While conservative commentators recently pressured California gubernatorial candidate Cruz Bustamante to distance himself from the Chicano advocacy group Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or MEChA, the head of the organization's Dartmouth chapter supported Bustamante's stance and defended the aims and purpose of the group.
MEChA, a student group created to increase the number of Chicanos entering college in the United States, has been called racist and violently radical. Bustamante, who joined MEChA while in college, defended the organization as a peaceful advocacy group dedicated to providing educational opportunities in comments he made in August.
Victor Fressie '05, the president of Dartmouth's chapter, said that like the original MEChA chapter founded in California, Dartmouth's was founded as an education-based student group. Fressie explained that the need for the organization is made clear in college admissions data.
"Chicanos are pretty much the lowest number of minorities in colleges in the United States, but Chicanos make up the largest minority group," Fressie said. "There is a disparity there."
According to statistics released by the Admissions Office, Hispanic enrollment at the College has risen from around four percent of the total for the Class of 2002 to nearly seven percent in the Class of 2007. Nationwide, Hispanics comprise over 13 percent of the population, with Mexicans accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total, according to data from the Census Bureau, though as many as five million of them may be in the country illegally.
The main argument presented by the group's opponents, and specifically to Bustamante's membership, stems from a founding document of the organization called El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan. The document was written at a student conference prior to the official birth of MEChA and is considered part of MEChA history.
The document is a source of contention because the document's prologue describes those states that were once part of Mexico as belonging "to those who plant the seeds, water the fields and gather the crops and not to the foreign Europeans." The prologue also includes the motto "for the race everything, for those outside the race, nothing."
Fressie said that while this document is associated with MEChA, it is not a part of the group's constitution and is actually a poetic work. The poem used for the prologue was written during the 1960s by Mexican American poet Alurista who helped in founding the organization.
"It was the 60s. It was a very radical time, especially for students, but it died out," Fressie said. "Right now MEChA is just about helping the Chicano community reach college." Fressie also said that MEChA is "not much of a political group" and is "nothing like the Black Panthers," a group that some critics have likened to MEChA.
When originally confronted about his membership in August, Bustamante addressed the issue by saying that he joined the organization while at the California State University, Fresno in the 70s, as a way of becoming involved in campus life. He also dismissed accusations that the group is radical.
"The students who are in MEChA today are just like the students when I was there, pretty much they are trying to get an education," Bustamante said at a press conference on August 30.
Some Bustamante supporters have argued that conservative attacks against Bustamante's college membership stem from anti-Chicano and racist sentiments. Fressie disagreed, saying that it seems to him to be a more political move than a racial one.
"Bustamante is different than [his opponents] are," said Fressie. "They are using MEChA for their own means."
While Fressie says MEChA supports Bustamante for maintaining his connection with the organization, the group has not specifically endorsed the candidate. "Members vote for themselves," Fressie said. "Hopefully Bustamante will help Chicanos get into college or better their lives; that is what we would like someone to do."
There are about 300 chapters of MEChA across the United States, with the majority in California and the southwest. Dartmouth's chapter holds cultural events for the College community as well as attends and hosts conferences, Fressie said.
