Letters to the Editor
Education Needed on Stanford MEChA
by Gabriela Rico
Class of 2003

I am writing in response to The Stanford Review's October 15th article, "MEChA: Social Justice Group or KKK?" I find the mere comparison of MEChA with a white supremacist group, whose primarily goal is to eliminate the existence of minorities in the United States, completely ludicrous. MEChA is an ethnic student organization working towards increasing access to higher education for Chicanos/Latinos and increasing visibility/understanding of the Chicano/Latino community on college campuses, which have historically excluded minorities.

Your efforts to scapegoat and pick on MEChA are not impressive or surprising. Picking on MEChA is easy in light of the post-Proposition 187 and post-9/11 xenophobic anti-immigrant sentiment in California and the nation. Picking on MEChA is easy in light of the right-wing misinformed press that spread surrounding Cruz Bustamante's affiliation with the organization during the recall election. Picking on MEChA is unfair and comparing them to the KKK is unfounded as they don't have an ethno-centrist agenda nor would they advocate the advancement of Chicano/Latino community at the expense of any other race.

I would suggest that the editors of the Stanford Review read up on their critical race theory and US history. Any contemporary racial theorist would pinpoint the institutional foundations of racism and would dismiss that minority organizations promoting cultural pride and the enfranchisement of the disadvantaged are ‘racist.' Racism equals the systematic genocide of American Indians at the founding of the United States; racism equals the historical enslavement of Africans and Jim Crow segregation of African-Americans; racism equals the philosophy of Manifest Destiny, which justified provoking war with Mexico and drafting the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, trading a mere $15 million for New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, California as well as parts of Utah, Oregon and Nevada. Organizations such as MEChA sprang up during the Civil Rights Movement as a response to minorities having suffered this type of racism, a response to active and institutional oppressioncnot the other way around.

MEChA leadership has re-affirmed that they do not adhere to El Plan de Aztlan, drafted during the radicalized 1960s (once again, check the context). MEChA offers campuses a national network of Chicano/Latino students working towards improving their community. As a Mechista at Stanford, I spent most of my time forming multi-cultural coalitions (in and of itself a rebuttal against any accusations of being separatist, segregationist, or racist) with student organizations such as SLAC, SEAS, and SOCC for workers' rights, affirmative action, and other campaigns encouraging diversity on the Stanford campus. As a Mechista at Stanford, I spent many hours doing community service work such as getting out the vote during elections, raising funds for scholarships benefiting the children of farm-workers, and tutoring/mentoring disadvantaged youth of different racial backgrounds. As a Mechista, I formed relationships with a diverse network of genuinely humane, compassionate, anti-racist activists, which made my Stanford experience enriching and invaluable. As a Stanford Mechista, I take offense to any accusations that this progressive student organization with social justice matters at the heart of its nature is ‘racist' or even remotely related to the KKK.

MEChA's motto is "La Union Hace La Fuerza," which means "Unity builds Strength." Stanford MEChA brought the Stanford community El Centro Chicano, Casa Zapata, the Stanford Center for Research on Chicana/o Studies, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, the recruitment and retention of Chicana/o faculty and students, numerous community-wide cultural events, political education on issues affecting the Chicano/Latino community, and an array of other pro-diversity campaigns. Most recently, Stanford MEChA worked to increase Community Center funding and to gain an Alternative Spring Break trip exposing Stanford students to farm-worker issues. Stanford MEChA has made invaluable contributions to the Stanford community and your editorial threatens to divert the support of its fellow student groups.

I challenge you to educate yourselves on the actual goals and accomplishments of Stanford MEChA. You should be proud this organization exists on your campus. Such harsh, unfounded accusations threaten the diversity Stanford is proud to embody and could have detrimental effects on the Chicano/Latino community and other ethnic student organizations. I recommend you apologize to this student organization for your misleading accusations and offensive comparison.

Page last modified on Thursday, 02-Mar-2006 00:25:57 MST.