La Voz de Aztlan, October 29 1981
Item
Title
La Voz de Aztlan, October 29 1981
Creator
Associated Students of Fresno State
Relation
La Voz de Aztlan (Daily Collegian, California State University, Fresno)
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
10/29/1981
Format
PDF
Identifier
SCUA_lvda_00133
extracted text
loot ·Suit ·Review Tension grew between military per-
be,::omes t~1e largest mass conviction in
the history of California for the alleged
murder of a single man, the defendants
were sentenced to San Quentin for life.
The Sleepy Lagoon Murder Case is a
landmark case in the American system of
cano film showing in Fresno? That alone sonnel and pachucos as they mingled
in the night life of Los Angeles. Dis1s too much for the mind to accept, the
justice for it established a precedence
by Pedro Perez
Can you believe the reality of a Chihard part to believe is that the script
for the film was written by a homeboy Luis Valdez and his brother Daniel,
plays the leading role of Henry·
Reyna.
Who ever said "This is the decade of
the Chicano" sure did read his crystal
ball right. Zoot Suit the play, and now
the film, is sweeping across the southwest with tremendous acceptance
from people of all walks of life. Here in
Fresno, the theatre has been filled
since it opened two weeks ago and
Chicanos and non-Chicanos have been
receiving it with a big abrazo.
The film is set in East Los Angeles after the end of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War 11.
Young Chicanos were distinctively
identifying themselves as pachucos,
(loot Suiters), and as war heroes across
the Pacific. But back home on the front
lines of Whittier Boulevard, public officials and newspapers were calling them
•subversive" to the American way of
life and needed to be dealt with.
agreements and fights kept breaking
against mass trials.
The film itself doesn't come near to
giving the depth the theatre play gives
its characters. Not that the actors in
the film d9n 't portray their characters
to the extent, but it's the emotional and
personal vibes that you receive from the
actors that gives the play so much more
color and vitality.
The Pachuco (Edward James Olmos)
is as sharp and to the point as the switch
blade he uses in the opening act.
Dressed in his black tacuche and boardbrimmed tando, he grasps the audience's attention in an instant with
every step he takes and every word he
speaks.
From his beginnings with Teatro
Campesino to playing a leading role in
Zoot Suit, Daniel Valdez is also musical
director for the film. .
The tough guy character Daniel portrays on the screen in a sense reflects
the self determination the Chicano community has in society. His courage,
out between sailors and pachucos until
an all-out war was declared on pachucos
and anyone else who resembled one, by
sailors who were stationed in Los
Angeles. Public officials and the police
did nothing to stop the sailors from beating and stripping Chicanos of their Zoot
Suits since, the police blamed the pachucos for the violence that was going
on.
The focal point of the film revolves
around the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Mystery, in which a young Chicano boy was
found dead at the Sleepy Lagoon Reservoir, a then popular swimming hole.
The search for the murder resulted
in the round up of Henry Reyna and his
so-called 38th Street gang since they
were the last ones seen at the lagoon
that night.
After a long 13-week trial by a lynch,
type court, the all , Anglo jury found 12
of the defendants guilty of murder, five
of lesser assault charges, and acquitted
the remaining five of all charges. It
leadership, and ability_, to' make rationa
decisions before his peers, flows insi
everyone of us. The injustices that h
feels and experiences are the injustices
experienced by the Chicano community.
Henry Reyna and his struggle as
pachuco in East Los Angeles living
in the middle of anger and distrust
mirror the troubles of young Chicano;
today.
The way Luis Valdez brings us this
message of injustice towards Chicanos
is creative. He gives hope at the end of
the film that people and systems can be
cha Ilenged.
This is the first Chicano film ·produced by a Chicano with a 95 percent
Chicano cast that has reached the commercial movie market.
The Pachucas in the film are very independent and the high skirt and hair
dress they use are accurate. Henry's
girlfriend Della, who is played by
Rose Portillo, also appeared in the original theatre play. In total, there was an
equal amount of pachucas as there were
pachucos on the screen, resulting in
a living-color effect. The dancing and
singing capabilities were talents Chicanas haven 't been given a chance to
express before.
La Chicana, like the Chicano in the
fi Im, work together to achieve the
, ,,.: "!late goal of the fi Im - success.
,I
Daniel and Luis Valdez come to Fresno
Daniel Valdez
·Luis Valdez
by Fernando Quintero
Director Luis Valdez and his brother time a major motion picture has been
Daniel who portrays Henry Reyna in · written and directed by a Chicano.
the newlY--- released Universal firm.
Luis is the founder of the farmworker
•zoot Suit,"' w.ere in Fresno last week theatre group, El Teatro Campesino, ·
promoting the film and attending a which began 15 years ago. He wrote and
reception which was held in their directed various skits and plays with
honor.
socio-political themes of the farmworker
From their farmworker roots in struggle.
Delano to Hollywood, Luis and Faniel
In 1972, Luis created the emmy
are more than excited about their new award winning "Los Vendidos" for tel- ·
movie venture which marks the first evision and co!laborated with Richard
la Voz: Do you see Zoot Suit as a
vehicle for giving Daniel or Edward
Olmos the exposure necessary for stardom?
Luis: Oh yes. I think that Daniel and
Ed Olmos have gotten about as much
exPosure as they've ever gotten with
this film. These are definitely leading
roles. These roles given to them in
loot Suit show that they can act.
la Voz: How is Zoot Suit seen as the
Hollywoodization of Chicanos?
Luis: The real question has to do with
the market.
The marketability of
Chicano themes and it really relates to
whether there is an audience ·out there
which is receptive . It's not as if Hollywood has not dealt with Chicano treatments before. For instance, the first
Westerns. I think what inspired Universal Studios to do the film, was the
realization of the numbers of Hispanics
in the Southwest, Chicago, and New
York that has grown within the last
25 years. The question is whether a
Chicano theme that is as Chicano as
"Zoot Suit" can reach out to everybody.
That is still an open question. We're
encouraged by certain responses we've
had.
seeLUIS page 8'
Pryor in "'Which Way is Upf"' in 19n.
Luis has served on various theatre
advisory boards and was appointed to
the nine-member California Arts Council by Governor Edmund .Brown Jr. in
1976. Luis has taught drama courses
at UC Berkely and Santa Cruz and
CSUF.
In 1978, "Zoot Suit"' went to Broadway.
.
Daniel was also involvaj wJJb his
La Voz: Why are there so few Chicano
actors?
Daniel: There hasn't been much for
the Chicano actor.
And everything
that's out there was usually stereotypical roles. Very rarely do you see a
starring role where the character is
Chicano. In the case of "Boulevard
Nights' I f'elt it was a breakthrough for
Chicano actors, but the material was
bad, negative, exploitation. Then you
have the other extreme, "Walk Proud"
with Robby Benson playing a Chicano
They wanted me for the movie to play
a gang leader.
brother during the Delano farmworker' s
strike in 1965 and was a musician and
actor for El Teatro. .
·
Daniel has acted in such films as
"'The China Syndrome," and "Which
Way is Up?"
The following interviews were taken at
a press luncheon held for Daniel and
Luis.
As a Chicano actor, you can do a
bunch of stuff, not care about what
you're doing, and take the money and
run . - Eventually what that will lead you
to is the audience won't accept you in
positive rol es. I believe in ethics, the
actors ethics, he must question the
values of t he characters. In many ways
he must ask his heart rather than his.
pocket what's more important.
La Voz: What advice would you give
aspiring Chicano actors?
Daniel: I would say first of all, to do
as much as you can. Experience is important . Zoot Suit is my first film .
see DANIEL page 8
Pqe 6-0ctober29, 1981 La Voz de Aztlan
dialog.ue
What is your position on the Equal Rights ·Amendment?
.
MARIA MARIN: Social Welfare MajorSenior:
*I'm very much for the ERA. I feel
that there are a lot of women that are
underpaid. Some do not hold the position
they wish, and they do not get .the
chance to advance. At least with the
ERA they will have a chance. to further
themselves.•
RUTH BUELNA: Micro-Biology. MajorSophomore:
"'I'm for the ERA to a certain point. I
believe that women should have the
same rights as men to a certain point,
like on the jobs, they (women) should not
be discriminated ."
EDWARD LUJANO: AccountingMajorPAUL NEGRETE: Psycology MajorJunior:
"'I'm for the ERA.II believe, that women Senior:
"As a philosophy, one general conshould have their equal rights. I 'm not a
cept, I'm for the ERA .. . I think it's going
male chauvinistf I believe in equality."
to solidify some people's ideas about
what the country thinks in general-that
there are males in the country who will
back the issue. I think that's going to
help women in general, present data that
this actually occurs."
ELENOR AGUILAR: Retention Specialist, Student Affirmative Action Program:
"I'm for the ERA in the sense of what
it could mean to us as women in the
sense of equality between men and
women ... It's worth it in the long run
because I think that men and women can
begin to work together (especially in the
work place) on a much more equal basis.
It will probably open up a lot of the nontraditional areas that have kept women
from applying for jobs as engineers or
JOHN PALOFOX: Undeclared Majorin agriculture and men also can become J unior :
nurses and teachers."'
·.,, 'm for the ERA.
should bea
contitutional amendment that states
there's equality for women. If the ERA
is written down as a constitutional
amendment, then it is ·written down as
band." ·
'
By Lourdes Villarreal and Richard Rios
SIN ·
continued from page 3
Most of the industries rely on Nielsen
and Arbitron ratings to buy time. According to Ruiz, Spanish TV is under-
represented with Nielsen and Arbitron.
"Arbitron is not set up to -rate Hispanic
viewing,• said Ruiz.
Arbitron and Nielsen use a diary technique which does not work on the
Spanish-speaking public because the
diaries are mainly in English. SIN has a
private research firl't\.that interviews in
Spanish to find out .what programs are
watched during a 24-hour period.
*Our ratings tell us that of all the Hispanic population watchTng TV, one half
of the time they are watching Spanish
TV,' said Ruiz. According to Ruiz, it
proves that Cannel 21 is strong withinthe TV market and the Spanish market
is large in total population.
The Nielsen and Arbitron show low
viewing of Spanish TV which "hampers
tremen~sly• on time bought. It is an
excuse used by advertisers not to buy
time on Spanish stations.
·
Ruiz said that it was jwst a matter of
time before more advertisers realize the
large audience Spanish TV delivers.
Stereotypjng on the advertisers part figures that Chicanos have different
wants and needs. Ruiz gave an example
using designer jeans. Advertisers
stereotype Hispanics as only buying
Levis so they don't advertise Calvin
Klein jeans. Hispanics do buy· designer
jeans.
Hispanics respond to Spanish language advertising. Hispanics respond to
brands advertising and they respond
to the attention given to them. Ruiz said,
"Advertisers need to realize Hispanics
are here."
Lastly, Ruiz added that eighty-percent of viewers are bilingual. Ruiz describes the viewers as "gifted." Gifted
because they are bilingual and bicultural. A gift that Ruiz said "we should
not lose."
Un Poema
,
Ven, acercate a mi;
. no sientas temor .
.
ster'.'. .
.,
Ven, acercate a mi;
reposa tu cuerpo cansado
bajo mis sombras
bar,adas de sol .
/
,
Ven, acercate a mi
que yo compartire contigo
mis anos
y tu conmigo - tu juventud .
CORRECTION
There was no envelope enclosed for a
contribution to ,upport the Rape
Counseling Service of Fresno as. was
printed in the October 15 issue
of La Voz de Aztlan.
4
Campus KJOS
to trick-or-treat
Children from the campus day care
centers will be celebrating Halloween by
trick-or-treating through the Home Ee
Building and the third floor of the CU on
Thursday, Oct. 29, beainnina at
3:30p.m.
Off ices in those buildin1s are en·
couraged to bring treats for the young-
VEN
,,
MARIA LUZ HERNANDEZ: -Nursing
Major-Senior:
"1 'm for the ERA. The majorjty of the
high position jobs are held by males; it's
about time women are given the same
opportunities as men."
Mis ramas sera'n tu escudo,
Mi brisa el suspiro
de tu inspiracion,
Mi tronco
la fuente de tu fortaleza,
y mis raices
,
la vida misma - de tu corazon.
by Lourdes Villarreal
la voz de ·azttan
Editor: Fernando Qu~tero
Managing editor; Yolanda Granados
Production Mananger: Yolanda Rodriguez
Reoorters: Lourdes Villareal, Mark Diaz
, 'Pedro Perez
Production: M'aria Servin, Sandra Castro
Photographers: Robert Hernandez,
Richard Rios
La Voz de Aztlan is California State
University Fresno's Chicano newspaper.
La Voz de Aztlan is located in the
Keats
Campus
Building.
Editorial: (209) 294-2486. Letters to the
editor are welcomed. The newspaper
reserve~ the right to edit letters .
/
Page
7~ober
29, 1981-La
La Voz de Aztlan Essay:
Cultural Democracy and Bilingual Education
Voz de Azlan
it
The following essay was printed in the May 4th edition of La Voz de Aztlan.
by Fernando Quintero
America is a unique country with a
unique history. The nation was formed
as the result of extensive migratory activity from all over the world, making
the United States one of the most
heterogeneous countries in the world.
However, conditions under which these
settlements were made are as diversified
as the people themselves. Despite the
presence of people whose language,
customes, and often appearances are different, the cultural and political aspirations and privileges of the Anglo-Saxon
Protestant group have been maintained
exclusively. This particular group is
what can be referred to as the "mainstream" of American society, a mainstream on which most American institutions and social establishments are
based. Through this mainstream factor
comes the melting pot/conformist
ideology, which in essence assumes that
a sociocultural system can be formed
from the fusion of many cultural systems
through acculturation and assimilation
stripping away the cultural identity
of an individual in order to assimilate
him into the middleclass American mainstream. Although the melting pot
theory provided a simple, attractive,
neatly condensed, and consumable solution to creating a safe, national character, it failed to recognize the fact that
America is· composed of a multitude of
sociocultural systems which consist of
values and traditions that are important
to such groups, and especially to the
children in these groups.
During the latter part of the 19th century, a phenomenal surge of immigra-
!ion to the United States occurred, causmg great uneasiness and alarm for the
alr~ady . "settled" Americans. As ex~
plained tn Henry Pratt Fairchild's The
Melting Pot Mistake:
These were due in part to changes in
the social and economic situation in
the United States, in part to changes in
the personal and social characteristics of
the immigrants, and in part to the repeated warnings issued by those whose
professional activities and opportunities
gave them a wider access to the facts
of immigration than was possible to the
a.verage citizen ... Then came the symbol,
l,ke a portent in the heavens. America
is a Melting-Pot. Into it are being poured
representatives of all the world's peoples. Within its magic confines there is
being formed something that is not only
uniform a11d homogeneous but also
finer than any of the separate ingredients. The nations of the world are being
fused into a new and choicer nation, the
United States.
