Not So Harmless

We all read about the incident involving five young men at Live Oak High School. These young men had the *GASP* effrontery to wear *SHOCK* items depicting the American flag to their school on May 5th. The vice-principal, Miguel Rodriguez, approached them and told them to remove the offensive wear, for fear of starting a fight, or some such nonsense. Basically, the kids wore appropriate clothing to school, but the pussy of a vice-principal thought it would cause the peace-loving Hispanics celebrating Cinqo de Quatro* to basically riot. Nope…not jumping to conclusions there…

Now we hear that this school has a bigger problem than five kids exercising their rights. It turns out that one of the school “clubs” is none other than MEChA. For those unfamiliar with this society, MEChA stands for “Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan” which translates to “Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan”.  Guess what they preach (for lack of a better word)?

Essentially, we are a Chicana and Chicano student movement directly linked to Aztlán. As Chicanas and Chicanos of Aztlán, we are a nationalist movement of Indigenous Gente [people] that lay claim to the land that is ours by birthright. As a nationalist movement we seek to free our people from the exploitation of an oppressive society that occupies our land. Thus, the principle of nationalism serves to preserve the cultural traditions of La Familia de La Raza and promotes our identity as a Chicana/Chicano Gente.

So, to those who see the celebration of Cinqo de Quatro* as just an excuse to drink Coronas, think again. This may be my opinion only, but I don’t see the Irish freak out when someone wears an American-themed shirt on St. Patrick’s Day. Likewise with the Germans on Oktoberfest, or the Italians on Columbus Day. Ask yourselves: why is it so celebrated here, yet virtually ignored through most of Mexico? Sometimes the conspiracy theorist in me rises up, I know…. But recent happenings like this and the Texas school suspending a kid and illegal immigration rallies make me wonder, a lot.

*new wording by cbullitt