth to power when stated, all this shit is connected. In this country, we have public policies that deem Latino and other immigrants of color as social pariahs, Black youth as dangerous and anti-social, and categorize Arabs, South Asians and Muslims as terrorists. Isn’t it ironic that the same town who’s DA had no problem threating the lives of young African Americans with a stroke of a pen, will now be home to a newly renovated concentration camp for ICE? Recently, the LaSalle Economic Development District contracted with The GEO Group to expand a now-abandoned juvenile detention center located in Jena, LA, into another ICE concentration camp.

“The LaSalle Detention Facility will play an important role in the care, custody and control of foreign-national detainees arrested throughout this (five-state area) and awaiting hearings before an immigration judge or removal from the United States,” he said. “When the LaSalle Detention Facility is fully operational, ICE projects employing as many as 60 full-time federal employees. Other federal agencies may also employ as many as 65 full-time federal employees at the LaSalle Detention Facility.”

We are all connected one way or another. If I had the means to go there myself, I would. But for those who do and can make the time, please attend. As Latinos/as, we must put aside our differences and support all our brothers and sisters of color. People of color are being hurt more than ever today, thanks to this Administration’s “Permanent War on Terrorism.” It is not just being fought overseas, but it is here at home, spilling over on the streets creating a cultural of hate. A culture that is growing like a cancer around us, clouding our views. We are at a crossroads, we can go at it alone, as some of our brethren and sistren suggest, or we can build a more united front by building stronger alliances between our peoples who have similar struggles for liberation from poverty and racism, for peace with justice.

Sadly, the silence of our own leaders within the Latino community are contributing to the divide and conquer strategy by not speaking out. In doing so, they are blinding our people to the truth of this society and continuing the competitiveness and opportunism that is intensifying within our own community. It is time, as Latinos and Latinas to see beyond our own poverty, our own struggles against racism and start realizing that only solidarity and alliances with others will create the strength needed to win justice. Throughout history, the divide and conquer strategy has only served to sustain White supremacy over us and it still continues. It will only continue to get worse unless we cry out in a joint, unmistakable, thunderous NO. Now is the time for us to stand together and show we are not divided, we will not fall.

To all those who are going, I may not be there, but I will be there in spirit. Hasta la victoria siempre!

A brief background of the event for those who are unaware what is happening in Jena. This event started on a late summer day in 2006, in Jena, LA, when several African American high school students, at a school assembly, had decided to challenge an unspoken rule by asking the school’s vice principal if they could sit under a schoolyard tree, dubbed the “White Tree.” The tree was on the side of the campus that had always been claimed by white students, since the school’s inception. School officials told the students they could “sit wherever [they] want.”

The day after the Black students challenged the established authority of segregation and racism by sitting underneath the tree, to their surprise, hanging from the tree were three nooses; two of the nooses were black and one was gold – Jena High School’s school colors. Interestingly, many of the White residents saw nothing wrong with the noose and downplayed as nothing more than a tasteless prank. One thing Americans love to do, is to speak through expressive conduct, often called symbolic speech. This is not a Republican or Democratic issue because lately it seems a majority of white people are disregarding the symbolic and psychological roots and meaning of their racial error. It has become a norm to excuse their disregard to a person’s humanity and dignity by pleading ignorance for their offense. Even worse, many gring@s feel all should be forgiven if they just apologize for their actions.

What is often played down are the sentiments of the community they offended. In this case, to African Americans the nooses symbolizes a sinister history of toxic racism reaching back to the Civil War. To the Black community a noose, like Blackfacing, also symbolizes danger: threats, arson, violence, robed night riders, lynchings, and murder. Therefore, it was not surprising to see that racial tension ran high between White and Black students of Jena High in the days that followed. The school board’s decision to give the boys involved three days of in-school suspension instead of the recommended permanent expulsion was seen as an insult and only exacerbated the tensions into a “racial powder keg.”

Roy Breithaupt, Jena’s white school superintendent, dismissed the hanging of the nooses as an “adolescents prank” and told the Chicago Tribune that he didn’t “think it was a threat against anybody.” For Jena’s Black community, this was but the latest slap in the face.

