Brown Berets

Growing up in the east San Francisco Bay Area street fights were common, with the majority of my fighting against the macho-attitude Mexicans. Most were legal, at that time, but every summer the illegal kin of the locals arrived and I had to fight them, also.

Hate to brag but I was good. Lots of exercise, running, and an hour on the punching bag nightly made me one tough Gringo!!!! Luckily, those were the days of what is now known as the "old gangstas'." Today, well, I'd likely have just been shot dead. Back then it was a different breed. Far fewer illegals and some honor existed. Takes more guts to square off and throw blows for a 1/2-hour than to pull a trigger then run.

Anyway..... after years of fighting, starting when I whipped the heck out of the De la Rosa kid in 4th grade it finally took 8 of the punks to ambush and stomp me. But, I still fought back.

One summer day Jose and his brother drove up in his convertible Ford low-rider. He invited me to go on a ride and that I would see something few, if any, Gringos had ever seen.

Hmmmmmmm....... this was a matter of honor. I had to go to "save face." Saying no would result in another fight. It's a "macho thing" the invading culture lives by and I had to live my life within that code. Not by choice!!!!! The sheer number of the invading culture forced me to live outside the mainstream American culture.

Knowing there was a possibility I was being led into danger, perhaps another crowd that would stomp me or worse, honor (macho) required me to agree to go.

It was 1971 and I was 14 years old. Took a lotta' guts (or stupidity?) to do what I did. We ended up in Pleasanton, California.... at the old Camp Parks, a World War 2 base that was decommissioned and now served various functions; one being a migrant labor camp. Into that camp we drove and every eye present was riveted on me... the Gringo. The surprise of the residents was obvious. Folks such as I did not go to those camps. Doing so could be dangerous since Anglos were unwanted, disliked, even hated by some.

Stopping in front of one of the barracks that had been converted to apartments my heart raced in fear.....and preparation to defend myself.

Entering the apartment, Jose warned me to say nothing, to let him do the talking. As I followed Jose and his brother in, I saw a small crowd of perhaps 15 or so Hispanic-type folks. Again, I saw surprise in eyes at the site of a Gringo. I suppose I showed the same surprise when next I was looking down the barrel of a pistol. Eeeeeeeek!!!!! I looked for a window to jump out of but Jose's loud voice stopped me. He began arguing with the pistol-wielder. Their argument in Spanish ended with the pistol disappearing and one of the older guys present giving another warning about telling no one of what I saw or heard.

I was then told I was being honored. That confused me!!!!! The guy who had pulled the pistol explained that Jose had just told him of all the fighting I had done against the Mexicans, how I had whipped most, how I never ran or notified the cops etc. and that I had not called the law when the eight stomped me (I intended to handle that affair later on my own). He said that few Gringos acted as I had and that they were "honoring" me by allowing me to visit their.................

meeting of the Brown Beret cell of the 'Frisco east bay!!!!! We were close to the radical crazy Berkeley so the location made sense. And, for security, they met in a place where an outsider would be obvious. I sat there as the meeting went on; in English and Spanish, the group flowed from one language to the other.

Around 45-minutes later Jose and his brother got up and I followed them out the door. The warning to be silent followed me out the door. Soon I was home and Jose spoke before he drove of, "You're okay, for a Gringo."

Thus, I learned about the group that advocates the secession of the southwestern USA. Some want the area to go to Mexico, others want the nation of Aztlan. Many members advocate the use of force if necassary but the general concensus appears to be that the power of numbers is the easiest and surest method of achieving their goal.

Folks, I can not prove to you the events I write of are true. They are but you'll just have to take my word for it. The event made quite an impact on me. I wish I could say the fights stopped but they didn't. However, the amount of fighting was reduced as the word went around the local Mexicans that I was an "okay Gringo." Still, there were enough of the macho types to confront and the kin still came up every summer and they sought me out. Sigh........ I got so damn tired of fighting!!!!! Too bad the vile spawn of the elite class doesn't have to go through what I did for so many years.