The dangerous implications of this
statement infer that the "melted" product is superior to the individual Hingredients," making melting pot ideology
racist-oriented.
The concepts and ideas that formed
the American "establishment" in the
early 20th century were to be analyzed
and examined at a later period. With
the social ferment of the 1960' s came
critical examination of the role of the
melting pot theory as an instrument for
the formulation of educational policy
and practice. Through these reevaluations of America's established sociocultural system, and through the influence of the Civil Rights era, came the alternative to melting pot theory-cultural
d_e mocracy.
Manuel Ramirez and Alfredo Castaneda, authors of Cultural Democracy
Bicognitive Development, and Educatio~
define cultural democracy:
Cultural democracy is a philosophical
precept which recognizes that the way a
person communicates, relates to others,
seeks support and recognition from his
environment (incentive motivation),
and -tffinks and learns (cognition) is a
product of the value system of his home
a!ld community. Furthermore, educational environments or policies that do
not recognize the individual's right, as
guaranteed by the Civil Rights Act of
1964, to remain identified with the culture and language of his cultural group
are culturally undemocratic.
Why do Mexican American children
require special educa~ional polides and
practices? Why are Mexicans in general
the most foreign, unacculturated unassimilated ethnic group in relati~n to
other ethnic groups? The proposed
explanations require some historical
background. Unlike other ethnic groups
that crossed the Atlantic mainly to escape political and religious oppressions, Mexican Americans share with
the American Indian the experience of
conquest and annexation . While other
groups came to, benefit from the liberties promised by American democratic
ideology, this assumption implied
another strong motivation, namely that
immigrants desired to adopt American
values, customes, and manners. Social
scientists and educators have long
viewed the Mexican American population with utter bemusement for its fail':lre to follow the historical patterns of
/.
acculturation and assimilation that have
been attributed to many other ethnic
groups. Perhaps these skeptjcs failed to
take into consider:~tion such factors as
st~ng. cultural and familial ties, daily
m1gr~t1on, geoaraphicaJ proximity of
Mex,c!', and modem, accessible transpo~t,on and communication. As
Ramrrez and Castaneda pointed out:
· As a distincitive ethnic population
Mexican Americans have been fre:
que,:>tly referred to as the .•least .A.mericamzed" of all America's ethnic sroups
"unas.si~ilable," and •foreign." Thes;
~escnpt,ons are ohen used as exp/anat,ons for the educational and economic
plight in which the majority of the Mexican American population finds itself
today.
Recently, much research and legislative policy has been adopted and incorp<?rated into America's educational
policies and practices. Statistics show
that in 1960 and 1970, the U.S. census
showed that Spanish-surnamed students, to cite one group, were achieving at a level lower than their Anglo or
Black counterparts. Median years of
school completed by Spanish-surnamed
persons in 1970 was 10.6, Blacks 11.9,
and Anglos 12.4.
American mainstream educational
practices that reject a Mexican American child's cultural values are a rejection of the child itself. This can lead to
painful psychological pl"Qblems that lead
to forcing the child to choose one cul!ure at the expense of the other. In a proJect for the California State Department
of Education, EleanorThonis reports: ·
seeBILINGUAL page 8
personal/ads
Hispanic Leaders ,
Reapportionment Plan
Student Legislative
- . Local Hispanic 1.eaders who fought for_ __ _
.position qpen
1~cr~ased Chicano political representation m Sacramento, including the mayors
of three Fresno County cities, will announce their stand on the Assembly's
Effective _October 19, 1981, the Calir~apportionment plan and the Repub- fornia State Student Association anh_can ~ef~rendum to repeal new legisla- nounces the opening of the position of
bve districts in a news conference Thurs- Legislative Advocate.
day, October 29, is 1:30 p.m. at the
The CSSA, representing over 300 000
State Building Assembly Room (Room I students in the California State Uni~r1036), 2550 Mariposa Mall, Fresno.
• sity and Colleges, operates a LegislaAssemblyman Richard Alatorre (D- tive Office in Sacramento. With a Board
Los Angeles), who helped revamp lower of Directors comprised of representahouse seats as Chairman of the As- tives from 18 CSUC campuses, the Assembl,~ Electi?ns and Reapportionment sociation meets monthly to develop
C?mm,ttee, w,11 also attend the meeting policy and direction for its staff.
with reporters.
· Working with the Legislative Director
. Fresno area Hispanics participating· and Staff Assistant, · the Advocate
in the news_ conference include Sanger
will be responsible for monitoring the
Mayor T~nis Ybarra, Parlier Mayor activities of state government as they
Raul Martinez, Orange Cove Mayor Vic- impact upon students . Advocating for Q[
tor_Lopez, and Ricardo Duran, San Joa- against legislation, testifying before
qurn V~lley coordinator for the Coalition legislative
committees,
developing
for Fair Representation, a Hispanic legislation, working with various state
group that lobbied on reapportionment.
agencies, and oommunicating with the
students on the carnpuses are all necessary functions in the Legislative Of~
fice.
What YOU can do about
Applications for this position must be
the NEUTRON BOMB
postmarked no later than November
27, 1981. The Legislative Director will
screen the applications and a committee
Send for a FREE
made up of four CSSA representatives
brochure by the World
and the Legislative Director will interview and recommend one person to the
. Peace Council, write today
full Association for confirmation .
to National Peace Coalition
Interviews will take place the first
PO Box 5789 Fresno, Calif.
week in December in Sacramento. Those
applicants selected for an interview will
93755
be responsible for their own transportation to Sacramento.
AppJications-for editorships.. of
La ·voz de Aztlan.Uhuru Na Umoja
Hye Sharzhoom ·
Daily Collegian
are now available at the A. S. Office in CU 31 6.
Applications must be returned ·to the A.S. ·office
no later than
.5:00 p.m. No~ember 18, 1981
If there are any questions, please
contact: Nancy E. McFadden, Legislative Director, 926 J Street, Suite 701,
Sacramento, CA 95814 or Jeff B. Watson, A.S. President, College Union, Rm.
316, 294-2657.
...................................
-
-
CHO meeting Thursday, October
29, 1981 in the C.U. Room 309 at
5;00p.m .
· Adelitas
Halloween
/ · Dance-Las Adelitas will sponsor their 5th
Annual Halloween Costume Dance
Friday Oct. 30 From 9pm to 1 am
at the Keats Campus Build;ng(next
to La Voz Office).
Admission is
$2.00 with . cos'.ume, $2.50 without.
Music provided by Volume .II.
Page 8-0ctober 29, 1981 · La Voz de Aztlan
deportes
Timing "right" for Gonzales and Cr9ss Country
by Robert S. Hernandez
Gonzales' future plans inch.ide
It looks like this could be the year the
cross count__ry team has been waiting fpr qualifying for the NCAA. He is also
and the timing is just right. With the looking forward to receiving his BA i11
foot~all team strugg'ling along, the business.
harrier team could be a bright spot in
Bulldog sports this year. With a highcaliber runner like former Clovis High
La Voz asked cross country coach Red
standout Gary Gonzales, things can't Estes what impact Gonzales has had on
be all too bad.
the team. According to Estes, *Cary has
already exceeded my expectations as a
Gonzales has made a fine transition freshman and has yet to run his best race
from the three mile distance in high this year." Estes also commented on
school to the six miles he runs at the
university level. Gary is the team'~
. third fastest runner, which is r:emarkable this year's cross country team. •1
thought our team was one year away
for a freshman.
from the league championship, but I've
changed my mind now.,,_ No doubt due to
Gonzales has had the distinction of the strong performances in this season's
being the cross country Valley champ his
meets so far .
junior year in high school, and Valley
- champ in the mile for his last three
years. Also, in-high school, Gonzales had
Thus, Gonzales and the rest of the
the best time of 4:11, and what Gonzales
Bulldog
harriers will have to make a
considers his best achievement, running
3:51 in the 1,500 meter run as a senior. strong showing to defeat last year's
He held the best time in the nation in champion, Irvine, in the District Eight
the 1981 track season. -Gonzales was also NCAA meet this mid-November.
named Hispanic player of the Year , by
the local Hispanic group, Navidad de
Valle, in _1980. -
Photo by Robert S. Hernandez
LUIS
continued from page 5
La _Voz: Why is Zoot Suit called
• An American Originali"
Luis: Well first to underscore the fact
that what happened back then in 1942
with the Sleepy Lagoon Case is part
of American history.
La Voz:
Do you think Universal
Studios was taking a gamble using relativley unknown actors for Zoot Suit?
·
Luis: I 'II tell you, I had a choice early
on to go in a totallydifferentdirection.
One of the people that turned me on to
the idea o i
ng my own film was
Jane Fonda and this came as a result
of
my
talking
to
her
about doing the part of "Alice l31oomfield." However, in talking to her and
others, it became apparent that a bigname star would have changed the focus
entirely. You just can't take a star like
Jane Fonda and put her into a· movie
in a supporting role. There was the
additional problem, believe it or not,
that there isn't yet an Hispanic movie
star.
La. Voz: What would you like the
audience to walk away thinking and
feeling after seeing Zoot Suit?
Luis : What I really hope is that all
· audiences see is that difficult period
in Chicano history and roles that people
play between each other. f suppose
that to many people, the Pachuco in
the film is either super-real in the
heroic sense or super-real in the threatning sense. In any case he was hard to
relate to as the alter-ego of Hank Reyna.
I hope that people see the Pachuco as
the two sides of Hank. That they see
both the negative and positive. And
they understand the basic human
struggle, of basically Hank1Reyna the
family man . That is no different than
the classic adolescent situation of any
young man.
Unfortuanately, we live in a time when
the Pachuco image is threatening to a
lot of people I hope that is not a barrier.
The pachuco represents a symbol of
pride for Henry which pushes him on to
a greater awareness of himself. What
Henry ends. up with is a greater sense of
maturity of the world around him.
Zoot Suit is about human relationships . It's got flash, it's got color
it's got dance, but ultimately it's a
tender story . I hope that people get
inside Henry. One of the things I had
to do was open this very s~retive role
of the Pachuco and a lot of the people
La Voz: What can we see coming
-Valdez: I think that if Zoot Suit lri~kes
are mystified by the calo and the symbol
a lot of money, there will be more opof the Pachuco. In order to open that from you in the future?
Luis: Yes, I am in the process of portun ities for Chicanos in tHeatre.
up, the vechical that I used was Hank.
La Voz: Did you find _-_~ it doing a Chicano western movie based It's artistic merits and a whole diffemt
different directing a movie rather than on a new play I wrote called "Bandido* bag of beans. Really the question is
which is based on the career of Tibuscox whether the Chicano story can comdirecting a play.
Vasquez, who was one of the last of the municate beyond the Hispanic audience.
California banditos. I also have a farmLa Voz: Do you think the Chicano
Story can?
~ui~: l Directing a movie is a much worker story I'm working on.
Valdez:
Any human experience,
more technical experience. A play is a
whether · it's Japanese, Bla<;k, or
perishable human thing that changes a
Chicano that is rooted in human reality
film, is what it is. We filmed Zoot Suit
will touch the people.
in 14 days. The fact that its been. a play
continued from page 5
before helped as we had a three week
rehearsal period. My concern as a movie
director came with cameras, again, a had the chance to really work with some
greats. I worked with Jack Lemmon,
technical concern.
La Voz: Can yo~ tell us what kind Jane Fonda, and Michael Douglas and
Richard Pryor.
of budget you had to work with?
Luis: We started with a budget of
continued from page? .
two and a half million, we ended up with
2.7 million. That's about 1/4of what the
The most important thing is that the
average movie costs today.
La Voz: What was it like to convince Chicano actor is bringing himself to, the
For thousands of Spanish-speaking
Universal or any other major studio to screen. He's bringing his experience to children from Mexican families, the pub.
the screen. Also the bilingualism of the
take on a Chicano film.
lie schools have not kept the glibly-made
Chicano actor is a gift which he should
promise of an education which may preLuis: The president of Universal had value, and I guess lastly, to study the
pare them for productiv.e adult roles in
seen the play and the success of the play greats-the great actors. I found one
the economic and social life of our nain Los Angeles and he heard about my word that Jack Lemmon gave me that
tion . These children have brought their
language and their cultural backgrounds
talks with Paramount and other studios I 've taken with me. And thats bravery.
to ou-r classrooms with the same ento produce a movie. The factor which Bravery to open up-to cry or do anything
thusiasm and the high ex'peetations that
kept hanging us up is that no one would else you' re called upon to do.
all children so trustingly place in the
let me direct. They thought it was to big
hands of educators. The schools howa rush. We had been approached by
ever, have rejected their language, have
one of the cable companies to video tape
the play. Universal proposed the idea of
La Voz: What kind of support did you minimized their culture and have ignored their identity. They have insisted
video taping the play and then transfer receive as a strugglingyoung actor?
to . 35 mm for a budget $750,000. I
Daniel: Luis and I have served each · that the Spanish and Indian heritage
· wasn't too impressed with the quality other as an artistic mirror. We share a of these children be /eh outside the
of exampli s of films transfered from lot and Luis has been much of my sup- · classroom doors. They have stripped
video tape although some have been port. I came from the cultural enviro- these Spanish-speaking pupils of their
many strengths; they have expected
done that way including "Gilda, live!" nment of the group, rather than the
them to find their way in an instrucEventually the budget went up and we individual. The actor has to act as an
tional program that has been built upon
did the movie.
indivdual.
a different system of values, an un,.
La Voz: Obviously you're going to
familiar culture and an alien.; language.
be an inspiration to a lot of Chicanos who
Such educational practices are not
are in theatre and who would like to
La Voz: Are you afraid of fame,
consistent with · the stated goals of reget into writing and directing. What of becoming Star?
;kind of advice would you give them?
Uaniel: fhe only thing that scares spect for the unique worth of each inLuis: I think that of Chicano's or me is that the elite world of Hollywood, dividual, of the development of each
anyone interested in theatre should the elite world of success or stardom pupil to his fullest potential, or of equalgive the professional world a stab, separates you from the rest of the world. - ity of opportunity for all childre~. Nor
that's the only way to gc-t ipto it.
I don 't want to become a symbol or a are such practices in harmony w,th the
There's a lot of sacrifice involved and figure. I want to take my experiences as national. need for Linguists, in governa lot of years, but if you get into show. an actor and tell as many people as pos- ment in business, and in our schools.