Black students at the high school decided to defy the racial status quo by holding a sit-in under the “white tree” to protest the light suspensions given to the three white noose-hangers. When word got out about the pending sit-in, a school assembly was quickly convened, in which the White District Attorney General, Reed Walters, attended. Surrounded by White police officers, Walters warned the Blacks students that additional unrest would be treated as a criminal matter. He also told the Black protesters that if they did not stop making a fuss over this “prank,” he could be their “worst enemy,” and further stated, “I can make your lives disappear with the stroke of my pen” implying he would not hesitate filing maximum or death sentences against the Black students involved.

Three months after the noose incident, Robert Bailey, one of the Jena 6, was assaulted by a group of white students as he entered an all-White parties held at the Jena Fair Barn. The victim was assaulted by white male adult in the face and was later beaten with beer bottles and punches by white Jena students until adults intervened. A few days after this event, during lunch hour at school, Justin Barker and a group of whites, including the three noose hangers, taunted Robert Bailey and other black students. Barker made racist taunts and mocked Bailey for getting his “ass-whipped” at the party. An altercation ensued in which the Barker was reportedly knocked unconscious to the floor, and was kicked when he was down by a group of six boys. By the time ambulance arrived, Justin was already conscious and standing. Barker was taken to the hospital treated and released within three hours. He was well enough to attend a school event later that night.

The boys involved in the assault were arrested in under an hour and charged with aggravated assault and premeditated aggravated assault. The who were are better known as the Jena 6 – Robert Bailey Jr., Mychal Bell, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Theo Shaw and an unnamed juvenile. Then, in an astonishing move, DA Walters upgraded the charges against the alleged attackers to conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. The first to be tried was Mychal Bell, after spending seven months in jail because he could not pay the extraordinarily high bail. Immediately before the trial, the charges against Bell were reduced to 2nd degree battery, also a felony. He now could face up to 22 years in prison.

On June 28, 2007, Bell, the first young man to stand trial, was found guilty by an all-White jury and a White judge. According to CNN, every jury member said hey knew some of the witnesses that were called in the case. The jury included a high school classmate of the district attorney; it included the mother of one of the prosecution witnesses, and a good friend of Justin Barker’s mother.

The prosecution called Bell’s parents as witnesses, so they were not allowed to be in the courtroom with their son, although they were not called to show in the case. Bell was defended by a public defender, Blane Williams, that did not even provide a defense whatsoever. He was met with criticism because he did not present evidence or call witnesses, including the Jena High coach, who had stated that Bell was not involved in the fight. Naturally, Williams disagrees, he told reporters that that he “put on the best defense I could,” which Cleveland Riser, the former assistant schools superintendent for LaSalle Parish, also felt that Bell received proper representation from Williams. However, one does have to wonder who Williams was really defending, Bell or the town of Jena. In Williams’ closing statements, it seem he was defending the town instead of his client.

“This is a trial of Mychal Bell,” he said, raising his voice. “It ain’t a trial of LaSalle Parish. It ain’t a trial of Jena. It ain’t a trial of anything else on people’s mind. … Things have a tendency to get blown out of proportion. Step outside of the courtroom, and you’ll see blown out of proportion.”

It is obvious that he was alluding to the attention the case has garnered both locally and worldwide. He should have used it in his client’s favor. Some were also upset with Williams because they felt he should have been for a change of venue because of pretrial publicity and the weight of the evidence against Bell.

The silver lining with all the international attention Bell received, a new team of lawyers has taken over his case and is already seeking an appeal. His sentencing date was changed from July 31 to September 20. The case has captured the attention of several Black leaders all over the country this would include Reverends Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. They all came down to Jena to vigorously object to the miscarriage of justice surrounding the “Jena 6″ cases and to lend a hand to the already existing civil rights groups have been championing their cause.

The case has also captured the attention of both both alternative and mainstream media, including recent segments on CNN, NBC and CBS nightly news. But if there is one medium that did the brunt of informing the public about the injustices surrounding Jena 6 are the blogs. The banner at the top of thise post would not have been possible if it weren’t for fellow bloggers Tom from Automatic Preference and Sylvia over at The Anti-Essentialist Conundrum and b. medusa at mnemosyne. CenLamar at The Daily Kingfish provides a great list of links in hopes it will act as a “resource for anyone interested in learning about the Jena Six.” Laura at Pursuing Holiness provides an excellent chronology of events. However, there are still a lot of people in this country that still do not know about this gross miscarriage of justice and the importance to free the Jena 6.

