La Voz de Aztlan, March 19 1979
Item
Title
La Voz de Aztlan, March 19 1979
Creator
Associated Students of Fresno State
Relation
La Voz de Aztlan (Daily Collegian, California State University, Fresno)
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
3/19/1979
Format
PDF
Identifier
SCUA_lvda_00100
extracted text
Special Publication of The Daily Collegian
LA VOZ de AZTLAN
March 19, 1979
Monday
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City Council elections:
Fresno takes leap backward
By RICARDO PIMENTEL
La Voz Contributor
Yes Fresno did take a giant step forward in electing Leonel Alvarado. It,
however took two steps backwards by
electing J oe Reich over the wishes of
his new constituency.
Perhaps the first and most important
thing Alvarado can do now that he's
in office is to help remove the racist
conditions from the electoral process
which allows for a large segment of
the population to go unrepresented
in city government .
The city's district election was a
farce. Worse, it was racist and a disgrace.
We call for not only Councilman
Alvarado to become involved in the
first for a fair balloting process. We
also call for the Mexican American
Political Association, El Concilio de
Fresno and all Chicanos to lend active
support to efforts already underway
to remedy Fresno's discriminating ballot box.
Proponents of the present electoral
process, may point to the Alvarado election as proof positive that the system
works. Incidentally, Alvarado won in
his district as well as citywide. However, Councilman Alvarado and others
should realize that it could very well
have been the Chicano candidate in
Purdom' s shoes. There was no guarantee that the rest of the city would vote
for the person District 5 residents
wanted. Alvarado could very well have
won in his district, but lost citywide.
Fortunately, the city coincidentally
voted along the same lines as District
5 and Chicanos and all Fresnans are
now assured viable representation on
the City Council this time . .This should
not dampen Alvarado's or anyone's
resolve to change the system, however.
If local government is allowed to
unjustly disenfranchise even one person, then so are we all potentially
without a vote.
1
At first glance, it appears Chicanos
have gained much from the recent City
Council elections . There is much to
support this view . After all, Leonel
Alvarado won his race in the District
5 contest, assuring Chicanos of good
and honest representation on the City
Council.
However, on the other side of town
something quite different was happening . In District 3, an area predominantly populated by Blacks and Chicanos, a
candidate captured the majority of the
district's votes yet lost the election.
George Purdom, a Black man, captured about 31 percent of the district's
votes in a seven-man race, yet it will
be Joe Reich, capturing about 3 percent
of the district's vote, who will represent the district in the City Council.
Odd? It gets stranger yet.
Reich, relatively unknown a couple of
weeks betore the election, staged a
media blitz which struck just the right
chord with Fr-esno voters. His target
was affirmative action. Now, thts man
was running for office to represent a ·
largely minority populated area, yet
his platform was blatantly anti-minority. Although Fresno does have council
districts and councilmen and council
candidates are required to live in the
district they will theoretically represent, voting is done at large. The result
was that insensitive Fresno voters
were able to ram an unwanted representative down the throats of District
3 residents. Purdom, who outpolled
Reich more than 3 to 1 in their district,
finished a dismal third citywide.
Perhaps the oddity of the situation
was best phrased by Purdom, He said,
"I've seen men using tactics to gain
offic~, but never against those who
he will represent."
The infamous anti-UFW sign at Continental Market. The sign has since
been removed.
Photo by FELIX CONTRERAS
Commentary .
Misconceptions continue to
plague strike, La Causa
By F~ ...IX J. CONTRERAS
La Voz Contributor
For over a month now, 4,500 United
Farmwork-er's Union Members have
been on- strike against 10 growers in
the Imperial Valley, where much of this
country's winter lettuce 1s proaucea.
Although farmworkers now have a
collective bargaining law which protects their rights, the strike reaffirms
the fact that agribusiness will continue
to fight farmworkers in . their sruggle
to improve their lives. One striker has
been shot to death in the fields, and a
local high school helped growers recruit strikebreakers until the UFW
went to court and that practice was
ordered stopped.
La Voz: Do you fee l you're being
one-sided against the union by displayin_g such a sign?
Kozy: "You can consider me being
one-sided 'cause I have to sit here, I
have to listen to all the people come in
and complain about the high price of
food. I have to, you know, listen to
'em gripe about how high the price of
lettuce is. So I feel it's gonna make my
life a little bit easier if I put an explanation up there for them . And it has cut
down on the amount of complaints I
get."
La Voz: So, you're putting the blame
on the union?
Kozy: "I'm just passing it to where it
belongs. If there wasn't a lettuce
strike, I wouldn't have that problem,
A Talk with a produce manager
Football fans at CSU.F:
misguided zealots
At this time of year (budget time)
everyooay seems to unnecessarily
attack the athletic department and
athletics in general. But, a recent
newspaper advertising campaign by
some Bulldog football fans seems too
golden an opportunity to overlook.
In the Fresno Bee and CSUF' s
Insight, a group calling itself the
"Committee for Night Football at
Night" has purchased expensive
advertising space. The group's goal is
to have football games moved back
to a "more sensible hour"--8 p.m.
Games were first moved to 7 p.m.
last year. That was done to provide
better media coverage and allow
Bulldog game statistics to be included
in NCAA sports reports. Apparently
because of fan pressures the athletic
department recently announced that
games would start at 7:30 p.m . next
year .
But this group of fans is still un~appy . So displeased are they that they
have spent more than $6,000 in ad,vertising space to pressure the school
into moving the games to 8 p.m.
The group contends that hundreds
of loyal Bulldog followers throughout
the Valley are hurt by the early game
start. They believe that many work
Satu_rdays, · have trouble finding
parking ~nd seating on time, and thus
are deprived of watching the "great
sport."
Although we concede that a few fans
may be inconvenienced by early
game times, the issue seems too trivial
to even debate seriously.
With the multitude of problems
facing the city and state, as well as the
country, this effort seems a misguided
wast~ ot time a,recteo oy narrowminded zealots.
Although we believe that everyone
should have the right to spend their
money as they see fit, we can't help
but feel frustrated. It seems to us that
if we had more than $6,000 to spend
we could find many ways of putting it
to better use .
The plight of the farmworkers has
been grossly misunderstood by a misinformed public. Very rarely does the
average consumer take the time to
investigate issues surrounding the
strike (a scan of the newspaper would
give adequate data). In this money
oriented society, produce buyers only
see the UFW as the cause for the rise
in prices.
So the misconceptions ·a nd the stereotypes persist. La Voz discovered that
the farmworkers strike was being
blamed for the high price of lettuce
in the produce section of Continental
Market in Fresno (4343 N . Blackstone).
Above the lettuce display in this market was a sign that read: "As a result of
the UFW strike ... lettuce 98¢/head .. .
(We don't like the price either)".
, CSUF M.E.CH.A President Priscil-_
la Contreras and I talked with produce
manager Craig Kozy and asked him if
he felt he was misleading the public.
Kozy said he was the manager of
the produce section and admitted to
putting up the sign .
The sign was a perfect example _of
his ignorance to the plight of the
farmworkers and Kozy 's comments
even further showed his bias . (Through
out the interview, Kozy was cutting and
cleaning a crate of corn with a sharp
3-inch cutting instrument.)
right? I'd also be selling a lot more lettuce and a lot more people would be
eating lettuce."
La Voz: Do you understand why they
are striking?
Kozy: "Yeah, I know why they're
striking. I don't believe in it . It's my
own personal opinion. "
La Voz: So you feel you ' re in a position to go ahead and pass that opinion
on to others, and maybe sway people
who don't really understand what's
happening?
Kozy: "It's my perogative."
Continued on Pg. 6
La Voz de Aztlan is published by the
Associated Students at California State
University, Fresno and the newspaper
staff. Unsigned editorials are the opini-
ons of the La Voz staff, and not necessarily the views of the Associated Students, CSUF or the State of California.
Editor ... Richard Aguirre
Photography ... George Aguirre, Ricardo
Pimentel. Luoe Mora.
.Art ... Alvino Franco, Arturo Ocampo
Reporters ... Dora Lara, Margarita Mar•
tinez, Octavio Yescas.
Contributors ... Felix Contreras, Arh re;
Ocampo, Elvia Ruiz, Dianne Solis, Ricardo Pimentel.
(
March 19, 1979
Pagel
La Voz de Atzlan
La Chicana y Dona Marina, La Malinche
The birth of La_Mexicana,
her life and search for identity
By DORA LARA
La Voz Contributor
In 1519, the Spaniard Hernan
Cortes stepped onto Mexican soil,
and through a series of military and
political maneuvers destroyed the
Nahua empire and began a 300-year
European
colonization period
in
Mexico.
Women in this period of time saw
themselves totally defenseless in a
world of humiliation, abuse and
slavery. Their faces deformed by the
branding iron, thousands of women
were marked for the slave market.
Taken at wi 11 by the conquerors,
women married or single, seemed far
removed from the times when she was
considered a "precious gem and valued
feather" by the family .
As the Spanish women arrived
in the middle 1500s, they along with
Criollas and Mestizas held the power.
However, Indian women sti II held the
power as women.
Spanish women naturally were held
in higtt esteem, for they were mothers
to the Criollos, while the Indian women
gave birth to the Mestizo -- the"estirpe
de los desamparados."
The ticket to higher status in the new
society was through the Spanish
male, as Juan Alegria has frankly said.
For this reason, while the first relations
between the two groups were by force
and violence, eventually parents
gave their daughters up willingly
and then women themselves submitted. This is pointed oput in the
text Profile of the Mexican-American
Woman:
"For the Indian woman there was no
other fate than to serve. They served
the Spaniards, keeping their homes
and children and at the same time
providing sexual favors to the Spaniards.
"The mestizos' mothers were never
appreciated in their motherhood
nor as persons. Naturally, the males
felt wounded by these conditions,
and in their powerlessness to change
things, they blamed the women."
According to the text, the physical
suffering of women during the colonial
period is miniscule compared to the
psychological scars, caused by the conquest, Mestisaje, and the growing
pains of a cefonized society. Morally,
Mexicanas have suffered the brunt
of the blame for the conquest, tor
giving life to the children of the conquerors.
One sole Indian slave, Dona Marina,
symbolicallv carries the blame for the
c;onquest and the birth of tlie Mestizo
race.
Octavio Paz, Samuel Ramos, Carlos
Fuentes and many other writers,
both Mexican and foreign, have made
this one woman, Dona Marina (La
Malinche) the symbolic object of all
their negative feelings about the
conquest and the Mestisaje.
Dona Marina, whose Indian name
is Malinalli Tenepal, was born . and
raised in Oluta Coatzacualco in a matriarchal society. Deposed from her
position as a Casica {one who leads
an easy life) she was sold into slavery
by her parents, leaving her position
open to her half-brother.
When Hernan Cortes entered
Mexico, Malinche, along with other
slaves, were given to him. Later, this
would set her role in history.
Intelligent and eager to serve
with language skills in Nahua and
Maya, and also beautiful, she gained
an enviable position with her new
masters-.
Mali nche, born a leader, knowledgeable in politics, desirous of her
freedom, quickly learned Spanish and
became indispensible to the conquest.
She was also known to be a follower
of Quetzalcoatl and a believer in the
prophesies, a tact which predisposed
her to accept the new faith predicted
by the Spaniards
Une ot her tew detenders, Aniceto
Aramoni, a contemporary psychologist
considers her indispensable to the
conquest because of her powerful
position as translater and diplomat.
She was taken by Cortes as a lover,
mothered his child and later discarded
by him when he brought a wife from
Spain.
Symbolically, she has represented
the thousands of Indian women who
through similar circumstances suffered
the same fate .
According to Aramoni, Dona Marina
had nothing to lose. Resentful of her
people who had twice sold her into
slavery and deposed her of her rightful position, she was raised into a
position of power by her new master.
Cortes, known as the descendent of
Quetzalcoatl or perhaps Quetzalcoatl
himself, honored her with a son,
symbolically the first Mestizo.
Another defender of Dona Maria,
Adelaida del Castillo, a Chicana
historian, feels that to remove Dona
Marina as everyone's "whipping girl"
would be to establish the Mexicana' s
rightful strong status once and for all.
A writer, Juana Alegria, urges
Mexican women to dispel the negative
feelings about La Malinche and the
other Indian women who were instrumental by force or otherwise in the
birth of the Mestizo race. Doing this
is important so that Mexicanas can help
gain a more positive 1dentrty.
La Mujer y La Familia========ft
1AM
Though I am not the man of the house ·
I am the hand of the family.
For it is I who mend the socks,
Raise the children, maintain the
budget,
Prepare the meals, wash the clothes,
and
Give out the squeezes, hugs, and
kisses.
It is I who cures colds, cuts, bruises,
Bad days and little scratches on the
knees
With my whole heart.
Though I am not the man of the house
I too put in a day's work plus more ...
For no pay, no vacation, no sick leave,
And no recognition.
It is I, and I alone, who is
The hand of the familv
I am softer than a red rose
And as mean as a cat.
I am softer tha a red rose
Sweeter than new fallen snow
And it is my heart that is
Warmer than the sun from up above.
Though I am not the man of the house
I am the hand of the family.
By Maria Anita Torres
La Voz contributor
Page4
La Voz de Atzlan
"The rich have money on their side, but time is on the side of the poor."
--Cesar Chavez
"The strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for othe~
a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer
others. God help us to be men."
--Cesar Cha
La Voz de Atzlan
Pages
Visio"ns of La Causa:
Chavez sweeps
into the San Joaquin
--Photos by George Aguirre
"We are suffering ... We shall unite ... We shall strike ... We shall overcome ... Our pilgramage is the match that will light our cause for all
farmworkers to see what is happening here, so that they may do as we
have done."
--Cesar Chavez
La Voz de Atzlan
Page&
La Huelga spreads to the
San Joaquin, Sa_
linas Vall.ey~
J ust two years ago, the UFW' s
troubles seemed to be over. The Teamsters had finally agreed to allow the
UFW to unionize field workers while
the Teamsters would have jurisdiction over shed and packing workers .
On the heels of that agreement and
the signing of more than 100 contracts
with growers, the UFW finally ended
its boycott of lettuce, wine and table
grapes in February, 1978.
But in January, troubles for the union cropped up again when negotiations with growers failed to produce
new contracts to cover the workers .
Chavez called a strike in the Imperial
Valley against 11 lettuce growers there .
The strikes have now spread through
out 30 farms in California and Arizona
and may spread even further.
In Huron , 200 UFW members are
striking two local companies, Sun Harvest and Bruce Church Farms, Inc .
But the number of strikes in the area
could swell when the harvests intensify later this month and in April .
The Fresno Bee recently reported
that an average 9,000 acres of head
lettuce is grown annually in Fresno,· according to the county agricultural commissioner's office .
Ever since strike negotiations broke
down a few weeks ago, both sides have
taken their case to the public. Grower
ad campaigns have been designed to
force Gov. Brown to put pressure on
Chavez to end the walkout, while the
union spokesmen have stressed that
the workers only demand decent
wages.
Chavez recently called for a boycott
on Chiquita Bananas in a move to pressure United Brands, Inc., owner of Chiquita and
Sun Harvest, a huge lettuce grower, to yield to UFW demands .
The union president has also charged
that the growers are not bargaining
"in good faith." Growers have denied
that charge, however, and said that the
union has faltered in recent years and
has issued unreasonable demands .
Spokesmen for the growers have said
that if the UFW strike continues, or
if the union demands are met, there
win be fewer jobs in the fields, higher
grower costs and 'higher consumer prices.
,.~ To curb the violence, a judge in the
Imperial Valley has ruled that no more
than 100 strikers may enter the fields
to picket at a time. Locally, the Fresno
court has disarmed grower security
men and ordered strikers not to throw
rocks at the strike breakers in the
fields.
Growers said that Chavez wants a 40
percent increase in w_ages immediately.
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They have also charged Chavez and
his followers with trespassing, destroying crops and equipment and for causing most of the violence in the fields .
One man, a UFW worker, has been
killed, more than 30 have been injured
and more than 160 have been arrested
during the strike . Chavez has blamed
the violence on the grower security
men and on "police riots."
They have proposed a seven percent
annual increase during a three-year
contract, and this, they contend, is consistent with President Carter's voluntary seven percent wage increase limitation,
.
The union has rejected that proposal
and said that it will accept a seven percent wage increase when the growers
limit their profits to seven percent. The
union has demanded an increase in
wages per hour of $1. 50--from $3. 70 to
$5 .20.
Strike hurt by Continuing stereotypes
Continued from Pg. 2
La Voz : You say that you understand
what they' re striking for ...
Kozy : "Yeah, higher wages."
La Voz : Don't you believe they
should get paid better wages for the
work they do?
Kozy: "Not really."
La Voz: The work you do compared to
the work they do is nothing. You have a
leasure job.
Kozy : "Oh, it's a leasure job? Too
bad you weren't here an hour ago
when we were unloading the truck try
that kid!"
'
La Voz: That's nothing you' re not
in the fields picking the lettuce ...
Kozy: "No, I' m trimming corn it
looks like to me. " (sarcastically)
'
La Voz : I don't think you understana
what the people are doing, what it
takes to do what they do .
Kozy: "Well , I also know that most
of them are wetbacks and most of the
money goes back to Mex ico ."
La Voz: That's such a narrowminded point of view to have.
