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Opinion
'Reconquistador' claims of MEChA bashers laughable

Our view: Secessionist myth obscures student group's work for Hispanic learning

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.27.2006

Some of today's anti-immigration activists are subscribing to the old adage that the bigger a lie is, the more people will believe it.
Their target is specifically a student movement known as MEChA, but by association it touches illegal immigrants and those who support more rights for them.
Through rhetoric, Web sites and letters to the editor, activists have been saying that MEChA is working to have the Southwestern United States become part of Mexico. It's a statement that's been around for years, but it's been dusted off and rolled out again because of the immigration debate.
We believe the statement is a fear-mongering tactic meant to arouse anti-immigrant sentiment and patriotic fervor. It appears some people in our community believe it.
On Monday, the Star ran a short story and seven photos concerning the MEChA chapter at Tucson High Magnet School. In the following days, we received five letters that repeated the lie about secession. Those letters also called Mechistas, as MEChA members call themselves, racist and subversive.
Those are the same words used by groups like Sierra Vista-based American Border Patrol, which calls MEChA members and pro-immigration activists and politicians "reconquistadors," implying that they want to take over this part of the country again just as the Conquistadors did centuries ago.
Glenn Spencer, 68, president of American Border Patrol, said Mechistas are "subversives turning the Southwest into a jurisdiction of Mexico." He also said illegal immigrants are "an army that has invaded the United States, and now they're trying to consolidate their gains."
It would be a mistake to say everyone opposed to immigration reforms adheres to these beliefs. Many rational members of our community conscientiously argue against immigrant rights without resorting to untruths and exaggerations.
But we feel compelled to counter the misinformation about MEChA.
The attacks on the group stem, in part, from its name, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, which translates into the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán. Aztlán is the place where the Aztec people came from. No one knows for sure where Aztlán was, but a MEChA Web site says it seems to be somewhere in the Southwestern United States, hence the claims about retaking the region.
Darlane Santa Cruz, 22, a senior at the University of Arizona and co-chair of the school's MEChA chapter, said the group isn't interested in takeovers of any kind.
"I just laugh when I hear that we are trying to take over," Santa Cruz said. "As Mechistas, we're aware of our heritage and where we come from. We take pride in that.
"We say this is our land and this is where we belong. But we don't want to take over anything."
Mechistas' pride in their region is no different than Arizonans being proud of their state. It's no different than being proud or your neighborhood or your city.
MEChA bashers are twisting words by taking statements about "our land" literally and crying about a secessionist plot.
What MEChA is interested in is helping Hispanics advance in society. The 30 members of MEChA at the UA visit high schools to encourage students to attend college, and they hold events and fund-raisers to spread the message that education is the path to success in America.
Santa Cruz said MEChA members support the humane treatment of illegal immigrants. Mechistas took part in the big marches of April 10 and were part of the human chain that formed around flag burners at Armory Park, trying to keep the peace.
MEChA wants to make a difference in the United States, not Mexico. The group's critics are simply fear-mongering by suggesting a secessionist movement. Such an event is as unlikely as the claim is laughable.