A recently posted hoax that accused the Mexican student rights organization Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or MEChA, of starting the Southern California wildfires was somehow posted on the official CNN.com website.
The hoax was up for several days, but has since been taken down. However, having been up on such a reputable website, it has given fuel to the right wing and opposes all who are for immigrant and Mexican rights.
This is more than just a coincidence, as it comes just weeks after a previous “MEChA is racist” charge from the Conservative Student Union, which appears to be in collusion with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.
Knowing that the founder of the Minuteman group, Jim Gilchrist, is coming to our campus soon indicates that we are on the defense. His visit to decry immigration reform coupled with the CNN hoax, which sadly claimed “No suspects have been identified, though they are probably brown,” shows Latina/os must remain vigilant.
This is scary as hell because, if they keep at this, we might see serious action coming from their camp in the upcoming elections, if not sooner.
I’m not advocating fear, just a call to action. Education is our best weapon, but the only way to educate those so stubborn that they can’t learn is to make our voices heard.
We must let all those who hear us with open minds learn and possibly join our cause for equality. The CNN scam called MEChA a “[r]adical Hispanic separatist organization.” It’s the Gilchrist and the Minutemen who are separatists. They continue trying to keep families apart with their border vigilantism.
We can change the face of Cal State Long Beach by bringing Mexican and immigrant rights to the eyes and minds of the masses. MEChA is not a radical group, but instead promotes higher education and maintaining Mexican culture and history.
We have to take these threats seriously. Even if they just want attention, and they just want to start shit, how many cheeks can we turn before we realize that they truly believe the crap that they spew?
We can organize, educate, and protest to take the offensive and show that we are not against the law, but stand for change. We are not against the U.S., but for insisting on protecting our culture. We are not the minority, but the true holders of what this country has been created from: “The American Dream.”
We can’t continue blindly on a course of action in which they attack and we ignore. After all, they have gained such a following that now we seem weak.
There is such a power within our minds and in our voices that we can’t simply vanish without a fight. One person is all we need to spark change. Look what was done by a single tired woman in Alabama.
Look at the change effected by a man tired of seeing the injustices done to his fellow humans in the fields of California.
I truly hope that we, as a people, can realize we are not as vulnerable as it is believed. We truly hold power as long as we believe. As long as we dream it, we can win.
Si, se puede.
Mizraim Martinez is a junior computer science major.
