It didn’t start at the U, but the effects have been felt on campus.
Over the past few weeks, the Chicano group Moviemento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan, or MEChA, has received verbal attacks by critics claiming it is a racist group.
The national organization does not want any local chapters to offer official responses until a formal response is released, according to members of the group at the U.
Nonetheless, members of the U’s chapter, as well as those around the nation, are denouncing the criticism.
The criticism started on the national level in California, when Cruz Bustamante decided to run for governor in the state’s recall election to be held on Oct. 7.
Bustamante, who is the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor, is in contention for the governor’s seat against Republican actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and current Gov. Gray Davis, who is also a Democrat.
While Bustamante defends the group and says he is the target of bad GOP politics-according to an interview by the San Diego Union-Tribune-critics point to what they believe is harsh language within MEChA’s constitution and group philosophy.
Specifically, rhetoric like, “For the race everything, outside of the race, nothing,” which is a part of the group’s philosophy, according to Mateo Montoya, a U senior studying political science and international studies, and co-chairman of MEChA at the U.
The philosophy is translated from Spanish, however, and Montoya says there was something lost in the translation.
“That’s not how I would interpret it,” he said.
He says he would translate the philosophy-which is sometimes mistaken as the group’s motto-to mean that the race is the only means of sustaining cultural identity versus those who are outside the race and attack it mean nothing, he said.
MEChA was originally formed in 1969 at the University of California Santa Barbara. The U’s chapter is part of the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs.
In a parallel to the Civil Rights Movement, Montoya says the intent of the group was to create a unified voice to react to the oppression Chicanos were facing in the United States during that era.
“It wasn’t a call to arms. It was a call to action and solidarity,” he said.
Just like Montoya, though, Shella Monterrossa, co-chairwoman of MEChA at the U, says she can see why the criticism is there.
According to the U junior, some of the language in the national MEChA philosophy and constitution could be misinterpreted by someone not in the group.
“I would probably say it would be racist, [too],” Monterrossa said.
But that is still a misinterpretation of the rhetoric, Monterrossa said, and not fair to use as basis on labeling an entire group. Furthermore, rhetoric which was viewed as necessary to fight for individual rights in the late 1960s is now viewed in a different light, she said.
“I don’t think anyone can judge a group unless they’ve experienced it,” she said.
Critics also say the group claims to reconquer the land known as Aztlan, mostly the U.S. Southwest, which some argue was stolen from Mexico.
“I’ve heard the arguments. They’re arguments are based upon philosophy readings…and misinterpreted,” Montoya said.
In regards to the taking back of any land, “I don’t think that’s part of the philosophy. It’s all subjective, due to interpretation. A lot of people put a spin on it,” he said.
In addition to that, “It’s a very radical interpretation,” Montoya said of the critics’ views.
The philosophy of MEChA includes education, culture, history and politics, Monterrossa said. The group has given her the opportunity to help people, and while it may focus on the Chicano population, it is not exclusive, she said. “I’m here to help anyone,” she said, adding that the basis of criticism is based on “pure ignorance,” she said.
Montoya, who doesn’t deny there may be some people either within the Chicano community as a whole or the national MEChA group who are “radical,” says that it’s not the prevalent ideology, and such is the case with all groups.
“There’s always going be people to the far left and very revolutionary in their mindset, but I think what it was that in the ’60s, we needed that radical language. [It] sustained the passion behind the movement…our struggle as an ethnic group in the United States,” Montoya said.
As for MEChA today, “I don’t think that there’s any chapter actually seriously saying we want to overthrow American power in the Southwest…We’re a colonized people, and we have to come to terms with being colonized: not allowing your colonizers to oppressive and treat you as second-class citizens,” he said.
In the meantime, members are waiting for a national response from MEChA, and are hopeful that the criticism doesn’t affect Bustamante’s run at governor.
“I don’t think it’s going to be too big a deal,” Monterrossa said.
“I think MEChA will respond very strongly,” said Montoya, who is appreciative of the national organization’s care in dealing with the situation. “We speak with one voice and are unified,” he said.
The group, even with its focus mainly on the Chicano population, is “open to anyone,” Montoya said. The group is home to members with backgrounds ranging from South American to American Indian, he said, and is not just limited there.
“Any student is welcome to be a member of our organization, and we would welcome them with open arms,” Montoya said.
For information on the group, visit Union 318.