The present avenue of education, t~~n1
business you might as well go for the sible. I want to expose the success as
a means of upward social mob1'1ty,
world
and
say
...
look
you
can
touch
it!"
brightest -lights and in that way, evenhas become a dead-end street for lar
La Voz: Do you think Zoot Svit will too many of these Spanish-speaking d,iltually reach the barrio. Persistance
would be the best advice I could give motivate more Chicanos to be involved dren .
in Theatre?
to these..people.
DANIEL
BILINGUAL
be,::omes t~1e largest mass conviction in
the history of California for the alleged
murder of a single man, the defendants
were sentenced to San Quentin for life.
The Sleepy Lagoon Murder Case is a
landmark case in the American system of
cano film showing in Fresno? That alone sonnel and pachucos as they mingled
in the night life of Los Angeles. Dis1s too much for the mind to accept, the
justice for it established a precedence
by Pedro Perez
Can you believe the reality of a Chihard part to believe is that the script
for the film was written by a homeboy Luis Valdez and his brother Daniel,
plays the leading role of Henry·
Reyna.
Who ever said "This is the decade of
the Chicano" sure did read his crystal
ball right. Zoot Suit the play, and now
the film, is sweeping across the southwest with tremendous acceptance
from people of all walks of life. Here in
Fresno, the theatre has been filled
since it opened two weeks ago and
Chicanos and non-Chicanos have been
receiving it with a big abrazo.
The film is set in East Los Angeles after the end of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War 11.
Young Chicanos were distinctively
identifying themselves as pachucos,
(loot Suiters), and as war heroes across
the Pacific. But back home on the front
lines of Whittier Boulevard, public officials and newspapers were calling them
•subversive" to the American way of
life and needed to be dealt with.
agreements and fights kept breaking
against mass trials.
The film itself doesn't come near to
giving the depth the theatre play gives
its characters. Not that the actors in
the film d9n 't portray their characters
to the extent, but it's the emotional and
personal vibes that you receive from the
actors that gives the play so much more
color and vitality.
The Pachuco (Edward James Olmos)
is as sharp and to the point as the switch
blade he uses in the opening act.
Dressed in his black tacuche and boardbrimmed tando, he grasps the audience's attention in an instant with
every step he takes and every word he
speaks.
From his beginnings with Teatro
Campesino to playing a leading role in
Zoot Suit, Daniel Valdez is also musical
director for the film. .
The tough guy character Daniel portrays on the screen in a sense reflects
the self determination the Chicano community has in society. His courage,
out between sailors and pachucos until
an all-out war was declared on pachucos
and anyone else who resembled one, by
sailors who were stationed in Los
Angeles. Public officials and the police
did nothing to stop the sailors from beating and stripping Chicanos of their Zoot
Suits since, the police blamed the pachucos for the violence that was going
on.
The focal point of the film revolves
around the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Mystery, in which a young Chicano boy was
found dead at the Sleepy Lagoon Reservoir, a then popular swimming hole.
The search for the murder resulted
in the round up of Henry Reyna and his
so-called 38th Street gang since they
were the last ones seen at the lagoon
that night.
After a long 13-week trial by a lynch,
type court, the all , Anglo jury found 12
of the defendants guilty of murder, five
of lesser assault charges, and acquitted
the remaining five of all charges. It
leadership, and ability_, to' make rationa
decisions before his peers, flows insi
everyone of us. The injustices that h
feels and experiences are the injustices
experienced by the Chicano community.
Henry Reyna and his struggle as
pachuco in East Los Angeles living
in the middle of anger and distrust
mirror the troubles of young Chicano;
today.
The way Luis Valdez brings us this
message of injustice towards Chicanos
is creative. He gives hope at the end of
the film that people and systems can be
cha Ilenged.
This is the first Chicano film ·produced by a Chicano with a 95 percent
Chicano cast that has reached the commercial movie market.
The Pachucas in the film are very independent and the high skirt and hair
dress they use are accurate. Henry's
girlfriend Della, who is played by
Rose Portillo, also appeared in the original theatre play. In total, there was an
equal amount of pachucas as there were
pachucos on the screen, resulting in
a living-color effect. The dancing and
singing capabilities were talents Chicanas haven 't been given a chance to
express before.
La Chicana, like the Chicano in the
fi Im, work together to achieve the
, ,,.: "!late goal of the fi Im - success.
,I
Daniel and Luis Valdez come to Fresno
Daniel Valdez
·Luis Valdez
by Fernando Quintero
Director Luis Valdez and his brother time a major motion picture has been
Daniel who portrays Henry Reyna in · written and directed by a Chicano.
the newlY--- released Universal firm.
Luis is the founder of the farmworker
•zoot Suit,"' w.ere in Fresno last week theatre group, El Teatro Campesino, ·
promoting the film and attending a which began 15 years ago. He wrote and
reception which was held in their directed various skits and plays with
honor.
socio-political themes of the farmworker
From their farmworker roots in struggle.
Delano to Hollywood, Luis and Faniel
In 1972, Luis created the emmy
are more than excited about their new award winning "Los Vendidos" for tel- ·
movie venture which marks the first evision and co!laborated with Richard
la Voz: Do you see Zoot Suit as a
vehicle for giving Daniel or Edward
Olmos the exposure necessary for stardom?
Luis: Oh yes. I think that Daniel and
Ed Olmos have gotten about as much
exPosure as they've ever gotten with
this film. These are definitely leading
roles. These roles given to them in
loot Suit show that they can act.
la Voz: How is Zoot Suit seen as the
Hollywoodization of Chicanos?
Luis: The real question has to do with
the market.
The marketability of
Chicano themes and it really relates to
whether there is an audience ·out there
which is receptive . It's not as if Hollywood has not dealt with Chicano treatments before. For instance, the first
Westerns. I think what inspired Universal Studios to do the film, was the
realization of the numbers of Hispanics
in the Southwest, Chicago, and New
York that has grown within the last
25 years. The question is whether a
Chicano theme that is as Chicano as
"Zoot Suit" can reach out to everybody.
That is still an open question. We're
encouraged by certain responses we've
had.
seeLUIS page 8'
Pryor in "'Which Way is Upf"' in 19n.
Luis has served on various theatre
advisory boards and was appointed to
the nine-member California Arts Council by Governor Edmund .Brown Jr. in
1976. Luis has taught drama courses
at UC Berkely and Santa Cruz and
CSUF.
In 1978, "Zoot Suit"' went to Broadway.
.
Daniel was also involvaj wJJb his
La Voz: Why are there so few Chicano
actors?
Daniel: There hasn't been much for
the Chicano actor.
And everything
that's out there was usually stereotypical roles. Very rarely do you see a
starring role where the character is
Chicano. In the case of "Boulevard
Nights' I f'elt it was a breakthrough for
Chicano actors, but the material was
bad, negative, exploitation. Then you
have the other extreme, "Walk Proud"
with Robby Benson playing a Chicano
They wanted me for the movie to play
a gang leader.
brother during the Delano farmworker' s
strike in 1965 and was a musician and
actor for El Teatro. .
·
Daniel has acted in such films as
"'The China Syndrome," and "Which
Way is Up?"
The following interviews were taken at
a press luncheon held for Daniel and
Luis.
As a Chicano actor, you can do a
bunch of stuff, not care about what
you're doing, and take the money and
run . - Eventually what that will lead you
to is the audience won't accept you in
positive rol es. I believe in ethics, the
actors ethics, he must question the
values of t he characters. In many ways
he must ask his heart rather than his.
pocket what's more important.
La Voz: What advice would you give
aspiring Chicano actors?
Daniel: I would say first of all, to do
as much as you can. Experience is important . Zoot Suit is my first film .
see DANIEL page 8
Pqe 6-0ctober29, 1981 La Voz de Aztlan
dialog.ue
What is your position on the Equal Rights ·Amendment?
.
MARIA MARIN: Social Welfare MajorSenior:
*I'm very much for the ERA. I feel
that there are a lot of women that are
underpaid. Some do not hold the position
they wish, and they do not get .the
chance to advance. At least with the
ERA they will have a chance. to further
themselves.•
RUTH BUELNA: Micro-Biology. MajorSophomore:
"'I'm for the ERA to a certain point. I
believe that women should have the
same rights as men to a certain point,
like on the jobs, they (women) should not
be discriminated ."
EDWARD LUJANO: AccountingMajorPAUL NEGRETE: Psycology MajorJunior:
"'I'm for the ERA.II believe, that women Senior:
"As a philosophy, one general conshould have their equal rights. I 'm not a
cept, I'm for the ERA .. . I think it's going
male chauvinistf I believe in equality."
to solidify some people's ideas about
what the country thinks in general-that
there are males in the country who will
back the issue. I think that's going to
help women in general, present data that
this actually occurs."
ELENOR AGUILAR: Retention Specialist, Student Affirmative Action Program:
"I'm for the ERA in the sense of what
it could mean to us as women in the
sense of equality between men and
women ... It's worth it in the long run
because I think that men and women can
begin to work together (especially in the
work place) on a much more equal basis.
It will probably open up a lot of the nontraditional areas that have kept women
from applying for jobs as engineers or
JOHN PALOFOX: Undeclared Majorin agriculture and men also can become J unior :
nurses and teachers."'
·.,, 'm for the ERA.
should bea
contitutional amendment that states
there's equality for women. If the ERA
is written down as a constitutional
amendment, then it is ·written down as
band." ·
'
By Lourdes Villarreal and Richard Rios
SIN ·
continued from page 3
Most of the industries rely on Nielsen
and Arbitron ratings to buy time. According to Ruiz, Spanish TV is under-
represented with Nielsen and Arbitron.
"Arbitron is not set up to -rate Hispanic
viewing,• said Ruiz.
Arbitron and Nielsen use a diary technique which does not work on the
Spanish-speaking public because the
diaries are mainly in English. SIN has a
private research firl't\.that interviews in
Spanish to find out .what programs are
watched during a 24-hour period.
*Our ratings tell us that of all the Hispanic population watchTng TV, one half
of the time they are watching Spanish
TV,' said Ruiz. According to Ruiz, it
proves that Cannel 21 is strong withinthe TV market and the Spanish market
is large in total population.
The Nielsen and Arbitron show low
viewing of Spanish TV which "hampers
tremen~sly• on time bought. It is an
excuse used by advertisers not to buy
time on Spanish stations.
·
Ruiz said that it was jwst a matter of
time before more advertisers realize the
large audience Spanish TV delivers.
Stereotypjng on the advertisers part figures that Chicanos have different
wants and needs. Ruiz gave an example
using designer jeans. Advertisers
stereotype Hispanics as only buying
Levis so they don't advertise Calvin
Klein jeans. Hispanics do buy· designer
jeans.
Hispanics respond to Spanish language advertising. Hispanics respond to
brands advertising and they respond
to the attention given to them. Ruiz said,
"Advertisers need to realize Hispanics
are here."
Lastly, Ruiz added that eighty-percent of viewers are bilingual. Ruiz describes the viewers as "gifted." Gifted
because they are bilingual and bicultural. A gift that Ruiz said "we should
not lose."
Un Poema
,
Ven, acercate a mi;
. no sientas temor .
.
ster'.'. .
.,
Ven, acercate a mi;
reposa tu cuerpo cansado
bajo mis sombras
bar,adas de sol .
/
,
Ven, acercate a mi
que yo compartire contigo
mis anos
y tu conmigo - tu juventud .
CORRECTION
There was no envelope enclosed for a
contribution to ,upport the Rape
Counseling Service of Fresno as. was
printed in the October 15 issue
of La Voz de Aztlan.
4
Campus KJOS
to trick-or-treat
Children from the campus day care
centers will be celebrating Halloween by
trick-or-treating through the Home Ee
Building and the third floor of the CU on
Thursday, Oct. 29, beainnina at
3:30p.m.
Off ices in those buildin1s are en·
couraged to bring treats for the young-
VEN
,,
MARIA LUZ HERNANDEZ: -Nursing
Major-Senior:
"1 'm for the ERA. The majorjty of the
high position jobs are held by males; it's
about time women are given the same
opportunities as men."
Mis ramas sera'n tu escudo,
Mi brisa el suspiro
de tu inspiracion,
Mi tronco
la fuente de tu fortaleza,
y mis raices
,
la vida misma - de tu corazon.
by Lourdes Villarreal
la voz de ·azttan
Editor: Fernando Qu~tero
Managing editor; Yolanda Granados
Production Mananger: Yolanda Rodriguez
Reoorters: Lourdes Villareal, Mark Diaz
, 'Pedro Perez
Production: M'aria Servin, Sandra Castro
Photographers: Robert Hernandez,
Richard Rios
La Voz de Aztlan is California State
University Fresno's Chicano newspaper.
La Voz de Aztlan is located in the
Keats
Campus
Building.
Editorial: (209) 294-2486. Letters to the
editor are welcomed. The newspaper
reserve~ the right to edit letters .
/
Page
7~ober
29, 1981-La
La Voz de Aztlan Essay:
Cultural Democracy and Bilingual Education
Voz de Azlan
it
The following essay was printed in the May 4th edition of La Voz de Aztlan.
by Fernando Quintero
America is a unique country with a
unique history. The nation was formed
as the result of extensive migratory activity from all over the world, making
the United States one of the most
heterogeneous countries in the world.
However, conditions under which these
settlements were made are as diversified
as the people themselves. Despite the
presence of people whose language,
customes, and often appearances are different, the cultural and political aspirations and privileges of the Anglo-Saxon
Protestant group have been maintained
exclusively. This particular group is
what can be referred to as the "mainstream" of American society, a mainstream on which most American institutions and social establishments are
based. Through this mainstream factor
comes the melting pot/conformist
ideology, which in essence assumes that
a sociocultural system can be formed
from the fusion of many cultural systems
through acculturation and assimilation
stripping away the cultural identity
of an individual in order to assimilate
him into the middleclass American mainstream. Although the melting pot
theory provided a simple, attractive,
neatly condensed, and consumable solution to creating a safe, national character, it failed to recognize the fact that
America is· composed of a multitude of
sociocultural systems which consist of
values and traditions that are important
to such groups, and especially to the
children in these groups.
During the latter part of the 19th century, a phenomenal surge of immigra-
!ion to the United States occurred, causmg great uneasiness and alarm for the
alr~ady . "settled" Americans. As ex~
plained tn Henry Pratt Fairchild's The
Melting Pot Mistake:
These were due in part to changes in
the social and economic situation in
the United States, in part to changes in
the personal and social characteristics of
the immigrants, and in part to the repeated warnings issued by those whose
professional activities and opportunities
gave them a wider access to the facts
of immigration than was possible to the
a.verage citizen ... Then came the symbol,
l,ke a portent in the heavens. America
is a Melting-Pot. Into it are being poured
representatives of all the world's peoples. Within its magic confines there is
being formed something that is not only
uniform a11d homogeneous but also
finer than any of the separate ingredients. The nations of the world are being
fused into a new and choicer nation, the
United States.
