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California coup plays a race card on Bustamante
O. Ricardo Pimentel -- Republic columnist
Aug. 28, 2003 12:00 AM
It was 1970 and, inspired by the times, cultural identity and the push for civil rights generally, a bunch of students at my high school formed United Chicano Students, UCS.
We were inspired also by a fledgling college group, MEChA, which stands for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán and is still around today. Translated, MEChA means Chicano student movement of Aztlán. Aztlán is the mythical kingdom of the Aztecs, thought to include much of the Southwest including California, New Mexico and Arizona.
Who knew? We were racists.
At least that's the conclusion some are reaching as they draw attention to California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's past MEChA affiliation. And, of course, the only reason they are bothering to do this is because he is Latino and an early favorite to succeed Gov. Gray Davis in that state's coup attempt . . . er, I mean, recall.
The problem: If you identified yourself as Chicano, had a political conscience and attended a college or university, chances are very good that you, too, were a MEChista. I wasn't, but that had more to do with my journalism aspirations and a notion that reporters, even those in college, shouldn't belong to activist groups that they might have to cover.
Among the prominent MEChistas hereabouts is John Loredo, the current Arizona House minority leader. I wouldn't be surprised if most Latino political leaders nationwide were MECHistas.
So why are they racist? Well, according to the Web site for American Patrol, an anti-immigrant group, it stems partly from MEChA's constitution, Article II, Section I, which says: "General membership shall consist of any student who accepts, believes and works for the goals and objectives of MEChA, including the liberation of Aztlán, meaning self-determination of our people in this occupied state and the physical liberation of the land."