Aztlan Crap Makes the L.A. Times

Vision That Inspires Some and Scares Others: Aztlan
The lore of an Aztec homeland in the U.S. is a volatile piece of the immigration debate.
By David Kelly - Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>In the churning debate over immigration, there are perhaps no words as loaded or controversial as Aztlan, the name of the mythical Aztec homeland.

For many it carries potent political overtones, for others it is a romantic ideal, and to those most opposed to illegal immigration it represents a strategic effort to reclaim land that was once part of Mexico.<<

It was a part of Mexico for only a few years! Before that, it was controlled by Spain! And for a much longer time before that, it was where various tribes lived.

>>"Aztlan is a state of mind for some people. It's a point in history. For some it's a political place. For some it's a separate nation," said Armando Navarro, chairman of UC Riverside's Ethnic Studies Department, whose views have generated controversy. "It represents land lost. You are sitting in a city, Riverside, that used to be in Mexico. That gives us a sense of entitlement. This was our land."<<

So I guess this guy is not an American if he says this used to be our land? Remember this if you are thinking of sending your kid to UC Riverside.

>>During the Chicano rights movement of the 1960s, Aztlan became a powerful rallying cry for militants who spoke of a reconquista, or reconquest, of the U.S. Southwest, turning it into an independent homeland for Latinos.<<

Yeah, that's not racist.

>>That feeling may stem from Mexico's huge territorial losses after its defeat in the Mexican-American War. In 1848, it signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ceding California, Utah and Nevada, and parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming to the United States.<<

Mexico lost a war. It signed a treaty. DONE. END OF STORY. THIS IS AMERICAN LAND.

>>Demographer Wayne Cornelius said he had seen little evidence that immigrants are looking to take back anything.<<

Right, and Neo-Nazis don't want to take over anything, either.

>>Over the decades its name has been tacked onto Latino organizations such as MEChA — Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan — which has more than 300 chapters at U.S. colleges. The group has been attacked by those who claim its 1969 "El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan" is a separatist call for reconquest.

"Aztlan belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops and not to the foreign Europeans," the plan said. "We do not recognize capricious frontiers on the bronze continent."

MEChA leaders say it is a historical document from a more radical time distorted by critics who focus on a few lines while missing the broader picture.<<

Okay, so you'd be willing to replace it with a new document, then?

>>"It is a real place. It is also a cry from young Chicanos in America who go to school and never hear about their ancestry," said Cecilio Orozco, a retired professor of education at Cal State Fresno, who spent 27 years exploring the rivers and canyons of the American Southwest in search of Aztlan.<<

If you are Spanish and want to know about "your" ancestry, go to Spain. If you are Mexican and want to know about "your" ancestry, go to Mexico. In America, we focus on American history, which one of tribes and European colonization, followed by independence and development with a flood of LEGAL immigrants. People of European descent founded the U.S.A. That's a fact. If you don't like that, tough. You can leave, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.