Today, America would be outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow, they will be grateful. This would especially be true if they were told that there were an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead to deliver them from this evil. The one thing man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by a world Government. ~ Henry Kissinger - 1991

...

Myth #2: MEChA is a racist organization because its constitution is ?El Plan de Aztlan? and its sole aims are to implement the goals printed in El Plan de Aztlan.

Facts: MEChA has a formal constitution; ?El Plan de Aztlan? is a document that was written before MEChA was established. MEChA?s founding document is El Plan de Santa Barbara, not El Plan de Aztlan.

El Plan de Aztlan is an historical document of the Chicano movement. As such MEChA would not renounce the collective history of our peoples Civil Rights struggle by denouncing what is inarguably the true history of the southwest. The facts are that the southwest was invaded upon by Anglos under the white supremacist banner of ?Manifest Destiny? in 1836 and 1846. The invasion was so brutal that Irish-American soldiers deserted in droves and formed the St. Patrick?s brigade and fought against U.S. forces in defense of the Mexican peasantry (anyone ever wonder why there are so many redheads in Northern Mexico?). People?s ideologies may change, but we would not denounce El Plan de Aztlan, just like many in the African-American community would not denounce the legacy of the Black Panthers or Malcolm X in the current African-American struggles for Human and Civil rights in the U.S. today.

Myth #3: MEChA?s goals are to give the southwest back to Mexico.

Facts: MEChA is just as critical of Mexico?s politicies as they are of the United States. Mechistas are quite aware that it takes two to tango, and that it is as a result of Mexican and U.S. economic policies that many Mechistas of Mexican descent are in the U.S. MEChA is a supporter of the EZLN, thus we are quite aware that racism and class warfare are as rampant in Mexico as they are in the US.

MEChA believes that ?the term Chicano is grounded in a philosophy, not a nationality. Chicanismo does not exclude anyone, rather it includes those who acknowledge and work toward the betterment of La Raza.?

Thus, MEChA is not a Mexican or Mexican-American organization. In 1999, MEChA changed its philosophy and declared itself to be part of the intercontinental Indigenous Struggle of the Americas. Thus, we are internationalist in scope, and stand in solidarity and support the aboriginal rights of all the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Myth #4: MEChA wants to create a separate nation-state only for Chicanos.
Facts: MEChA refers to the liberation of Aztlan as the liberation of our people from oppressions and ignorance -- a spiritual liberation.

...

Source.

Originally posted by loam
Gools,

I need more time to look into your questions, but I quickly found this account that disputes the MEChA/"El Plan de Aztlan" connection and other "myths":

Source.

I have no clue where this really comes from, but will look more into it later.

OK, I've had some time to go over that site, and all I can say is

Talk about the sleeper issue of the century!

Look at this article from a former chairman of La Raza Unida Party:

...Without Mexicans, the wealthy actually would have to grow their own food, care for their own children, mow their own yards, cook their own meals or eat out three times as much, relearn how to do their own repairs and building construction, wash their own cars, pay for more security and iron their own clothes.

The middle class would become the new poor, working class.

Every time a Hispanic person dies, five whites also die. The white population is elderly and in serious decline.

The days when Anglos unilaterally could make public decisions for all of us are over. They now must pick and find partners among Mexicans, other Latinos and African Americans to obtain political power.

Blacks are growing slightly in numbers but not as a percentage of the population. Historically, Jews and blacks have been the favored minorities.

Asians are growing significantly, but their numbers are still small at this time. They will continue to be ignored by present-day leaders, as Mexicans have been historically.

In almost all major U.S. cities Latinos are approximately one-third of the total population, a new power bloc and potential partner to either blacks or whites.

In decades past we have been mostly spectators and occasional bench warmers; we now are the replacements.

We are the future home buyers. We are the ones starting new businesses.

And we must prepare to make the transition from being the governed to being the governors. We are the foundation for the future.

Knowing that white America has not and does not recognize our welfare or destiny as intertwined, we must forge ahead with our own strategic plan, vision and timetable. We will not become an underclass to whites or blacks or Asians. We will seek and find our own public partners to meet destiny.