The dangerous implications of this
statement infer that the "melted" product is superior to the individual Hingredients," making melting pot ideology
racist-oriented.
The concepts and ideas that formed
the American "establishment" in the
early 20th century were to be analyzed
and examined at a later period. With
the social ferment of the 1960' s came
critical examination of the role of the
melting pot theory as an instrument for
the formulation of educational policy
and practice. Through these reevaluations of America's established sociocultural system, and through the influence of the Civil Rights era, came the alternative to melting pot theory-cultural
d_e mocracy.
Manuel Ramirez and Alfredo Castaneda, authors of Cultural Democracy
Bicognitive Development, and Educatio~
define cultural democracy:
Cultural democracy is a philosophical
precept which recognizes that the way a
person communicates, relates to others,
seeks support and recognition from his
environment (incentive motivation),
and -tffinks and learns (cognition) is a
product of the value system of his home
a!ld community. Furthermore, educational environments or policies that do
not recognize the individual's right, as
guaranteed by the Civil Rights Act of
1964, to remain identified with the culture and language of his cultural group
are culturally undemocratic.
Why do Mexican American children
require special educa~ional polides and
practices? Why are Mexicans in general
the most foreign, unacculturated unassimilated ethnic group in relati~n to
other ethnic groups? The proposed
explanations require some historical
background. Unlike other ethnic groups
that crossed the Atlantic mainly to escape political and religious oppressions, Mexican Americans share with
the American Indian the experience of
conquest and annexation . While other
groups came to, benefit from the liberties promised by American democratic
ideology, this assumption implied
another strong motivation, namely that
immigrants desired to adopt American
values, customes, and manners. Social
scientists and educators have long
viewed the Mexican American population with utter bemusement for its fail':lre to follow the historical patterns of
/.
acculturation and assimilation that have
been attributed to many other ethnic
groups. Perhaps these skeptjcs failed to
take into consider:~tion such factors as
st~ng. cultural and familial ties, daily
m1gr~t1on, geoaraphicaJ proximity of
Mex,c!', and modem, accessible transpo~t,on and communication. As
Ramrrez and Castaneda pointed out:
· As a distincitive ethnic population
Mexican Americans have been fre:
que,:>tly referred to as the .•least .A.mericamzed" of all America's ethnic sroups
"unas.si~ilable," and •foreign." Thes;
~escnpt,ons are ohen used as exp/anat,ons for the educational and economic
plight in which the majority of the Mexican American population finds itself
today.
Recently, much research and legislative policy has been adopted and incorp<?rated into America's educational
policies and practices. Statistics show
that in 1960 and 1970, the U.S. census
showed that Spanish-surnamed students, to cite one group, were achieving at a level lower than their Anglo or
Black counterparts. Median years of
school completed by Spanish-surnamed
persons in 1970 was 10.6, Blacks 11.9,
and Anglos 12.4.
American mainstream educational
practices that reject a Mexican American child's cultural values are a rejection of the child itself. This can lead to
painful psychological pl"Qblems that lead
to forcing the child to choose one cul!ure at the expense of the other. In a proJect for the California State Department
of Education, EleanorThonis reports: ·
seeBILINGUAL page 8
personal/ads
Hispanic Leaders ,
Reapportionment Plan
Student Legislative
- . Local Hispanic 1.eaders who fought for_ __ _
.position qpen
1~cr~ased Chicano political representation m Sacramento, including the mayors
of three Fresno County cities, will announce their stand on the Assembly's
Effective _October 19, 1981, the Calir~apportionment plan and the Repub- fornia State Student Association anh_can ~ef~rendum to repeal new legisla- nounces the opening of the position of
bve districts in a news conference Thurs- Legislative Advocate.
day, October 29, is 1:30 p.m. at the
The CSSA, representing over 300 000
State Building Assembly Room (Room I students in the California State Uni~r1036), 2550 Mariposa Mall, Fresno.
• sity and Colleges, operates a LegislaAssemblyman Richard Alatorre (D- tive Office in Sacramento. With a Board
Los Angeles), who helped revamp lower of Directors comprised of representahouse seats as Chairman of the As- tives from 18 CSUC campuses, the Assembl,~ Electi?ns and Reapportionment sociation meets monthly to develop
C?mm,ttee, w,11 also attend the meeting policy and direction for its staff.
with reporters.
· Working with the Legislative Director
. Fresno area Hispanics participating· and Staff Assistant, · the Advocate
in the news_ conference include Sanger
will be responsible for monitoring the
Mayor T~nis Ybarra, Parlier Mayor activities of state government as they
Raul Martinez, Orange Cove Mayor Vic- impact upon students . Advocating for Q[
tor_Lopez, and Ricardo Duran, San Joa- against legislation, testifying before
qurn V~lley coordinator for the Coalition legislative
committees,
developing
for Fair Representation, a Hispanic legislation, working with various state
group that lobbied on reapportionment.
agencies, and oommunicating with the
students on the carnpuses are all necessary functions in the Legislative Of~
fice.
What YOU can do about
Applications for this position must be
the NEUTRON BOMB
postmarked no later than November
27, 1981. The Legislative Director will
screen the applications and a committee
Send for a FREE
made up of four CSSA representatives
brochure by the World
and the Legislative Director will interview and recommend one person to the
. Peace Council, write today
full Association for confirmation .
to National Peace Coalition
Interviews will take place the first
PO Box 5789 Fresno, Calif.
week in December in Sacramento. Those
applicants selected for an interview will
93755
be responsible for their own transportation to Sacramento.
AppJications-for editorships.. of
La ·voz de Aztlan.Uhuru Na Umoja
Hye Sharzhoom ·
Daily Collegian
are now available at the A. S. Office in CU 31 6.
Applications must be returned ·to the A.S. ·office
no later than
.5:00 p.m. No~ember 18, 1981
If there are any questions, please
contact: Nancy E. McFadden, Legislative Director, 926 J Street, Suite 701,
Sacramento, CA 95814 or Jeff B. Watson, A.S. President, College Union, Rm.
316, 294-2657.
...................................
-
-
CHO meeting Thursday, October
29, 1981 in the C.U. Room 309 at
5;00p.m .
· Adelitas
Halloween
/ · Dance-Las Adelitas will sponsor their 5th
Annual Halloween Costume Dance
Friday Oct. 30 From 9pm to 1 am
at the Keats Campus Build;ng(next
to La Voz Office).
Admission is
$2.00 with . cos'.ume, $2.50 without.
Music provided by Volume .II.
Page 8-0ctober 29, 1981 · La Voz de Aztlan
deportes
Timing "right" for Gonzales and Cr9ss Country
by Robert S. Hernandez
Gonzales' future plans inch.ide
It looks like this could be the year the
cross count__ry team has been waiting fpr qualifying for the NCAA. He is also
and the timing is just right. With the looking forward to receiving his BA i11
foot~all team strugg'ling along, the business.
harrier team could be a bright spot in
Bulldog sports this year. With a highcaliber runner like former Clovis High
La Voz asked cross country coach Red
standout Gary Gonzales, things can't Estes what impact Gonzales has had on
be all too bad.
the team. According to Estes, *Cary has
already exceeded my expectations as a
Gonzales has made a fine transition freshman and has yet to run his best race
from the three mile distance in high this year." Estes also commented on
school to the six miles he runs at the
university level. Gary is the team'~
. third fastest runner, which is r:emarkable this year's cross country team. •1
thought our team was one year away
for a freshman.
from the league championship, but I've
changed my mind now.,,_ No doubt due to
Gonzales has had the distinction of the strong performances in this season's
being the cross country Valley champ his
meets so far .
junior year in high school, and Valley
- champ in the mile for his last three
years. Also, in-high school, Gonzales had
Thus, Gonzales and the rest of the
the best time of 4:11, and what Gonzales
Bulldog
harriers will have to make a
considers his best achievement, running
3:51 in the 1,500 meter run as a senior. strong showing to defeat last year's
He held the best time in the nation in champion, Irvine, in the District Eight
the 1981 track season. -Gonzales was also NCAA meet this mid-November.
named Hispanic player of the Year , by
the local Hispanic group, Navidad de
Valle, in _1980. -
Photo by Robert S. Hernandez
LUIS
continued from page 5
La _Voz: Why is Zoot Suit called
• An American Originali"
Luis: Well first to underscore the fact
that what happened back then in 1942
with the Sleepy Lagoon Case is part
of American history.
La Voz:
Do you think Universal
Studios was taking a gamble using relativley unknown actors for Zoot Suit?
·
Luis: I 'II tell you, I had a choice early
on to go in a totallydifferentdirection.
One of the people that turned me on to
the idea o i
ng my own film was
Jane Fonda and this came as a result
of
my
talking
to
her
about doing the part of "Alice l31oomfield." However, in talking to her and
others, it became apparent that a bigname star would have changed the focus
entirely. You just can't take a star like
Jane Fonda and put her into a· movie
in a supporting role. There was the
additional problem, believe it or not,
that there isn't yet an Hispanic movie
star.
La. Voz: What would you like the
audience to walk away thinking and
feeling after seeing Zoot Suit?
Luis : What I really hope is that all
· audiences see is that difficult period
in Chicano history and roles that people
play between each other. f suppose
that to many people, the Pachuco in
the film is either super-real in the
heroic sense or super-real in the threatning sense. In any case he was hard to
relate to as the alter-ego of Hank Reyna.
I hope that people see the Pachuco as
the two sides of Hank. That they see
both the negative and positive. And
they understand the basic human
struggle, of basically Hank1Reyna the
family man . That is no different than
the classic adolescent situation of any
young man.
Unfortuanately, we live in a time when
the Pachuco image is threatening to a
lot of people I hope that is not a barrier.
The pachuco represents a symbol of
pride for Henry which pushes him on to
a greater awareness of himself. What
Henry ends. up with is a greater sense of
maturity of the world around him.
Zoot Suit is about human relationships . It's got flash, it's got color
it's got dance, but ultimately it's a
tender story . I hope that people get
inside Henry. One of the things I had
to do was open this very s~retive role
of the Pachuco and a lot of the people
La Voz: What can we see coming
-Valdez: I think that if Zoot Suit lri~kes
are mystified by the calo and the symbol
a lot of money, there will be more opof the Pachuco. In order to open that from you in the future?
Luis: Yes, I am in the process of portun ities for Chicanos in tHeatre.
up, the vechical that I used was Hank.
La Voz: Did you find _-_~ it doing a Chicano western movie based It's artistic merits and a whole diffemt
different directing a movie rather than on a new play I wrote called "Bandido* bag of beans. Really the question is
which is based on the career of Tibuscox whether the Chicano story can comdirecting a play.
Vasquez, who was one of the last of the municate beyond the Hispanic audience.
California banditos. I also have a farmLa Voz: Do you think the Chicano
Story can?
~ui~: l Directing a movie is a much worker story I'm working on.
Valdez:
Any human experience,
more technical experience. A play is a
whether · it's Japanese, Bla<;k, or
perishable human thing that changes a
Chicano that is rooted in human reality
film, is what it is. We filmed Zoot Suit
will touch the people.
in 14 days. The fact that its been. a play
continued from page 5
before helped as we had a three week
rehearsal period. My concern as a movie
director came with cameras, again, a had the chance to really work with some
greats. I worked with Jack Lemmon,
technical concern.
La Voz: Can yo~ tell us what kind Jane Fonda, and Michael Douglas and
Richard Pryor.
of budget you had to work with?
Luis: We started with a budget of
continued from page? .
two and a half million, we ended up with
2.7 million. That's about 1/4of what the
The most important thing is that the
average movie costs today.
La Voz: What was it like to convince Chicano actor is bringing himself to, the
For thousands of Spanish-speaking
Universal or any other major studio to screen. He's bringing his experience to children from Mexican families, the pub.
the screen. Also the bilingualism of the
take on a Chicano film.
lie schools have not kept the glibly-made
Chicano actor is a gift which he should
promise of an education which may preLuis: The president of Universal had value, and I guess lastly, to study the
pare them for productiv.e adult roles in
seen the play and the success of the play greats-the great actors. I found one
the economic and social life of our nain Los Angeles and he heard about my word that Jack Lemmon gave me that
tion . These children have brought their
language and their cultural backgrounds
talks with Paramount and other studios I 've taken with me. And thats bravery.
to ou-r classrooms with the same ento produce a movie. The factor which Bravery to open up-to cry or do anything
thusiasm and the high ex'peetations that
kept hanging us up is that no one would else you' re called upon to do.
all children so trustingly place in the
let me direct. They thought it was to big
hands of educators. The schools howa rush. We had been approached by
ever, have rejected their language, have
one of the cable companies to video tape
the play. Universal proposed the idea of
La Voz: What kind of support did you minimized their culture and have ignored their identity. They have insisted
video taping the play and then transfer receive as a strugglingyoung actor?
to . 35 mm for a budget $750,000. I
Daniel: Luis and I have served each · that the Spanish and Indian heritage
· wasn't too impressed with the quality other as an artistic mirror. We share a of these children be /eh outside the
of exampli s of films transfered from lot and Luis has been much of my sup- · classroom doors. They have stripped
video tape although some have been port. I came from the cultural enviro- these Spanish-speaking pupils of their
many strengths; they have expected
done that way including "Gilda, live!" nment of the group, rather than the
them to find their way in an instrucEventually the budget went up and we individual. The actor has to act as an
tional program that has been built upon
did the movie.
indivdual.
a different system of values, an un,.
La Voz: Obviously you're going to
familiar culture and an alien.; language.
be an inspiration to a lot of Chicanos who
Such educational practices are not
are in theatre and who would like to
La Voz: Are you afraid of fame,
consistent with · the stated goals of reget into writing and directing. What of becoming Star?
;kind of advice would you give them?
Uaniel: fhe only thing that scares spect for the unique worth of each inLuis: I think that of Chicano's or me is that the elite world of Hollywood, dividual, of the development of each
anyone interested in theatre should the elite world of success or stardom pupil to his fullest potential, or of equalgive the professional world a stab, separates you from the rest of the world. - ity of opportunity for all childre~. Nor
that's the only way to gc-t ipto it.
I don 't want to become a symbol or a are such practices in harmony w,th the
There's a lot of sacrifice involved and figure. I want to take my experiences as national. need for Linguists, in governa lot of years, but if you get into show. an actor and tell as many people as pos- ment in business, and in our schools.
The present avenue of education, t~~n1
business you might as well go for the sible. I want to expose the success as
a means of upward social mob1'1ty,
world
and
say
...
look
you
can
touch
it!"
brightest -lights and in that way, evenhas become a dead-end street for lar
La Voz: Do you think Zoot Svit will too many of these Spanish-speaking d,iltually reach the barrio. Persistance
would be the best advice I could give motivate more Chicanos to be involved dren .
in Theatre?
to these..people.
