Monday, September 22, 1997
U.S.'s bilingual education hastens Mexican conquest of Southwest
EDUCATION: Spanish-language media propagates immigration, 'Reconquista' of western states By Glenn Spencer The debate over bilingual education can only be understood within the political climate of California. Those who believe this is a debate only of educational methods are not looking at the big picture and the motives behind those who are struggling to maintain Spanish-language instruction. To understand the characteristics of the political environment, it is useful to examine some examples of how the Los Angeles English- and Spanish-language media differ. In March, our organization, Voice of Citizens Together (VCT), held a rally at the U.S.-Mexico border. We were there to support the construction of a new fence system which was included in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Legal Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, approved by Congress and signed by the President. With more than 500 people lined up, it was the largest such rally ever held at the border. La Opinion, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the United States, ran photos of the rally in its March 23 edition. It showed one sign carried by a counter-demonstrator which read, "Uncle Sam Stole Our Land." The Los Angeles Times didn't mention it. In June, VCT ran a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times exposing "Reconquista," Mexico's plan to retake the Southwestern United States, and Bill Clinton's complicity in the process during the 1996 election campaign. Spanish-language television Channel 34 (Univision) covered the ad as a major news event, including an interview with the Mexican consul general, Angel Pescador Osuna. There was not a word about the ad in the English-language media, electronic or print. Over the past six years, VCT has been campaigning to stop illegal immigration. Time and time again, our activities have been covered only by the Spanish-language media. The coverage is clearly biased and many times VCT has been characterized as skinhead Nazi thugs. In one telling episode, Sergio Bendixen, a commentator on Channel 52 (Telemundo - Los Angeles), told his Spanish-language audience that Latinos were facing a situation similar to that faced by the Jews in the early days of Hitler. He suggested it was time to consider drastic action. Later, I was a guest, together with Mr. Bendixen, on "Which Way L.A.?" - a popular news interview program on FM radio in Los Angeles, hosted by Warren Olney. When I questioned him about the Hitler comment, Bendixen denied ever having made it. He was not telling the truth. We delivered tapes of his Channel 52 appearance to Warren Olney at KCRW which proved that he was not being forthright. Los Angeles is a city of two worlds, the English-language world and the Spanish-language world. They get different views of the unfolding immigration crisis. Spanish-language TV is replete with stories about immigration and how to beat the system. English language TV, for the most part, ignores it. According to the Los Angeles Times, when she was head of the Los Angeles Unified School Board, Leticia Quezada directed that a memo be sent to all teachers in the district instructing them that parents of school children not be encouraged to speak English at home but rather continue to use their native language. Quezada now works for the Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, an arm of the Mexican government (California report CT-2, Section 12586, revealed that $128,000 of the $222,000 budget was funded by the Mexican government). She was working for them when she sat on the committee which picked Ruben Zacarias to be the Superintendent of Los Angeles Public Schools. Zacarias has ties to the Mexican government, which is attempting to influence U.S. educational policies. The news on Spanish-language television isn't objective; it's propaganda. At the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project Meeting in June, Loyola Marymount professor Fernando Guerra talked about Spanish-language media. He observed, "the typical (Latino) household going to vote: They read La Opinion, watch Channel 34, belong to unions and attend church. Their Mechista kids (members of MEChA) come home from college - a convergence of forces. The power is Latino-centric. That is why Latino elected officials are so important." Evidence is mounting that Mexican migration north into the American Southwest involves more than just economic motivation. Speaking before a Latino conference on the effects of Proposition 187, Art Torres, now the Chairman of the California Democrat Party, said, "(Proposition) 187 was the last gasp of white America in California." Writing in Atlantic Monthly in November 1995, Prof. David Kennedy of Stanford observed that: "The possibility looms that in the next generation or so we will see a kind of Chicano Quebec take shape in the American Southwest." He called it "Reconquista." Part of the plan of Reconquista is to make sure that Mexicans retain Spanish as their primary language. In this way, they will be dependent on the Spanish-language media and the Sergio Bendixens of that world for their information and guidance. Bilingual education is part of the plan of conquest. In my opinion, it is not important that the children really learn English well enough to perform in the world of work; it is only important that they speak English well enough to take the jobs that require a bilingual capability. If Reconquista is a reality and if the demographic data are reliable, current trends will result in the Balkanization of California followed by the creation of a separate state linked to Mexico. The use of Spanish, especially in our schools, is designed to hasten that day. If it is to survive, the United States must take some immediate steps. First, the border with Mexico must be shut down. The Maquiladores plants, which do little more than draw Mexicans north for an eventual border crossing, must be closed and moved to the southern part of Mexico where the people and natural resources are. There must be a humane but effective repatriation of all Mexican nationals now in the United States. Naturalization of Mexicans must be halted until the question of dual citizenship is addressed. We must end the practice of granting automatic citizenship to children of illegal aliens. The United States must also end all bilingual education programs. Students must be taught fundamental lessons only in English. Finally, the broadcast of other-than-English programs must be halted immediately. Comments, feedback, problems? © 1997 ASUCLA Communications Board