Kozy: "You think so, huh? Well,
kid, once you get out in this world,
start working for a living, you find out
what life's all about . Your attitudes
are gonna change too. You' re saying
"no, no, no" . Hell, you' re living at
home, life's gravy. Wait till you see
what this world's like ." (Kozy is 22
years old. I am 21 and have spent
many summers in the tomato h::ids of
Yolo County.)
La Voz : What do you rnnsider a
"wetback"?
Kozy: "Someone who s not a citizen of this country , somebody who
comes from Mexico to work in the
fields. "
La Voz : Only from Mexico?
Kozy: "Well , from any country in
the world, anybody that is classified an
'i llegal alien '. But most of them are
from Mexico, and that ' s why we say
that ."
La Voz : Why the name "wetback"?
Kozy: "I don't know. Somebody
gave it to them a long time ago. Uh,
wetback - it means "without papers"
doesn't it? No, that's "wop". I don't
know why they' re called that. That's
the name they got."
The interview was conducted on
Feb . 16. The sign has since been re:"
moved, but the damage has been done .
Who knows how many shoppers were
swayed by the sign, and developed a
misguided stand against the United
Farm Workers?
Not that the future of the United
Farm Workers rests on what Continental does. The problem is that if
more "produce managers" abuse their
positions like Craig Kozy ' s , the Farmw.o rkers' fight for unionization will become fabricated into an economic
threat to consumers.
They ' re not a threat to anyone , actually . If you conside r wanting to improve
t heir living and working condition, and
position in society, a threat, then you
have ~omething to be afraid of .
But not from them, fro m yourself .
March 19,1979
Cesar Chavez
visits Huron
By RICHARD AGUIRRE
E ditor of La Voz
Huron--Huron is one of those outof-the-way towns that most have heard
about but never visited . It is the typi.cal small farm community - a main
street and just a few stores - that has
apparently changed very little for
years.
There is little to see there and even
less to do, but last week was an exception, because March 6, Cesar Estrada
Chavez, head of t he United Farmworkers of America (UFW) led a march
here .
The 52-year-old former field worker
arrived with more than 600 other union
members and supporte rs to reaffirm
their faith in the current lettuce strike
in California a nd Arizona. Caravans
of strikers and supporters poured into
the town to see Chavez, and gain
strength from each other to continue
the struggle.
As I the hundreds lined up for the
march, the spi rits of "La Causa"
filled t he ai r and shouts of encouragement freque ntly rang out . "Boycott
Chiquita Banana" signs and red and
black UFW flag s were excitedly waved
by t he crowd as television crews and
photographers reported the event.
Just as the orderly three-mile march
began, Chavez ste pped from a car and
joined the column . He tried to take a
modest posture but the TV crews and
frantic photographers made obscurity
impossible .
Chavez looked fatigued but comfortable among his people. The short dark
man was, as usual , dressed simply in
dark slacks and shoes , and a graychecked pendleton shirt.
.
He was calm and quiet throughout
the march, but his marchers were unrestrained, shouting slogans and urging others to join the line. But many
chose to just watch the event from the
sidelines as the most exciting event of
the day passed by.
The column threaded its way through
the town past rickety houses, police
check points and lush fields . The line
stretched to some 400 yards until,
nearly two hours later, the marchers
headed back into the center .
There they pressed back into an auditorium and moved towards the podium
to get a closer look at their leader.
When Chavez did move forward to
speak,the applause was deafening.
In a high-pitched voice, -punctuated by gestures, Chavez told . the
strikers in Spanish that they had to
make sacrifices to gain their "just"
demands. And he told them to be proud
they were farmworkers.
"El trabajo del c;ampesino es el mas
importante del mundo." (The work of
the field worker is the most important
job in the world.)
"Today we earn more money than
before, but we are poorer," said Chavez in Spanish. Inflation has negated all
progress the union has made; in 15
years of struggle the farmworkers have
only gained 50 cents in real spending
power, he said.
Chavez made sure they got the message by always returning to the central
theme: "Esta huelga es la huelga de
mas dinero ." (Th is is t he strike for
higher wages )
La Voz de Atzlan
March 19, 1979
Page7
.Pride,unity,joy
found among la gente
By MARGARITA MARTINEZ
La Voz Writer
I used to regret not having been able
to play a part in the farmworker
movement during the late 60s and
early 70s . At that time I was so young
I hardly understood what was happening .
As I grew older and became aware
of the significance of the UFW it
seemed as if the days of marches,
conventions, boycotts and doing my
part in "La Causa" were over. But
it seems as if the life of the farmworker
is one of a constant struggle, and
again the fight is on.
to once again assemble for the march
I was astonished that Chavez' place in
the line would be directly behind me
throughout the march.
As he took his place behind me I
turned around and looked at him.
He reached out his hand to shake mine.
I felt very proud to be able to participate along with Cesar in the march.
I could hear him speaking to UFW
members and I could see the joy in
their faces at being able to speak
with him, and could identify with their
feelings.
I saw one very old man who was
almost blind led up to Chavez and
greet him with much enthusiasm.
Cii.1c~~-a-1n·vrwMa~c1··
------------------------------I was able
to experience
Recently,
being a part of a struggle . I was able
to attend a UFW march and rally in
Huron. As I arr;v'ed in the tiny con;imunity of Huron, along with other
Fresno State students, I could sense
the excitement in the air as throngs
of people began assembling for the
three-mile march in anticipation of
seeing Cesar Chavez.
There were very old men and women, middle aged farm laborers,
young teenagers, college students and
even tiny babies.
All around me I could hear everyone speaking in Spanish and keeping
an eye out for the arrival of Cesar
Chavez. As I stood there along with
the-others waiting, along came a brown
car and a smiling Cesar Chavez stepped out to be rushed at by his joyous
supporters, and the overanxious
media. I kept trying to see Cesar
Chavez and keep from being shoved
and stepped on.
After a few minutes the confusion
died down and people slo~ly began
He apologized for not being able to
march . Chavez thanked him for his
support and warmly shook his hand.
In another incident a frail woman
was also led up tp Chavez. She told him
that she wanted very much to march
alongside him, but since she was very
weak she could only march a short
distance. Chavez spoke with her again
thanking her and interwined his arm
through hers for the short distance
she marched.
I saw other people who hadn 't
marched drive up in cars and run up
to him and shake his hand. I could
often hear people exclaiming, "Miro
lo alli esta" and excitedly point at him,
others would run up to him and take his
picture. All of this made me f~PI
respectful of him because of the sense
of security he brought to everyone.
Throughout the march people sang,
with the mariachis accompanying
them. They waved their flags, their
symbols of hope, and shouted "Viva
Chavez" and "Viva la huelga".
I could feel a strong sense of unity
among everyone. As the march c~me
to an end people became more excited
and the shouts became more intense.
I looked back to the end of the column
and it seemed to strek,, forever.
As the sun started to set with the
ending of the march I was glad that
I had attended and had been a?le to
share in such a rewarding experience.
On the Wire
MEXICO CITY UPI--A series of
earthquakes that hit Mexico killed
five persons and injured 50, flattened
three buildings in Mexico City and
damaged 174 others, authorities say.
Latest reports show two persons died
in the - capital during the tremors
and three others were killed in the
southern state of Guerrero, including
a nine-year-old girl and an elderly
man who suffered a heart attack .
The quakes, which registered
7.75 on the open-ended Richter scale
Wednesday, also totally destroyed
three buildings in the capital and
damaged 174 others, some of which
have been evacuated, authorities
said .
SAN DIEGO UPI--The father _o~ a
man accused in the December killing
of two California Highway Patrolmen
near Sacramento held a press conference Thursday, urging Chicano ·
leaders to help his son get a fair trial.
And the leader of the Chicano
community organization that sponsored
the news conference charged that the
arrest of Luis Rodrigue~ Jr ., 23,
could be linked to "the historic mistreatment of minorites by law enforcement officers ."
Rodriguez faces murder• charges
in the death of CHP Officers Roy
B~lcher and Mike Freeman, who· were
shot to death along Interstate 80 in
West Sacramento Dec. 22.
Arrested with Rodriguez Christmas
Eve was Margaret Klaess, 18, who
was later granted immunity from
murder charges in exchange for her
testimony against Rodriguez.
She admitted that she was in the
car with Rodriguez when it was stopped
by the CHP officers the night of the
killings .
Luis Rodriguez Sr. of Los Angeles
Thursday suggested the Yolo County
Sheriff's Department may have
violated U.S. Postal regualtions when
it obtained a copy of a love letter
apparently written by his son to a
woman other than Miss Klaess .
It was after reading that letter that
Miss Klaess apparently decided to
testify against her boyfriend, the
elder Rodriguez said .
"They painted a picture of Klaess
as a little teen-ager who was badly
taken advantage of, but that's just
not the case," the father said at a news
conference sponsored by the San
Diego based Chicano Rights Organization .
"She is a very streetwise girl who
has a record of drug abuse and arrests
going back to age nine, and all that
came out in court."
The father cal·led on Chicano community organizations to press for a
fair trial for his son. Herman Baca,
director of the Chicano Rights Organization, also addressed reporters Thursday .
"Our first concern is to get this man
a fair trial " he said. Baca suggested
Rodriguez: arrest was part of "the
historic mistreatment of minorities
by law enforcement officers throughout
the southwest."
BERKELEY UPI--The University of
California Student Senate has refused
to reverse its hotly-protested decision
not to fund a campus appearance by
black activist Stokely Carmichael.
Carmichael had been invited to
speak by the ethnic studies department which gets $120,000 annually
in st~dent funds to finance speaking
engagements and numerous other
projects.
The student senate must aoorove
the expenditures, and such approvals
are usually routine . Speakers such as
Dennis Banks, Cesar Chavez and
James Baldwin had no tro~ble .
But when a proposal to spend
$1 500 on an honorarium, travel and
publicity expenses for C~rmichael
came up last week, it was reJected by
a 17-11 vote.
Anti-Carmichael
senators . ~omplained that he was "anti-Zionist." .
They said Carmichael was free to speak
on campus but that the studen~s
should not have to pay to hear his
"anti-Israel" views.
.
At a student senate meeting that
lasted until 2:30 a.m. Thursday, _numerous students argued that Carm1cha~I
should not be rejected because of his
political views.
h h d
ted
But no member w o a vo
against Carmichael last_ wee~ wa~
willing to request recons1derat1on , sd
under the rules the senate was barre
from revoting on its decision·
However the senate adoptedh . ha
resolution ' on a 15-1 1 vo te W IC
declared that future speaking eng~gr
ments should be considered so e y
on the basis of financial impact, a~d
not on the basis of the speaker s
politics.
k t
Editor's note: Carmichael sp~ e a
CSUF Feb. 7, as part of Black History
Week. His appearance ~as sponso~ted
by the Alpha Phi Alpha fraterm y.
La VozdeAtzlan
Pa e8
--------Noticias de la Raza----...;........,
BILINGUAL ED BACKED
CINCO DE MAYO VISIT
Wilson Riles, California Superintendent of Public Instruction last
week reaffirmed the state's committment to the bilingual education program.
Riles issued· the endorsement
afte an auditor general's report criticized a lack of adequate management
in the program.
A failure to properly administer
the program could lead to a .loss of
funding for the ~tate and federally
supported program, the auditor general 's report said.
· Bilingual education was established
by the state in 1976 so that students,
such as those who speak Spanish
principally, could be eased into classes
taught in English.
Riles said the program is designed
to help the student who is limited or
non-English speaking. The funds are
ceased when the student becomes
fluent in English.
"Our program to serve limited and
non-English speaking students is
relatively new. The laws- are complex
and difficult to administer," Riles said.
"Don't let evidence of confusion be
taken as a lack of committment of
giving limited and non-English speaking children every opportunity for
quality education," he said.
EOP TALE NT SHOW
Applications are now available for
the EOP Talent Show, to be held April
21. Auditions are now being organized,
so come out and "do your thing". For
more information, contact Tony Garduque or _Linda Hernandez in the EOP
office, located in the Joyal Administration Building (487-1021).
MINI CORPS DISCO DANCE
A disco dance fundraiser will be held
March 31 (Saturday) to raise money to
send 16 Minicorps students to Mexico.
The trip- will enable the students to
observe Mexican teaching methods in
a program that is very effective, ac
cording to a Minicorps spokesper
son.
The dance will be held at the Pinedale Community Center, 7170 N. San
Pablo, Pinedale. Donations will be $2
per person and $3 a couple. Starting
time is 9:00, and refreshments will be
served.
MESSAGE FROM MECHA
Mecha is now recruiting students to
attend meetings. We realize that our
studies are important, but there are
issues coming up that are going to
affect all Chicanos, and if we are now
aware of them and do not take action,
we will all end up losers. We hope that
people become more concerned with
what is happening now, before it is
too late.
The next Mecha meetings will bt:
held: March 22, Dean's Conference
room, SR 4, room 220; March 29, College Union, room 312-14; and April 5
College Union, room 309.
'
CHICANO COMMENCEMENT
The
Chicano
Commencement
Committee of the Chicano Alumni
Association is now accepting applications for the third annual Chicano
commencement at CSUF. The event is
set for Sunday, May 20, at the Fresno
District Fairgrounds.
Applications can be picked up at
Tutorial Services, the La Raza Studies
off ice, and the EOP off ice. The deadIi ne for returning applications is
April 18.
The bilingual ceremonies are designed to honor not only t~e graduate,
but those who helped the student
"make it " through school. A private
dinner and dance are included.
The graduates are urged to participate in regular commencement
activities two days earlier as well as
the special Chicano event.
A burrito sale will be held on campus
Friday to help finance the g·raduation ceremony. Anyone interested
in helping in the event or needing
information should call 487-1053.
UFW asks for help...__:___.j
The plea for food and money to help
far~workers on strike in Huron has
agam been issued. Contributions are
urgently needed by these local United
Farm workers.
Donations may be left at the La Raza
St udi~s office in SR 4, room 118. For
more information call 487-2848 or con-
tact Ben Bustos at 251-9380.
Mecha President Priscilla Contreras
has also requested that each Chicano
group on campus contribute food and at
least $25 per group for the strikers.
She may be contacted through the La
Raza Studies office.
REICH BLASTED
Newly elected city councilman
Joe Reich, West Fresno's representative, got more than a simple swearing -in ceremony last Tuesday. A group
of more than 60 black citizens marched
in front of City Hall then crowded foto
th.e council chambers protesting
Reich's election.
Reich, ·an attorney, won the election
after a last minute media barrage
that stressed his opposition to minority ·
programs, such as Affirmative Action.
He gained just three percent of the
vote in his own district, but captured
enough votes citywide to win the post.
After the swearing-in ceremony he
told reporters, "I 'm not a racist."
Les Kimber, publisher of The
California Advocate, said that local
black political groups planned to ask
the U.S. Justice Department to file
suit against the city. He said the city
should hold district elections for
council represenatives rather than have
all candidates voted on by all dty
- residents.·
Kimber asked council members to
make sure the city's Westside got fair
representation.
Most Chicanos will soon be celebrating Cinco de Mayo in unrestrained
freedom, but for another group of
Chicanos, festivities will be brought
inside to them.
On April 28, CSUF students and
Pinto program coordinators will provide music, dance, teatro and speeches
for inmates at the California Men's
Colony in San Luis Obispo.
The program's goal will be to provide the Chicanos in prison with a
positive attitude about themselves,
according to sponsors of the trip.
To help raise money for the visit
(travel, hotel), food sales will soon be
held on campus. The group· also
plans to take educational material to
the convicts, and have initiated a book
drive with "La Raza Unida", a group
of Chicano inmates.
The Pinto program coordinated at
:suF by Tony Garduque, Harold
Parras, and Bill Brandt, is designed
to help the ex-offender "make W'
in college.
"We all feel that this is a very important project," said Parras. "We
need to make all brothers aware that
there are people out there who care
and who are willing to do more than
talk about it."
Those interested in helping in the
project or donating books should
· contact the EOP office or the La Raza
Studies office.
EOPTENNIS
Tuesday is the deadline for sign-ups
for the EOP intramural tennis team.
Men and women interested in competing are asked to contact Tony
Garduque or Barbara Gomez in the
EOP office or cal I 487-1021.
STATEWIDE CHICANO TOURNEY
SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS .
Margaret de la Cruz, Velia Juarez,
Sarah Martinez, and Luis Rendor were
this semester's winners of the Chicano
Alumni Association scholarships.
They were presented S50 checks at
the Chicano Commencement meeting,
March 9. The Association will soon be
a~cepting applications for the fall
1979 scholarships.
THE MEANING OF
LA VOZ De AZTLAN
La Voz de Aztlan means "The voice ·
of Aztlan. " Aztlan has been translated
by most historians to be the mythical
name of the Aztec (or Mexica or Chichimeca) people who held the area
around present-day Mexico City when
the Spaniards under Hernan Cortes
~ntered Mexico in 1519.
A state-wide Chicano basketball
tournament has been set for April 2122 here in Fresno.
Sponsored by the Chicano Youth
Center, the tourney will include 16
teams in a single elimination competi•
tion.
Teams from Fresno, Hayward, Los
Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San
Jose, and Woodland will vie for the
~ .._
,~rds.
In their native Nahuatl language,
Aztlan meant "the place of herons,"
and also "the place they had been
·before." Dr. Jose Canales of the CSUF
History Department said he has traced
the origins of the Aztecs, a migratory
tribe as far north as present-day St.
Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To Chicanos, Aztlan is the name for
t.he entire Southwest -- our symbolic
homeland.
LA VOZ de AZTLAN
March 19, 1979
Monday
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ComentariO
Page 2
s----iiiiiii.iiiiiiiiiiiiii.iiiiiiiiiiiiii.iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.Maiiiiiiiiirchiii.;i19'1ii i i i .979
City Council elections:
Fresno takes leap backward
By RICARDO PIMENTEL
La Voz Contributor
Yes Fresno did take a giant step forward in electing Leonel Alvarado. It,
however took two steps backwards by
electing J oe Reich over the wishes of
his new constituency.
Perhaps the first and most important
thing Alvarado can do now that he's
in office is to help remove the racist
conditions from the electoral process
which allows for a large segment of
the population to go unrepresented
in city government .
The city's district election was a
farce. Worse, it was racist and a disgrace.
We call for not only Councilman
Alvarado to become involved in the
first for a fair balloting process. We
also call for the Mexican American
Political Association, El Concilio de
Fresno and all Chicanos to lend active
support to efforts already underway
to remedy Fresno's discriminating ballot box.
Proponents of the present electoral
process, may point to the Alvarado election as proof positive that the system
works. Incidentally, Alvarado won in
his district as well as citywide. However, Councilman Alvarado and others
should realize that it could very well
have been the Chicano candidate in
Purdom' s shoes. There was no guarantee that the rest of the city would vote
for the person District 5 residents
wanted. Alvarado could very well have
won in his district, but lost citywide.
Fortunately, the city coincidentally
voted along the same lines as District
5 and Chicanos and all Fresnans are
now assured viable representation on
the City Council this time . .This should
not dampen Alvarado's or anyone's
resolve to change the system, however.
If local government is allowed to
unjustly disenfranchise even one person, then so are we all potentially
without a vote.
1
At first glance, it appears Chicanos
have gained much from the recent City
Council elections . There is much to
support this view . After all, Leonel
Alvarado won his race in the District
5 contest, assuring Chicanos of good
and honest representation on the City
Council.
However, on the other side of town
something quite different was happening . In District 3, an area predominantly populated by Blacks and Chicanos, a
candidate captured the majority of the
district's votes yet lost the election.
George Purdom, a Black man, captured about 31 percent of the district's
votes in a seven-man race, yet it will
be Joe Reich, capturing about 3 percent
of the district's vote, who will represent the district in the City Council.
Odd? It gets stranger yet.
Reich, relatively unknown a couple of
weeks betore the election, staged a
media blitz which struck just the right
chord with Fr-esno voters. His target
was affirmative action. Now, thts man
was running for office to represent a ·
largely minority populated area, yet
his platform was blatantly anti-minority. Although Fresno does have council
districts and councilmen and council
candidates are required to live in the
district they will theoretically represent, voting is done at large. The result
was that insensitive Fresno voters
were able to ram an unwanted representative down the throats of District
3 residents. Purdom, who outpolled
Reich more than 3 to 1 in their district,
finished a dismal third citywide.
Perhaps the oddity of the situation
was best phrased by Purdom, He said,
"I've seen men using tactics to gain
offic~, but never against those who
he will represent."
The infamous anti-UFW sign at Continental Market. The sign has since
been removed.
Photo by FELIX CONTRERAS
Commentary .
Misconceptions continue to
plague strike, La Causa
By F~ ...IX J. CONTRERAS
La Voz Contributor
For over a month now, 4,500 United
Farmwork-er's Union Members have
been on- strike against 10 growers in
the Imperial Valley, where much of this
country's winter lettuce 1s proaucea.
Although farmworkers now have a
collective bargaining law which protects their rights, the strike reaffirms
the fact that agribusiness will continue
to fight farmworkers in . their sruggle
to improve their lives. One striker has
been shot to death in the fields, and a
local high school helped growers recruit strikebreakers until the UFW
went to court and that practice was
ordered stopped.
La Voz: Do you fee l you're being
one-sided against the union by displayin_g such a sign?
Kozy: "You can consider me being
one-sided 'cause I have to sit here, I
have to listen to all the people come in
and complain about the high price of
food. I have to, you know, listen to
'em gripe about how high the price of
lettuce is. So I feel it's gonna make my
life a little bit easier if I put an explanation up there for them . And it has cut
down on the amount of complaints I
get."
La Voz: So, you're putting the blame
on the union?
Kozy: "I'm just passing it to where it
belongs. If there wasn't a lettuce
strike, I wouldn't have that problem,
A Talk with a produce manager
Football fans at CSU.F:
misguided zealots
At this time of year (budget time)
everyooay seems to unnecessarily
attack the athletic department and
athletics in general. But, a recent
newspaper advertising campaign by
some Bulldog football fans seems too
golden an opportunity to overlook.
In the Fresno Bee and CSUF' s
Insight, a group calling itself the
"Committee for Night Football at
Night" has purchased expensive
advertising space. The group's goal is
to have football games moved back
to a "more sensible hour"--8 p.m.
Games were first moved to 7 p.m.
last year. That was done to provide
better media coverage and allow
Bulldog game statistics to be included
in NCAA sports reports. Apparently
because of fan pressures the athletic
department recently announced that
games would start at 7:30 p.m . next
year .
But this group of fans is still un~appy . So displeased are they that they
have spent more than $6,000 in ad,vertising space to pressure the school
into moving the games to 8 p.m.
The group contends that hundreds
of loyal Bulldog followers throughout
the Valley are hurt by the early game
start. They believe that many work
Satu_rdays, · have trouble finding
parking ~nd seating on time, and thus
are deprived of watching the "great
sport."
Although we concede that a few fans
may be inconvenienced by early
game times, the issue seems too trivial
to even debate seriously.
With the multitude of problems
facing the city and state, as well as the
country, this effort seems a misguided
wast~ ot time a,recteo oy narrowminded zealots.
Although we believe that everyone
should have the right to spend their
money as they see fit, we can't help
but feel frustrated. It seems to us that
if we had more than $6,000 to spend
we could find many ways of putting it
to better use .
The plight of the farmworkers has
been grossly misunderstood by a misinformed public. Very rarely does the
average consumer take the time to
investigate issues surrounding the
strike (a scan of the newspaper would
give adequate data). In this money
oriented society, produce buyers only
see the UFW as the cause for the rise
in prices.
So the misconceptions ·a nd the stereotypes persist. La Voz discovered that
the farmworkers strike was being
blamed for the high price of lettuce
in the produce section of Continental
Market in Fresno (4343 N . Blackstone).
Above the lettuce display in this market was a sign that read: "As a result of
the UFW strike ... lettuce 98¢/head .. .
(We don't like the price either)".
, CSUF M.E.CH.A President Priscil-_
la Contreras and I talked with produce
manager Craig Kozy and asked him if
he felt he was misleading the public.
Kozy said he was the manager of
the produce section and admitted to
putting up the sign .
The sign was a perfect example _of
his ignorance to the plight of the
farmworkers and Kozy 's comments
even further showed his bias . (Through
out the interview, Kozy was cutting and
cleaning a crate of corn with a sharp
3-inch cutting instrument.)
right? I'd also be selling a lot more lettuce and a lot more people would be
eating lettuce."
La Voz: Do you understand why they
are striking?
Kozy: "Yeah, I know why they're
striking. I don't believe in it . It's my
own personal opinion. "
La Voz: So you feel you ' re in a position to go ahead and pass that opinion
on to others, and maybe sway people
who don't really understand what's
happening?
Kozy: "It's my perogative."
Continued on Pg. 6
La Voz de Aztlan is published by the
Associated Students at California State
University, Fresno and the newspaper
staff. Unsigned editorials are the opini-
ons of the La Voz staff, and not necessarily the views of the Associated Students, CSUF or the State of California.
Editor ... Richard Aguirre
Photography ... George Aguirre, Ricardo
Pimentel. Luoe Mora.
.Art ... Alvino Franco, Arturo Ocampo
Reporters ... Dora Lara, Margarita Mar•
tinez, Octavio Yescas.
Contributors ... Felix Contreras, Arh re;
Ocampo, Elvia Ruiz, Dianne Solis, Ricardo Pimentel.
(
March 19, 1979
Pagel
La Voz de Atzlan
La Chicana y Dona Marina, La Malinche
The birth of La_Mexicana,
her life and search for identity
By DORA LARA
La Voz Contributor
In 1519, the Spaniard Hernan
Cortes stepped onto Mexican soil,
and through a series of military and
political maneuvers destroyed the
Nahua empire and began a 300-year
European
colonization period
in
Mexico.
Women in this period of time saw
themselves totally defenseless in a
world of humiliation, abuse and
slavery. Their faces deformed by the
branding iron, thousands of women
were marked for the slave market.
Taken at wi 11 by the conquerors,
women married or single, seemed far
removed from the times when she was
considered a "precious gem and valued
feather" by the family .
As the Spanish women arrived
in the middle 1500s, they along with
Criollas and Mestizas held the power.
However, Indian women sti II held the
power as women.
Spanish women naturally were held
in higtt esteem, for they were mothers
to the Criollos, while the Indian women
gave birth to the Mestizo -- the"estirpe
de los desamparados."
The ticket to higher status in the new
society was through the Spanish
male, as Juan Alegria has frankly said.
For this reason, while the first relations
between the two groups were by force
and violence, eventually parents
gave their daughters up willingly
and then women themselves submitted. This is pointed oput in the
text Profile of the Mexican-American
Woman:
"For the Indian woman there was no
other fate than to serve. They served
the Spaniards, keeping their homes
and children and at the same time
providing sexual favors to the Spaniards.
"The mestizos' mothers were never
appreciated in their motherhood
nor as persons. Naturally, the males
felt wounded by these conditions,
and in their powerlessness to change
things, they blamed the women."
According to the text, the physical
suffering of women during the colonial
period is miniscule compared to the
psychological scars, caused by the conquest, Mestisaje, and the growing
pains of a cefonized society. Morally,
Mexicanas have suffered the brunt
of the blame for the conquest, tor
giving life to the children of the conquerors.
One sole Indian slave, Dona Marina,
symbolicallv carries the blame for the
c;onquest and the birth of tlie Mestizo
race.
Octavio Paz, Samuel Ramos, Carlos
Fuentes and many other writers,
both Mexican and foreign, have made
this one woman, Dona Marina (La
Malinche) the symbolic object of all
their negative feelings about the
conquest and the Mestisaje.
Dona Marina, whose Indian name
is Malinalli Tenepal, was born . and
raised in Oluta Coatzacualco in a matriarchal society. Deposed from her
position as a Casica {one who leads
an easy life) she was sold into slavery
by her parents, leaving her position
open to her half-brother.
When Hernan Cortes entered
Mexico, Malinche, along with other
slaves, were given to him. Later, this
would set her role in history.
Intelligent and eager to serve
with language skills in Nahua and
Maya, and also beautiful, she gained
an enviable position with her new
masters-.
Mali nche, born a leader, knowledgeable in politics, desirous of her
freedom, quickly learned Spanish and
became indispensible to the conquest.
She was also known to be a follower
of Quetzalcoatl and a believer in the
prophesies, a tact which predisposed
her to accept the new faith predicted
by the Spaniards
Une ot her tew detenders, Aniceto
Aramoni, a contemporary psychologist
considers her indispensable to the
conquest because of her powerful
position as translater and diplomat.
She was taken by Cortes as a lover,
mothered his child and later discarded
by him when he brought a wife from
Spain.
Symbolically, she has represented
the thousands of Indian women who
through similar circumstances suffered
the same fate .
According to Aramoni, Dona Marina
had nothing to lose. Resentful of her
people who had twice sold her into
slavery and deposed her of her rightful position, she was raised into a
position of power by her new master.
Cortes, known as the descendent of
Quetzalcoatl or perhaps Quetzalcoatl
himself, honored her with a son,
symbolically the first Mestizo.
Another defender of Dona Maria,
Adelaida del Castillo, a Chicana
historian, feels that to remove Dona
Marina as everyone's "whipping girl"
would be to establish the Mexicana' s
rightful strong status once and for all.
A writer, Juana Alegria, urges
Mexican women to dispel the negative
feelings about La Malinche and the
other Indian women who were instrumental by force or otherwise in the
birth of the Mestizo race. Doing this
is important so that Mexicanas can help
gain a more positive 1dentrty.
La Mujer y La Familia========ft
1AM
Though I am not the man of the house ·
I am the hand of the family.
For it is I who mend the socks,
Raise the children, maintain the
budget,
Prepare the meals, wash the clothes,
and
Give out the squeezes, hugs, and
kisses.
It is I who cures colds, cuts, bruises,
Bad days and little scratches on the
knees
With my whole heart.
Though I am not the man of the house
I too put in a day's work plus more ...
For no pay, no vacation, no sick leave,
And no recognition.
It is I, and I alone, who is
The hand of the familv
I am softer than a red rose
And as mean as a cat.
I am softer tha a red rose
Sweeter than new fallen snow
And it is my heart that is
Warmer than the sun from up above.
Though I am not the man of the house
I am the hand of the family.
By Maria Anita Torres
La Voz contributor
Page4
La Voz de Atzlan
"The rich have money on their side, but time is on the side of the poor."
--Cesar Chavez
"The strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for othe~
a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer
others. God help us to be men."
--Cesar Cha
La Voz de Atzlan
Pages
Visio"ns of La Causa:
Chavez sweeps
into the San Joaquin
--Photos by George Aguirre
"We are suffering ... We shall unite ... We shall strike ... We shall overcome ... Our pilgramage is the match that will light our cause for all
farmworkers to see what is happening here, so that they may do as we
have done."
--Cesar Chavez
La Voz de Atzlan
Page&
La Huelga spreads to the
San Joaquin, Sa_
linas Vall.ey~
J ust two years ago, the UFW' s
troubles seemed to be over. The Teamsters had finally agreed to allow the
UFW to unionize field workers while
the Teamsters would have jurisdiction over shed and packing workers .
On the heels of that agreement and
the signing of more than 100 contracts
with growers, the UFW finally ended
its boycott of lettuce, wine and table
grapes in February, 1978.
But in January, troubles for the union cropped up again when negotiations with growers failed to produce
new contracts to cover the workers .
Chavez called a strike in the Imperial
Valley against 11 lettuce growers there .
The strikes have now spread through
out 30 farms in California and Arizona
and may spread even further.
In Huron , 200 UFW members are
striking two local companies, Sun Harvest and Bruce Church Farms, Inc .
But the number of strikes in the area
could swell when the harvests intensify later this month and in April .
The Fresno Bee recently reported
that an average 9,000 acres of head
lettuce is grown annually in Fresno,· according to the county agricultural commissioner's office .
Ever since strike negotiations broke
down a few weeks ago, both sides have
taken their case to the public. Grower
ad campaigns have been designed to
force Gov. Brown to put pressure on
Chavez to end the walkout, while the
union spokesmen have stressed that
the workers only demand decent
wages.
Chavez recently called for a boycott
on Chiquita Bananas in a move to pressure United Brands, Inc., owner of Chiquita and
Sun Harvest, a huge lettuce grower, to yield to UFW demands .
The union president has also charged
that the growers are not bargaining
"in good faith." Growers have denied
that charge, however, and said that the
union has faltered in recent years and
has issued unreasonable demands .
Spokesmen for the growers have said
that if the UFW strike continues, or
if the union demands are met, there
win be fewer jobs in the fields, higher
grower costs and 'higher consumer prices.
,.~ To curb the violence, a judge in the
Imperial Valley has ruled that no more
than 100 strikers may enter the fields
to picket at a time. Locally, the Fresno
court has disarmed grower security
men and ordered strikers not to throw
rocks at the strike breakers in the
fields.
Growers said that Chavez wants a 40
percent increase in w_ages immediately.
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They have also charged Chavez and
his followers with trespassing, destroying crops and equipment and for causing most of the violence in the fields .
One man, a UFW worker, has been
killed, more than 30 have been injured
and more than 160 have been arrested
during the strike . Chavez has blamed
the violence on the grower security
men and on "police riots."
They have proposed a seven percent
annual increase during a three-year
contract, and this, they contend, is consistent with President Carter's voluntary seven percent wage increase limitation,
.
The union has rejected that proposal
and said that it will accept a seven percent wage increase when the growers
limit their profits to seven percent. The
union has demanded an increase in
wages per hour of $1. 50--from $3. 70 to
$5 .20.
Strike hurt by Continuing stereotypes
Continued from Pg. 2
La Voz : You say that you understand
what they' re striking for ...
Kozy : "Yeah, higher wages."
La Voz : Don't you believe they
should get paid better wages for the
work they do?
Kozy: "Not really."
La Voz: The work you do compared to
the work they do is nothing. You have a
leasure job.
Kozy : "Oh, it's a leasure job? Too
bad you weren't here an hour ago
when we were unloading the truck try
that kid!"
'
La Voz: That's nothing you' re not
in the fields picking the lettuce ...
Kozy: "No, I' m trimming corn it
looks like to me. " (sarcastically)
'
La Voz : I don't think you understana
what the people are doing, what it
takes to do what they do .
Kozy: "Well , I also know that most
of them are wetbacks and most of the
money goes back to Mex ico ."
La Voz: That's such a narrowminded point of view to have.