DANIEL
BILINGUAL
loot ·Suit ·Review Tension grew between military per-
be,::omes t~1e largest mass conviction in
the history of California for the alleged
murder of a single man, the defendants
were sentenced to San Quentin for life.
The Sleepy Lagoon Murder Case is a
landmark case in the American system of
cano film showing in Fresno? That alone sonnel and pachucos as they mingled
in the night life of Los Angeles. Dis1s too much for the mind to accept, the
justice for it established a precedence
by Pedro Perez
Can you believe the reality of a Chihard part to believe is that the script
for the film was written by a homeboy Luis Valdez and his brother Daniel,
plays the leading role of Henry·
Reyna.
Who ever said "This is the decade of
the Chicano" sure did read his crystal
ball right. Zoot Suit the play, and now
the film, is sweeping across the southwest with tremendous acceptance
from people of all walks of life. Here in
Fresno, the theatre has been filled
since it opened two weeks ago and
Chicanos and non-Chicanos have been
receiving it with a big abrazo.
The film is set in East Los Angeles after the end of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War 11.
Young Chicanos were distinctively
identifying themselves as pachucos,
(loot Suiters), and as war heroes across
the Pacific. But back home on the front
lines of Whittier Boulevard, public officials and newspapers were calling them
•subversive" to the American way of
life and needed to be dealt with.
agreements and fights kept breaking
against mass trials.
The film itself doesn't come near to
giving the depth the theatre play gives
its characters. Not that the actors in
the film d9n 't portray their characters
to the extent, but it's the emotional and
personal vibes that you receive from the
actors that gives the play so much more
color and vitality.
The Pachuco (Edward James Olmos)
is as sharp and to the point as the switch
blade he uses in the opening act.
Dressed in his black tacuche and boardbrimmed tando, he grasps the audience's attention in an instant with
every step he takes and every word he
speaks.
From his beginnings with Teatro
Campesino to playing a leading role in
Zoot Suit, Daniel Valdez is also musical
director for the film. .
The tough guy character Daniel portrays on the screen in a sense reflects
the self determination the Chicano community has in society. His courage,
out between sailors and pachucos until
an all-out war was declared on pachucos
and anyone else who resembled one, by
sailors who were stationed in Los
Angeles. Public officials and the police
did nothing to stop the sailors from beating and stripping Chicanos of their Zoot
Suits since, the police blamed the pachucos for the violence that was going
on.
The focal point of the film revolves
around the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Mystery, in which a young Chicano boy was
found dead at the Sleepy Lagoon Reservoir, a then popular swimming hole.
The search for the murder resulted
in the round up of Henry Reyna and his
so-called 38th Street gang since they
were the last ones seen at the lagoon
that night.
After a long 13-week trial by a lynch,
type court, the all , Anglo jury found 12
of the defendants guilty of murder, five
of lesser assault charges, and acquitted
the remaining five of all charges. It
leadership, and ability_, to' make rationa
decisions before his peers, flows insi
everyone of us. The injustices that h
feels and experiences are the injustices
experienced by the Chicano community.
Henry Reyna and his struggle as
pachuco in East Los Angeles living
in the middle of anger and distrust
mirror the troubles of young Chicano;
today.
The way Luis Valdez brings us this
message of injustice towards Chicanos
is creative. He gives hope at the end of
the film that people and systems can be
cha Ilenged.
This is the first Chicano film ·produced by a Chicano with a 95 percent
Chicano cast that has reached the commercial movie market.
The Pachucas in the film are very independent and the high skirt and hair
dress they use are accurate. Henry's
girlfriend Della, who is played by
Rose Portillo, also appeared in the original theatre play. In total, there was an
equal amount of pachucas as there were
pachucos on the screen, resulting in
a living-color effect. The dancing and
singing capabilities were talents Chicanas haven 't been given a chance to
express before.
La Chicana, like the Chicano in the
fi Im, work together to achieve the
, ,,.: "!late goal of the fi Im - success.
,I
Daniel and Luis Valdez come to Fresno
Daniel Valdez
·Luis Valdez
by Fernando Quintero
Director Luis Valdez and his brother time a major motion picture has been
Daniel who portrays Henry Reyna in · written and directed by a Chicano.
the newlY--- released Universal firm.
Luis is the founder of the farmworker
•zoot Suit,"' w.ere in Fresno last week theatre group, El Teatro Campesino, ·
promoting the film and attending a which began 15 years ago. He wrote and
reception which was held in their directed various skits and plays with
honor.
socio-political themes of the farmworker
From their farmworker roots in struggle.
Delano to Hollywood, Luis and Faniel
In 1972, Luis created the emmy
are more than excited about their new award winning "Los Vendidos" for tel- ·
movie venture which marks the first evision and co!laborated with Richard
la Voz: Do you see Zoot Suit as a
vehicle for giving Daniel or Edward
Olmos the exposure necessary for stardom?
Luis: Oh yes. I think that Daniel and
Ed Olmos have gotten about as much
exPosure as they've ever gotten with
this film. These are definitely leading
roles. These roles given to them in
loot Suit show that they can act.
la Voz: How is Zoot Suit seen as the
Hollywoodization of Chicanos?
Luis: The real question has to do with
the market.
The marketability of
Chicano themes and it really relates to
whether there is an audience ·out there
which is receptive . It's not as if Hollywood has not dealt with Chicano treatments before. For instance, the first
Westerns. I think what inspired Universal Studios to do the film, was the
realization of the numbers of Hispanics
in the Southwest, Chicago, and New
York that has grown within the last
25 years. The question is whether a
Chicano theme that is as Chicano as
"Zoot Suit" can reach out to everybody.
That is still an open question. We're
encouraged by certain responses we've
had.
seeLUIS page 8'
Pryor in "'Which Way is Upf"' in 19n.
Luis has served on various theatre
advisory boards and was appointed to
the nine-member California Arts Council by Governor Edmund .Brown Jr. in
1976. Luis has taught drama courses
at UC Berkely and Santa Cruz and
CSUF.
In 1978, "Zoot Suit"' went to Broadway.
.
Daniel was also involvaj wJJb his
La Voz: Why are there so few Chicano
actors?
Daniel: There hasn't been much for
the Chicano actor.
And everything
that's out there was usually stereotypical roles. Very rarely do you see a
starring role where the character is
Chicano. In the case of "Boulevard
Nights' I f'elt it was a breakthrough for
Chicano actors, but the material was
bad, negative, exploitation. Then you
have the other extreme, "Walk Proud"
with Robby Benson playing a Chicano
They wanted me for the movie to play
a gang leader.
brother during the Delano farmworker' s
strike in 1965 and was a musician and
actor for El Teatro. .
·
Daniel has acted in such films as
"'The China Syndrome," and "Which
Way is Up?"
The following interviews were taken at
a press luncheon held for Daniel and
Luis.
As a Chicano actor, you can do a
bunch of stuff, not care about what
you're doing, and take the money and
run . - Eventually what that will lead you
to is the audience won't accept you in
positive rol es. I believe in ethics, the
actors ethics, he must question the
values of t he characters. In many ways
he must ask his heart rather than his.
pocket what's more important.
La Voz: What advice would you give
aspiring Chicano actors?
Daniel: I would say first of all, to do
as much as you can. Experience is important . Zoot Suit is my first film .
see DANIEL page 8
Pqe 6-0ctober29, 1981 La Voz de Aztlan
dialog.ue
What is your position on the Equal Rights ·Amendment?
.
MARIA MARIN: Social Welfare MajorSenior:
*I'm very much for the ERA. I feel
that there are a lot of women that are
underpaid. Some do not hold the position
they wish, and they do not get .the
chance to advance. At least with the
ERA they will have a chance. to further
themselves.•
RUTH BUELNA: Micro-Biology. MajorSophomore:
"'I'm for the ERA to a certain point. I
believe that women should have the
same rights as men to a certain point,
like on the jobs, they (women) should not
be discriminated ."
EDWARD LUJANO: AccountingMajorPAUL NEGRETE: Psycology MajorJunior:
"'I'm for the ERA.II believe, that women Senior:
"As a philosophy, one general conshould have their equal rights. I 'm not a
cept, I'm for the ERA .. . I think it's going
male chauvinistf I believe in equality."
to solidify some people's ideas about
what the country thinks in general-that
there are males in the country who will
back the issue. I think that's going to
help women in general, present data that
this actually occurs."
ELENOR AGUILAR: Retention Specialist, Student Affirmative Action Program:
"I'm for the ERA in the sense of what
it could mean to us as women in the
sense of equality between men and
women ... It's worth it in the long run
because I think that men and women can
begin to work together (especially in the
work place) on a much more equal basis.
It will probably open up a lot of the nontraditional areas that have kept women
from applying for jobs as engineers or
JOHN PALOFOX: Undeclared Majorin agriculture and men also can become J unior :
nurses and teachers."'
·.,, 'm for the ERA.
should bea
contitutional amendment that states
there's equality for women. If the ERA
is written down as a constitutional
amendment, then it is ·written down as
band." ·
'
By Lourdes Villarreal and Richard Rios
SIN ·
continued from page 3
Most of the industries rely on Nielsen
and Arbitron ratings to buy time. According to Ruiz, Spanish TV is under-
represented with Nielsen and Arbitron.
"Arbitron is not set up to -rate Hispanic
viewing,• said Ruiz.
Arbitron and Nielsen use a diary technique which does not work on the
Spanish-speaking public because the
diaries are mainly in English. SIN has a
private research firl't\.that interviews in
Spanish to find out .what programs are
watched during a 24-hour period.
*Our ratings tell us that of all the Hispanic population watchTng TV, one half
of the time they are watching Spanish
TV,' said Ruiz. According to Ruiz, it
proves that Cannel 21 is strong withinthe TV market and the Spanish market
is large in total population.
The Nielsen and Arbitron show low
viewing of Spanish TV which "hampers
tremen~sly• on time bought. It is an
excuse used by advertisers not to buy
time on Spanish stations.
·
Ruiz said that it was jwst a matter of
time before more advertisers realize the
large audience Spanish TV delivers.
Stereotypjng on the advertisers part figures that Chicanos have different
wants and needs. Ruiz gave an example
using designer jeans. Advertisers
stereotype Hispanics as only buying
Levis so they don't advertise Calvin
Klein jeans. Hispanics do buy· designer
jeans.
Hispanics respond to Spanish language advertising. Hispanics respond to
brands advertising and they respond
to the attention given to them. Ruiz said,
"Advertisers need to realize Hispanics
are here."
Lastly, Ruiz added that eighty-percent of viewers are bilingual. Ruiz describes the viewers as "gifted." Gifted
because they are bilingual and bicultural. A gift that Ruiz said "we should
not lose."
Un Poema
,
Ven, acercate a mi;
. no sientas temor .
.
ster'.'. .
.,
Ven, acercate a mi;
reposa tu cuerpo cansado
bajo mis sombras
bar,adas de sol .
/
,
Ven, acercate a mi
que yo compartire contigo
mis anos
y tu conmigo - tu juventud .
CORRECTION
There was no envelope enclosed for a
contribution to ,upport the Rape
Counseling Service of Fresno as. was
printed in the October 15 issue
of La Voz de Aztlan.
4
Campus KJOS
to trick-or-treat
Children from the campus day care
centers will be celebrating Halloween by
trick-or-treating through the Home Ee
Building and the third floor of the CU on
Thursday, Oct. 29, beainnina at
3:30p.m.
Off ices in those buildin1s are en·
couraged to bring treats for the young-
VEN
,,
MARIA LUZ HERNANDEZ: -Nursing
Major-Senior:
"1 'm for the ERA. The majorjty of the
high position jobs are held by males; it's
about time women are given the same
opportunities as men."
Mis ramas sera'n tu escudo,
Mi brisa el suspiro
de tu inspiracion,
Mi tronco
la fuente de tu fortaleza,
y mis raices
,
la vida misma - de tu corazon.
by Lourdes Villarreal
la voz de ·azttan
Editor: Fernando Qu~tero
Managing editor; Yolanda Granados
Production Mananger: Yolanda Rodriguez
Reoorters: Lourdes Villareal, Mark Diaz
, 'Pedro Perez
Production: M'aria Servin, Sandra Castro
Photographers: Robert Hernandez,
Richard Rios
La Voz de Aztlan is California State
University Fresno's Chicano newspaper.
La Voz de Aztlan is located in the
Keats
Campus
Building.
Editorial: (209) 294-2486. Letters to the
editor are welcomed. The newspaper
reserve~ the right to edit letters .
/
Page
7~ober
29, 1981-La
La Voz de Aztlan Essay:
Cultural Democracy and Bilingual Education
Voz de Azlan
it
The following essay was printed in the May 4th edition of La Voz de Aztlan.
by Fernando Quintero
America is a unique country with a
unique history. The nation was formed
as the result of extensive migratory activity from all over the world, making
the United States one of the most
heterogeneous countries in the world.
However, conditions under which these
settlements were made are as diversified
as the people themselves. Despite the
presence of people whose language,
customes, and often appearances are different, the cultural and political aspirations and privileges of the Anglo-Saxon
Protestant group have been maintained
exclusively. This particular group is
what can be referred to as the "mainstream" of American society, a mainstream on which most American institutions and social establishments are
based. Through this mainstream factor
comes the melting pot/conformist
ideology, which in essence assumes that
a sociocultural system can be formed
from the fusion of many cultural systems
through acculturation and assimilation
stripping away the cultural identity
of an individual in order to assimilate
him into the middleclass American mainstream. Although the melting pot
theory provided a simple, attractive,
neatly condensed, and consumable solution to creating a safe, national character, it failed to recognize the fact that
America is· composed of a multitude of
sociocultural systems which consist of
values and traditions that are important
to such groups, and especially to the
children in these groups.
During the latter part of the 19th century, a phenomenal surge of immigra-
!ion to the United States occurred, causmg great uneasiness and alarm for the
alr~ady . "settled" Americans. As ex~
plained tn Henry Pratt Fairchild's The
Melting Pot Mistake:
These were due in part to changes in
the social and economic situation in
the United States, in part to changes in
the personal and social characteristics of
the immigrants, and in part to the repeated warnings issued by those whose
professional activities and opportunities
gave them a wider access to the facts
of immigration than was possible to the
a.verage citizen ... Then came the symbol,
l,ke a portent in the heavens. America
is a Melting-Pot. Into it are being poured
representatives of all the world's peoples. Within its magic confines there is
being formed something that is not only
uniform a11d homogeneous but also
finer than any of the separate ingredients. The nations of the world are being
fused into a new and choicer nation, the
United States.