Okay..... for those unfamiliar with the Brown Berets.... here is a decent Web page with some information:

http://www.fightbacknews.org/2003winter/brownberets.htm

The article/interview ends with this:

"The current group that call themselves Brown Berets have not led or been involved in any positive mass campaigns for self-determination or social change. They have not been able to grow or get support from any large segments of the Chicano community. They have not taken up the fight for immigrant rights or other important issues, especially the growing anti-war movement of today. They are primarily male and male dominated. They use militant rhetoric, but do not organize."

I venture a guess. The Brown Berets and those who supported them but did not actually join saw the trends. They saw their ethnicity growing in numbers yearly. They saw laws passed that assisted Spanish speakers, they saw affirmative action that assisted them economically, they received the gamut of public aid and assistance and... perhaps most importantly, they saw their ethnic group grow in numbers until they are now the majority in some areas and are destined to possibly become a majority within the entire USA!!!!! Some estmates are that in 100 years, perhaps a wee bit more, the invaders from the south will be the majority across the land.

Sadly, too few assimilate. The invading culture may become the predominant culture.

Will the Brown Berets return? Are they here right now but just laying low? I am not sure. I fled California in 1993 so do not have my hand on the pulse of that which is Chicano or Hispanic or whatever term is used to describe the invaders.

What I do know is that I am likely one of the few Gringos to have been present in the "old days" when the Brown Berets were active.

Sigh......... and I still have to read the Anglos words and hear them babble when they make excuses for the invaders, excuses most of you are likely too familiar with.

Again, my thinking returns to those long-ago days when a joke made the rounds; a joke that also had a social point to make:

What do you call someone who hasn't been mugged yet?

A liberal.

I despise labels. But, that joke helps to explain the invasion aplogists. They lack empathy for others (those harmed by the invaders) and they have not been personally harmed in some way by the invading horde.

I suppose our job is to reach out to those too blind to see or desiring an underclass to serve them via low wages and convince them that they are actually in peril.

At a later date I will mention a couple methods I have used to reach out and try to convince the masses.

Mecha is another organization whose intent is to usurp the Anglos and create a 2nd-world country out of parts of the USA, among other things.

When I find my copy of ther REAL constitution, not the one they exhibit when gaining acceptance at colleges and high schools, I will post it.

For now..... some more about the Brown Berets:

http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/aztlan.htm

Aztlan: a warped vision of history
January 1, 2003

By Jack Ward

As the U.S. began to grow, immigrants started flowing into this new land of opportunity. Immigrants from Europe and Asia made up the majority of the newcomers. Thousands of miles of ocean separated the newcomers from their old homeland. The remoteness from their roots made it a little easier to "cut the ties" from the homeland and assimilate into a new "American" culture. For the last several decades, immigration (illegal and legal) from Mexico has increased significantly and is now a major source of immigrants. But the closeness of Mexico made the acceptance of the American culture a lower priority than in the past. In many cases, crossing the U.S.-Mexican border is as easy as moving from state to state. In less than a day's drive, someone can leave anywhere in the southwest and be in Mexico. The closeness of one's homeland makes acceptance of their new homeland less critical.

Most of those that emigrated from Mexico became naturalized U.S. citizens and have become productive citizens. Unfortunately, some embittered intellectuals (on both sides of the border) have advocated that most of the southwest U.S. belongs to Mexico. As a result, they also believe that there should be no border control between Mexico and the U.S. Their rantings have convinced many that the southwest U.S. belongs to Mexico. This view is reflected in a recent Zogby poll. The poll revealed that 58% of Mexicans believe that the southwest U.S. belongs to Mexico. That probably explains why 60% of Mexicans also believe there should be no border control.