Kozy: "You think so, huh? Well,
kid, once you get out in this world,
start working for a living, you find out
what life's all about . Your attitudes
are gonna change too. You' re saying
"no, no, no" . Hell, you' re living at
home, life's gravy. Wait till you see
what this world's like ." (Kozy is 22
years old. I am 21 and have spent
many summers in the tomato h::ids of
Yolo County.)
La Voz : What do you rnnsider a
"wetback"?
Kozy: "Someone who s not a citizen of this country , somebody who
comes from Mexico to work in the
fields. "
La Voz : Only from Mexico?
Kozy: "Well , from any country in
the world, anybody that is classified an
'i llegal alien '. But most of them are
from Mexico, and that ' s why we say
that ."
La Voz : Why the name "wetback"?
Kozy: "I don't know. Somebody
gave it to them a long time ago. Uh,
wetback - it means "without papers"
doesn't it? No, that's "wop". I don't
know why they' re called that. That's
the name they got."
The interview was conducted on
Feb . 16. The sign has since been re:"
moved, but the damage has been done .
Who knows how many shoppers were
swayed by the sign, and developed a
misguided stand against the United
Farm Workers?
Not that the future of the United
Farm Workers rests on what Continental does. The problem is that if
more "produce managers" abuse their
positions like Craig Kozy ' s , the Farmw.o rkers' fight for unionization will become fabricated into an economic
threat to consumers.
They ' re not a threat to anyone , actually . If you conside r wanting to improve
t heir living and working condition, and
position in society, a threat, then you
have ~omething to be afraid of .
But not from them, fro m yourself .
March 19,1979
Cesar Chavez
visits Huron
By RICHARD AGUIRRE
E ditor of La Voz
Huron--Huron is one of those outof-the-way towns that most have heard
about but never visited . It is the typi.cal small farm community - a main
street and just a few stores - that has
apparently changed very little for
years.
There is little to see there and even
less to do, but last week was an exception, because March 6, Cesar Estrada
Chavez, head of t he United Farmworkers of America (UFW) led a march
here .
The 52-year-old former field worker
arrived with more than 600 other union
members and supporte rs to reaffirm
their faith in the current lettuce strike
in California a nd Arizona. Caravans
of strikers and supporters poured into
the town to see Chavez, and gain
strength from each other to continue
the struggle.
As I the hundreds lined up for the
march, the spi rits of "La Causa"
filled t he ai r and shouts of encouragement freque ntly rang out . "Boycott
Chiquita Banana" signs and red and
black UFW flag s were excitedly waved
by t he crowd as television crews and
photographers reported the event.
Just as the orderly three-mile march
began, Chavez ste pped from a car and
joined the column . He tried to take a
modest posture but the TV crews and
frantic photographers made obscurity
impossible .
Chavez looked fatigued but comfortable among his people. The short dark
man was, as usual , dressed simply in
dark slacks and shoes , and a graychecked pendleton shirt.
.
He was calm and quiet throughout
the march, but his marchers were unrestrained, shouting slogans and urging others to join the line. But many
chose to just watch the event from the
sidelines as the most exciting event of
the day passed by.
The column threaded its way through
the town past rickety houses, police
check points and lush fields . The line
stretched to some 400 yards until,
nearly two hours later, the marchers
headed back into the center .
There they pressed back into an auditorium and moved towards the podium
to get a closer look at their leader.
When Chavez did move forward to
speak,the applause was deafening.
In a high-pitched voice, -punctuated by gestures, Chavez told . the
strikers in Spanish that they had to
make sacrifices to gain their "just"
demands. And he told them to be proud
they were farmworkers.
"El trabajo del c;ampesino es el mas
importante del mundo." (The work of
the field worker is the most important
job in the world.)
"Today we earn more money than
before, but we are poorer," said Chavez in Spanish. Inflation has negated all
progress the union has made; in 15
years of struggle the farmworkers have
only gained 50 cents in real spending
power, he said.
Chavez made sure they got the message by always returning to the central
theme: "Esta huelga es la huelga de
mas dinero ." (Th is is t he strike for
higher wages )
La Voz de Atzlan
March 19, 1979
Page7
.Pride,unity,joy
found among la gente
By MARGARITA MARTINEZ
La Voz Writer
I used to regret not having been able
to play a part in the farmworker
movement during the late 60s and
early 70s . At that time I was so young
I hardly understood what was happening .
As I grew older and became aware
of the significance of the UFW it
seemed as if the days of marches,
conventions, boycotts and doing my
part in "La Causa" were over. But
it seems as if the life of the farmworker
is one of a constant struggle, and
again the fight is on.
to once again assemble for the march
I was astonished that Chavez' place in
the line would be directly behind me
throughout the march.
As he took his place behind me I
turned around and looked at him.
He reached out his hand to shake mine.
I felt very proud to be able to participate along with Cesar in the march.
I could hear him speaking to UFW
members and I could see the joy in
their faces at being able to speak
with him, and could identify with their
feelings.
I saw one very old man who was
almost blind led up to Chavez and
greet him with much enthusiasm.
Cii.1c~~-a-1n·vrwMa~c1··
------------------------------I was able
to experience
Recently,
being a part of a struggle . I was able
to attend a UFW march and rally in
Huron. As I arr;v'ed in the tiny con;imunity of Huron, along with other
Fresno State students, I could sense
the excitement in the air as throngs
of people began assembling for the
three-mile march in anticipation of
seeing Cesar Chavez.
There were very old men and women, middle aged farm laborers,
young teenagers, college students and
even tiny babies.
All around me I could hear everyone speaking in Spanish and keeping
an eye out for the arrival of Cesar
Chavez. As I stood there along with
the-others waiting, along came a brown
car and a smiling Cesar Chavez stepped out to be rushed at by his joyous
supporters, and the overanxious
media. I kept trying to see Cesar
Chavez and keep from being shoved
and stepped on.
After a few minutes the confusion
died down and people slo~ly began
He apologized for not being able to
march . Chavez thanked him for his
support and warmly shook his hand.
In another incident a frail woman
was also led up tp Chavez. She told him
that she wanted very much to march
alongside him, but since she was very
weak she could only march a short
distance. Chavez spoke with her again
thanking her and interwined his arm
through hers for the short distance
she marched.
I saw other people who hadn 't
marched drive up in cars and run up
to him and shake his hand. I could
often hear people exclaiming, "Miro
lo alli esta" and excitedly point at him,
others would run up to him and take his
picture. All of this made me f~PI
respectful of him because of the sense
of security he brought to everyone.
Throughout the march people sang,
with the mariachis accompanying
them. They waved their flags, their
symbols of hope, and shouted "Viva
Chavez" and "Viva la huelga".
I could feel a strong sense of unity
among everyone. As the march c~me
to an end people became more excited
and the shouts became more intense.
I looked back to the end of the column
and it seemed to strek,, forever.
As the sun started to set with the
ending of the march I was glad that
I had attended and had been a?le to
share in such a rewarding experience.
On the Wire
MEXICO CITY UPI--A series of
earthquakes that hit Mexico killed
five persons and injured 50, flattened
three buildings in Mexico City and
damaged 174 others, authorities say.
Latest reports show two persons died
in the - capital during the tremors
and three others were killed in the
southern state of Guerrero, including
a nine-year-old girl and an elderly
man who suffered a heart attack .
The quakes, which registered
7.75 on the open-ended Richter scale
Wednesday, also totally destroyed
three buildings in the capital and
damaged 174 others, some of which
have been evacuated, authorities
said .
SAN DIEGO UPI--The father _o~ a
man accused in the December killing
of two California Highway Patrolmen
near Sacramento held a press conference Thursday, urging Chicano ·
leaders to help his son get a fair trial.
And the leader of the Chicano
community organization that sponsored
the news conference charged that the
arrest of Luis Rodrigue~ Jr ., 23,
could be linked to "the historic mistreatment of minorites by law enforcement officers ."
Rodriguez faces murder• charges
in the death of CHP Officers Roy
B~lcher and Mike Freeman, who· were
shot to death along Interstate 80 in
West Sacramento Dec. 22.
Arrested with Rodriguez Christmas
Eve was Margaret Klaess, 18, who
was later granted immunity from
murder charges in exchange for her
testimony against Rodriguez.
She admitted that she was in the
car with Rodriguez when it was stopped
by the CHP officers the night of the
killings .
Luis Rodriguez Sr. of Los Angeles
Thursday suggested the Yolo County
Sheriff's Department may have
violated U.S. Postal regualtions when
it obtained a copy of a love letter
apparently written by his son to a
woman other than Miss Klaess .
It was after reading that letter that
Miss Klaess apparently decided to
testify against her boyfriend, the
elder Rodriguez said .
"They painted a picture of Klaess
as a little teen-ager who was badly
taken advantage of, but that's just
not the case," the father said at a news
conference sponsored by the San
Diego based Chicano Rights Organization .
"She is a very streetwise girl who
has a record of drug abuse and arrests
going back to age nine, and all that
came out in court."
The father cal·led on Chicano community organizations to press for a
fair trial for his son. Herman Baca,
director of the Chicano Rights Organization, also addressed reporters Thursday .
"Our first concern is to get this man
a fair trial " he said. Baca suggested
Rodriguez: arrest was part of "the
historic mistreatment of minorities
by law enforcement officers throughout
the southwest."
BERKELEY UPI--The University of
California Student Senate has refused
to reverse its hotly-protested decision
not to fund a campus appearance by
black activist Stokely Carmichael.
Carmichael had been invited to
speak by the ethnic studies department which gets $120,000 annually
in st~dent funds to finance speaking
engagements and numerous other
projects.
The student senate must aoorove
the expenditures, and such approvals
are usually routine . Speakers such as
Dennis Banks, Cesar Chavez and
James Baldwin had no tro~ble .
But when a proposal to spend
$1 500 on an honorarium, travel and
publicity expenses for C~rmichael
came up last week, it was reJected by
a 17-11 vote.
Anti-Carmichael
senators . ~omplained that he was "anti-Zionist." .
They said Carmichael was free to speak
on campus but that the studen~s
should not have to pay to hear his
"anti-Israel" views.
.
At a student senate meeting that
lasted until 2:30 a.m. Thursday, _numerous students argued that Carm1cha~I
should not be rejected because of his
political views.
h h d
ted
But no member w o a vo
against Carmichael last_ wee~ wa~
willing to request recons1derat1on , sd
under the rules the senate was barre
from revoting on its decision·
However the senate adoptedh . ha
resolution ' on a 15-1 1 vo te W IC
declared that future speaking eng~gr
ments should be considered so e y
on the basis of financial impact, a~d
not on the basis of the speaker s
politics.
k t
Editor's note: Carmichael sp~ e a
CSUF Feb. 7, as part of Black History
Week. His appearance ~as sponso~ted
by the Alpha Phi Alpha fraterm y.
La VozdeAtzlan
Pa e8
--------Noticias de la Raza----...;........,
BILINGUAL ED BACKED
CINCO DE MAYO VISIT
Wilson Riles, California Superintendent of Public Instruction last
week reaffirmed the state's committment to the bilingual education program.
Riles issued· the endorsement
afte an auditor general's report criticized a lack of adequate management
in the program.
A failure to properly administer
the program could lead to a .loss of
funding for the ~tate and federally
supported program, the auditor general 's report said.
· Bilingual education was established
by the state in 1976 so that students,
such as those who speak Spanish
principally, could be eased into classes
taught in English.
Riles said the program is designed
to help the student who is limited or
non-English speaking. The funds are
ceased when the student becomes
fluent in English.
"Our program to serve limited and
non-English speaking students is
relatively new. The laws- are complex
and difficult to administer," Riles said.
"Don't let evidence of confusion be
taken as a lack of committment of
giving limited and non-English speaking children every opportunity for
quality education," he said.
EOP TALE NT SHOW
Applications are now available for
the EOP Talent Show, to be held April
21. Auditions are now being organized,
so come out and "do your thing". For
more information, contact Tony Garduque or _Linda Hernandez in the EOP
office, located in the Joyal Administration Building (487-1021).
MINI CORPS DISCO DANCE
A disco dance fundraiser will be held
March 31 (Saturday) to raise money to
send 16 Minicorps students to Mexico.
The trip- will enable the students to
observe Mexican teaching methods in
a program that is very effective, ac
cording to a Minicorps spokesper
son.
The dance will be held at the Pinedale Community Center, 7170 N. San
Pablo, Pinedale. Donations will be $2
per person and $3 a couple. Starting
time is 9:00, and refreshments will be
served.
MESSAGE FROM MECHA
Mecha is now recruiting students to
attend meetings. We realize that our
studies are important, but there are
issues coming up that are going to
affect all Chicanos, and if we are now
aware of them and do not take action,
we will all end up losers. We hope that
people become more concerned with
what is happening now, before it is
too late.
The next Mecha meetings will bt:
held: March 22, Dean's Conference
room, SR 4, room 220; March 29, College Union, room 312-14; and April 5
College Union, room 309.
'
CHICANO COMMENCEMENT
The
Chicano
Commencement
Committee of the Chicano Alumni
Association is now accepting applications for the third annual Chicano
commencement at CSUF. The event is
set for Sunday, May 20, at the Fresno
District Fairgrounds.
Applications can be picked up at
Tutorial Services, the La Raza Studies
off ice, and the EOP off ice. The deadIi ne for returning applications is
April 18.
The bilingual ceremonies are designed to honor not only t~e graduate,
but those who helped the student
"make it " through school. A private
dinner and dance are included.
The graduates are urged to participate in regular commencement
activities two days earlier as well as
the special Chicano event.
A burrito sale will be held on campus
Friday to help finance the g·raduation ceremony. Anyone interested
in helping in the event or needing
information should call 487-1053.
UFW asks for help...__:___.j
The plea for food and money to help
far~workers on strike in Huron has
agam been issued. Contributions are
urgently needed by these local United
Farm workers.
Donations may be left at the La Raza
St udi~s office in SR 4, room 118. For
more information call 487-2848 or con-
tact Ben Bustos at 251-9380.
Mecha President Priscilla Contreras
has also requested that each Chicano
group on campus contribute food and at
least $25 per group for the strikers.
She may be contacted through the La
Raza Studies office.
REICH BLASTED
Newly elected city councilman
Joe Reich, West Fresno's representative, got more than a simple swearing -in ceremony last Tuesday. A group
of more than 60 black citizens marched
in front of City Hall then crowded foto
th.e council chambers protesting
Reich's election.
Reich, ·an attorney, won the election
after a last minute media barrage
that stressed his opposition to minority ·
programs, such as Affirmative Action.
He gained just three percent of the
vote in his own district, but captured
enough votes citywide to win the post.
After the swearing-in ceremony he
told reporters, "I 'm not a racist."
Les Kimber, publisher of The
California Advocate, said that local
black political groups planned to ask
the U.S. Justice Department to file
suit against the city. He said the city
should hold district elections for
council represenatives rather than have
all candidates voted on by all dty
- residents.·
Kimber asked council members to
make sure the city's Westside got fair
representation.
Most Chicanos will soon be celebrating Cinco de Mayo in unrestrained
freedom, but for another group of
Chicanos, festivities will be brought
inside to them.
On April 28, CSUF students and
Pinto program coordinators will provide music, dance, teatro and speeches
for inmates at the California Men's
Colony in San Luis Obispo.
The program's goal will be to provide the Chicanos in prison with a
positive attitude about themselves,
according to sponsors of the trip.
To help raise money for the visit
(travel, hotel), food sales will soon be
held on campus. The group· also
plans to take educational material to
the convicts, and have initiated a book
drive with "La Raza Unida", a group
of Chicano inmates.
The Pinto program coordinated at
:suF by Tony Garduque, Harold
Parras, and Bill Brandt, is designed
to help the ex-offender "make W'
in college.
"We all feel that this is a very important project," said Parras. "We
need to make all brothers aware that
there are people out there who care
and who are willing to do more than
talk about it."
Those interested in helping in the
project or donating books should
· contact the EOP office or the La Raza
Studies office.
EOPTENNIS
Tuesday is the deadline for sign-ups
for the EOP intramural tennis team.
Men and women interested in competing are asked to contact Tony
Garduque or Barbara Gomez in the
EOP office or cal I 487-1021.
STATEWIDE CHICANO TOURNEY
SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS .
Margaret de la Cruz, Velia Juarez,
Sarah Martinez, and Luis Rendor were
this semester's winners of the Chicano
Alumni Association scholarships.
They were presented S50 checks at
the Chicano Commencement meeting,
March 9. The Association will soon be
a~cepting applications for the fall
1979 scholarships.
THE MEANING OF
LA VOZ De AZTLAN
La Voz de Aztlan means "The voice ·
of Aztlan. " Aztlan has been translated
by most historians to be the mythical
name of the Aztec (or Mexica or Chichimeca) people who held the area
around present-day Mexico City when
the Spaniards under Hernan Cortes
~ntered Mexico in 1519.
A state-wide Chicano basketball
tournament has been set for April 2122 here in Fresno.
Sponsored by the Chicano Youth
Center, the tourney will include 16
teams in a single elimination competi•
tion.
Teams from Fresno, Hayward, Los
Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San
Jose, and Woodland will vie for the
~ .._
,~rds.
In their native Nahuatl language,
Aztlan meant "the place of herons,"
and also "the place they had been
·before." Dr. Jose Canales of the CSUF
History Department said he has traced
the origins of the Aztecs, a migratory
tribe as far north as present-day St.
Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To Chicanos, Aztlan is the name for
t.he entire Southwest -- our symbolic
homeland.
Special Publication of The Daily Collegian
LA VOZ de AZTLAN
March 19, 1979
Monday
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ComentariO
Page 2
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City Council elections:
Fresno takes leap backward
By RICARDO PIMENTEL
La Voz Contributor
Yes Fresno did take a giant step forward in electing Leonel Alvarado. It,
however took two steps backwards by
electing J oe Reich over the wishes of
his new constituency.
Perhaps the first and most important
thing Alvarado can do now that he's
in office is to help remove the racist
conditions from the electoral process
which allows for a large segment of
the population to go unrepresented
in city government .
The city's district election was a
farce. Worse, it was racist and a disgrace.
We call for not only Councilman
Alvarado to become involved in the
first for a fair balloting process. We
also call for the Mexican American
Political Association, El Concilio de
Fresno and all Chicanos to lend active
support to efforts already underway
to remedy Fresno's discriminating ballot box.
Proponents of the present electoral
process, may point to the Alvarado election as proof positive that the system
works. Incidentally, Alvarado won in
his district as well as citywide. However, Councilman Alvarado and others
should realize that it could very well
have been the Chicano candidate in
Purdom' s shoes. There was no guarantee that the rest of the city would vote
for the person District 5 residents
wanted. Alvarado could very well have
won in his district, but lost citywide.
Fortunately, the city coincidentally
voted along the same lines as District
5 and Chicanos and all Fresnans are
now assured viable representation on
the City Council this time . .This should
not dampen Alvarado's or anyone's
resolve to change the system, however.
If local government is allowed to
unjustly disenfranchise even one person, then so are we all potentially
without a vote.
1
At first glance, it appears Chicanos
have gained much from the recent City
Council elections . There is much to
support this view . After all, Leonel
Alvarado won his race in the District
5 contest, assuring Chicanos of good
and honest representation on the City
Council.
However, on the other side of town
something quite different was happening . In District 3, an area predominantly populated by Blacks and Chicanos, a
candidate captured the majority of the
district's votes yet lost the election.
George Purdom, a Black man, captured about 31 percent of the district's
votes in a seven-man race, yet it will
be Joe Reich, capturing about 3 percent
of the district's vote, who will represent the district in the City Council.
Odd? It gets stranger yet.
Reich, relatively unknown a couple of
weeks betore the election, staged a
media blitz which struck just the right
chord with Fr-esno voters. His target
was affirmative action. Now, thts man
was running for office to represent a ·
largely minority populated area, yet
his platform was blatantly anti-minority. Although Fresno does have council
districts and councilmen and council
candidates are required to live in the
district they will theoretically represent, voting is done at large. The result
was that insensitive Fresno voters
were able to ram an unwanted representative down the throats of District
3 residents. Purdom, who outpolled
Reich more than 3 to 1 in their district,
finished a dismal third citywide.
Perhaps the oddity of the situation
was best phrased by Purdom, He said,
"I've seen men using tactics to gain
offic~, but never against those who
he will represent."
The infamous anti-UFW sign at Continental Market. The sign has since
been removed.
Photo by FELIX CONTRERAS
Commentary .
Misconceptions continue to
plague strike, La Causa
By F~ ...IX J. CONTRERAS
La Voz Contributor
For over a month now, 4,500 United
Farmwork-er's Union Members have
been on- strike against 10 growers in
the Imperial Valley, where much of this
country's winter lettuce 1s proaucea.
Although farmworkers now have a
collective bargaining law which protects their rights, the strike reaffirms
the fact that agribusiness will continue
to fight farmworkers in . their sruggle
to improve their lives. One striker has
been shot to death in the fields, and a
local high school helped growers recruit strikebreakers until the UFW
went to court and that practice was
ordered stopped.
La Voz: Do you fee l you're being
one-sided against the union by displayin_g such a sign?
Kozy: "You can consider me being
one-sided 'cause I have to sit here, I
have to listen to all the people come in
and complain about the high price of
food. I have to, you know, listen to
'em gripe about how high the price of
lettuce is. So I feel it's gonna make my
life a little bit easier if I put an explanation up there for them . And it has cut
down on the amount of complaints I
get."
La Voz: So, you're putting the blame
on the union?
Kozy: "I'm just passing it to where it
belongs. If there wasn't a lettuce
strike, I wouldn't have that problem,
A Talk with a produce manager
Football fans at CSU.F:
misguided zealots
At this time of year (budget time)
everyooay seems to unnecessarily
attack the athletic department and
athletics in general. But, a recent
newspaper advertising campaign by
some Bulldog football fans seems too
golden an opportunity to overlook.
In the Fresno Bee and CSUF' s
Insight, a group calling itself the
"Committee for Night Football at
Night" has purchased expensive
advertising space. The group's goal is
to have football games moved back
to a "more sensible hour"--8 p.m.
Games were first moved to 7 p.m.
last year. That was done to provide
better media coverage and allow
Bulldog game statistics to be included
in NCAA sports reports. Apparently
because of fan pressures the athletic
department recently announced that
games would start at 7:30 p.m . next
year .
But this group of fans is still un~appy . So displeased are they that they
have spent more than $6,000 in ad,vertising space to pressure the school
into moving the games to 8 p.m.
The group contends that hundreds
of loyal Bulldog followers throughout
the Valley are hurt by the early game
start. They believe that many work
Satu_rdays, · have trouble finding
parking ~nd seating on time, and thus
are deprived of watching the "great
sport."
Although we concede that a few fans
may be inconvenienced by early
game times, the issue seems too trivial
to even debate seriously.
With the multitude of problems
facing the city and state, as well as the
country, this effort seems a misguided
wast~ ot time a,recteo oy narrowminded zealots.
Although we believe that everyone
should have the right to spend their
money as they see fit, we can't help
but feel frustrated. It seems to us that
if we had more than $6,000 to spend
we could find many ways of putting it
to better use .
The plight of the farmworkers has
been grossly misunderstood by a misinformed public. Very rarely does the
average consumer take the time to
investigate issues surrounding the
strike (a scan of the newspaper would
give adequate data). In this money
oriented society, produce buyers only
see the UFW as the cause for the rise
in prices.
So the misconceptions ·a nd the stereotypes persist. La Voz discovered that
the farmworkers strike was being
blamed for the high price of lettuce
in the produce section of Continental
Market in Fresno (4343 N . Blackstone).
Above the lettuce display in this market was a sign that read: "As a result of
the UFW strike ... lettuce 98¢/head .. .
(We don't like the price either)".
, CSUF M.E.CH.A President Priscil-_
la Contreras and I talked with produce
manager Craig Kozy and asked him if
he felt he was misleading the public.
Kozy said he was the manager of
the produce section and admitted to
putting up the sign .
The sign was a perfect example _of
his ignorance to the plight of the
farmworkers and Kozy 's comments
even further showed his bias . (Through
out the interview, Kozy was cutting and
cleaning a crate of corn with a sharp
3-inch cutting instrument.)
right? I'd also be selling a lot more lettuce and a lot more people would be
eating lettuce."
La Voz: Do you understand why they
are striking?
Kozy: "Yeah, I know why they're
striking. I don't believe in it . It's my
own personal opinion. "
La Voz: So you feel you ' re in a position to go ahead and pass that opinion
on to others, and maybe sway people
who don't really understand what's
happening?
Kozy: "It's my perogative."
Continued on Pg. 6
La Voz de Aztlan is published by the
Associated Students at California State
University, Fresno and the newspaper
staff. Unsigned editorials are the opini-
ons of the La Voz staff, and not necessarily the views of the Associated Students, CSUF or the State of California.
Editor ... Richard Aguirre
Photography ... George Aguirre, Ricardo
Pimentel. Luoe Mora.
.Art ... Alvino Franco, Arturo Ocampo
Reporters ... Dora Lara, Margarita Mar•
tinez, Octavio Yescas.
Contributors ... Felix Contreras, Arh re;
Ocampo, Elvia Ruiz, Dianne Solis, Ricardo Pimentel.
(
March 19, 1979
Pagel
La Voz de Atzlan
La Chicana y Dona Marina, La Malinche
The birth of La_Mexicana,
her life and search for identity
By DORA LARA
La Voz Contributor
In 1519, the Spaniard Hernan
Cortes stepped onto Mexican soil,
and through a series of military and
political maneuvers destroyed the
Nahua empire and began a 300-year
European
colonization period
in
Mexico.
Women in this period of time saw
themselves totally defenseless in a
world of humiliation, abuse and
slavery. Their faces deformed by the
branding iron, thousands of women
were marked for the slave market.
Taken at wi 11 by the conquerors,
women married or single, seemed far
removed from the times when she was
considered a "precious gem and valued
feather" by the family .
As the Spanish women arrived
in the middle 1500s, they along with
Criollas and Mestizas held the power.
However, Indian women sti II held the
power as women.
Spanish women naturally were held
in higtt esteem, for they were mothers
to the Criollos, while the Indian women
gave birth to the Mestizo -- the"estirpe
de los desamparados."
The ticket to higher status in the new
society was through the Spanish
male, as Juan Alegria has frankly said.
For this reason, while the first relations
between the two groups were by force
and violence, eventually parents
gave their daughters up willingly
and then women themselves submitted. This is pointed oput in the
text Profile of the Mexican-American
Woman:
"For the Indian woman there was no
other fate than to serve. They served
the Spaniards, keeping their homes
and children and at the same time
providing sexual favors to the Spaniards.
"The mestizos' mothers were never
appreciated in their motherhood
nor as persons. Naturally, the males
felt wounded by these conditions,
and in their powerlessness to change
things, they blamed the women."
According to the text, the physical
suffering of women during the colonial
period is miniscule compared to the
psychological scars, caused by the conquest, Mestisaje, and the growing
pains of a cefonized society. Morally,
Mexicanas have suffered the brunt
of the blame for the conquest, tor
giving life to the children of the conquerors.
One sole Indian slave, Dona Marina,
symbolicallv carries the blame for the
c;onquest and the birth of tlie Mestizo
race.
Octavio Paz, Samuel Ramos, Carlos
Fuentes and many other writers,
both Mexican and foreign, have made
this one woman, Dona Marina (La
Malinche) the symbolic object of all
their negative feelings about the
conquest and the Mestisaje.
Dona Marina, whose Indian name
is Malinalli Tenepal, was born . and
raised in Oluta Coatzacualco in a matriarchal society. Deposed from her
position as a Casica {one who leads
an easy life) she was sold into slavery
by her parents, leaving her position
open to her half-brother.
When Hernan Cortes entered
Mexico, Malinche, along with other
slaves, were given to him. Later, this
would set her role in history.
Intelligent and eager to serve
with language skills in Nahua and
Maya, and also beautiful, she gained
an enviable position with her new
masters-.
Mali nche, born a leader, knowledgeable in politics, desirous of her
freedom, quickly learned Spanish and
became indispensible to the conquest.
She was also known to be a follower
of Quetzalcoatl and a believer in the
prophesies, a tact which predisposed
her to accept the new faith predicted
by the Spaniards
Une ot her tew detenders, Aniceto
Aramoni, a contemporary psychologist
considers her indispensable to the
conquest because of her powerful
position as translater and diplomat.
She was taken by Cortes as a lover,
mothered his child and later discarded
by him when he brought a wife from
Spain.
Symbolically, she has represented
the thousands of Indian women who
through similar circumstances suffered
the same fate .
According to Aramoni, Dona Marina
had nothing to lose. Resentful of her
people who had twice sold her into
slavery and deposed her of her rightful position, she was raised into a
position of power by her new master.
Cortes, known as the descendent of
Quetzalcoatl or perhaps Quetzalcoatl
himself, honored her with a son,
symbolically the first Mestizo.
Another defender of Dona Maria,
Adelaida del Castillo, a Chicana
historian, feels that to remove Dona
Marina as everyone's "whipping girl"
would be to establish the Mexicana' s
rightful strong status once and for all.
A writer, Juana Alegria, urges
Mexican women to dispel the negative
feelings about La Malinche and the
other Indian women who were instrumental by force or otherwise in the
birth of the Mestizo race. Doing this
is important so that Mexicanas can help
gain a more positive 1dentrty.
La Mujer y La Familia========ft
1AM
Though I am not the man of the house ·
I am the hand of the family.
For it is I who mend the socks,
Raise the children, maintain the
budget,
Prepare the meals, wash the clothes,
and
Give out the squeezes, hugs, and
kisses.
It is I who cures colds, cuts, bruises,
Bad days and little scratches on the
knees
With my whole heart.
Though I am not the man of the house
I too put in a day's work plus more ...
For no pay, no vacation, no sick leave,
And no recognition.
It is I, and I alone, who is
The hand of the familv
I am softer than a red rose
And as mean as a cat.
I am softer tha a red rose
Sweeter than new fallen snow
And it is my heart that is
Warmer than the sun from up above.
Though I am not the man of the house
I am the hand of the family.
By Maria Anita Torres
La Voz contributor
Page4
La Voz de Atzlan
"The rich have money on their side, but time is on the side of the poor."
--Cesar Chavez
"The strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for othe~
a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer
others. God help us to be men."
--Cesar Cha
La Voz de Atzlan
Pages
Visio"ns of La Causa:
Chavez sweeps
into the San Joaquin
--Photos by George Aguirre
"We are suffering ... We shall unite ... We shall strike ... We shall overcome ... Our pilgramage is the match that will light our cause for all
farmworkers to see what is happening here, so that they may do as we
have done."
--Cesar Chavez
La Voz de Atzlan
Page&
La Huelga spreads to the
San Joaquin, Sa_
linas Vall.ey~
J ust two years ago, the UFW' s
troubles seemed to be over. The Teamsters had finally agreed to allow the
UFW to unionize field workers while
the Teamsters would have jurisdiction over shed and packing workers .
On the heels of that agreement and
the signing of more than 100 contracts
with growers, the UFW finally ended
its boycott of lettuce, wine and table
grapes in February, 1978.
But in January, troubles for the union cropped up again when negotiations with growers failed to produce
new contracts to cover the workers .
Chavez called a strike in the Imperial
Valley against 11 lettuce growers there .
The strikes have now spread through
out 30 farms in California and Arizona
and may spread even further.
In Huron , 200 UFW members are
striking two local companies, Sun Harvest and Bruce Church Farms, Inc .
But the number of strikes in the area
could swell when the harvests intensify later this month and in April .
The Fresno Bee recently reported
that an average 9,000 acres of head
lettuce is grown annually in Fresno,· according to the county agricultural commissioner's office .
Ever since strike negotiations broke
down a few weeks ago, both sides have
taken their case to the public. Grower
ad campaigns have been designed to
force Gov. Brown to put pressure on
Chavez to end the walkout, while the
union spokesmen have stressed that
the workers only demand decent
wages.
Chavez recently called for a boycott
on Chiquita Bananas in a move to pressure United Brands, Inc., owner of Chiquita and
Sun Harvest, a huge lettuce grower, to yield to UFW demands .
The union president has also charged
that the growers are not bargaining
"in good faith." Growers have denied
that charge, however, and said that the
union has faltered in recent years and
has issued unreasonable demands .
Spokesmen for the growers have said
that if the UFW strike continues, or
if the union demands are met, there
win be fewer jobs in the fields, higher
grower costs and 'higher consumer prices.
,.~ To curb the violence, a judge in the
Imperial Valley has ruled that no more
than 100 strikers may enter the fields
to picket at a time. Locally, the Fresno
court has disarmed grower security
men and ordered strikers not to throw
rocks at the strike breakers in the
fields.
Growers said that Chavez wants a 40
percent increase in w_ages immediately.
..--.·(,,;/,
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...
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}1111
They have also charged Chavez and
his followers with trespassing, destroying crops and equipment and for causing most of the violence in the fields .
One man, a UFW worker, has been
killed, more than 30 have been injured
and more than 160 have been arrested
during the strike . Chavez has blamed
the violence on the grower security
men and on "police riots."
They have proposed a seven percent
annual increase during a three-year
contract, and this, they contend, is consistent with President Carter's voluntary seven percent wage increase limitation,
.
The union has rejected that proposal
and said that it will accept a seven percent wage increase when the growers
limit their profits to seven percent. The
union has demanded an increase in
wages per hour of $1. 50--from $3. 70 to
$5 .20.
Strike hurt by Continuing stereotypes
Continued from Pg. 2
La Voz : You say that you understand
what they' re striking for ...
Kozy : "Yeah, higher wages."
La Voz : Don't you believe they
should get paid better wages for the
work they do?
Kozy: "Not really."
La Voz: The work you do compared to
the work they do is nothing. You have a
leasure job.
Kozy : "Oh, it's a leasure job? Too
bad you weren't here an hour ago
when we were unloading the truck try
that kid!"
'
La Voz: That's nothing you' re not
in the fields picking the lettuce ...
Kozy: "No, I' m trimming corn it
looks like to me. " (sarcastically)
'
La Voz : I don't think you understana
what the people are doing, what it
takes to do what they do .
Kozy: "Well , I also know that most
of them are wetbacks and most of the
money goes back to Mex ico ."
La Voz: That's such a narrowminded point of view to have.