The dangerous implications of this
statement infer that the "melted" product is superior to the individual Hingredients," making melting pot ideology
racist-oriented.
The concepts and ideas that formed
the American "establishment" in the
early 20th century were to be analyzed
and examined at a later period. With
the social ferment of the 1960' s came
critical examination of the role of the
melting pot theory as an instrument for
the formulation of educational policy
and practice. Through these reevaluations of America's established sociocultural system, and through the influence of the Civil Rights era, came the alternative to melting pot theory-cultural
d_e mocracy.
Manuel Ramirez and Alfredo Castaneda, authors of Cultural Democracy
Bicognitive Development, and Educatio~
define cultural democracy:
Cultural democracy is a philosophical
precept which recognizes that the way a
person communicates, relates to others,
seeks support and recognition from his
environment (incentive motivation),
and -tffinks and learns (cognition) is a
product of the value system of his home
a!ld community. Furthermore, educational environments or policies that do
not recognize the individual's right, as
guaranteed by the Civil Rights Act of
1964, to remain identified with the culture and language of his cultural group
are culturally undemocratic.
Why do Mexican American children
require special educa~ional polides and
practices? Why are Mexicans in general
the most foreign, unacculturated unassimilated ethnic group in relati~n to
other ethnic groups? The proposed
explanations require some historical
background. Unlike other ethnic groups
that crossed the Atlantic mainly to escape political and religious oppressions, Mexican Americans share with
the American Indian the experience of
conquest and annexation . While other
groups came to, benefit from the liberties promised by American democratic
ideology, this assumption implied
another strong motivation, namely that
immigrants desired to adopt American
values, customes, and manners. Social
scientists and educators have long
viewed the Mexican American population with utter bemusement for its fail':lre to follow the historical patterns of
/.
acculturation and assimilation that have
been attributed to many other ethnic
groups. Perhaps these skeptjcs failed to
take into consider:~tion such factors as
st~ng. cultural and familial ties, daily
m1gr~t1on, geoaraphicaJ proximity of
Mex,c!', and modem, accessible transpo~t,on and communication. As
Ramrrez and Castaneda pointed out:
· As a distincitive ethnic population
Mexican Americans have been fre:
que,:>tly referred to as the .•least .A.mericamzed" of all America's ethnic sroups
"unas.si~ilable," and •foreign." Thes;
~escnpt,ons are ohen used as exp/anat,ons for the educational and economic
plight in which the majority of the Mexican American population finds itself
today.
Recently, much research and legislative policy has been adopted and incorp<?rated into America's educational
policies and practices. Statistics show
that in 1960 and 1970, the U.S. census
showed that Spanish-surnamed students, to cite one group, were achieving at a level lower than their Anglo or
Black counterparts. Median years of
school completed by Spanish-surnamed
persons in 1970 was 10.6, Blacks 11.9,
and Anglos 12.4.
American mainstream educational
practices that reject a Mexican American child's cultural values are a rejection of the child itself. This can lead to
painful psychological pl"Qblems that lead
to forcing the child to choose one cul!ure at the expense of the other. In a proJect for the California State Department
of Education, EleanorThonis reports: ·
seeBILINGUAL page 8
personal/ads
Hispanic Leaders ,
Reapportionment Plan
Student Legislative
- . Local Hispanic 1.eaders who fought for_ __ _
.position qpen
1~cr~ased Chicano political representation m Sacramento, including the mayors
of three Fresno County cities, will announce their stand on the Assembly's
Effective _October 19, 1981, the Calir~apportionment plan and the Repub- fornia State Student Association anh_can ~ef~rendum to repeal new legisla- nounces the opening of the position of
bve districts in a news conference Thurs- Legislative Advocate.
day, October 29, is 1:30 p.m. at the
The CSSA, representing over 300 000
State Building Assembly Room (Room I students in the California State Uni~r1036), 2550 Mariposa Mall, Fresno.
• sity and Colleges, operates a LegislaAssemblyman Richard Alatorre (D- tive Office in Sacramento. With a Board
Los Angeles), who helped revamp lower of Directors comprised of representahouse seats as Chairman of the As- tives from 18 CSUC campuses, the Assembl,~ Electi?ns and Reapportionment sociation meets monthly to develop
C?mm,ttee, w,11 also attend the meeting policy and direction for its staff.
with reporters.
· Working with the Legislative Director
. Fresno area Hispanics participating· and Staff Assistant, · the Advocate
in the news_ conference include Sanger
will be responsible for monitoring the
Mayor T~nis Ybarra, Parlier Mayor activities of state government as they
Raul Martinez, Orange Cove Mayor Vic- impact upon students . Advocating for Q[
tor_Lopez, and Ricardo Duran, San Joa- against legislation, testifying before
qurn V~lley coordinator for the Coalition legislative
committees,
developing
for Fair Representation, a Hispanic legislation, working with various state
group that lobbied on reapportionment.
agencies, and oommunicating with the
students on the carnpuses are all necessary functions in the Legislative Of~
fice.
What YOU can do about
Applications for this position must be
the NEUTRON BOMB
postmarked no later than November
27, 1981. The Legislative Director will
screen the applications and a committee
Send for a FREE
made up of four CSSA representatives
brochure by the World
and the Legislative Director will interview and recommend one person to the
. Peace Council, write today
full Association for confirmation .
to National Peace Coalition
Interviews will take place the first
PO Box 5789 Fresno, Calif.
week in December in Sacramento. Those
applicants selected for an interview will
93755
be responsible for their own transportation to Sacramento.
AppJications-for editorships.. of
La ·voz de Aztlan.Uhuru Na Umoja
Hye Sharzhoom ·
Daily Collegian
are now available at the A. S. Office in CU 31 6.
Applications must be returned ·to the A.S. ·office
no later than
.5:00 p.m. No~ember 18, 1981
If there are any questions, please
contact: Nancy E. McFadden, Legislative Director, 926 J Street, Suite 701,
Sacramento, CA 95814 or Jeff B. Watson, A.S. President, College Union, Rm.
316, 294-2657.
...................................
-
-
CHO meeting Thursday, October
29, 1981 in the C.U. Room 309 at
5;00p.m .
· Adelitas
Halloween
/ · Dance-Las Adelitas will sponsor their 5th
Annual Halloween Costume Dance
Friday Oct. 30 From 9pm to 1 am
at the Keats Campus Build;ng(next
to La Voz Office).
Admission is
$2.00 with . cos'.ume, $2.50 without.
Music provided by Volume .II.
Page 8-0ctober 29, 1981 · La Voz de Aztlan
deportes
Timing "right" for Gonzales and Cr9ss Country
by Robert S. Hernandez
Gonzales' future plans inch.ide
It looks like this could be the year the
cross count__ry team has been waiting fpr qualifying for the NCAA. He is also
and the timing is just right. With the looking forward to receiving his BA i11
foot~all team strugg'ling along, the business.
harrier team could be a bright spot in
Bulldog sports this year. With a highcaliber runner like former Clovis High
La Voz asked cross country coach Red
standout Gary Gonzales, things can't Estes what impact Gonzales has had on
be all too bad.
the team. According to Estes, *Cary has
already exceeded my expectations as a
Gonzales has made a fine transition freshman and has yet to run his best race
from the three mile distance in high this year." Estes also commented on
school to the six miles he runs at the
university level. Gary is the team'~
. third fastest runner, which is r:emarkable this year's cross country team. •1
thought our team was one year away
for a freshman.
from the league championship, but I've
changed my mind now.,,_ No doubt due to
Gonzales has had the distinction of the strong performances in this season's
being the cross country Valley champ his
meets so far .
junior year in high school, and Valley
- champ in the mile for his last three
years. Also, in-high school, Gonzales had
Thus, Gonzales and the rest of the
the best time of 4:11, and what Gonzales
Bulldog
harriers will have to make a
considers his best achievement, running
3:51 in the 1,500 meter run as a senior. strong showing to defeat last year's
He held the best time in the nation in champion, Irvine, in the District Eight
the 1981 track season. -Gonzales was also NCAA meet this mid-November.
named Hispanic player of the Year , by
the local Hispanic group, Navidad de
Valle, in _1980. -
Photo by Robert S. Hernandez
LUIS
continued from page 5
La _Voz: Why is Zoot Suit called
• An American Originali"
Luis: Well first to underscore the fact
that what happened back then in 1942
with the Sleepy Lagoon Case is part
of American history.
La Voz:
Do you think Universal
Studios was taking a gamble using relativley unknown actors for Zoot Suit?
·
Luis: I 'II tell you, I had a choice early
on to go in a totallydifferentdirection.
One of the people that turned me on to
the idea o i
ng my own film was
Jane Fonda and this came as a result
of
my
talking
to
her
about doing the part of "Alice l31oomfield." However, in talking to her and
others, it became apparent that a bigname star would have changed the focus
entirely. You just can't take a star like
Jane Fonda and put her into a· movie
in a supporting role. There was the
additional problem, believe it or not,
that there isn't yet an Hispanic movie
star.
La. Voz: What would you like the
audience to walk away thinking and
feeling after seeing Zoot Suit?
Luis : What I really hope is that all
· audiences see is that difficult period
in Chicano history and roles that people
play between each other. f suppose
that to many people, the Pachuco in
the film is either super-real in the
heroic sense or super-real in the threatning sense. In any case he was hard to
relate to as the alter-ego of Hank Reyna.
I hope that people see the Pachuco as
the two sides of Hank. That they see
both the negative and positive. And
they understand the basic human
struggle, of basically Hank1Reyna the
family man . That is no different than
the classic adolescent situation of any
young man.
Unfortuanately, we live in a time when
the Pachuco image is threatening to a
lot of people I hope that is not a barrier.
The pachuco represents a symbol of
pride for Henry which pushes him on to
a greater awareness of himself. What
Henry ends. up with is a greater sense of
maturity of the world around him.
Zoot Suit is about human relationships . It's got flash, it's got color
it's got dance, but ultimately it's a
tender story . I hope that people get
inside Henry. One of the things I had
to do was open this very s~retive role
of the Pachuco and a lot of the people
La Voz: What can we see coming
-Valdez: I think that if Zoot Suit lri~kes
are mystified by the calo and the symbol
a lot of money, there will be more opof the Pachuco. In order to open that from you in the future?
Luis: Yes, I am in the process of portun ities for Chicanos in tHeatre.
up, the vechical that I used was Hank.
La Voz: Did you find _-_~ it doing a Chicano western movie based It's artistic merits and a whole diffemt
different directing a movie rather than on a new play I wrote called "Bandido* bag of beans. Really the question is
which is based on the career of Tibuscox whether the Chicano story can comdirecting a play.
Vasquez, who was one of the last of the municate beyond the Hispanic audience.
California banditos. I also have a farmLa Voz: Do you think the Chicano
Story can?
~ui~: l Directing a movie is a much worker story I'm working on.
Valdez:
Any human experience,
more technical experience. A play is a
whether · it's Japanese, Bla<;k, or
perishable human thing that changes a
Chicano that is rooted in human reality
film, is what it is. We filmed Zoot Suit
will touch the people.
in 14 days. The fact that its been. a play
continued from page 5
before helped as we had a three week
rehearsal period. My concern as a movie
director came with cameras, again, a had the chance to really work with some
greats. I worked with Jack Lemmon,
technical concern.
La Voz: Can yo~ tell us what kind Jane Fonda, and Michael Douglas and
Richard Pryor.
of budget you had to work with?
Luis: We started with a budget of
continued from page? .
two and a half million, we ended up with
2.7 million. That's about 1/4of what the
The most important thing is that the
average movie costs today.
La Voz: What was it like to convince Chicano actor is bringing himself to, the
For thousands of Spanish-speaking
Universal or any other major studio to screen. He's bringing his experience to children from Mexican families, the pub.
the screen. Also the bilingualism of the
take on a Chicano film.
lie schools have not kept the glibly-made
Chicano actor is a gift which he should
promise of an education which may preLuis: The president of Universal had value, and I guess lastly, to study the
pare them for productiv.e adult roles in
seen the play and the success of the play greats-the great actors. I found one
the economic and social life of our nain Los Angeles and he heard about my word that Jack Lemmon gave me that
tion . These children have brought their
language and their cultural backgrounds
talks with Paramount and other studios I 've taken with me. And thats bravery.
to ou-r classrooms with the same ento produce a movie. The factor which Bravery to open up-to cry or do anything
thusiasm and the high ex'peetations that
kept hanging us up is that no one would else you' re called upon to do.
all children so trustingly place in the
let me direct. They thought it was to big
hands of educators. The schools howa rush. We had been approached by
ever, have rejected their language, have
one of the cable companies to video tape
the play. Universal proposed the idea of
La Voz: What kind of support did you minimized their culture and have ignored their identity. They have insisted
video taping the play and then transfer receive as a strugglingyoung actor?
to . 35 mm for a budget $750,000. I
Daniel: Luis and I have served each · that the Spanish and Indian heritage
· wasn't too impressed with the quality other as an artistic mirror. We share a of these children be /eh outside the
of exampli s of films transfered from lot and Luis has been much of my sup- · classroom doors. They have stripped
video tape although some have been port. I came from the cultural enviro- these Spanish-speaking pupils of their
many strengths; they have expected
done that way including "Gilda, live!" nment of the group, rather than the
them to find their way in an instrucEventually the budget went up and we individual. The actor has to act as an
tional program that has been built upon
did the movie.
indivdual.
a different system of values, an un,.
La Voz: Obviously you're going to
familiar culture and an alien.; language.
be an inspiration to a lot of Chicanos who
Such educational practices are not
are in theatre and who would like to
La Voz: Are you afraid of fame,
consistent with · the stated goals of reget into writing and directing. What of becoming Star?
;kind of advice would you give them?
Uaniel: fhe only thing that scares spect for the unique worth of each inLuis: I think that of Chicano's or me is that the elite world of Hollywood, dividual, of the development of each
anyone interested in theatre should the elite world of success or stardom pupil to his fullest potential, or of equalgive the professional world a stab, separates you from the rest of the world. - ity of opportunity for all childre~. Nor
that's the only way to gc-t ipto it.
I don 't want to become a symbol or a are such practices in harmony w,th the
There's a lot of sacrifice involved and figure. I want to take my experiences as national. need for Linguists, in governa lot of years, but if you get into show. an actor and tell as many people as pos- ment in business, and in our schools.
The present avenue of education, t~~n1
business you might as well go for the sible. I want to expose the success as
a means of upward social mob1'1ty,
world
and
say
...
look
you
can
touch
it!"
brightest -lights and in that way, evenhas become a dead-end street for lar
La Voz: Do you think Zoot Svit will too many of these Spanish-speaking d,iltually reach the barrio. Persistance
would be the best advice I could give motivate more Chicanos to be involved dren .
in Theatre?
to these..people.
