The Battle of San Bernardino: La Raza
vows to defeat racist initiative

by
Hector Carreon
La Voz de Aztlan

Riverside, Alta California - May 10, 2006 - (ACN) San
Bernardino, a city located 55 miles directly east of Los
Angeles, has a racist history of attempting to evict persons
of Mexican descent. Six years ago, the city forcefully
relocated Mr. Valente Duran and his family from their home
to an EZ-8 Motel room . When Mr. Duran complained about
his treatment by the city to the local newspaper, City Attorney
James F. Penman sent him an official letter with an offer.
Penman wrote, "we want to give you the option of . . . accepting
our offer to arrange and pay for transportation for you and
your family, one way, to Mexico. "

Today, it looks like the attitude demonstrated by City Attorney
Penman, has infected a larger number of the city's
residents . . . 2217 to be exact. This is the number that
signed a racist initiative that will essentially and indirectly
evict, from the city, undocumented immigrants, mostly
from Mexico. The initiative, if it becomes law, either through
City Council approval or a city wide vote, would, among other
things, criminalize and fine any landlord that rents to an
undocumented immigrant.

[IMAGE] The leader of the initiative is the bigot Joe Turner
of SOS fame. SOS is the same organization that fomented
violence last year in the City of Baldwin Park when they
failed to force the removal of a city sponsored monument
honoring the region's Mexican and Indigenous heritage. Joe
Turner brought in about 20 demonstrators , mostly senior
citizens, on May 14, 2005 to the site of the monument and
were met by a large number of counter demonstrators. During
the tumultus incident, one 68 year old lady wearing a
"Minuteman" t-shirt appeared to suffer a heat stroke,
according to news sources and witnesses, and was taken away
in an ambulance. The elderly woman alleges that she was hit
by a plastic water bottle on the head. The racist Joe Turner
was later arrested by the Glendale Police Department.

The mean spirited anti-immigrant initiative has been filed with
the City Clerk and now the City Council must approved it or put
it to a city wide referendum. The seven member City Council
will consider the initiative on Monday May 15, 2006 at 3;00 PM
in a meeting that will be attended by a large number of
pro-immigrant right groups. In a National Alliance for Human
Rights (NAHR) meeting last night in Riverside, the group
vowed to defeat the initiative. Professor Armando Navarro,
National Coordinator of NAHR, personally pledged a massive
effort to defeat the measure. Dr. Navarro said, "San Bernardino
will see a mobilization like never in its history." He added,
"This is going to be our Montgomery for the new civil-rights
movement ."

The Joe Turner initiative also goes after a favorite target of
SOS. which are day laborers or "jornaleros" that seek work
at hardware stores like Home Depots. The initiative will
empower the city police to confiscate the vehicles of anyone
picking up for work a day laborer.

The measure will in addition punish any business that aids
undocumented immigrants and attempts to establish an
"English Only" law in the city. Though the measure will probably
be declared unconstitutional if passed, a dim possibility where
over 50% of the 200,000 population is Latino, it must
never-the-less be totally smashed at the bud to send out a
clear message to all xenophobes, nativists, bigots and racists.

Monday, May 15, 2006 will be a day like no other in the history
of the city. It will be the first skirmish in "The Battle of
San Bernardino". The skirmish will be at the San Bernardino
City Hall located at 300 N "D" Street. It will take place
at 3:00 P.M.

http://www.aztlan.net/battle_of_san_bernardino.htm