One of the reasons this event is able to capture national and international attention is that it takes place in the South, so it easy to frame this as another example of old style Southern racism. Jim Crow laws were named after a minstrel show song, “Jump Jim Crow,” and existed from the 1890s into the 1960s in many arenas of public life in many states and cities both north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line. There is a common misconception, many people continue to believe Jim Crow laws were only “enacted in the Southern and border states of the United States.” The fact is, Jim Crow laws could be found in states as far north as Alaska.

As Alan Bean from the Friends of Justice put it Jena 6 goes beyond “white trees” and nooses, it isn’t a Southern thing, Jena 6 is about America. This is about justice and stopping and reversing a terrible outrage that is now going on throughout the United States. We as a people, regardless of race or ethnicity, should make it clear that we will NOT tolerate white supremacy in any form and demand that ALL the charges be dropped on the Jena 6.

You can help be part of the momentum to keep the heat on Governor Blanco, by spreading the word and asking your friends and family to get involved.

You can help make an impact by helping the families of the Jena 6 by help the members of Color Of Change raise money to provide legal support for the Jena 6. It’s critical that these young men get representation from exceptional lawyers; even if they find pro bono counsel, they are likely to incur $30-50 thousand each in expenses. To help, visit the following link to the Contribute to the Jena Six Defense Fund.

For those who don’t know what holiday falls on June 19, it is Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day. Only 25 states in the US celebrate this day, Texas is one of them. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday started here in Texas.

On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived on Galveston Island to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation was originally issued on September 22, 1862, which became effective date on January 1, 1863, Texas really did care to comply with President Lincoln’s order. So, General Granger was ordered to take possession of the state from Confederate troops and enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.

One of General Granger’s first orders of business was to read to the people of TX, General Order Number 3 which began most significantly with:

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property, between former masters and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them, becomes that between employer and hired labor. The Freedmen are advised to remain at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

In 1980, Texas became the first of 25 states to officially recognize Juneteenth, but that is what it is, nothing more but just an “official day.” This is just the typical attitude this country has for it’s minorities. Because it benefited only one segment of society, people who bound and abducted from their homes and family and forced against their will to come here, this country still refuses to acknowledge African Americans by making this day a National Holiday.

We must revive and preserve Juneteenth not only as the end of a painful chapter in American history, but also as a reminder of the importance of preserving the lines of communication between the powerful and the powerless in our society.

César Chávez made the ultimate sacrifice to make America a better place. Chávez stood for equality, justice, and dignity for everybody. His motto “s? se puede” embodies the uncommon and invaluable legacy he left for the world’s benefit. He, like Martin Luther King Jr, wanted America to become a place where people of all races would be able to get along and live together.

Currently, the aims of the Natavists is to debunk Chávez’s character, by denying his status as a crusader for nonviolent social change, spreading tales of being the first to form a Minuteman type project and alleging to beat up undocumented immigrants. Last year in The American Conservative, a magazine started by Pat Buchanan, Steve Sailer wrote an article comparing César Chávez and racist anti-immigration group the Minutemen.

Like today’s Minutemen, UFW staffers under the command of Chavez’s brother Manuel patrolled the Arizona-Mexico border to keep out illegal aliens. Unlike the well-behaved Minutemen, however, Chavez’s boys sometimes beat up intruders.

To prove this is accurate information, Sailor quotes a 1997 article written by Ruben Navarrette Jr. in the Arizona Republic (August 31, 1997):

“Cesar Chavez, a labor leader intent on protecting union membership, was as effective a surrogate for the INS as ever existed. Indeed, Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union he headed routinely reported, to the INS, for deportation, suspected illegal immigrants who served as strikebreakers or refused to unionize.”

This is nothing more but a slap in the face which goes to show how comfortable Nativists are in having us believe they are really honoring Chávez, while taking actions that go against every principle he stood for. They truely stand against any political or economic approach which seeks to provide true opportunity and genuine dignity to all people. I am fully aware that this post runs the risk of being viewed as an apologists for the Chávez. But I cannot help but question Navarrette’s facts contained in the his column that was pointed out by HispanicPundit. In my view, Navarrette lacks the facts and is playing the blame game on other people instead of backing it up with true facts. The problems is, many need to believe in this fiction in order to keep feeling good about themselves, and will most likely resent anyone who dares to show them the truth. They will all deny the evidence even as it is being presented to them. Sadly, our society has become a society of ostriches.