DANIEL
BILINGUAL
be,::omes t~1e largest mass conviction in
the history of California for the alleged
murder of a single man, the defendants
were sentenced to San Quentin for life.
The Sleepy Lagoon Murder Case is a
landmark case in the American system of
cano film showing in Fresno? That alone sonnel and pachucos as they mingled
in the night life of Los Angeles. Dis1s too much for the mind to accept, the
justice for it established a precedence
by Pedro Perez
Can you believe the reality of a Chihard part to believe is that the script
for the film was written by a homeboy Luis Valdez and his brother Daniel,
plays the leading role of Henry·
Reyna.
Who ever said "This is the decade of
the Chicano" sure did read his crystal
ball right. Zoot Suit the play, and now
the film, is sweeping across the southwest with tremendous acceptance
from people of all walks of life. Here in
Fresno, the theatre has been filled
since it opened two weeks ago and
Chicanos and non-Chicanos have been
receiving it with a big abrazo.
The film is set in East Los Angeles after the end of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War 11.
Young Chicanos were distinctively
identifying themselves as pachucos,
(loot Suiters), and as war heroes across
the Pacific. But back home on the front
lines of Whittier Boulevard, public officials and newspapers were calling them
•subversive" to the American way of
life and needed to be dealt with.
agreements and fights kept breaking
against mass trials.
The film itself doesn't come near to
giving the depth the theatre play gives
its characters. Not that the actors in
the film d9n 't portray their characters
to the extent, but it's the emotional and
personal vibes that you receive from the
actors that gives the play so much more
color and vitality.
The Pachuco (Edward James Olmos)
is as sharp and to the point as the switch
blade he uses in the opening act.
Dressed in his black tacuche and boardbrimmed tando, he grasps the audience's attention in an instant with
every step he takes and every word he
speaks.
From his beginnings with Teatro
Campesino to playing a leading role in
Zoot Suit, Daniel Valdez is also musical
director for the film. .
The tough guy character Daniel portrays on the screen in a sense reflects
the self determination the Chicano community has in society. His courage,
out between sailors and pachucos until
an all-out war was declared on pachucos
and anyone else who resembled one, by
sailors who were stationed in Los
Angeles. Public officials and the police
did nothing to stop the sailors from beating and stripping Chicanos of their Zoot
Suits since, the police blamed the pachucos for the violence that was going
on.
The focal point of the film revolves
around the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Mystery, in which a young Chicano boy was
found dead at the Sleepy Lagoon Reservoir, a then popular swimming hole.
The search for the murder resulted
in the round up of Henry Reyna and his
so-called 38th Street gang since they
were the last ones seen at the lagoon
that night.
After a long 13-week trial by a lynch,
type court, the all , Anglo jury found 12
of the defendants guilty of murder, five
of lesser assault charges, and acquitted
the remaining five of all charges. It
leadership, and ability_, to' make rationa
decisions before his peers, flows insi
everyone of us. The injustices that h
feels and experiences are the injustices
experienced by the Chicano community.
Henry Reyna and his struggle as
pachuco in East Los Angeles living
in the middle of anger and distrust
mirror the troubles of young Chicano;
today.
The way Luis Valdez brings us this
message of injustice towards Chicanos
is creative. He gives hope at the end of
the film that people and systems can be
cha Ilenged.
This is the first Chicano film ·produced by a Chicano with a 95 percent
Chicano cast that has reached the commercial movie market.
The Pachucas in the film are very independent and the high skirt and hair
dress they use are accurate. Henry's
girlfriend Della, who is played by
Rose Portillo, also appeared in the original theatre play. In total, there was an
equal amount of pachucas as there were
pachucos on the screen, resulting in
a living-color effect. The dancing and
singing capabilities were talents Chicanas haven 't been given a chance to
express before.
La Chicana, like the Chicano in the
fi Im, work together to achieve the
, ,,.: "!late goal of the fi Im - success.
,I
Daniel and Luis Valdez come to Fresno
Daniel Valdez
·Luis Valdez
by Fernando Quintero
Director Luis Valdez and his brother time a major motion picture has been
Daniel who portrays Henry Reyna in · written and directed by a Chicano.
the newlY--- released Universal firm.
Luis is the founder of the farmworker
•zoot Suit,"' w.ere in Fresno last week theatre group, El Teatro Campesino, ·
promoting the film and attending a which began 15 years ago. He wrote and
reception which was held in their directed various skits and plays with
honor.
socio-political themes of the farmworker
From their farmworker roots in struggle.
Delano to Hollywood, Luis and Faniel
In 1972, Luis created the emmy
are more than excited about their new award winning "Los Vendidos" for tel- ·
movie venture which marks the first evision and co!laborated with Richard
la Voz: Do you see Zoot Suit as a
vehicle for giving Daniel or Edward
Olmos the exposure necessary for stardom?
Luis: Oh yes. I think that Daniel and
Ed Olmos have gotten about as much
exPosure as they've ever gotten with
this film. These are definitely leading
roles. These roles given to them in
loot Suit show that they can act.
la Voz: How is Zoot Suit seen as the
Hollywoodization of Chicanos?
Luis: The real question has to do with
the market.
The marketability of
Chicano themes and it really relates to
whether there is an audience ·out there
which is receptive . It's not as if Hollywood has not dealt with Chicano treatments before. For instance, the first
Westerns. I think what inspired Universal Studios to do the film, was the
realization of the numbers of Hispanics
in the Southwest, Chicago, and New
York that has grown within the last
25 years. The question is whether a
Chicano theme that is as Chicano as
"Zoot Suit" can reach out to everybody.
That is still an open question. We're
encouraged by certain responses we've
had.
seeLUIS page 8'
Pryor in "'Which Way is Upf"' in 19n.
Luis has served on various theatre
advisory boards and was appointed to
the nine-member California Arts Council by Governor Edmund .Brown Jr. in
1976. Luis has taught drama courses
at UC Berkely and Santa Cruz and
CSUF.
In 1978, "Zoot Suit"' went to Broadway.
.
Daniel was also involvaj wJJb his
La Voz: Why are there so few Chicano
actors?
Daniel: There hasn't been much for
the Chicano actor.
And everything
that's out there was usually stereotypical roles. Very rarely do you see a
starring role where the character is
Chicano. In the case of "Boulevard
Nights' I f'elt it was a breakthrough for
Chicano actors, but the material was
bad, negative, exploitation. Then you
have the other extreme, "Walk Proud"
with Robby Benson playing a Chicano
They wanted me for the movie to play
a gang leader.
brother during the Delano farmworker' s
strike in 1965 and was a musician and
actor for El Teatro. .
·
Daniel has acted in such films as
"'The China Syndrome," and "Which
Way is Up?"
The following interviews were taken at
a press luncheon held for Daniel and
Luis.
As a Chicano actor, you can do a
bunch of stuff, not care about what
you're doing, and take the money and
run . - Eventually what that will lead you
to is the audience won't accept you in
positive rol es. I believe in ethics, the
actors ethics, he must question the
values of t he characters. In many ways
he must ask his heart rather than his.
pocket what's more important.
La Voz: What advice would you give
aspiring Chicano actors?
Daniel: I would say first of all, to do
as much as you can. Experience is important . Zoot Suit is my first film .
see DANIEL page 8
Pqe 6-0ctober29, 1981 La Voz de Aztlan
dialog.ue
What is your position on the Equal Rights ·Amendment?
.
MARIA MARIN: Social Welfare MajorSenior:
*I'm very much for the ERA. I feel
that there are a lot of women that are
underpaid. Some do not hold the position
they wish, and they do not get .the
chance to advance. At least with the
ERA they will have a chance. to further
themselves.•
RUTH BUELNA: Micro-Biology. MajorSophomore:
"'I'm for the ERA to a certain point. I
believe that women should have the
same rights as men to a certain point,
like on the jobs, they (women) should not
be discriminated ."
EDWARD LUJANO: AccountingMajorPAUL NEGRETE: Psycology MajorJunior:
"'I'm for the ERA.II believe, that women Senior:
"As a philosophy, one general conshould have their equal rights. I 'm not a
cept, I'm for the ERA .. . I think it's going
male chauvinistf I believe in equality."
to solidify some people's ideas about
what the country thinks in general-that
there are males in the country who will
back the issue. I think that's going to
help women in general, present data that
this actually occurs."
ELENOR AGUILAR: Retention Specialist, Student Affirmative Action Program:
"I'm for the ERA in the sense of what
it could mean to us as women in the
sense of equality between men and
women ... It's worth it in the long run
because I think that men and women can
begin to work together (especially in the
work place) on a much more equal basis.
It will probably open up a lot of the nontraditional areas that have kept women
from applying for jobs as engineers or
JOHN PALOFOX: Undeclared Majorin agriculture and men also can become J unior :
nurses and teachers."'
·.,, 'm for the ERA.
should bea
contitutional amendment that states
there's equality for women. If the ERA
is written down as a constitutional
amendment, then it is ·written down as
band." ·
'
By Lourdes Villarreal and Richard Rios
SIN ·
continued from page 3
Most of the industries rely on Nielsen
and Arbitron ratings to buy time. According to Ruiz, Spanish TV is under-
represented with Nielsen and Arbitron.
"Arbitron is not set up to -rate Hispanic
viewing,• said Ruiz.
Arbitron and Nielsen use a diary technique which does not work on the
Spanish-speaking public because the
diaries are mainly in English. SIN has a
private research firl't\.that interviews in
Spanish to find out .what programs are
watched during a 24-hour period.
*Our ratings tell us that of all the Hispanic population watchTng TV, one half
of the time they are watching Spanish
TV,' said Ruiz. According to Ruiz, it
proves that Cannel 21 is strong withinthe TV market and the Spanish market
is large in total population.
The Nielsen and Arbitron show low
viewing of Spanish TV which "hampers
tremen~sly• on time bought. It is an
excuse used by advertisers not to buy
time on Spanish stations.
·
Ruiz said that it was jwst a matter of
time before more advertisers realize the
large audience Spanish TV delivers.
Stereotypjng on the advertisers part figures that Chicanos have different
wants and needs. Ruiz gave an example
using designer jeans. Advertisers
stereotype Hispanics as only buying
Levis so they don't advertise Calvin
Klein jeans. Hispanics do buy· designer
jeans.
Hispanics respond to Spanish language advertising. Hispanics respond to
brands advertising and they respond
to the attention given to them. Ruiz said,
"Advertisers need to realize Hispanics
are here."
Lastly, Ruiz added that eighty-percent of viewers are bilingual. Ruiz describes the viewers as "gifted." Gifted
because they are bilingual and bicultural. A gift that Ruiz said "we should
not lose."
Un Poema
,
Ven, acercate a mi;
. no sientas temor .
.
ster'.'. .
.,
Ven, acercate a mi;
reposa tu cuerpo cansado
bajo mis sombras
bar,adas de sol .
/
,
Ven, acercate a mi
que yo compartire contigo
mis anos
y tu conmigo - tu juventud .
CORRECTION
There was no envelope enclosed for a
contribution to ,upport the Rape
Counseling Service of Fresno as. was
printed in the October 15 issue
of La Voz de Aztlan.
4
Campus KJOS
to trick-or-treat
Children from the campus day care
centers will be celebrating Halloween by
trick-or-treating through the Home Ee
Building and the third floor of the CU on
Thursday, Oct. 29, beainnina at
3:30p.m.
Off ices in those buildin1s are en·
couraged to bring treats for the young-
VEN
,,
MARIA LUZ HERNANDEZ: -Nursing
Major-Senior:
"1 'm for the ERA. The majorjty of the
high position jobs are held by males; it's
about time women are given the same
opportunities as men."
Mis ramas sera'n tu escudo,
Mi brisa el suspiro
de tu inspiracion,
Mi tronco
la fuente de tu fortaleza,
y mis raices
,
la vida misma - de tu corazon.
by Lourdes Villarreal
la voz de ·azttan
Editor: Fernando Qu~tero
Managing editor; Yolanda Granados
Production Mananger: Yolanda Rodriguez
Reoorters: Lourdes Villareal, Mark Diaz
, 'Pedro Perez
Production: M'aria Servin, Sandra Castro
Photographers: Robert Hernandez,
Richard Rios
La Voz de Aztlan is California State
University Fresno's Chicano newspaper.
La Voz de Aztlan is located in the
Keats
Campus
Building.
Editorial: (209) 294-2486. Letters to the
editor are welcomed. The newspaper
reserve~ the right to edit letters .
/
Page
7~ober
29, 1981-La
La Voz de Aztlan Essay:
Cultural Democracy and Bilingual Education
Voz de Azlan
it
The following essay was printed in the May 4th edition of La Voz de Aztlan.
by Fernando Quintero
America is a unique country with a
unique history. The nation was formed
as the result of extensive migratory activity from all over the world, making
the United States one of the most
heterogeneous countries in the world.
However, conditions under which these
settlements were made are as diversified
as the people themselves. Despite the
presence of people whose language,
customes, and often appearances are different, the cultural and political aspirations and privileges of the Anglo-Saxon
Protestant group have been maintained
exclusively. This particular group is
what can be referred to as the "mainstream" of American society, a mainstream on which most American institutions and social establishments are
based. Through this mainstream factor
comes the melting pot/conformist
ideology, which in essence assumes that
a sociocultural system can be formed
from the fusion of many cultural systems
through acculturation and assimilation
stripping away the cultural identity
of an individual in order to assimilate
him into the middleclass American mainstream. Although the melting pot
theory provided a simple, attractive,
neatly condensed, and consumable solution to creating a safe, national character, it failed to recognize the fact that
America is· composed of a multitude of
sociocultural systems which consist of
values and traditions that are important
to such groups, and especially to the
children in these groups.
During the latter part of the 19th century, a phenomenal surge of immigra-
!ion to the United States occurred, causmg great uneasiness and alarm for the
alr~ady . "settled" Americans. As ex~
plained tn Henry Pratt Fairchild's The
Melting Pot Mistake:
These were due in part to changes in
the social and economic situation in
the United States, in part to changes in
the personal and social characteristics of
the immigrants, and in part to the repeated warnings issued by those whose
professional activities and opportunities
gave them a wider access to the facts
of immigration than was possible to the
a.verage citizen ... Then came the symbol,
l,ke a portent in the heavens. America
is a Melting-Pot. Into it are being poured
representatives of all the world's peoples. Within its magic confines there is
being formed something that is not only
uniform a11d homogeneous but also
finer than any of the separate ingredients. The nations of the world are being
fused into a new and choicer nation, the
United States.
The dangerous implications of this
statement infer that the "melted" product is superior to the individual Hingredients," making melting pot ideology
racist-oriented.
