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From owner-computo_en_docencia@servidor.dgsca.unam.mx Thu Apr 18 19:26:49 1996Message-Id: <v01540b01ad9c445b30a0@[132.248.56.214]>
DEAR FRIENDS: FOLLOWING IS DRAFT II OF PROTEST LETTER ON L.A. BEATING.E
CIRCULATION IS GOING VERY SLOW. PLEASE SEND TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW NOW!!!!!
THOSE OF YOU WILLING TO CONFIRM YOUR SIGNATURE PLEASE RESPOND, WITH PROPER
I.D., TO RUBEN62@AOL.COM
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, TH=
nyUNITED 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 ma=
uteAfrican-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 ro=
tsto what they believed would be a better life in California merely highligh=
,one of several segments of our society that lives in the shadows of social=
ofpolitical, 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 =
hemthousands more in practically every corner of the United States. Most of t=
eenare 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 betw=
ia,the U.S. and Mexico looking for work. They were among the immigrants who
labor daily in the picking fields of California, Washington and Pennsylvan=
onclean hotel rooms in Dallas, toil in the canneries of Alaska, sell flowers=
estreet corners in New York City. In practically every case, the immigrants
make life easier, prettier, and less expensive for those of us who have th=
veluxury 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 belie=
orthat 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, =
hevoted 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 t=
yline 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 b=
ngProposition 187 in California, it is about the iniquituous and destabilizi=
aeffects of the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canad=
ourand 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 =
gesociety 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 passa=
eof 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 th=
l,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 painfu=
ofconflictive history towards a new world where everyone -whatever the color=
speak- isour skin, whatever our sex or sexual orientation, whatever tongue we=
yafforded the opportunity for a job, a future, a life with dignity. The ver=
dignity that was so brutally denied Alicia Sotero, Enrique Funes and Jose
Pedroza on April 1, 1996.
Sincerely,
THOSE OF YOU WILLING TO CONFIRM YOUR SIGNATURE PLEASE RESPOND, WITH PROPER
I.D., TO RUBEN62@AOL.COM