One of the common Nativist tricks is to pit one group of people against another. It is a fact, one of Chávez’s obstacles where the tactics that the California farmers used to depress wages by pitting one group of people against another. In fact, this tactics are stilling being used today. What is NOT a fact, Chávez was NEVER against the undocumented. Peter Matthiessen describes how the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 was used to undermine Chávez’s efforts and how Chávez handled the situation in a NON-VIOLENT manner. Matthiessen writes:

Under the law, no green-carder is supposed to work in a field where a labor dispute has been certified, but enforcement has been desultory, to say the least, and although almost half of the members of Chavez’s union are not United States citizens, many Mexicans have become strikebreakers. As long as farm workers are excluded from the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act, they have no legal means of forcing employers to negotiate. When their strike was subverted by imported scabs and anti-picketing injunctions, they resorted to what the growers call an “illegal and immoral” boycott.

Chavez said that many of the green-carders, and especially those who intend to return to Mexico, felt they could do better than the union wage scale by working furiously for non-union growers on a piecework basis; others refused to join the union out of ignorance, they had never heard of a union, or out of fear of reprisal. “Out at Schenley, we have a contract there now, there was a guy named Danny,” Chavez said. “Danny was so anti-union that he went to the management and said, ‘Give me a gun. I’ll go out and kill some of those strikers.’ He just hated us, and he didn’t know why. He was working inside when we came with the picket line, and I guess he felt guilty about not joining us, so he went too far. And also, he told me later, “I didn?t know what a union was. I never heard of a union?I had no idea what it was or how it worked. I came from a small village down in Mexico.’ You see? It’s the old story. He was making more money than he had ever seen in Mexico, and the union was a threat. Anyway, we won there, and all the guys who went out on strike, they got their jobs back. And, man, they wanted to clean house, and they wanted to get Danny, and I said no. ‘Well, he doesn’t want to join the union,’ they said. ‘And if he doesn’t join the union, he can’t work here.’ And so I challenged them. I said, ‘One man threatens you’ Do you know what the real challenge is? Not to get him out but to get him in. If you are good organizers, you will get him, but you’re not…you’re lazy!’ So they went after him, and the pressure began to build against him. He was mad as hell. He held out for three months, and he was encouraged by the Anglos’the white guys. They had the best jobs … mechanics and all … and they didn’t want to join the union, either. But finally Danny saw the light, and they did, too. It took about six months before we actually got down to negotiating a contract after we won the election, and by the time we got around to setting up a negotiating committee Danny had not only been converted but been elected to the committee.

True, there were some members of the UFW who had different views than César, but to pin their views on Chávez is illogical. It is as illogical to claim the actions of a white supremacy group as being representative of the entire white society or the criminal actions of a few immigrants being attributed to every immigrant. César has time and time again curtailed the actions of those who advocated for violence. His demand for non-violence has never wavered, he has always believed that that whatever gains that were made through violence, ultimately be destroyed. The truth is, the Nativist have turned his love for his union which he felt he was responsible for their acts into some wet dream.

To advocate violence would totally go against his commitment to non-violence and to show his commitment, it was his reason for fasting. Matthiessen writes:

Everywhere he had gone, the militant groups that supported him or sought his support had been talking about the violence that was being planned for the summer of 1968, and in Delano his own people were rivaling the growers with loose talk about quick solutions….Perhaps a little burning in Delano, or an explosion or two, might force the growers to negotiate. Chavez could not deny this. “If we had used violence, we would have won contracts long ago,” he once told me, “but they wouldn’t be lasting, because we wouldn?t have won respect.” Depressed, he decided on the fast as a kind of penance for the belligerence that had developed in his own union.

I have spent countless hours researching on this issue because one my biggest fear is some of the sources used adds to the potential for gullible people to be taken in by half-truths and revisionist versions of history. Now that this half-truths exist on the Internet there is a large potential to spread misinformation to a wide audience year after year.