The concepts and ideas that formed
the American "establishment" in the
early 20th century were to be analyzed
and examined at a later period. With
the social ferment of the 1960' s came
critical examination of the role of the
melting pot theory as an instrument for
the formulation of educational policy
and practice. Through these reevaluations of America's established sociocultural system, and through the influence of the Civil Rights era, came the alternative to melting pot theory-cultural
d_e mocracy.
Manuel Ramirez and Alfredo Castaneda, authors of Cultural Democracy
Bicognitive Development, and Educatio~
define cultural democracy:
Cultural democracy is a philosophical
precept which recognizes that the way a
person communicates, relates to others,
seeks support and recognition from his
environment (incentive motivation),
and -tffinks and learns (cognition) is a
product of the value system of his home
a!ld community. Furthermore, educational environments or policies that do
not recognize the individual's right, as
guaranteed by the Civil Rights Act of
1964, to remain identified with the culture and language of his cultural group
are culturally undemocratic.
Why do Mexican American children
require special educa~ional polides and
practices? Why are Mexicans in general
the most foreign, unacculturated unassimilated ethnic group in relati~n to
other ethnic groups? The proposed
explanations require some historical
background. Unlike other ethnic groups
that crossed the Atlantic mainly to escape political and religious oppressions, Mexican Americans share with
the American Indian the experience of
conquest and annexation . While other
groups came to, benefit from the liberties promised by American democratic
ideology, this assumption implied
another strong motivation, namely that
immigrants desired to adopt American
values, customes, and manners. Social
scientists and educators have long
viewed the Mexican American population with utter bemusement for its fail':lre to follow the historical patterns of
/.
acculturation and assimilation that have
been attributed to many other ethnic
groups. Perhaps these skeptjcs failed to
take into consider:~tion such factors as
st~ng. cultural and familial ties, daily
m1gr~t1on, geoaraphicaJ proximity of
Mex,c!', and modem, accessible transpo~t,on and communication. As
Ramrrez and Castaneda pointed out:
· As a distincitive ethnic population
Mexican Americans have been fre:
que,:>tly referred to as the .•least .A.mericamzed" of all America's ethnic sroups
"unas.si~ilable," and •foreign." Thes;
~escnpt,ons are ohen used as exp/anat,ons for the educational and economic
plight in which the majority of the Mexican American population finds itself
today.
Recently, much research and legislative policy has been adopted and incorp<?rated into America's educational
policies and practices. Statistics show
that in 1960 and 1970, the U.S. census
showed that Spanish-surnamed students, to cite one group, were achieving at a level lower than their Anglo or
Black counterparts. Median years of
school completed by Spanish-surnamed
persons in 1970 was 10.6, Blacks 11.9,
and Anglos 12.4.
American mainstream educational
practices that reject a Mexican American child's cultural values are a rejection of the child itself. This can lead to
painful psychological pl"Qblems that lead
to forcing the child to choose one cul!ure at the expense of the other. In a proJect for the California State Department
of Education, EleanorThonis reports: ·
seeBILINGUAL page 8
personal/ads
Hispanic Leaders ,
Reapportionment Plan
Student Legislative
- . Local Hispanic 1.eaders who fought for_ __ _
.position qpen
1~cr~ased Chicano political representation m Sacramento, including the mayors
of three Fresno County cities, will announce their stand on the Assembly's
Effective _October 19, 1981, the Calir~apportionment plan and the Repub- fornia State Student Association anh_can ~ef~rendum to repeal new legisla- nounces the opening of the position of
bve districts in a news conference Thurs- Legislative Advocate.
day, October 29, is 1:30 p.m. at the
The CSSA, representing over 300 000
State Building Assembly Room (Room I students in the California State Uni~r1036), 2550 Mariposa Mall, Fresno.
• sity and Colleges, operates a LegislaAssemblyman Richard Alatorre (D- tive Office in Sacramento. With a Board
Los Angeles), who helped revamp lower of Directors comprised of representahouse seats as Chairman of the As- tives from 18 CSUC campuses, the Assembl,~ Electi?ns and Reapportionment sociation meets monthly to develop
C?mm,ttee, w,11 also attend the meeting policy and direction for its staff.
with reporters.
· Working with the Legislative Director
. Fresno area Hispanics participating· and Staff Assistant, · the Advocate
in the news_ conference include Sanger
will be responsible for monitoring the
Mayor T~nis Ybarra, Parlier Mayor activities of state government as they
Raul Martinez, Orange Cove Mayor Vic- impact upon students . Advocating for Q[
tor_Lopez, and Ricardo Duran, San Joa- against legislation, testifying before
qurn V~lley coordinator for the Coalition legislative
committees,
developing
for Fair Representation, a Hispanic legislation, working with various state
group that lobbied on reapportionment.
agencies, and oommunicating with the
students on the carnpuses are all necessary functions in the Legislative Of~
fice.
What YOU can do about
Applications for this position must be
the NEUTRON BOMB
postmarked no later than November
27, 1981. The Legislative Director will
screen the applications and a committee
Send for a FREE
made up of four CSSA representatives
brochure by the World
and the Legislative Director will interview and recommend one person to the
. Peace Council, write today
full Association for confirmation .
to National Peace Coalition
Interviews will take place the first
PO Box 5789 Fresno, Calif.
week in December in Sacramento. Those
applicants selected for an interview will
93755
be responsible for their own transportation to Sacramento.
AppJications-for editorships.. of
La ·voz de Aztlan.Uhuru Na Umoja
Hye Sharzhoom ·
Daily Collegian
are now available at the A. S. Office in CU 31 6.
Applications must be returned ·to the A.S. ·office
no later than
.5:00 p.m. No~ember 18, 1981
If there are any questions, please
contact: Nancy E. McFadden, Legislative Director, 926 J Street, Suite 701,
Sacramento, CA 95814 or Jeff B. Watson, A.S. President, College Union, Rm.
316, 294-2657.
...................................
-
-
CHO meeting Thursday, October
29, 1981 in the C.U. Room 309 at
5;00p.m .
· Adelitas
Halloween
/ · Dance-Las Adelitas will sponsor their 5th
Annual Halloween Costume Dance
Friday Oct. 30 From 9pm to 1 am
at the Keats Campus Build;ng(next
to La Voz Office).
Admission is
$2.00 with . cos'.ume, $2.50 without.
Music provided by Volume .II.
Page 8-0ctober 29, 1981 · La Voz de Aztlan
deportes
Timing "right" for Gonzales and Cr9ss Country
by Robert S. Hernandez
Gonzales' future plans inch.ide
It looks like this could be the year the
cross count__ry team has been waiting fpr qualifying for the NCAA. He is also
and the timing is just right. With the looking forward to receiving his BA i11
foot~all team strugg'ling along, the business.
harrier team could be a bright spot in
Bulldog sports this year. With a highcaliber runner like former Clovis High
La Voz asked cross country coach Red
standout Gary Gonzales, things can't Estes what impact Gonzales has had on
be all too bad.
the team. According to Estes, *Cary has
already exceeded my expectations as a
Gonzales has made a fine transition freshman and has yet to run his best race
from the three mile distance in high this year." Estes also commented on
school to the six miles he runs at the
university level. Gary is the team'~
. third fastest runner, which is r:emarkable this year's cross country team. •1
thought our team was one year away
for a freshman.
from the league championship, but I've
changed my mind now.,,_ No doubt due to
Gonzales has had the distinction of the strong performances in this season's
being the cross country Valley champ his
meets so far .
junior year in high school, and Valley
- champ in the mile for his last three
years. Also, in-high school, Gonzales had
Thus, Gonzales and the rest of the
the best time of 4:11, and what Gonzales
Bulldog
harriers will have to make a
considers his best achievement, running
3:51 in the 1,500 meter run as a senior. strong showing to defeat last year's
He held the best time in the nation in champion, Irvine, in the District Eight
the 1981 track season. -Gonzales was also NCAA meet this mid-November.
named Hispanic player of the Year , by
the local Hispanic group, Navidad de
Valle, in _1980. -
Photo by Robert S. Hernandez
LUIS
continued from page 5
La _Voz: Why is Zoot Suit called
• An American Originali"
Luis: Well first to underscore the fact
that what happened back then in 1942
with the Sleepy Lagoon Case is part
of American history.
La Voz:
Do you think Universal
Studios was taking a gamble using relativley unknown actors for Zoot Suit?
·
Luis: I 'II tell you, I had a choice early
on to go in a totallydifferentdirection.
One of the people that turned me on to
the idea o i
ng my own film was
Jane Fonda and this came as a result
of
my
talking
to
her
about doing the part of "Alice l31oomfield." However, in talking to her and
others, it became apparent that a bigname star would have changed the focus
entirely. You just can't take a star like
Jane Fonda and put her into a· movie
in a supporting role. There was the
additional problem, believe it or not,
that there isn't yet an Hispanic movie
star.
La. Voz: What would you like the
audience to walk away thinking and
feeling after seeing Zoot Suit?
Luis : What I really hope is that all
· audiences see is that difficult period
in Chicano history and roles that people
play between each other. f suppose
that to many people, the Pachuco in
the film is either super-real in the
heroic sense or super-real in the threatning sense. In any case he was hard to
relate to as the alter-ego of Hank Reyna.
I hope that people see the Pachuco as
the two sides of Hank. That they see
both the negative and positive. And
they understand the basic human
struggle, of basically Hank1Reyna the
family man . That is no different than
the classic adolescent situation of any
young man.
Unfortuanately, we live in a time when
the Pachuco image is threatening to a
lot of people I hope that is not a barrier.
The pachuco represents a symbol of
pride for Henry which pushes him on to
a greater awareness of himself. What
Henry ends. up with is a greater sense of
maturity of the world around him.
Zoot Suit is about human relationships . It's got flash, it's got color
it's got dance, but ultimately it's a
tender story . I hope that people get
inside Henry. One of the things I had
to do was open this very s~retive role
of the Pachuco and a lot of the people
La Voz: What can we see coming
-Valdez: I think that if Zoot Suit lri~kes
are mystified by the calo and the symbol
a lot of money, there will be more opof the Pachuco. In order to open that from you in the future?
Luis: Yes, I am in the process of portun ities for Chicanos in tHeatre.
up, the vechical that I used was Hank.
La Voz: Did you find _-_~ it doing a Chicano western movie based It's artistic merits and a whole diffemt
different directing a movie rather than on a new play I wrote called "Bandido* bag of beans. Really the question is
which is based on the career of Tibuscox whether the Chicano story can comdirecting a play.
Vasquez, who was one of the last of the municate beyond the Hispanic audience.
California banditos. I also have a farmLa Voz: Do you think the Chicano
Story can?
~ui~: l Directing a movie is a much worker story I'm working on.
Valdez:
Any human experience,
more technical experience. A play is a
whether · it's Japanese, Bla<;k, or
perishable human thing that changes a
Chicano that is rooted in human reality
film, is what it is. We filmed Zoot Suit
will touch the people.
in 14 days. The fact that its been. a play
continued from page 5
before helped as we had a three week
rehearsal period. My concern as a movie
director came with cameras, again, a had the chance to really work with some
greats. I worked with Jack Lemmon,
technical concern.
La Voz: Can yo~ tell us what kind Jane Fonda, and Michael Douglas and
Richard Pryor.
of budget you had to work with?
Luis: We started with a budget of
continued from page? .
two and a half million, we ended up with
2.7 million. That's about 1/4of what the
The most important thing is that the
average movie costs today.
La Voz: What was it like to convince Chicano actor is bringing himself to, the
For thousands of Spanish-speaking
Universal or any other major studio to screen. He's bringing his experience to children from Mexican families, the pub.
the screen. Also the bilingualism of the
take on a Chicano film.
lie schools have not kept the glibly-made
Chicano actor is a gift which he should
promise of an education which may preLuis: The president of Universal had value, and I guess lastly, to study the
pare them for productiv.e adult roles in
seen the play and the success of the play greats-the great actors. I found one
the economic and social life of our nain Los Angeles and he heard about my word that Jack Lemmon gave me that
tion . These children have brought their
language and their cultural backgrounds
talks with Paramount and other studios I 've taken with me. And thats bravery.
to ou-r classrooms with the same ento produce a movie. The factor which Bravery to open up-to cry or do anything
thusiasm and the high ex'peetations that
kept hanging us up is that no one would else you' re called upon to do.
all children so trustingly place in the
let me direct. They thought it was to big
hands of educators. The schools howa rush. We had been approached by
ever, have rejected their language, have
one of the cable companies to video tape
the play. Universal proposed the idea of
La Voz: What kind of support did you minimized their culture and have ignored their identity. They have insisted
video taping the play and then transfer receive as a strugglingyoung actor?
to . 35 mm for a budget $750,000. I
Daniel: Luis and I have served each · that the Spanish and Indian heritage
· wasn't too impressed with the quality other as an artistic mirror. We share a of these children be /eh outside the
of exampli s of films transfered from lot and Luis has been much of my sup- · classroom doors. They have stripped
video tape although some have been port. I came from the cultural enviro- these Spanish-speaking pupils of their
many strengths; they have expected
done that way including "Gilda, live!" nment of the group, rather than the
them to find their way in an instrucEventually the budget went up and we individual. The actor has to act as an
tional program that has been built upon
did the movie.
indivdual.
a different system of values, an un,.
La Voz: Obviously you're going to
familiar culture and an alien.; language.
be an inspiration to a lot of Chicanos who
Such educational practices are not
are in theatre and who would like to
La Voz: Are you afraid of fame,
consistent with · the stated goals of reget into writing and directing. What of becoming Star?
;kind of advice would you give them?
Uaniel: fhe only thing that scares spect for the unique worth of each inLuis: I think that of Chicano's or me is that the elite world of Hollywood, dividual, of the development of each
anyone interested in theatre should the elite world of success or stardom pupil to his fullest potential, or of equalgive the professional world a stab, separates you from the rest of the world. - ity of opportunity for all childre~. Nor
that's the only way to gc-t ipto it.
I don 't want to become a symbol or a are such practices in harmony w,th the
There's a lot of sacrifice involved and figure. I want to take my experiences as national. need for Linguists, in governa lot of years, but if you get into show. an actor and tell as many people as pos- ment in business, and in our schools.
The present avenue of education, t~~n1
business you might as well go for the sible. I want to expose the success as
a means of upward social mob1'1ty,
world
and
say
...
look
you
can
touch
it!"
brightest -lights and in that way, evenhas become a dead-end street for lar
La Voz: Do you think Zoot Svit will too many of these Spanish-speaking d,iltually reach the barrio. Persistance
would be the best advice I could give motivate more Chicanos to be involved dren .
in Theatre?
to these..people.
DANIEL
BILINGUAL