One of the promoters of this idea is Professor Charles Truxillo, instructor of Chicano studies at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and self-described disciple of Chicano-Marxist terrorist Reies Lopez Tijerina. Tijerina and his terrorist group have been advocating retaking the southwest since the mid '60s. In June 1967, Tijerina led his gang in an assault on the courthouse in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico. During the attack, he proved that his violence was non-discriminatory. They shot fellow Mexican-American jailer Eugolio Salazar in the face, pistol whipped fellow Mexican-American Undersheriff Dan Rivera, and killed fellow Mexican-American Deputy Sheriff Nicainor Saizan. The gang also took 20 local citizens hostage in the courthouse before fleeing town.

Tijerina claims that this new territory is the "Nation of Aztlan" and includes California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, plus the southern part of Colorado. Tijerina declared "exclusive and supreme" powers "within our territorial jurisdiction, over all persons and property situated therein, to the exclusion of all other countries and governments."

It is disturbing that educators like Charles Truxillo look to anarchists like Tijerina for moral leadership and historical vision. As a result of this warped sense of morals and history, educators like Charles Truxillo, advocate that the area from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico belongs to Mexico.

Truxillo and educators of his ilk are performing a disservice to their students by distorting history, preaching hate, and inciting violence. The curriculum sounds frighteningly like the message Muslim Clerics preach at their Madrassas. Truxillo maintains that the new country should be created 'by any means necessary.' And after the 1995 Latino Summit representatives of the "Brown Berets de Aztlan," a Chicano paramilitary group, has threatened to "make the streets run red" with their opponent's blood.

This militant rhetoric isn't restricted to Tijerina, or the "Brown Berets de Aztlan." The Aztlan movement is supported by high profile militant separatist groups that are active on high school and university campuses. MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan) and La Raza (the Race) are just two of such groups.

Miguel Perez of Cal State-Northridge's MEChA chapter said, "The ultimate ideology is the liberation of Aztlan. Communism would be closest [to it]. Once Aztlan is established, ethnic cleansing would commence: Non-Chicanos would have to be expelled -- opposition groups would be quashed because you have to keep power." It sounds like the advocates of Aztlan preach the same philosophy advocated by Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda buddies.

It should be no surprise that the area in dispute was spelled out in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the U.S. - Mexican War. In the treaty, Mexico relinquished control of the area, in exchange for $15 million plus the U.S. assumed millions of dollars of Mexico's debt. But the believers in Aztlan want to rewrite history, and void the treaty.

The Aztlan agitators who claim the U.S. stole the area, have forgotten that in 1848, Mexico exercised very little control over the area, that less than 1% of Mexico's population was in the area, and no valuable minerals had been discovered.

Astute geopolitical observers have suggested that it may have been better for all concerned (U.S. and Mexico) if at the end of the war the U.S. had seized all of Mexico. No one can deny that the territory in question has prospered during the 154 years it has been under U.S. free market philosophy, while poverty still exists south of the border.

Without the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo the U.S. southwest might still look like Tijuana. Disbelievers need only walk across the border between San Diego and Tijuana to see the stark contrast.

The agitators call themselves the "Bronze People" and claim Aztlan is theirs. They have stated, "Aztlan belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops, and not to the foreign Europeans." I'm afraid that these misguided agitators have forgotten the strong cultural, religious, and ethnic influence that France and Spain (both European countries) have had on Mexico. Aztlan supporters should also abandon Spanish (a European language) and adopt Aztec or Mayan as the new language of Aztlan.

"Johnny get angry, Johnny get mad," the early pop song lyrics declare.

Well, let's add Jane to that.

I consider this a must-read article. Perhaps it has already been posted but the search function for most message boards are not the best around so I may have missed where this has already been posted. If it has, well, what the heck, it's worth reading again.