I will not deny that much of what Navarrette is credit for is disturbing. All across the city and perhaps the country, people are now questioning their support of the UFW, not only in recent years but also in the past. In hushed voices they express their sadness and anger at having been “misled.”

Tearing down of our leaders is nothing new in a country that is obsessed with examining human failings and putting them on display for the world to see. It is a travesty, when we allow them to completely overshadow the sacrifice and hard work that may have done. This week marks the beginning of a national celebration to commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Yet there are some today, who are also determine to drag the legacy of the man through the mud in a way that will undermine the greater good achieved by this extraordinary man.

I will repeat, César has represented more [tag]undocumented workers[/tag] than anyone in the country and his 1969 march was NOT a march against the undocumented it was about strike breakers. The ONLY thing he was against was strike breakers, documented or undocumented.

Today, we are the guardians of his legacy, it is up to us to honor César Chávez to protect and enhance the future of today and tomorrow’s immigrants. Discredit him, it is us who will harm the future of the Latino community and will provide the opportunities for others to keep our people down or gain power at Chávez’s expense. César told Matthiessen that the reactionaries were always better organizers. “The right has a lot of discipline that the left lacks. The left always dilutes itself. Instead of merging to go after the common enemy, the left splinters, and the splinters go after one another. Meanwhile, the right keeps after its objective, pounding away, pounding away.” It is true today as it was true back then.

No one should deny the impact the [tag]César Chávez[/tag], Dolores Huerta, and the [tag]UFW[/tag] have had on creating a movement that has led people to become dedicated to improving the lots of people less fortunate; [tag]Latinos[/tag], African Americans, Asians, whites, and others. And because of this, I will fight tooth and nail to protect the legacy of César Chávez against any nativist pundit who continues to spin César for their racist agenda.

But what happens when the US decides to participate in too many international conflicts and commitments? The outcome, there are too few soldiers.

What happens next, you wind up having people like CO Republican candidate Rick O’Donnell, who I wrote about wanting to have a national service corp. draft for men. Or someone like Edward Bernard Glick (via Jeffersonian Democrat at Booman Tribune), who recently wrote an op-ed article in the Christian Science Monitor, advocating for the reinstatement of the military draft.

That’s why it’s time to reinstate the draft. A draft would do more than just harness the energy and idealism of the nation’s youth to meet the military’s unmet personnel needs. It would also tap more of the resources of the nation’s women, heeding their demands for more gender equality by making their obligations more consonant with their rights.

The difference between Dr. Glick’s, professor emeritus at Temple University in Philadelphia, proposal from O’Donnell’s, Dr. Glick draft would include women, some flexibility for conscientious objectors, and he considered it “fairer,” whatever that means.

It would give the federal government more flexibility in dealing with conscientious objectors. And it would be fairer to African-Americans and other minorities, who might stop viewing military service as just another job choice.

During a time of war, the US Military has a long history of targeting people who happen to come from working class families and areas with a large amount of minorities, both urban and rural – otherwise known as a “poverty draft.” What makes today’s “poverty draft” more devious, given our current economic state, it tends to feed off those who are concentrated in low-paying jobs without benefits or job security. These pour souls will become the few, the proud – the military’s cannon fodder.

In the document “Strategic Partnership Plan for 2002-2007″ written by the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, the architects of what we might call “niche recruiting” state: “The Hispanic population is the fastest growing demographic in the United States and is projected to become 25% of the U.S. population by the year 2025.” The Plan goes on to explain: “Priority areas [for recruitment] are designated primarily as the cross section of weak labor opportunities and college-age population as determined by both [the] general and Hispanic population.” Not surprisingly, the top two recruiting batallion areas according to the Plan are Los Angeles and San Antonio.

Like lambs to the slaughter, many Hispanics and African Americans are eager to join the military with the promises of scholarships, good employment and visions of success and prosperity. Hoping they escape their economic prison, many come realize they have been bamboozled with empty words and false images – war really means death and suffering, not some X-box video game they thought it was.

As the military began preparing the invasion of Iraq, they already realized they were lacking the manpower needed for their invasion. There is no doubt the military’s Recruiting Command did not overlook the use of non-citizens to play a major role in their plan.

