Thread: the European invaders that pompously call t'selves American

LINK to original article

This is what "they" are saying about their "invasion."

Excerpt (the blogger's comment that follows the article he posted to his blog) .

Maybe it's just me, but I think most people would expect to find rhetoric this combustible in something published by, say, the A.N.S.W.E.R. crowd, or on Indymedia, rather than a mainstream newspaper. And I would also suggest that, had this been written in a mainstream English-language newspaper, you would have heard about it before now.


04 February 2005

"...the European invaders that pompously call themselves 'Americans'"

There are two main Spanish-language weekly newspapers in the Phoenix area. One is the Prensa Hispana ("Spanish Press"), an independent, family-owned paper; the other is La Voz ("The Voice"), which is partially owned by the Arizona Republic, a Gannett paper.

What follows is one of the opinion columns from the latest issue of La Voz. I picked it up off a newsstand this afternoon.

Unlike my previous translations, I am posting the entire column. Due to its nature, I don't want to be accused of selectively quoting from the piece or taking things out of context. Also, due to its length I am not including the original Spanish version, which can be found here.

With that...brace for impact.
----------------------------------------

157 years after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, we Mexicans continue to be subject to the shoddy interpretation of it by the European invaders that pompously call themselves “Americans.� We continue thus, suffering the effects of our own political inflexibility.

This treaty was signed at the conclusion of the Mexican-United States War, when at that time the invader “smelled� the opportunity to expand and “recognized� the independence of Texas, a state that after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo lost its pretended independence and was annexed to the United States, along with California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and part of Wyoming.

The treaty established the Gila River and the Rio Grande as the limits between both nations, and the American commitment to protect the civil, cultural, linguistic, and property rights of the Mexicans who decided to stay in the new U.S. territory.

But the U.S. Senate eliminated article 10, which guaranteed protection of the land concessions of the Mexicans, and weakened the reach of article 9, which protected their rights of citizenship.

All this created hostility toward the Mexicans, and eased the violation of their civil rights. In Texas for example, their voting rights were restricted; in California discriminatory laws were passed, and in New Mexico they were frequently victims of violence.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the complete stripping of the lands of the roughly 80,000 Mexican residents in what was formerly northern Mexico was completed. For this there was no compensation, nor explanations or trace of shame on the part of the gringo thieves. They simply followed the commands of their “Manifest Destiny� stipulated in the Monroe Doctrine which demanded “America for the (North) Americans.�

Like Texas, California and New Mexico in their time, now Arizona is the ground where many battles are to be unleashed, by virtue of an anti-immigrant law.

But unlike then, I believe 2005 and coming years are going to offer us a unique opportunity. The future can shine promising if only we will stop genuflecting and reverencing the white bearded man. We have to be ready for dialogue but also for battle. It is no longer possible to continue being weak-hearted in our own house.

In short, we have to affirm our right to live here. Because one can’t be a foreigner on American soil. The only foreigners, the real outsiders, are the gang of pernicious European outcasts from Europe, not we who have been here from time immemorial.

America for the Americans? Agreed. Then all those who can’t demonstrate their American roots, like Randy Pullen and his accompanying creatures, should start packing up their things. These “Americans� can break out their finest dresses to show them off in the English courts that they yearn for so much. Certainly there, in England, only English is spoken.

I hope it’s clear to these pseudo-Americans that in spite of them, and however many “apartheid� laws are passed, we, Mexicans, haven’t come to stay but have always been here and aren’t leaving. No matter what!*

And it's plain to see that, in spite of our colonial past, we Mexicans weren’t transplanted by force from Africa, or expelled from Europe by scoundrels. We are, after all, AMERICANS!
-------------------------------------------------

Maybe it's just me, but I think most people would expect to find rhetoric this combustible in something published by, say, the A.N.S.W.E.R. crowd, or on Indymedia, rather than a mainstream newspaper. And I would also suggest that, had this been written in a mainstream English-language newspaper, you would have heard about it before now.

*NOTE: The original Spanish at the end of this paragraph reads, ¡Y háganle como quieran!, , which roughly translated means, "And they can do to it as they want!" My translation reflects my best attempt to get across the author's intent. If you're bilingual and believe you've got a more accurate rendering, the comment thread is open.

UPDATE: I've responded to the comment below in a separate post.

Posted by The Gringo in Prop 200, Translations | Permalink

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Comments
I am one half European Invader and one half REAL American. ¡¡Soy indigeno Zapoteca!! I don't see how you can perceive the "COMBUSTIBLE RHETORIC" as anything other than what it is--A historical view of the gradual disappearance of provisions granted and signed for in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Thank god for William Travis Trist!!) You are not Protecting Arizona, you are hate-mongering, and you know it!! The hypocrisy of your proponents is abominable!! You Scream that the sky is falling and don't want to hear anything else. And--- I'll be willing to wager that most of your proponents have benefitted directly from the labor of the "illegals" There can be NO WAGER on the fact that the southwest and all of America (the United States part) benefits from their labor. WE (THE U. S. A.) PROVIDE THE MARKET that drives the incursion of cheap labor, yet when racists (I call spades, spades) don't want to see the brown horde people like you come out of the woodwork ---- enough said !!

Posted by: Arcelio Martinez | February 19, 2005 02:37 PM

I learned in history that those we call "Mexicans" are part Spanish, part Negro and a little Native American. Who's the invader again and who's the "native"?

I do like the Mexican culture, especially the food. They enrich our culture. But I wish they would obey the law to come here.

This is who "they" are:

Latin American Creole

In most of Latin America Creole (Spanish, criollo, Portuguese, crioulo) generally refers to people of unmixed Spanish or Portuguese descent born in the New World. In Brazil, though, the word is a pejorative slang for a black individual.

Throughout the colonial history of Latin America, the Spanish caste system made distinction between criollos and the higher-ranking and governing peninsulares, despite both being of pure Spanish ancestry â€â€

It is hard to believe that somebody can write such ridiculous garbage.
You lost the war. Get over it. To the victor goes the spoils as someone
once said.

"Like Texas, California and New Mexico in their time, now Arizona is the ground where many battles are to be unleashed, by virtue of an anti-immigrant law. "
Excuse me? We have anti-illegal immigrant laws.

It seems to me that the author of this piece has been sampling some of
the merchandise being smuggled over the border.