STILL NEED TIPS ON FUNDRAISING (TO PUBLISH LETTER IN L.A. TIMES). THIS IS
GOING TO DIE IF WE DON'T GET OUR ACT TOGETHER.
RUBEN MARTINEZ
>
TO THE RIVERSIDE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, AND TO THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA, THE
UNITED STATES, AND THE WORLD:
>
>We the undersigned artists, writers, academics and concerned citizens from
varied walks of life, were shocked and saddened-as were people the world
over-when we viewed the videotaped images of two Riverside, California
Sheriff's deputies brutally club Alicia Sotero, Enrique Funes and Jose
Pedroza with their batons at the end of a chase that eerily recalled the
Rodney King beating five years ago.
>
>But we were not surprised.
>
>Such incidents are all too common in many of our communities. There are
many >African-Americans in Los Angeles and other parts of the country who
can testify to "abuse of authority under the color of law" firsthand, as
there are Asian-Americans, gays and lesbians, practically anyone considered
an "outsider" by the "mainstream" of America.
>
>The fact that Sotero, Funes and Pedroza were undocumented immigrants en
route to what they believed would be a better life in California merely
highlights one of several segments of our society that lives in the shadows
of social, political, cultural or economic "legality."
>
>For that's precisely how people like Sotero, Funes and Pedroza are usually
referred to by our politicians and media-as "illegals." There are an
estimated two million "illegals" living in California today, several tens of
thousands more in practically every corner of the United States. Most of
them are from Mexico and Central America.
>
>Just what crime did the beating victims, and the nineteen other immigrants
with them at the time of the beating, commit? They crossed the border
between the U.S. and Mexico looking for work. They were among the immigrants
who labor daily in the picking fields of California, Washington and
Pennsylvania, clean hotel rooms in Dallas, toil in the canneries of Alaska,
sell flowers on street corners in New York City. In practically every case,
the immigrants make life easier, prettier, and less expensive for those of
us who have the luxury of calling ourselves "legals."
>
>But who are the "illegals" now? Besides the two deputies, we would like to
point out those who fostered an environment which pitted "legal" against
"illegal" and exacerbated ethnic tensions, leading many Americans to believe
that the undocumented are our enemies.
>
>Among them are politicians such as Governor Pete Wilson of California,
Republican primary presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan, as well as the
majority of Democratic members of Congress, such as California Senators
Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, all of whom have proposed, supported, or
voted for legislation that symbolically blames the "illegals" for our
economic and social problems.
>
>This incident is about much more than two sheriff's deputies who crossed
the line between civilized and barbaric behavior. It is about the fear and
division caused by power-hungry politicians willing to exploit our worst
instincts. It is about the wave of discrimination against Latinos caused by
Proposition 187 in California, it is about the iniquituous and destabilizing
effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada
and Mexico. Ultimately, it is about the choice between tolerance and
>intolerance, humanity and inhumanity in the new global era.
>
>We do not believe that the majority of Californians who voted in favor of
Proposition 187 were consciously supporting a campaign of intolerance and
violence. And yet, the evidence that 187 has become a vehicle for some in
our society to vent their ethnic hatred is undeniable. Something must be done.
>
>We demand that the American legal system work in favor of those it usually
casts in the least favorable light, and punish the guilty in this case.
>
>In this election year, we ask that politicians of all parties desist from
waging campaigns steeped in the scapegoating of any "outsider."
>
>We ask that members of the House of Representatives reconsider their
passage of House Resolution 2202, legislation which mirrors in several
aspects California's Proposition 187, and that members of the Senate reject
the similar Simpson bill.
>
>We call on the governments of the U.S. and Mexico to deal directly with the
core economic issues that have left workers on both sides of the border
desperately searching for gainful employment.
>
>Finally, we call on the citizens of the Americas to look beyond our
painful, >conflictive history towards a new world where everyone-whatever
the color of our skin, whatever our sex or sexual orientation, whatever
tongue we speak-is afforded the opportunity for a job, a future, a life with
dignity. The very dignity that was so brutally denied Alicia Sotero,
Enrique Funes and Jose Pedroza on April 1, 1996.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>[[CONFIRMED SIGNATORIES AS OF THIS MAILING]]
>Ruben Martinez, author
>Elia Arce, performance artist
>Mandalit del Barco, journalist, National Public Radio*
>Raul Villa, professor, Occidental College*
>Guillermo Gomez-Pena, performance artist
>Rafael Perez-Torres, professor, University of California, Santa Barbara*
>Ofelia Cuevas, Chicano/Latino Policy Project, University of California,
>Berkeley*
>Luis Leon, graduate student, University of California, Santa Barbara*
>Rita Cano Alcala, professor, Scripps College*
>Marco Vincio Gonzalez, journalist, Radio Bilingue*
>Carolina Gonzalez, instructor, University of California, Berkeley*
>Los Illegals, musicians
>Pedro Meyer, photographer
>Sandy Close, editor, Pacific News Service*
>Richard Rodriguez, author
>Johnette Napolitano, musician
>Lalo Alcaraz, cartoonist
>Lalo Medina, artist
>Hector Alvarez, Upward Bound, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo*
>Oscar Marquez, programmer, analyst II, University of California, Berkeley*
>Lisa Flores, assistant professor, Arizona State University*
>Neo Martinez, scientist, University of California, Davis*
>Jose Luis Rodriguez-Nodal, poet, University of California, Berkeley*
>Kimberly L. Tejada, University of California, Berkeley*
>Roberto Sifuentes, performance artist
>Cherie Espinosa, student, University of Minnesota
>* for identification purposes only; does not signify an institutional
>endorsement.
>