In July 2002, President Bush issued an executive order that would grant any non-naturalized soldiers serving honorably in the “war on terrorism” to speed up their process to citizenship once they have enlisted. Within 6 months, citizenship could be granted and they are once naturalized they can apply to have immediate families naturalized also.

According to Betsy Streisand, of the U.S. News & World Report, citizenship applications have gone up from 300 a month before Bush’s order to 1,300 a month in 2003. In short, the only reason Hispanics enlist in the military, really has nothing to do with defending our national security or “honor,” it is solely to increase their access to a decent education and a better life.

In a 2005 report by the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA Inc), a federally funded research organization for the US Navy, analysts found immigrants were half as likely as their US-born counterparts to wash out before completing their enlistment. Based on their finding and recognizing the need to “help fill current gaps and meet future needs,” they made several recommendations to tap into the “roughly 1.5 million potential non-citizen recruits”

To facilitate recruitment and retention of non-citizens in the military, the Department of Defense should:

• Provide military recruiters with more information for non-citizen recruits by developing materials for applicants and new recruits that explain eligibility for expedited citizenship, the advantages of filing for citizenship while in the military, and the benefits of attaining citizenship.
• Consider more structured, installation-based assistance that would help non-citizen service members and their dependents with the citizenship process.
• Investigate, through the Office of the Secretary of Defense, whether more uniform treatment of noncitizens across the military services is needed.

As Congress debates to tighten immigration controls, tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants are serving in the armed forces. What is not generally known is that the Bush Junta, like the business community, has also been exploiting them. Some have even gone even further, Council on Foreign Relations neoconservative senior fellow Max Boot, and have proposed that the military, enlist and actively recruit foreigners from other countries.

The military would do well today to open its ranks not only to legal immigrants but also to illegal ones and, as important, to untold numbers of young men and women who are not here now but would like to come. No doubt many would be willing to serve for some set period in return for one of the world’s most precious commodities — U.S. citizenship. Open up recruiting stations from Budapest to Bangkok, Cape Town to Cairo, Montreal to Mexico City. Some might deride those who sign up as mercenaries, but these troops would have significantly different motives than the usual soldier of fortune. (Emphases mine)

As extreme as that might sound, when it comes to military service, many immigrates are willing to put their life on the line as a way to prove their loyalty to the US in hopes of obtaining the American Dream, equal treatment and acceptance in their new country. Realities the military and neo-cons like Max Boot are well aware of and are willing to exploit.

During the 2004 Presidential race, many people were talking about the possibility of reinstating the draft. But want many people don’t realize, once America went to war and after Bush’s executive order, the military, Congress and Citizenship and Immigration Services were already in the process of fast-tracking applications and making it easier for immigrants to become citizens.

When reports were coming in about the military recruitment was at a 30-year low, the military already started targeting Hispanics to meet their targeted numbers. One of the Pentagon goals is to double the amount of Hispanic enlistment through aggressive marketing.

Another tool aiding the military in recruiting Hispanic into the armed services is through the little known Hispanic Access Initiative Act (HAIA) of 1996, which allows ROTC recruiters to target Hispanic students at high school and Hispanic Serving Institutions, colleges with a large Hispanic student body. Recruiters are given access to high school students’ addresses and phone numbers and are free to contact them at home, unless parents object. In 2004, the Army has added $10 million to its recruitment budget to advertise directly aimed at Hispanic audiences.

So how effective are their advertisement efforts in the recruiting process? As of Sept 9, 2006, everything is going as planned:

The Pentagon announced Friday that the Army met its recruiting goal for August, which a senior Army official said makes it virtually certain that the service will achieve its aim of signing up 80,000 new soldiers for the full recruiting year, which ends Sept. 30. Last year the Army fell short for the first time since 1999.

And recently, Emilio Gonzalez, director of the Bureau of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, announced there are more than 40,000 immigrants currently serving in the military and more than 26,000 have already been naturalized since Sept. 11, 2001.

Their pipeline for a brighter future – a chance to become the next teachers, doctors, scientist, and other professionals – is soon to becoming nothing more but a pipe dream of empty hopes and promises. For them, there is no American Dream, only an American Nightmare.

The sadistic irony in all of this, as many immigrants risk life and limb entering this country for a better life, they are now being asked to risk life and limb to be played as pawns in a geopolitical chess game – all for the most “precious commodity” – US citizenship.