Calblog

LA Times Bias?

Here's today's description of Mecha:

Like nearly all Latino students, Bustamante joined the campus wing of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or MEChA, the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan, which is a national organization that then sought to enroll more Mexican Americans in college and rallied for farm workers' rights.

Political opponents in recent days have portrayed the group, which still exists, as militant and racist because it advocated the formation of a Chicano nation. The group's literature in 1969 referred to "the brutal 'gringo' invasion of our territories" and the "foreigner ... who exploits our riches and destroys our culture." The same literature also identifies education and cultural preservation as its aims, and students involved at the time say they did not seek a separate political state, only economic independence and equality.

Is there any doubt that the LA Times is downplaying the separatist nature of the group. After all, it was a group that enrolled Mexican Americans in college and advocated farm workers' rights. Its critics say that it is racist and militant.

Check out Prestopundit's coverage of the Mecha issue, particularly the links here.