Source.

"We have an aging white America. . . . They are dying. . . . They are ******** in their pants with fear! I love it!"

"We have got to eliminate the gringo, and what I mean by that is if the worst comes to the worst, we have got to kill him."

Source.

DOBBS: There are some Mexican citizens and some Mexican- Americans who want to see California, New Mexico and other parts of the Southwestern United States given over to Mexico. These groups call it the reconquista, Spanish for reconquest. And they view the millions of Mexican illegal aliens in particular entering the United States as potentially an army of invaders to achieve that takeover.

Christine Romans reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In San Diego today, another sea of Mexican flags echoing the nationalist theme in protests earlier this week.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ROMANS: Chants celebrating La Raza, the race, and signs proclaiming the true history of the Southwest. A Southwest they say still belongs to Mexico.

Long downplayed as a theory of the radical ethnic fringe, the la reconquista, the reconquest, the reclamation, the return, it's resonating with some on the streets. It's the idea that the Southwest United States is stolen land called Aztlan.

LARRY BIRNS, COUNCIL ON HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS: These places that these Mexican immigrants want to go, Arizona, New Mexico, California and Texas, were all parts of Mexican territory in the 19th century and were swiped from Mexico.

ROMANS: A surprisingly common theme among open borders advocates, even some Spanish language media. This billboard last year declaring Los Angeles a part of Mexico, not California.

California Congressman Dana Rohrbacher calls the attitude arrogant and dangerous.

REP. DANA ROHRBACHER (R), CALIFORNIA: And now we see that hundreds of thousands of these people, if not several million, are willing to wave the Mexican flag and not seek assimilation in the United States, but are instead declaring their allegiance to Mexico while here illegally. This can cause huge problems. If only a fringe element of them want to commit acts of violence in the future to -- in order to push their claim of legitimacy in terms of their right to this area that we now occupy in the United States, it can cause great damage and loss of life in our country. ROMANS: Perhaps why this California police officer this week encouraged these protesters to fly the American flag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you should be flying are American flags, and I'll tell you what else.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: No!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Aztlan has long been the provident of the radical fringe. A lot of open borders groups disavow it completely. But the growing street protests in favor of illegal immigration, Lou, are increasingly taking on the tone of that very radicalism -- Lou.

DOBBS: Christine, thank you very much.

Christine Romans.

LOU DOBBS TONIGHT Transcript.

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) – the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States – works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. Through its network of nearly 300 affiliated community-based organizations (CBOs), NCLR reaches millions of Hispanics each year in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. To achieve its mission, NCLR conducts applied research, policy analysis, and advocacy, providing a Latino perspective in five key areas – assets/investments, civil rights/immigration, education, employment and economic status, and health. In addition, it provides capacity-building assistance to its affiliates who work at the state and local level to advance opportunities for individuals and families. Founded in 1968, NCLR is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization. Headquartered in Washington, DC, NCLR serves all Hispanic subgroups in all regions of the country. NCLR has operations in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

About NCLR.

...She began her career in Washington, DC as legislative counsel to former Kansas Congressman Jim Slattery, serving for seven years. She then worked at the White House in various capacities from 1994 to 2000, ultimately as deputy assistant to President Clinton, providing strategic and legislative advice to the president on key issues. She also served as deputy director of legislative affairs, managing the legislative staff and acting as a senior White House liaison to Congress. Prior to joining NCLR, she was the Executive Vice Chancellor for University Relations at the University of Kansas, overseeing the university's internal and external relations with the public, including governmental and public affairs, and coordinating the university's strategic planning and marketing efforts....

Source.

The National Council of La Raza, which bills itself as the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., welcomed the nomination of Gonzales to succeed John Ashcroft.

...

"Alberto Gonzales served with distinction on the board of directors of one of NCLR’s oldest and most respected affiliates, the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans in Houston, Texas," she said. "Moreover, during his tenure as White House counsel, he has been one of the most accessible members of the White House staff to NCLR and other Hispanic organizations."

