Latino movement: a target for harassment? - student movement charges school administrations for deliberate harassment

Black Issues in Higher Education, Dec 26, 1996 by Roberto Rodriguez

Albuquerque--Members of Movimiento

Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan

(MEChA)--which translates to Chicano

Student Movement of Aztlan-- say their

organization is being unfairly targeted by

school administrations across the country.

The harassment they are facing, says one

student, "is like the 1960s, but with a 1990s

twist."

The types of problems MEChA has

been subjected to in the

past few months include:

the suspension of a

MEChA newspaper;

threats to fire a MEChA

faculty sponsor; the arrest

of a student for

non-protest activities; and

harassment by a

conservative organization.

At St. Mary's

University in San

Antonio, Texas, the

editor of the MEChA

newspaper Espiritu de

Aztlan (Spirit of Aztlan),

received a memo saying

that the periodical was

not a publication

approved by the Student

Publications Board. The

memo also instructed the paper to cease

publication until approval is acquired.

Christina Ramirez, the newspaper's

editor, says that Espiritu de Aztlan has been

an approved publication since 1993 and that

it has a letter from the dean which recognizes

that assertion. The newspaper also has

work-study positions, which show that the

publication is approved and recognized, says

Ramirez, who adds that community support

forced the board to reconsider its position.

"We felt very threatened. We felt they

wanted to stifle our voices. Our first reaction

was that we had been caught in a

1960s time warp and that we were dealing

with people with tiny minds who were closed

off to reality," Ramirez says.

Across the country, MEChA has held

rallies to demand Chicano/Latino studies

departments and to protest anti-immigrant or

anti-affirmative action movements, among

other things. And although members have

been arrested for such things as

"failure to disperse"

and "disturbing the

peace," the current

opposition that MEChA

encounters is, according to

Ramirez, not always done

in the confrontational way of

the 1960s.

Current opposition

to MECha activities

comes in the form of

red tape, says Ramirez,

adding that students are

now forced to contend

with cumbersome

regulations which have the

same stifling effect as

outright banishment,

censorship, or law

enforcement action against

the organization.

Ruth Rodgers, vice

president for student

development, says that the newspaper was

not banned but simply told to conform to

university regulations. The situation arose as

a result of the MEChA newsletter converting

into a newspaper.

"It wasn't intended to be a punitive

measure," says Rodgers, adding that the

situation was resolved within a week. "We're

very pleased with the work they're doing."

Rodgers says that the letter sent to

MEChA was to clear up misunderstandings,

"not an order to cease publication."

The Demand for Chicano Studies

Recently, St. Mary's MEChA and other

Chicano/Latino organizations succeeded in

getting a Chicano culture

on campus. However, it only has room for

twenty students, according to Ramirez, who

notes, "And we [Chicanos] are 50 percent of

the campus."

Because of the high percentage of

Chicanos on campus, MEChA is struggling to

expand the Mexican American studies

program. While other institutions have had

Chicano studies departments for close to

thirty years, St. Mary's students are only

now able to minor in Chicano studies. By next

fall, according to Ramirez, they will be able to

declare it as a major.

In support of St Mary's MEChA,

University of Texas at San Antonio

professor, Ismael Dovalina, recently wrote in

the September issue of Espiritu de Aztlan:

"Course titles should reflect course content so

students interested in women's history,

Mexican American history, etc. can take such

courses.

"Furthermore, courses should be offered

during popular class periods. An informal

survey suggested that there is a minuscule

[amount] of such courses at local colleges....

Students would find more courses in Chicano

studies at the University of Wisconsin than at

colleges with a predominantly Chicano

student body."

Part of MEChA's work is to do

recruitment at high schools--where they also

encounter opposition, says Ramirez.

Attempts to create MEChA chapters on high

school campuses are routinely met with

cumbersome procedures which make them

difficult to establish.

"We have to go through the school board.

Many of those who are opposed to MEChA

are stuck in a time warp," she says. "They

think MEChA is simply about walkouts."

Recently, St Mary's MEChA

participated in a college fair at a barrio school

near the university. The university did not

show up, says Ramirez, "but we did."

MEChA also encounters hostilities from

campus police. At Palo Alto College in San

Antonio, student Miguel Rosales was arrested

for posting campus-approved MEChA

recruitment flyers, says Gabriel Rosales, a

long-time MEChA member and brother of the

arrested student.

According to Gabriel Rosales, the officer

insulted both the student and the

organization, and arrested his brother for

posting "Chicano hate literature."

Gabriel Rosales says that there's a

perception of racism on campus--not simply

as a result of the arrest, but because of the

failure of the campus to have a Chicano

studies department.

Ginger Hall Carnes, a representative for