Kozy: "You think so, huh? Well,
kid, once you get out in this world,
start working for a living, you find out
what life's all about . Your attitudes
are gonna change too. You' re saying
"no, no, no" . Hell, you' re living at
home, life's gravy. Wait till you see
what this world's like ." (Kozy is 22
years old. I am 21 and have spent
many summers in the tomato h::ids of
Yolo County.)
La Voz : What do you rnnsider a
"wetback"?
Kozy: "Someone who s not a citizen of this country , somebody who
comes from Mexico to work in the
fields. "
La Voz : Only from Mexico?
Kozy: "Well , from any country in
the world, anybody that is classified an
'i llegal alien '. But most of them are
from Mexico, and that ' s why we say
that ."
La Voz : Why the name "wetback"?
Kozy: "I don't know. Somebody
gave it to them a long time ago. Uh,
wetback - it means "without papers"
doesn't it? No, that's "wop". I don't
know why they' re called that. That's
the name they got."
The interview was conducted on
Feb . 16. The sign has since been re:"
moved, but the damage has been done .
Who knows how many shoppers were
swayed by the sign, and developed a
misguided stand against the United
Farm Workers?
Not that the future of the United
Farm Workers rests on what Continental does. The problem is that if
more "produce managers" abuse their
positions like Craig Kozy ' s , the Farmw.o rkers' fight for unionization will become fabricated into an economic
threat to consumers.
They ' re not a threat to anyone , actually . If you conside r wanting to improve
t heir living and working condition, and
position in society, a threat, then you
have ~omething to be afraid of .
But not from them, fro m yourself .
March 19,1979
Cesar Chavez
visits Huron
By RICHARD AGUIRRE
E ditor of La Voz
Huron--Huron is one of those outof-the-way towns that most have heard
about but never visited . It is the typi.cal small farm community - a main
street and just a few stores - that has
apparently changed very little for
years.
There is little to see there and even
less to do, but last week was an exception, because March 6, Cesar Estrada
Chavez, head of t he United Farmworkers of America (UFW) led a march
here .
The 52-year-old former field worker
arrived with more than 600 other union
members and supporte rs to reaffirm
their faith in the current lettuce strike
in California a nd Arizona. Caravans
of strikers and supporters poured into
the town to see Chavez, and gain
strength from each other to continue
the struggle.
As I the hundreds lined up for the
march, the spi rits of "La Causa"
filled t he ai r and shouts of encouragement freque ntly rang out . "Boycott
Chiquita Banana" signs and red and
black UFW flag s were excitedly waved
by t he crowd as television crews and
photographers reported the event.
Just as the orderly three-mile march
began, Chavez ste pped from a car and
joined the column . He tried to take a
modest posture but the TV crews and
frantic photographers made obscurity
impossible .
Chavez looked fatigued but comfortable among his people. The short dark
man was, as usual , dressed simply in
dark slacks and shoes , and a graychecked pendleton shirt.
.
He was calm and quiet throughout
the march, but his marchers were unrestrained, shouting slogans and urging others to join the line. But many
chose to just watch the event from the
sidelines as the most exciting event of
the day passed by.
The column threaded its way through
the town past rickety houses, police
check points and lush fields . The line
stretched to some 400 yards until,
nearly two hours later, the marchers
headed back into the center .
There they pressed back into an auditorium and moved towards the podium
to get a closer look at their leader.
When Chavez did move forward to
speak,the applause was deafening.
In a high-pitched voice, -punctuated by gestures, Chavez told . the
strikers in Spanish that they had to
make sacrifices to gain their "just"
demands. And he told them to be proud
they were farmworkers.
"El trabajo del c;ampesino es el mas
importante del mundo." (The work of
the field worker is the most important
job in the world.)
"Today we earn more money than
before, but we are poorer," said Chavez in Spanish. Inflation has negated all
progress the union has made; in 15
years of struggle the farmworkers have
only gained 50 cents in real spending
power, he said.
Chavez made sure they got the message by always returning to the central
theme: "Esta huelga es la huelga de
mas dinero ." (Th is is t he strike for
higher wages )
La Voz de Atzlan
March 19, 1979
Page7
.Pride,unity,joy
found among la gente
By MARGARITA MARTINEZ
La Voz Writer
I used to regret not having been able
to play a part in the farmworker
movement during the late 60s and
early 70s . At that time I was so young
I hardly understood what was happening .
As I grew older and became aware
of the significance of the UFW it
seemed as if the days of marches,
conventions, boycotts and doing my
part in "La Causa" were over. But
it seems as if the life of the farmworker
is one of a constant struggle, and
again the fight is on.
to once again assemble for the march
I was astonished that Chavez' place in
the line would be directly behind me
throughout the march.
As he took his place behind me I
turned around and looked at him.
He reached out his hand to shake mine.
I felt very proud to be able to participate along with Cesar in the march.
I could hear him speaking to UFW
members and I could see the joy in
their faces at being able to speak
with him, and could identify with their
feelings.
I saw one very old man who was
almost blind led up to Chavez and
greet him with much enthusiasm.
Cii.1c~~-a-1n·vrwMa~c1··
------------------------------I was able
to experience
Recently,
being a part of a struggle . I was able
to attend a UFW march and rally in
Huron. As I arr;v'ed in the tiny con;imunity of Huron, along with other
Fresno State students, I could sense
the excitement in the air as throngs
of people began assembling for the
three-mile march in anticipation of
seeing Cesar Chavez.
There were very old men and women, middle aged farm laborers,
young teenagers, college students and
even tiny babies.
All around me I could hear everyone speaking in Spanish and keeping
an eye out for the arrival of Cesar
Chavez. As I stood there along with
the-others waiting, along came a brown
car and a smiling Cesar Chavez stepped out to be rushed at by his joyous
supporters, and the overanxious
media. I kept trying to see Cesar
Chavez and keep from being shoved
and stepped on.
After a few minutes the confusion
died down and people slo~ly began
He apologized for not being able to
march . Chavez thanked him for his
support and warmly shook his hand.
In another incident a frail woman
was also led up tp Chavez. She told him
that she wanted very much to march
alongside him, but since she was very
weak she could only march a short
distance. Chavez spoke with her again
thanking her and interwined his arm
through hers for the short distance
she marched.
I saw other people who hadn 't
marched drive up in cars and run up
to him and shake his hand. I could
often hear people exclaiming, "Miro
lo alli esta" and excitedly point at him,
others would run up to him and take his
picture. All of this made me f~PI
respectful of him because of the sense
of security he brought to everyone.
Throughout the march people sang,
with the mariachis accompanying
them. They waved their flags, their
symbols of hope, and shouted "Viva
Chavez" and "Viva la huelga".
I could feel a strong sense of unity
among everyone. As the march c~me
to an end people became more excited
and the shouts became more intense.
I looked back to the end of the column
and it seemed to strek,, forever.
As the sun started to set with the
ending of the march I was glad that
I had attended and had been a?le to
share in such a rewarding experience.
On the Wire
MEXICO CITY UPI--A series of
earthquakes that hit Mexico killed
five persons and injured 50, flattened
three buildings in Mexico City and
damaged 174 others, authorities say.
Latest reports show two persons died
in the - capital during the tremors
and three others were killed in the
southern state of Guerrero, including
a nine-year-old girl and an elderly
man who suffered a heart attack .
The quakes, which registered
7.75 on the open-ended Richter scale
Wednesday, also totally destroyed
three buildings in the capital and
damaged 174 others, some of which
have been evacuated, authorities
said .
SAN DIEGO UPI--The father _o~ a
man accused in the December killing
of two California Highway Patrolmen
near Sacramento held a press conference Thursday, urging Chicano ·
leaders to help his son get a fair trial.
And the leader of the Chicano
community organization that sponsored
the news conference charged that the
arrest of Luis Rodrigue~ Jr ., 23,
could be linked to "the historic mistreatment of minorites by law enforcement officers ."
Rodriguez faces murder• charges
in the death of CHP Officers Roy
B~lcher and Mike Freeman, who· were
shot to death along Interstate 80 in
West Sacramento Dec. 22.
Arrested with Rodriguez Christmas
Eve was Margaret Klaess, 18, who
was later granted immunity from
murder charges in exchange for her
testimony against Rodriguez.
She admitted that she was in the
car with Rodriguez when it was stopped
by the CHP officers the night of the
killings .
Luis Rodriguez Sr. of Los Angeles
Thursday suggested the Yolo County
Sheriff's Department may have
violated U.S. Postal regualtions when
it obtained a copy of a love letter
apparently written by his son to a
woman other than Miss Klaess .
It was after reading that letter that
Miss Klaess apparently decided to
testify against her boyfriend, the
elder Rodriguez said .
"They painted a picture of Klaess
as a little teen-ager who was badly
taken advantage of, but that's just
not the case," the father said at a news
conference sponsored by the San
Diego based Chicano Rights Organization .
"She is a very streetwise girl who
has a record of drug abuse and arrests
going back to age nine, and all that
came out in court."
The father cal·led on Chicano community organizations to press for a
fair trial for his son. Herman Baca,
director of the Chicano Rights Organization, also addressed reporters Thursday .
"Our first concern is to get this man
a fair trial " he said. Baca suggested
Rodriguez: arrest was part of "the
historic mistreatment of minorities
by law enforcement officers throughout
the southwest."
BERKELEY UPI--The University of
California Student Senate has refused
to reverse its hotly-protested decision
not to fund a campus appearance by
black activist Stokely Carmichael.
Carmichael had been invited to
speak by the ethnic studies department which gets $120,000 annually
in st~dent funds to finance speaking
engagements and numerous other
projects.
The student senate must aoorove
the expenditures, and such approvals
are usually routine . Speakers such as
Dennis Banks, Cesar Chavez and
James Baldwin had no tro~ble .
But when a proposal to spend
$1 500 on an honorarium, travel and
publicity expenses for C~rmichael
came up last week, it was reJected by
a 17-11 vote.
Anti-Carmichael
senators . ~omplained that he was "anti-Zionist." .
They said Carmichael was free to speak
on campus but that the studen~s
should not have to pay to hear his
"anti-Israel" views.
.
At a student senate meeting that
lasted until 2:30 a.m. Thursday, _numerous students argued that Carm1cha~I
should not be rejected because of his
political views.
h h d
ted
But no member w o a vo
against Carmichael last_ wee~ wa~
willing to request recons1derat1on , sd
under the rules the senate was barre
from revoting on its decision·
However the senate adoptedh . ha
resolution ' on a 15-1 1 vo te W IC
declared that future speaking eng~gr
ments should be considered so e y
on the basis of financial impact, a~d
not on the basis of the speaker s
politics.
k t
Editor's note: Carmichael sp~ e a
CSUF Feb. 7, as part of Black History
Week. His appearance ~as sponso~ted
by the Alpha Phi Alpha fraterm y.
La VozdeAtzlan
Pa e8
--------Noticias de la Raza----...;........,
BILINGUAL ED BACKED
CINCO DE MAYO VISIT
Wilson Riles, California Superintendent of Public Instruction last
week reaffirmed the state's committment to the bilingual education program.
Riles issued· the endorsement
afte an auditor general's report criticized a lack of adequate management
in the program.
A failure to properly administer
the program could lead to a .loss of
funding for the ~tate and federally
supported program, the auditor general 's report said.
· Bilingual education was established
by the state in 1976 so that students,
such as those who speak Spanish
principally, could be eased into classes
taught in English.
Riles said the program is designed
to help the student who is limited or
non-English speaking. The funds are
ceased when the student becomes
fluent in English.
"Our program to serve limited and
non-English speaking students is
relatively new. The laws- are complex
and difficult to administer," Riles said.
"Don't let evidence of confusion be
taken as a lack of committment of
giving limited and non-English speaking children every opportunity for
quality education," he said.
EOP TALE NT SHOW
Applications are now available for
the EOP Talent Show, to be held April
21. Auditions are now being organized,
so come out and "do your thing". For
more information, contact Tony Garduque or _Linda Hernandez in the EOP
office, located in the Joyal Administration Building (487-1021).
MINI CORPS DISCO DANCE
A disco dance fundraiser will be held
March 31 (Saturday) to raise money to
send 16 Minicorps students to Mexico.
The trip- will enable the students to
observe Mexican teaching methods in
a program that is very effective, ac
cording to a Minicorps spokesper
son.
The dance will be held at the Pinedale Community Center, 7170 N. San
Pablo, Pinedale. Donations will be $2
per person and $3 a couple. Starting
time is 9:00, and refreshments will be
served.
MESSAGE FROM MECHA
Mecha is now recruiting students to
attend meetings. We realize that our
studies are important, but there are
issues coming up that are going to
affect all Chicanos, and if we are now
aware of them and do not take action,
we will all end up losers. We hope that
people become more concerned with
what is happening now, before it is
too late.
The next Mecha meetings will bt:
held: March 22, Dean's Conference
room, SR 4, room 220; March 29, College Union, room 312-14; and April 5
College Union, room 309.
'
CHICANO COMMENCEMENT
The
Chicano
Commencement
Committee of the Chicano Alumni
Association is now accepting applications for the third annual Chicano
commencement at CSUF. The event is
set for Sunday, May 20, at the Fresno
District Fairgrounds.
Applications can be picked up at
Tutorial Services, the La Raza Studies
off ice, and the EOP off ice. The deadIi ne for returning applications is
April 18.
The bilingual ceremonies are designed to honor not only t~e graduate,
but those who helped the student
"make it " through school. A private
dinner and dance are included.
The graduates are urged to participate in regular commencement
activities two days earlier as well as
the special Chicano event.
A burrito sale will be held on campus
Friday to help finance the g·raduation ceremony. Anyone interested
in helping in the event or needing
information should call 487-1053.
UFW asks for help...__:___.j
The plea for food and money to help
far~workers on strike in Huron has
agam been issued. Contributions are
urgently needed by these local United
Farm workers.
Donations may be left at the La Raza
St udi~s office in SR 4, room 118. For
more information call 487-2848 or con-
tact Ben Bustos at 251-9380.
Mecha President Priscilla Contreras
has also requested that each Chicano
group on campus contribute food and at
least $25 per group for the strikers.
She may be contacted through the La
Raza Studies office.
REICH BLASTED
Newly elected city councilman
Joe Reich, West Fresno's representative, got more than a simple swearing -in ceremony last Tuesday. A group
of more than 60 black citizens marched
in front of City Hall then crowded foto
th.e council chambers protesting
Reich's election.
Reich, ·an attorney, won the election
after a last minute media barrage
that stressed his opposition to minority ·
programs, such as Affirmative Action.
He gained just three percent of the
vote in his own district, but captured
enough votes citywide to win the post.
After the swearing-in ceremony he
told reporters, "I 'm not a racist."
Les Kimber, publisher of The
California Advocate, said that local
black political groups planned to ask
the U.S. Justice Department to file
suit against the city. He said the city
should hold district elections for
council represenatives rather than have
all candidates voted on by all dty
- residents.·
Kimber asked council members to
make sure the city's Westside got fair
representation.
Most Chicanos will soon be celebrating Cinco de Mayo in unrestrained
freedom, but for another group of
Chicanos, festivities will be brought
inside to them.
On April 28, CSUF students and
Pinto program coordinators will provide music, dance, teatro and speeches
for inmates at the California Men's
Colony in San Luis Obispo.
The program's goal will be to provide the Chicanos in prison with a
positive attitude about themselves,
according to sponsors of the trip.
To help raise money for the visit
(travel, hotel), food sales will soon be
held on campus. The group· also
plans to take educational material to
the convicts, and have initiated a book
drive with "La Raza Unida", a group
of Chicano inmates.
The Pinto program coordinated at
:suF by Tony Garduque, Harold
Parras, and Bill Brandt, is designed
to help the ex-offender "make W'
in college.
"We all feel that this is a very important project," said Parras. "We
need to make all brothers aware that
there are people out there who care
and who are willing to do more than
talk about it."
Those interested in helping in the
project or donating books should
· contact the EOP office or the La Raza
Studies office.
EOPTENNIS
Tuesday is the deadline for sign-ups
for the EOP intramural tennis team.
Men and women interested in competing are asked to contact Tony
Garduque or Barbara Gomez in the
EOP office or cal I 487-1021.
STATEWIDE CHICANO TOURNEY
SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS .
Margaret de la Cruz, Velia Juarez,
Sarah Martinez, and Luis Rendor were
this semester's winners of the Chicano
Alumni Association scholarships.
They were presented S50 checks at
the Chicano Commencement meeting,
March 9. The Association will soon be
a~cepting applications for the fall
1979 scholarships.
THE MEANING OF
LA VOZ De AZTLAN
La Voz de Aztlan means "The voice ·
of Aztlan. " Aztlan has been translated
by most historians to be the mythical
name of the Aztec (or Mexica or Chichimeca) people who held the area
around present-day Mexico City when
the Spaniards under Hernan Cortes
~ntered Mexico in 1519.
A state-wide Chicano basketball
tournament has been set for April 2122 here in Fresno.
Sponsored by the Chicano Youth
Center, the tourney will include 16
teams in a single elimination competi•
tion.
Teams from Fresno, Hayward, Los
Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San
Jose, and Woodland will vie for the
~ .._
,~rds.
In their native Nahuatl language,
Aztlan meant "the place of herons,"
and also "the place they had been
·before." Dr. Jose Canales of the CSUF
History Department said he has traced
the origins of the Aztecs, a migratory
tribe as far north as present-day St.
Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To Chicanos, Aztlan is the name for
t.he entire Southwest -- our symbolic
homeland.
LA VOZ de AZTLAN
March 19, 1979
Monday
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ComentariO
Page 2
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City Council elections:
Fresno takes leap backward
By RICARDO PIMENTEL
La Voz Contributor
Yes Fresno did take a giant step forward in electing Leonel Alvarado. It,
however took two steps backwards by
electing J oe Reich over the wishes of
his new constituency.
Perhaps the first and most important
thing Alvarado can do now that he's
in office is to help remove the racist
conditions from the electoral process
which allows for a large segment of
the population to go unrepresented
in city government .
The city's district election was a
farce. Worse, it was racist and a disgrace.
We call for not only Councilman
Alvarado to become involved in the
first for a fair balloting process. We
also call for the Mexican American
Political Association, El Concilio de
Fresno and all Chicanos to lend active
support to efforts already underway
to remedy Fresno's discriminating ballot box.
Proponents of the present electoral
process, may point to the Alvarado election as proof positive that the system
works. Incidentally, Alvarado won in
his district as well as citywide. However, Councilman Alvarado and others
should realize that it could very well
have been the Chicano candidate in
Purdom' s shoes. There was no guarantee that the rest of the city would vote
for the person District 5 residents
wanted. Alvarado could very well have
won in his district, but lost citywide.
Fortunately, the city coincidentally
voted along the same lines as District
5 and Chicanos and all Fresnans are
now assured viable representation on
the City Council this time . .This should
not dampen Alvarado's or anyone's
resolve to change the system, however.
If local government is allowed to
unjustly disenfranchise even one person, then so are we all potentially
without a vote.
1
At first glance, it appears Chicanos
have gained much from the recent City
Council elections . There is much to
support this view . After all, Leonel
Alvarado won his race in the District
5 contest, assuring Chicanos of good
and honest representation on the City
Council.
However, on the other side of town
something quite different was happening . In District 3, an area predominantly populated by Blacks and Chicanos, a
candidate captured the majority of the
district's votes yet lost the election.
George Purdom, a Black man, captured about 31 percent of the district's
votes in a seven-man race, yet it will
be Joe Reich, capturing about 3 percent
of the district's vote, who will represent the district in the City Council.
Odd? It gets stranger yet.
Reich, relatively unknown a couple of
weeks betore the election, staged a
media blitz which struck just the right
chord with Fr-esno voters. His target
was affirmative action. Now, thts man
was running for office to represent a ·
largely minority populated area, yet
his platform was blatantly anti-minority. Although Fresno does have council
districts and councilmen and council
candidates are required to live in the
district they will theoretically represent, voting is done at large. The result
was that insensitive Fresno voters
were able to ram an unwanted representative down the throats of District
3 residents. Purdom, who outpolled
Reich more than 3 to 1 in their district,
finished a dismal third citywide.
Perhaps the oddity of the situation
was best phrased by Purdom, He said,
"I've seen men using tactics to gain
offic~, but never against those who
he will represent."
The infamous anti-UFW sign at Continental Market. The sign has since
been removed.
Photo by FELIX CONTRERAS
Commentary .
Misconceptions continue to
plague strike, La Causa
By F~ ...IX J. CONTRERAS
La Voz Contributor
For over a month now, 4,500 United
Farmwork-er's Union Members have
been on- strike against 10 growers in
the Imperial Valley, where much of this
country's winter lettuce 1s proaucea.
Although farmworkers now have a
collective bargaining law which protects their rights, the strike reaffirms
the fact that agribusiness will continue
to fight farmworkers in . their sruggle
to improve their lives. One striker has
been shot to death in the fields, and a
local high school helped growers recruit strikebreakers until the UFW
went to court and that practice was
ordered stopped.
La Voz: Do you fee l you're being
one-sided against the union by displayin_g such a sign?
Kozy: "You can consider me being
one-sided 'cause I have to sit here, I
have to listen to all the people come in
and complain about the high price of
food. I have to, you know, listen to
'em gripe about how high the price of
lettuce is. So I feel it's gonna make my
life a little bit easier if I put an explanation up there for them . And it has cut
down on the amount of complaints I
get."
La Voz: So, you're putting the blame
on the union?
Kozy: "I'm just passing it to where it
belongs. If there wasn't a lettuce
strike, I wouldn't have that problem,
A Talk with a produce manager
Football fans at CSU.F:
misguided zealots
At this time of year (budget time)
everyooay seems to unnecessarily
attack the athletic department and
athletics in general. But, a recent
newspaper advertising campaign by
some Bulldog football fans seems too
golden an opportunity to overlook.
In the Fresno Bee and CSUF' s
Insight, a group calling itself the
"Committee for Night Football at
Night" has purchased expensive
advertising space. The group's goal is
to have football games moved back
to a "more sensible hour"--8 p.m.
Games were first moved to 7 p.m.
last year. That was done to provide
better media coverage and allow
Bulldog game statistics to be included
in NCAA sports reports. Apparently
because of fan pressures the athletic
department recently announced that
games would start at 7:30 p.m . next
year .
But this group of fans is still un~appy . So displeased are they that they
have spent more than $6,000 in ad,vertising space to pressure the school
into moving the games to 8 p.m.
The group contends that hundreds
of loyal Bulldog followers throughout
the Valley are hurt by the early game
start. They believe that many work
Satu_rdays, · have trouble finding
parking ~nd seating on time, and thus
are deprived of watching the "great
sport."
Although we concede that a few fans
may be inconvenienced by early
game times, the issue seems too trivial
to even debate seriously.
With the multitude of problems
facing the city and state, as well as the
country, this effort seems a misguided
wast~ ot time a,recteo oy narrowminded zealots.
Although we believe that everyone
should have the right to spend their
money as they see fit, we can't help
but feel frustrated. It seems to us that
if we had more than $6,000 to spend
we could find many ways of putting it
to better use .
The plight of the farmworkers has
been grossly misunderstood by a misinformed public. Very rarely does the
average consumer take the time to
investigate issues surrounding the
strike (a scan of the newspaper would
give adequate data). In this money
oriented society, produce buyers only
see the UFW as the cause for the rise
in prices.
So the misconceptions ·a nd the stereotypes persist. La Voz discovered that
the farmworkers strike was being
blamed for the high price of lettuce
in the produce section of Continental
Market in Fresno (4343 N . Blackstone).
Above the lettuce display in this market was a sign that read: "As a result of
the UFW strike ... lettuce 98¢/head .. .
(We don't like the price either)".
, CSUF M.E.CH.A President Priscil-_
la Contreras and I talked with produce
manager Craig Kozy and asked him if
he felt he was misleading the public.
Kozy said he was the manager of
the produce section and admitted to
putting up the sign .
The sign was a perfect example _of
his ignorance to the plight of the
farmworkers and Kozy 's comments
even further showed his bias . (Through
out the interview, Kozy was cutting and
cleaning a crate of corn with a sharp
3-inch cutting instrument.)
right? I'd also be selling a lot more lettuce and a lot more people would be
eating lettuce."
La Voz: Do you understand why they
are striking?
Kozy: "Yeah, I know why they're
striking. I don't believe in it . It's my
own personal opinion. "
La Voz: So you feel you ' re in a position to go ahead and pass that opinion
on to others, and maybe sway people
who don't really understand what's
happening?
Kozy: "It's my perogative."
Continued on Pg. 6
La Voz de Aztlan is published by the
Associated Students at California State
University, Fresno and the newspaper
staff. Unsigned editorials are the opini-
ons of the La Voz staff, and not necessarily the views of the Associated Students, CSUF or the State of California.
Editor ... Richard Aguirre
Photography ... George Aguirre, Ricardo
Pimentel. Luoe Mora.
.Art ... Alvino Franco, Arturo Ocampo
Reporters ... Dora Lara, Margarita Mar•
tinez, Octavio Yescas.
Contributors ... Felix Contreras, Arh re;
Ocampo, Elvia Ruiz, Dianne Solis, Ricardo Pimentel.
(
March 19, 1979
Pagel
La Voz de Atzlan
La Chicana y Dona Marina, La Malinche
The birth of La_Mexicana,
her life and search for identity
By DORA LARA
La Voz Contributor
In 1519, the Spaniard Hernan
Cortes stepped onto Mexican soil,
and through a series of military and
political maneuvers destroyed the
Nahua empire and began a 300-year
European
colonization period
in
Mexico.
Women in this period of time saw
themselves totally defenseless in a
world of humiliation, abuse and
slavery. Their faces deformed by the
branding iron, thousands of women
were marked for the slave market.
Taken at wi 11 by the conquerors,
women married or single, seemed far
removed from the times when she was
considered a "precious gem and valued
feather" by the family .
As the Spanish women arrived
in the middle 1500s, they along with
Criollas and Mestizas held the power.
However, Indian women sti II held the
power as women.
Spanish women naturally were held
in higtt esteem, for they were mothers
to the Criollos, while the Indian women
gave birth to the Mestizo -- the"estirpe
de los desamparados."
The ticket to higher status in the new
society was through the Spanish
male, as Juan Alegria has frankly said.
For this reason, while the first relations
between the two groups were by force
and violence, eventually parents
gave their daughters up willingly
and then women themselves submitted. This is pointed oput in the
text Profile of the Mexican-American
Woman:
"For the Indian woman there was no
other fate than to serve. They served
the Spaniards, keeping their homes
and children and at the same time
providing sexual favors to the Spaniards.
"The mestizos' mothers were never
appreciated in their motherhood
nor as persons. Naturally, the males
felt wounded by these conditions,
and in their powerlessness to change
things, they blamed the women."
According to the text, the physical
suffering of women during the colonial
period is miniscule compared to the
psychological scars, caused by the conquest, Mestisaje, and the growing
pains of a cefonized society. Morally,
Mexicanas have suffered the brunt
of the blame for the conquest, tor
giving life to the children of the conquerors.
One sole Indian slave, Dona Marina,
symbolicallv carries the blame for the
c;onquest and the birth of tlie Mestizo
race.
Octavio Paz, Samuel Ramos, Carlos
Fuentes and many other writers,
both Mexican and foreign, have made
this one woman, Dona Marina (La
Malinche) the symbolic object of all
their negative feelings about the
conquest and the Mestisaje.
Dona Marina, whose Indian name
is Malinalli Tenepal, was born . and
raised in Oluta Coatzacualco in a matriarchal society. Deposed from her
position as a Casica {one who leads
an easy life) she was sold into slavery
by her parents, leaving her position
open to her half-brother.
When Hernan Cortes entered
Mexico, Malinche, along with other
slaves, were given to him. Later, this
would set her role in history.
Intelligent and eager to serve
with language skills in Nahua and
Maya, and also beautiful, she gained
an enviable position with her new
masters-.
Mali nche, born a leader, knowledgeable in politics, desirous of her
freedom, quickly learned Spanish and
became indispensible to the conquest.
She was also known to be a follower
of Quetzalcoatl and a believer in the
prophesies, a tact which predisposed
her to accept the new faith predicted
by the Spaniards
Une ot her tew detenders, Aniceto
Aramoni, a contemporary psychologist
considers her indispensable to the
conquest because of her powerful
position as translater and diplomat.
She was taken by Cortes as a lover,
mothered his child and later discarded
by him when he brought a wife from
Spain.
Symbolically, she has represented
the thousands of Indian women who
through similar circumstances suffered
the same fate .
According to Aramoni, Dona Marina
had nothing to lose. Resentful of her
people who had twice sold her into
slavery and deposed her of her rightful position, she was raised into a
position of power by her new master.
Cortes, known as the descendent of
Quetzalcoatl or perhaps Quetzalcoatl
himself, honored her with a son,
symbolically the first Mestizo.
Another defender of Dona Maria,
Adelaida del Castillo, a Chicana
historian, feels that to remove Dona
Marina as everyone's "whipping girl"
would be to establish the Mexicana' s
rightful strong status once and for all.
A writer, Juana Alegria, urges
Mexican women to dispel the negative
feelings about La Malinche and the
other Indian women who were instrumental by force or otherwise in the
birth of the Mestizo race. Doing this
is important so that Mexicanas can help
gain a more positive 1dentrty.
La Mujer y La Familia========ft
1AM
Though I am not the man of the house ·
I am the hand of the family.
For it is I who mend the socks,
Raise the children, maintain the
budget,
Prepare the meals, wash the clothes,
and
Give out the squeezes, hugs, and
kisses.
It is I who cures colds, cuts, bruises,
Bad days and little scratches on the
knees
With my whole heart.
Though I am not the man of the house
I too put in a day's work plus more ...
For no pay, no vacation, no sick leave,
And no recognition.
It is I, and I alone, who is
The hand of the familv
I am softer than a red rose
And as mean as a cat.
I am softer tha a red rose
Sweeter than new fallen snow
And it is my heart that is
Warmer than the sun from up above.
Though I am not the man of the house
I am the hand of the family.
By Maria Anita Torres
La Voz contributor
Page4
La Voz de Atzlan
"The rich have money on their side, but time is on the side of the poor."
--Cesar Chavez
"The strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for othe~
a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer
others. God help us to be men."
--Cesar Cha
La Voz de Atzlan
Pages
Visio"ns of La Causa:
Chavez sweeps
into the San Joaquin
--Photos by George Aguirre
"We are suffering ... We shall unite ... We shall strike ... We shall overcome ... Our pilgramage is the match that will light our cause for all
farmworkers to see what is happening here, so that they may do as we
have done."
--Cesar Chavez
La Voz de Atzlan
Page&
La Huelga spreads to the
San Joaquin, Sa_
linas Vall.ey~
J ust two years ago, the UFW' s
troubles seemed to be over. The Teamsters had finally agreed to allow the
UFW to unionize field workers while
the Teamsters would have jurisdiction over shed and packing workers .
On the heels of that agreement and
the signing of more than 100 contracts
with growers, the UFW finally ended
its boycott of lettuce, wine and table
grapes in February, 1978.
But in January, troubles for the union cropped up again when negotiations with growers failed to produce
new contracts to cover the workers .
Chavez called a strike in the Imperial
Valley against 11 lettuce growers there .
The strikes have now spread through
out 30 farms in California and Arizona
and may spread even further.
In Huron , 200 UFW members are
striking two local companies, Sun Harvest and Bruce Church Farms, Inc .
But the number of strikes in the area
could swell when the harvests intensify later this month and in April .
The Fresno Bee recently reported
that an average 9,000 acres of head
lettuce is grown annually in Fresno,· according to the county agricultural commissioner's office .
Ever since strike negotiations broke
down a few weeks ago, both sides have
taken their case to the public. Grower
ad campaigns have been designed to
force Gov. Brown to put pressure on
Chavez to end the walkout, while the
union spokesmen have stressed that
the workers only demand decent
wages.
Chavez recently called for a boycott
on Chiquita Bananas in a move to pressure United Brands, Inc., owner of Chiquita and
Sun Harvest, a huge lettuce grower, to yield to UFW demands .
The union president has also charged
that the growers are not bargaining
"in good faith." Growers have denied
that charge, however, and said that the
union has faltered in recent years and
has issued unreasonable demands .
Spokesmen for the growers have said
that if the UFW strike continues, or
if the union demands are met, there
win be fewer jobs in the fields, higher
grower costs and 'higher consumer prices.
,.~ To curb the violence, a judge in the
Imperial Valley has ruled that no more
than 100 strikers may enter the fields
to picket at a time. Locally, the Fresno
court has disarmed grower security
men and ordered strikers not to throw
rocks at the strike breakers in the
fields.
Growers said that Chavez wants a 40
percent increase in w_ages immediately.
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They have also charged Chavez and
his followers with trespassing, destroying crops and equipment and for causing most of the violence in the fields .
One man, a UFW worker, has been
killed, more than 30 have been injured
and more than 160 have been arrested
during the strike . Chavez has blamed
the violence on the grower security
men and on "police riots."
They have proposed a seven percent
annual increase during a three-year
contract, and this, they contend, is consistent with President Carter's voluntary seven percent wage increase limitation,
.
The union has rejected that proposal
and said that it will accept a seven percent wage increase when the growers
limit their profits to seven percent. The
union has demanded an increase in
wages per hour of $1. 50--from $3. 70 to
$5 .20.
Strike hurt by Continuing stereotypes
Continued from Pg. 2
La Voz : You say that you understand
what they' re striking for ...
Kozy : "Yeah, higher wages."
La Voz : Don't you believe they
should get paid better wages for the
work they do?
Kozy: "Not really."
La Voz: The work you do compared to
the work they do is nothing. You have a
leasure job.
Kozy : "Oh, it's a leasure job? Too
bad you weren't here an hour ago
when we were unloading the truck try
that kid!"
'
La Voz: That's nothing you' re not
in the fields picking the lettuce ...
Kozy: "No, I' m trimming corn it
looks like to me. " (sarcastically)
'
La Voz : I don't think you understana
what the people are doing, what it
takes to do what they do .
Kozy: "Well , I also know that most
of them are wetbacks and most of the
money goes back to Mex ico ."
La Voz: That's such a narrowminded point of view to have.
Kozy: "You think so, huh? Well,
kid, once you get out in this world,
start working for a living, you find out
what life's all about . Your attitudes
are gonna change too. You' re saying
"no, no, no" . Hell, you' re living at
home, life's gravy. Wait till you see
what this world's like ." (Kozy is 22
years old. I am 21 and have spent
many summers in the tomato h::ids of
Yolo County.)