While you read note where some of the culprits are earning their living off your tax dollars!!!!!


http://www.thesocialcontract.com/cgi-bi ... n%20growth


La Raza -Chicano Activism in California
The Social Contract (Summer 1999)
by Diana Hull

"The coming numerical dominance of California's burgeoning Latino population was confirmed by the Census Bureau in July 1997. In 49 years, only 13.8 percent of Los Angeles County will be white and 69.1 percent will be Latino â€â€

Various Links:

Watsonville Brown Berets:

http://www.brownberets.info/

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Berets

Ensure you click on the "discussion" link on the tab near the top of the page. Links on the side, also.

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45/157.html

Heck, the part about not wanting to fight in a foreign land doesn't bother me. It's THIS that makes me continue our struggle:

"Raza....if they call on you to fight their war....say: "hell no, we won't go. Our real war is here in the streets of occupied Aztlan!""


La Raza: "Hell No We Won't Go" to the Kosovo War!
From the Brown Berets
18 April 1999
(JC.We remember that president Bush, in 'his' invasion of Panama. The orders were to concentrate the fire-bombing of Panama City in the poor 'Barrios'.US army forced the inhabitants back into the flames.)

Estimada Raza:

The Pentagon is calling up 33,000 reservists and the next step will be to re-institute the "involuntary draft." Last week the Secretary of the Army Luis Caldera, a Clinton Chicano lackey, was already stomping the barrios of Aztlan recruiting grunt's for the war. Caldera, a former California Assemblyman who's campaign literature showed a picture of him dressed as a "Cub Scout", is selling out La Raza in return for his political appointment by Clinton.

The Nation of Aztlan recently published an article outlining the historical inequality of La Raza in the U.S. Armed forces including the reason for the creation of the American G.I. Forum by Dr. Hector P. Garcia of Corpus Christi, Texas. They also outlined the shabby treatment of Chicano soldiers by the U.S. Veteran Administration after the war. Raza, there is no reason to enlist or be allowed to be drafted by the Gringo War Machine when our people are suffering so many injustices here at home.

Occupation police forces here in Aztlan are still shooting our young carnales in the back and the incarceration rate of our young men is at all time high. This is are pure and simple indirect measures of population control of La Raza. If you imprison the most virile of our young men or kill them off in war, then you will have a most effect- ive way of keeping our population in check as is being advocated by Anti-Immigration groups.

The doors of higher education are being shut close in our faces by the same forces that want to send you to an Imperialist War in foreign lands against people that have done nothing against La Raza. You in essence will be fighting on the side of your own oppressors. We have much work to do here at home to liberate Aztlan from Imperialist exploiters who are beating up and jailing our young people daily. We have much work to do here at home to reform an educational system that is pushing out our young people into the street to become prey for either drug pushers or the brutal police authorities.

Raza....if they call on you to fight their war....say: "hell no, we won't go. Our real war is here in the streets of occupied Aztlan!"

Mecha took a lot of heat for its radical ways and they have altered their constitution over time...... but the original attitudes remain. Mecha had chapters in the high schools I attended back in the early 70s.

Here is one of the pertinent portions of their constitution:

Section 3.

At the MEChA National Conference, steps will be taken to establish ties among the MEChA chapters in the spirit of Aztlan. The purpose of the National is to create a vibrant and responsive network of Chicano and Chicana activists who will respond as a unit against oppression and racism and will work in harmony when initiating and carrying out campaigns and liberation for our people.


To think, our schools embraced this group and even encouraged them to form in high schools and colleges.

Diversity and multi-culturalism of this type will surely lead to death of this once-great UNITED states.

Leave it to UC Berkeley to not hide the truth about Mecha.

Main Web site:

http://www.berkeleymecha.org/documents/bmc.html

First..... look at this:

"Community Committee
Shall establish close working relations with Chicana/o organizations in the community that support and do not contradict Berkeley MEChA's Principles and Objectives.
Shall be a liaison to all local Junior high and high school (non-MEChA) Raza clubs and organizations. "


Grab 'em when they are young!!!!!

