MEChA

MEChA is an acronym for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (Chicano Student's Movement of Aztlan), an organization dedicated to the promotion of Chicano history, education, and political action.

MEChA was born from the result of two conferences in the late 1960s: the First National Chicano Liberation Youth Conference, held in March 1969 in Denver, Colorado, and which produced the document entitled El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán; and a symposium held at the University of California, Santa Barbara the following month, which produced the document entitled El Plan Espiritual de Santa Barbara. Both of these documents outline the goals of the Chicano movement and are foundational to the MEChA organization.

MEChA's constitution was officially ratified in 1995.

According to MEChA, "Chicano" is not simply an ethnicity, but a political mentality: no one is born "Chicano". MEChistas (or members of MEChA) consider themselves neither Americans nor Mexicans, but descendants (either genetically or spiritually) of the indigenous pre-Columbian nations—hence, the Chicano Student's Movement of Aztlán.

The motto of MEChA is La Union Hace La Fuerza, or "Unity Creates Strength".

MEChA is widely criticized for being a racist and separatist organization in large part because of the following statements in El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán:

• "[L]ove for our brothers makes us a people whose time has come and who struggles against the foreigner "gabacho" who exploits our riches and destroys our culture ... [E]conomic control of our lives and our communities can only come about by driving the exploiter out of our communities, our pueblos, and our lands and by controlling and developing our own talents, sweat, and resources".

This has been interpreted as a call to summarily label non-Chicanos "exploiters" and to expel them out of the Chicano community. Another view is that this is a call to recognize exploiters when and where they exist, and to actively work towards independence and self-reliance rather than expecting problems to be solved from the outside.

• "Education must be relative to our people, i.e., history, culture, bilingual education, contributions, etc".

To some, this is viewed as an unpatriotic rejection of the common history and values shared with the nations of the United States and Mexico.

• "Self-defense of the community must rely on the combined strength of the people ... For the very young there will no longer be acts of juvenile delinquency, but revolutionary acts".

Since it is not specified from what entity defense is required, some read this as self-defense from the police and legal authorities, and the justification of juvenile deliquency as a "revolutionary act". It could also be read as a call to defend the civil rights and economic livlihood of Chicanos on the legal battlefield, and the abandonment of juvenile delinquency in favor of progressive political action.

• "A nation autonomous and free - culturally, socially, economically, and politically- will make its own decisions on the usage of our lands, the taxation of our goods, the utilization of our bodies for war, the determination of justice (reward and punishment), and the profit of our sweat".

This appears to be a call of outright secessation. But other parts of El Plan seem to advocate working within the system, such as "the creation of an independent local, regional, and national political party". If this is the case, then "nation" refers to Chicanos as an politically empowered ethnic group -- but not necessarily one with a sovereign territory and government, a model similar to Canada's First Nations.

In August 2003, the Democratic candidate for the 2003 California recall election, Lt. Governor of California Cruz Bustamante, was condemned by various commentators (including Bill O'Reilly and Michelle Malkin among others) for his involvement with MEChA during the 1970s. Many people believe MEChA is a racist organization whose primary purpose is to return the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas back to Mexico. The organization drew criticism for alleged ties with the racist group Voz de Aztlán, and for a part of El Plan de Aztlán that states, "Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada" (alternately translated in English as "For the Race, everything. For those outside the Race, nothing", or "By the Race, everything. Without the Race, nothing"). MEChA leaders countered that MEChA is a benign organization, dedicated to promoting Chicano education and Chicano identity, and is entirely opposed to oppression in all forms, including racism.

External links

• El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán
• El Plan de Santa Barbara
• Article about MEChA by Raoul Contreras of Hispanic Vista
• Stanford Review Article - An Investigation of Racism within MEChA
• Article about MEChA by Michelle Malkin