Murguia concluded, "We acknowledge that this is the first step of a long confirmation process that requires that his record be fully examined. That being said, Gonzales is a thoughtful, reasonable public servant, a man of his word, and we have every expectation that his nomination will be very well received in the Latino community."

La Raza supports legislation such as the Civil Liberties Restoration Act, which would roll back policies adopted after Sept. 11 designed to protect national security. It supports the "DREAM Act," which would mandate states to offer in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens – thus providing them with benefits not available to U.S. citizens from other states.

The group opposes the "Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2003" and the "Homeland Security Enhancement Act" would give state and local police officers the authority to enforce federal immigration laws.

"While the safety and security of our communities and our country are of the utmost importance, new policies that would allow local police departments to enforce federal civil immigration law will hinder terrorist and other criminal investigations, and have a serious negative impact on Latino communities," La Raza explains.

The group also supports legislation to ensure illegal immigrants' ability to obtain driver's licenses.

AG nominee member of La Raza: Gonzales in group that backs lax immigration laws

DOBBS: .... Excuse me. Do you think that most Hispanics in this country buy this nonsense, that illegal immigration is great?

You don't think that there's a division in what Hispanics and Latinos in this country think about illegal immigration?

MURGUIA: No, I think that there are a lot of people who bring different points of view. But I think they all recognize that there's a common objective.

DOBBS: But why would you incorporate what Hispanics do?

MURGUIA: There's a common agenda here in the sense that we want to provide an opportunity to fix the broken system. It needs a comprehensive solution...

Transcript.

The following statistics illustrate the value of investing in this thriving market:

- As of July 2004, the Hispanic population in the U.S. was 41.3 million, or 14% of the total population; it is projected that Latinos will account for more than one in four Americans by 2050.

- 50% of the Hispanic population is under age 25.

- 85% of Hispanics under 18 were born in the United States.

- Latino’s buying power is more than $736 billion.

- By 2010, it is expected that Hispanics will have more than $1 trillion in disposable income.

- The U.S. Latino population remits billions of dollars to Latin America: $45.8 billion in 2004.

Source.

GOP Congress Earmarks $4 Million for Leftist Pro-Illegal Alien Group


Thanks to a congressional earmark, an open-borders advocacy group that pushes for driver’s licenses, free in-state tuition and healthcare for illegal aliens and bilingual requirements for state agencies and ballots is slated to get $4 million in new taxpayer money to add to the more than $30 million it has received from various federal agencies since 1996.

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Spanish for “the race,” will get its latest grant through an appropriations bill passed by Congress on November 18. The Joint Explanatory Statement of HR 3058, available on the House’s Rules Committee website lists 1,100 plus earmarks in the bill, including La Raza’s grant under the Housing and Urban Development Department’s Self-Help and Assisted Ownership Programs. Under this account La Raza will receive four times as much as the Special Olympics, which won a $1-million earmark.

More...

Lozano studied political science at the University of Oregon and holds an honorary degree from Occidental College. Lozano is the president and chief operating officer of La Opinión, the largest Spanish-language daily newspaper in the U.S., which was founded by her family. She has increased circulation and advertising revenue, and as vice president of Lozano Communications, Inc., the paper's parent company, Lozano has expanded into radio and television. She serves on the board of directors of the Walt Disney Co., the California Health Care Foundation, the National Council of La Raza, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Union Bank of California. In addition, she is a trustee of the SunAmerica Asset Management Corporation, the University of Southern California, and in 2000, she was appointed to the Board of Regents of the University of California. A member of the California State Board of Education from 1999 to 2001, she served as president in 2001. Lozano is also a former director of the Fannie Mae Foundation.

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In the early history of La Opinion, the newspaper was a fearless defender of the civil and human rights of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, but today under the management of the grandchildren, who many in our community say are overly "Americanized or "pochos", the newspaper has taken a distinct diversion from the original "vision" of its founder Ignacio E. Lozano Sr.. Today, the "uppity" Jose and Monica Lozano have squandered the journalistic legacy that was left by their grandfather and allow their editors to in fact work against the interests of our mostly working class community.

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