Now this:

"Nuestros Documentos: El Plan de Santa Barbara, El Plan de Aztlán, and The Philosophy of MEChA will be our guiding documents in the development of our Chapter. "

The above has embedded links.

El Plan de Santa Barbara: http://www.berkeleymecha.org/documents/epdsb.html

El Plan de Aztlán:
http://www.berkeleymecha.org/documents/epeda.html

The Philosophy of MEChA: http://www.berkeleymecha.org/documents/pom.html


Here is the critical stuff, folks:

http://www.berkeleymecha.org/documents/epeda.html



El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal "gringo" invasion of our territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlán from whence came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their birth and consecrating the determination of our people of the sun, declare that the call of our blood is our power, our responsibility, and our inevitable destiny.

We are free and sovereign to determine those tasks which are justly called for by our house, our land, the sweat of our brows, and by our hearts. Aztlán belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops and not to the foreign Europeans. We do not recognize capricious frontiers on the bronze continent

Brotherhood unites us, and love 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. With our heart in our hands and our hands in the soil, we declare the independence of our mestizo nation. We are a bronze people with a bronze culture. Before the world, before all of North America, before all our brothers in the bronze continent, we are a nation, we are a union of free pueblos, we are Aztlán.

Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada.


Program
El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán sets the theme that the Chicanos (La Raza de Bronze) must use their nationalism as the key or common denominator for mass mobilization and organization. Once we are committed to the idea and philosophy of El Plan de Aztlán, we can only conclude that social, economic, cultural, and political independence is the only road to total liberation from oppression, exploitation, and racism. Our struggle then must be for the control of our barrios, campos, pueblos, lands, our economy, our culture, and our political life. El Plan commits all levels of Chicano society - the barrio, the campo, the ranchero, the writer, the teacher, the worker, the professional - to La Causa.

Nationalism
Nationalism as the key to organization transcends all religious, political, class, and economic factions or boundaries. Nationalism is the common denominator that all members of La Raza can agree upon.


Organizational Goals
UNITY in the thinking of our people concerning the barrios, the pueblo, the campo, the land, the poor, the middle class, the professional-all committed to the liberation of La Raza.


ECONOMY: economic 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. Cultural background and values which ignore materialism and embrace humanism will contribute to the act of cooperative buying and the distribution of resources and production to sustain an economic base for healthy growth and development Lands rightfully ours will be fought for and defended. Land and realty ownership will be acquired by the community for the people's welfare. Economic ties of responsibility must be secured by nationalism and the Chicano defense units.


EDUCATION must be relative to our people, i.e., history, culture, bilingual education, contributions, etc. Community control of our schools, our teachers, our administrators, our counselors, and our programs.


INSTITUTIONS shall serve our people by providing the service necessary for a full life and their welfare on the basis of restitution, not handouts or beggar's crumbs. Restitution for past economic slavery, political exploitation, ethnic and cultural psychological destruction and denial of civil and human rights. Institutions in our community which do not serve the people have no place in the community. The institutions belong to the people.


SELF-DEFENSE of the community must rely on the combined strength of the people. The front line defense will come from the barrios, the campos, the pueblos, and the ranchitos. Their involvement as protectors of their people will be given respect and dignity. They in turn offer their responsibility and their lives for their people. Those who place themselves in the front ranks for their people do so out of love and carnalismo. Those institutions which are fattened by our brothers to provide employment and political pork barrels for the gringo will do so only as acts of liberation and for La Causa. For the very young there will no longer be acts of juvenile delinquency, but revolutionary acts.


CULTURAL values of our people strengthen our identity and the moral backbone of the movement. Our culture unites and educates the family of La Raza towards liberation with one heart and one mind. We must insure that our writers, poets, musicians, and artists produce literature and art that is appealing to our people and relates to our revolutionary culture. Our cultural values of life, family, and home will serve as a powerful weapon to defeat the gringo dollar value system and encourage the process of love and brotherhood.