La Voz : What do you rnnsider a
"wetback"?
Kozy: "Someone who s not a citizen of this country , somebody who
comes from Mexico to work in the
fields. "
La Voz : Only from Mexico?
Kozy: "Well , from any country in
the world, anybody that is classified an
'i llegal alien '. But most of them are
from Mexico, and that ' s why we say
that ."
La Voz : Why the name "wetback"?
Kozy: "I don't know. Somebody
gave it to them a long time ago. Uh,
wetback - it means "without papers"
doesn't it? No, that's "wop". I don't
know why they' re called that. That's
the name they got."
The interview was conducted on
Feb . 16. The sign has since been re:"
moved, but the damage has been done .
Who knows how many shoppers were
swayed by the sign, and developed a
misguided stand against the United
Farm Workers?
Not that the future of the United
Farm Workers rests on what Continental does. The problem is that if
more "produce managers" abuse their
positions like Craig Kozy ' s , the Farmw.o rkers' fight for unionization will become fabricated into an economic
threat to consumers.
They ' re not a threat to anyone , actually . If you conside r wanting to improve
t heir living and working condition, and
position in society, a threat, then you
have ~omething to be afraid of .
But not from them, fro m yourself .
March 19,1979
Cesar Chavez
visits Huron
By RICHARD AGUIRRE
E ditor of La Voz
Huron--Huron is one of those outof-the-way towns that most have heard
about but never visited . It is the typi.cal small farm community - a main
street and just a few stores - that has
apparently changed very little for
years.
There is little to see there and even
less to do, but last week was an exception, because March 6, Cesar Estrada
Chavez, head of t he United Farmworkers of America (UFW) led a march
here .
The 52-year-old former field worker
arrived with more than 600 other union
members and supporte rs to reaffirm
their faith in the current lettuce strike
in California a nd Arizona. Caravans
of strikers and supporters poured into
the town to see Chavez, and gain
strength from each other to continue
the struggle.
As I the hundreds lined up for the
march, the spi rits of "La Causa"
filled t he ai r and shouts of encouragement freque ntly rang out . "Boycott
Chiquita Banana" signs and red and
black UFW flag s were excitedly waved
by t he crowd as television crews and
photographers reported the event.
Just as the orderly three-mile march
began, Chavez ste pped from a car and
joined the column . He tried to take a
modest posture but the TV crews and
frantic photographers made obscurity
impossible .
Chavez looked fatigued but comfortable among his people. The short dark
man was, as usual , dressed simply in
dark slacks and shoes , and a graychecked pendleton shirt.
.
He was calm and quiet throughout
the march, but his marchers were unrestrained, shouting slogans and urging others to join the line. But many
chose to just watch the event from the
sidelines as the most exciting event of
the day passed by.
The column threaded its way through
the town past rickety houses, police
check points and lush fields . The line
stretched to some 400 yards until,
nearly two hours later, the marchers
headed back into the center .
There they pressed back into an auditorium and moved towards the podium
to get a closer look at their leader.
When Chavez did move forward to
speak,the applause was deafening.
In a high-pitched voice, -punctuated by gestures, Chavez told . the
strikers in Spanish that they had to
make sacrifices to gain their "just"
demands. And he told them to be proud
they were farmworkers.
"El trabajo del c;ampesino es el mas
importante del mundo." (The work of
the field worker is the most important
job in the world.)
"Today we earn more money than
before, but we are poorer," said Chavez in Spanish. Inflation has negated all
progress the union has made; in 15
years of struggle the farmworkers have
only gained 50 cents in real spending
power, he said.
Chavez made sure they got the message by always returning to the central
theme: "Esta huelga es la huelga de
mas dinero ." (Th is is t he strike for
higher wages )
La Voz de Atzlan
March 19, 1979
Page7
.Pride,unity,joy
found among la gente
By MARGARITA MARTINEZ
La Voz Writer
I used to regret not having been able
to play a part in the farmworker
movement during the late 60s and
early 70s . At that time I was so young
I hardly understood what was happening .
As I grew older and became aware
of the significance of the UFW it
seemed as if the days of marches,
conventions, boycotts and doing my
part in "La Causa" were over. But
it seems as if the life of the farmworker
is one of a constant struggle, and
again the fight is on.
to once again assemble for the march
I was astonished that Chavez' place in
the line would be directly behind me
throughout the march.
As he took his place behind me I
turned around and looked at him.
He reached out his hand to shake mine.
I felt very proud to be able to participate along with Cesar in the march.
I could hear him speaking to UFW
members and I could see the joy in
their faces at being able to speak
with him, and could identify with their
feelings.
I saw one very old man who was
almost blind led up to Chavez and
greet him with much enthusiasm.
Cii.1c~~-a-1n·vrwMa~c1··
------------------------------I was able
to experience
Recently,
being a part of a struggle . I was able
to attend a UFW march and rally in
Huron. As I arr;v'ed in the tiny con;imunity of Huron, along with other
Fresno State students, I could sense
the excitement in the air as throngs
of people began assembling for the
three-mile march in anticipation of
seeing Cesar Chavez.
There were very old men and women, middle aged farm laborers,
young teenagers, college students and
even tiny babies.
All around me I could hear everyone speaking in Spanish and keeping
an eye out for the arrival of Cesar
Chavez. As I stood there along with
the-others waiting, along came a brown
car and a smiling Cesar Chavez stepped out to be rushed at by his joyous
supporters, and the overanxious
media. I kept trying to see Cesar
Chavez and keep from being shoved
and stepped on.
After a few minutes the confusion
died down and people slo~ly began
He apologized for not being able to
march . Chavez thanked him for his
support and warmly shook his hand.
In another incident a frail woman
was also led up tp Chavez. She told him
that she wanted very much to march
alongside him, but since she was very
weak she could only march a short
distance. Chavez spoke with her again
thanking her and interwined his arm
through hers for the short distance
she marched.
I saw other people who hadn 't
marched drive up in cars and run up
to him and shake his hand. I could
often hear people exclaiming, "Miro
lo alli esta" and excitedly point at him,
others would run up to him and take his
picture. All of this made me f~PI
respectful of him because of the sense
of security he brought to everyone.
Throughout the march people sang,
with the mariachis accompanying
them. They waved their flags, their
symbols of hope, and shouted "Viva
Chavez" and "Viva la huelga".
I could feel a strong sense of unity
among everyone. As the march c~me
to an end people became more excited
and the shouts became more intense.
I looked back to the end of the column
and it seemed to strek,, forever.
As the sun started to set with the
ending of the march I was glad that
I had attended and had been a?le to
share in such a rewarding experience.
On the Wire
MEXICO CITY UPI--A series of
earthquakes that hit Mexico killed
five persons and injured 50, flattened
three buildings in Mexico City and
damaged 174 others, authorities say.
Latest reports show two persons died
in the - capital during the tremors
and three others were killed in the
southern state of Guerrero, including
a nine-year-old girl and an elderly
man who suffered a heart attack .
The quakes, which registered
7.75 on the open-ended Richter scale
Wednesday, also totally destroyed
three buildings in the capital and
damaged 174 others, some of which
have been evacuated, authorities
said .
SAN DIEGO UPI--The father _o~ a
man accused in the December killing
of two California Highway Patrolmen
near Sacramento held a press conference Thursday, urging Chicano ·
leaders to help his son get a fair trial.
And the leader of the Chicano
community organization that sponsored
the news conference charged that the
arrest of Luis Rodrigue~ Jr ., 23,
could be linked to "the historic mistreatment of minorites by law enforcement officers ."
Rodriguez faces murder• charges
in the death of CHP Officers Roy
B~lcher and Mike Freeman, who· were
shot to death along Interstate 80 in
West Sacramento Dec. 22.
Arrested with Rodriguez Christmas
Eve was Margaret Klaess, 18, who
was later granted immunity from
murder charges in exchange for her
testimony against Rodriguez.
She admitted that she was in the
car with Rodriguez when it was stopped
by the CHP officers the night of the
killings .
Luis Rodriguez Sr. of Los Angeles
Thursday suggested the Yolo County
Sheriff's Department may have
violated U.S. Postal regualtions when
it obtained a copy of a love letter
apparently written by his son to a
woman other than Miss Klaess .
It was after reading that letter that
Miss Klaess apparently decided to
testify against her boyfriend, the
elder Rodriguez said .
"They painted a picture of Klaess
as a little teen-ager who was badly
taken advantage of, but that's just
not the case," the father said at a news
conference sponsored by the San
Diego based Chicano Rights Organization .
"She is a very streetwise girl who
has a record of drug abuse and arrests
going back to age nine, and all that
came out in court."
The father cal·led on Chicano community organizations to press for a
fair trial for his son. Herman Baca,
director of the Chicano Rights Organization, also addressed reporters Thursday .
"Our first concern is to get this man
a fair trial " he said. Baca suggested
Rodriguez: arrest was part of "the
historic mistreatment of minorities
by law enforcement officers throughout
the southwest."
BERKELEY UPI--The University of
California Student Senate has refused
to reverse its hotly-protested decision
not to fund a campus appearance by
black activist Stokely Carmichael.
Carmichael had been invited to
speak by the ethnic studies department which gets $120,000 annually
in st~dent funds to finance speaking
engagements and numerous other
projects.
The student senate must aoorove
the expenditures, and such approvals
are usually routine . Speakers such as
Dennis Banks, Cesar Chavez and
James Baldwin had no tro~ble .
But when a proposal to spend
$1 500 on an honorarium, travel and
publicity expenses for C~rmichael
came up last week, it was reJected by
a 17-11 vote.
Anti-Carmichael
senators . ~omplained that he was "anti-Zionist." .
They said Carmichael was free to speak
on campus but that the studen~s
should not have to pay to hear his
"anti-Israel" views.
.
At a student senate meeting that
lasted until 2:30 a.m. Thursday, _numerous students argued that Carm1cha~I
should not be rejected because of his
political views.
h h d
ted
But no member w o a vo
against Carmichael last_ wee~ wa~
willing to request recons1derat1on , sd
under the rules the senate was barre
from revoting on its decision·
However the senate adoptedh . ha
resolution ' on a 15-1 1 vo te W IC
declared that future speaking eng~gr
ments should be considered so e y
on the basis of financial impact, a~d
not on the basis of the speaker s
politics.
k t
Editor's note: Carmichael sp~ e a
CSUF Feb. 7, as part of Black History
Week. His appearance ~as sponso~ted
by the Alpha Phi Alpha fraterm y.
La VozdeAtzlan
Pa e8
--------Noticias de la Raza----...;........,
BILINGUAL ED BACKED
CINCO DE MAYO VISIT
Wilson Riles, California Superintendent of Public Instruction last
week reaffirmed the state's committment to the bilingual education program.
Riles issued· the endorsement
afte an auditor general's report criticized a lack of adequate management
in the program.
A failure to properly administer
the program could lead to a .loss of
funding for the ~tate and federally
supported program, the auditor general 's report said.
· Bilingual education was established
by the state in 1976 so that students,
such as those who speak Spanish
principally, could be eased into classes
taught in English.
Riles said the program is designed
to help the student who is limited or
non-English speaking. The funds are
ceased when the student becomes
fluent in English.
"Our program to serve limited and
non-English speaking students is
relatively new. The laws- are complex
and difficult to administer," Riles said.
"Don't let evidence of confusion be
taken as a lack of committment of
giving limited and non-English speaking children every opportunity for
quality education," he said.
EOP TALE NT SHOW
Applications are now available for
the EOP Talent Show, to be held April
21. Auditions are now being organized,
so come out and "do your thing". For
more information, contact Tony Garduque or _Linda Hernandez in the EOP
office, located in the Joyal Administration Building (487-1021).
MINI CORPS DISCO DANCE
A disco dance fundraiser will be held
March 31 (Saturday) to raise money to
send 16 Minicorps students to Mexico.
The trip- will enable the students to
observe Mexican teaching methods in
a program that is very effective, ac
cording to a Minicorps spokesper
son.
The dance will be held at the Pinedale Community Center, 7170 N. San
Pablo, Pinedale. Donations will be $2
per person and $3 a couple. Starting
time is 9:00, and refreshments will be
served.
MESSAGE FROM MECHA
Mecha is now recruiting students to
attend meetings. We realize that our
studies are important, but there are
issues coming up that are going to
affect all Chicanos, and if we are now
aware of them and do not take action,
we will all end up losers. We hope that
people become more concerned with
what is happening now, before it is
too late.
The next Mecha meetings will bt:
held: March 22, Dean's Conference
room, SR 4, room 220; March 29, College Union, room 312-14; and April 5
College Union, room 309.
'
CHICANO COMMENCEMENT
The
Chicano
Commencement
Committee of the Chicano Alumni
Association is now accepting applications for the third annual Chicano
commencement at CSUF. The event is
set for Sunday, May 20, at the Fresno
District Fairgrounds.
Applications can be picked up at
Tutorial Services, the La Raza Studies
off ice, and the EOP off ice. The deadIi ne for returning applications is
April 18.
The bilingual ceremonies are designed to honor not only t~e graduate,
but those who helped the student
"make it " through school. A private
dinner and dance are included.
The graduates are urged to participate in regular commencement
activities two days earlier as well as
the special Chicano event.
A burrito sale will be held on campus
Friday to help finance the g·raduation ceremony. Anyone interested
in helping in the event or needing
information should call 487-1053.
UFW asks for help...__:___.j
The plea for food and money to help
far~workers on strike in Huron has
agam been issued. Contributions are
urgently needed by these local United
Farm workers.
Donations may be left at the La Raza
St udi~s office in SR 4, room 118. For
more information call 487-2848 or con-
tact Ben Bustos at 251-9380.
Mecha President Priscilla Contreras
has also requested that each Chicano
group on campus contribute food and at
least $25 per group for the strikers.
She may be contacted through the La
Raza Studies office.
REICH BLASTED
Newly elected city councilman
Joe Reich, West Fresno's representative, got more than a simple swearing -in ceremony last Tuesday. A group
of more than 60 black citizens marched
in front of City Hall then crowded foto
th.e council chambers protesting
Reich's election.
Reich, ·an attorney, won the election
after a last minute media barrage
that stressed his opposition to minority ·
programs, such as Affirmative Action.
He gained just three percent of the
vote in his own district, but captured
enough votes citywide to win the post.
After the swearing-in ceremony he
told reporters, "I 'm not a racist."
Les Kimber, publisher of The
California Advocate, said that local
black political groups planned to ask
the U.S. Justice Department to file
suit against the city. He said the city
should hold district elections for
council represenatives rather than have
all candidates voted on by all dty
- residents.·
Kimber asked council members to
make sure the city's Westside got fair
representation.
Most Chicanos will soon be celebrating Cinco de Mayo in unrestrained
freedom, but for another group of
Chicanos, festivities will be brought
inside to them.
On April 28, CSUF students and
Pinto program coordinators will provide music, dance, teatro and speeches
for inmates at the California Men's
Colony in San Luis Obispo.
The program's goal will be to provide the Chicanos in prison with a
positive attitude about themselves,
according to sponsors of the trip.
To help raise money for the visit
(travel, hotel), food sales will soon be
held on campus. The group· also
plans to take educational material to
the convicts, and have initiated a book
drive with "La Raza Unida", a group
of Chicano inmates.
The Pinto program coordinated at
:suF by Tony Garduque, Harold
Parras, and Bill Brandt, is designed
to help the ex-offender "make W'
in college.
"We all feel that this is a very important project," said Parras. "We
need to make all brothers aware that
there are people out there who care
and who are willing to do more than
talk about it."
Those interested in helping in the
project or donating books should
· contact the EOP office or the La Raza
Studies office.
EOPTENNIS
Tuesday is the deadline for sign-ups
for the EOP intramural tennis team.
Men and women interested in competing are asked to contact Tony
Garduque or Barbara Gomez in the
EOP office or cal I 487-1021.
STATEWIDE CHICANO TOURNEY
SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS .
Margaret de la Cruz, Velia Juarez,
Sarah Martinez, and Luis Rendor were
this semester's winners of the Chicano
Alumni Association scholarships.
They were presented S50 checks at
the Chicano Commencement meeting,
March 9. The Association will soon be
a~cepting applications for the fall
1979 scholarships.
THE MEANING OF
LA VOZ De AZTLAN
La Voz de Aztlan means "The voice ·
of Aztlan. " Aztlan has been translated
by most historians to be the mythical
name of the Aztec (or Mexica or Chichimeca) people who held the area
around present-day Mexico City when
the Spaniards under Hernan Cortes
~ntered Mexico in 1519.
A state-wide Chicano basketball
tournament has been set for April 2122 here in Fresno.
Sponsored by the Chicano Youth
Center, the tourney will include 16
teams in a single elimination competi•
tion.
Teams from Fresno, Hayward, Los
Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San
Jose, and Woodland will vie for the
~ .._
,~rds.
In their native Nahuatl language,
Aztlan meant "the place of herons,"
and also "the place they had been
·before." Dr. Jose Canales of the CSUF
History Department said he has traced
the origins of the Aztecs, a migratory
tribe as far north as present-day St.
Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To Chicanos, Aztlan is the name for
t.he entire Southwest -- our symbolic
homeland.