POLITICAL LIBERATION can only come through indepen-dent action on our part, since the two-party system is the same animal with two heads that feed from the same trough. Where we are a majority, we will control; where we are a minority, we will represent a pressure group; nationally, we will represent one party: La Familia de La Raza!



Action
Awareness and distribution of El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán. Presented at every meeting, demonstration, confrontation, courthouse, institution, administration, church, school, tree, building, car, and every place of human existence.


September 16, on the birthdate of Mexican Independence, a national walk-out by all Chicanos of all colleges and schools to be sustained until the complete revision of the educational system: its policy makers, administration, its curriculum, and its personnel to meet the needs of our community.


Self-Defense against the occupying forces of the oppressors at every school, every available man, woman, and child.


Community nationalization and organization of all Chicanos: El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán.



Economic program to drive the exploiter out of our community and a welding together of our people's combined resources to control their own production through cooperative effort.


Creation of an independent local, regional, and national political party.

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.

El Plan de Aztlán is the plan of liberation!

Very disturbing obhop. Thanks so much for this work and for sharing your personal experiences with this strange group of people nesting in our midst.

It's time to pull their cord and EJECT!

You were a brave kid, obhop. and that has made you a good man and a good American.

I'm very sorry that you had to contend with this as a young person. It's outrageous that our government could not protect or would not protect it's citizens, not even children, from this Blight of Barnacles.

:(

http://www.geocities.com/wilsonmecha/no ... about.html

Glen Wilson High School

One of many with a Mecha "club"

An organization whose constitution advocates the removal of Europeans from this continent.

Good old double standard. Let an Anglo whisper the merest mention of promoting anything related to promoting an Anglo cause and the outrage commences.

By golly, we ARE in a culture war and I fear we will lose.

Quote:

---

By golly, we ARE in a culture war and I fear we will lose.

---

[/quote]

It's really more than a culture war, obbop.

And what is going on is very frightening, but:

This is the United States.

WE are the Americans.

These people are going to get the Boot starting in January.

Enjoy the Christmas; be thankful for all our blessings; and then get ready in January to join 250,000,000 PISSED OFF AMERICANS take their country back.

230 years--hasn't been spent by 9 generations of Americans building the greatest nation on earth to allow foreign nations in cohoots our leaders to turn the USA into a Third World Toilet Bowl filled with Crap That Hates the GRINGO or anyone else.

This racist trash is goin' to be headin' up and moved on out of here.

Mark My Words.

8)

Why is it every other country in latin america but Mexico knows and is taught that the U.S. did not steal Mexico from them but bought it from them. Mexico asked 4 nations out of latin america-only 4 to help Mexico in their so-called "unite to fight" against their border fence bill. If Mexico is as united as they claim to be with latin america, then why is it they only asked central america, 1 nation in south america-colombia( which has too many problems of it's own) and the dominican republic for support on this issue? Why ask the poorest and most uneducated countries in latin america to help you(mexico)? Obviously there is a reason why they only asked certain countries(mainly the countries whose leaders signed cafta) in latin america to unite with them. I personally can't stand to hear Mexico's claims that latin america as a whole(when they only asked central america, brazil, the dominican republic, and colombia) is uniting with them against the border fence proposal. They did not ask Chile(richest and most prospering country in latin america), argentina, uruguay, etc for help. I wonder why? Could it be because those countries are not exporting their poor to the U.S.- but instead are trying to better their nations? Of course. Mexico has become the laughing stock in spain as well as the westernized latin american nations. They are definitely getting desperate. Not only that but Mexico has been the Benedict Arnold of latin america.

Excellent point Sonali and thank you so much for this insight and information. I think Mexico has lost respect, because they are Moochers and Whiners and are now Interfering with our democrcy.

Mexico has all on its own ruined its friendship with the best friend it ever had, the American People.

Good Bye Mexico.

8)