Category Archives: White Privilege

White Privilege

Social Media Issues – why I’m not gone

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Now we all got issues, right? But here is what we dont like: People thinking they can run rough shod, under our flash, under our patch, and thinking they can run sh*t.
We’re dealing with some SERIOUS situations right now, and the last thing we need is too placate a handful of narcissistic flying monkeys. It’s okay, we won’t name any of you, you pretty much know who you are.
Aside from that, there is so much to be said. But it’s best to say little, and to know that the Carnalismo Brown Berets have been running strong for generations.

I want to take this moment to give Victor San Miguel all of my credence, as he is a beacon in guidance, advocacy, action, understanding, patience, and fairness as well as justice. Under his tutelage, I have truly learned a lot (even if I was being a hard head at the time.) When a man (And I’m NOT trying to engender the argument, I’m writing as a man) such as myself looks to a hero, Victor San Miguel is truly one of my personal hero’s I owe a debt to him that I can’t even explain. Being a Carnalismo Brown Beret is the most amazing experience ANYONE could know. Victor San Miguel’s leadership, diplomacy, forgiveness toward adversarial, etc have always amazed me. I’m glad that he has taught me – through suggestion/facilitation, just what it means to be a leader – especially in our capacity.
I am still very proud to be a Brown Beret, and I will NEVER shy away from that title. I will staple gun my beret to my head before anyone tries to de-frock me.

DeHerrera family of Longmont, CO – STILL being harassed by their community

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We wrote on this issue back in 2010, and originally published it on brownberetsnewmexico.com . And yet here we are, over five years later, and the DeHerrera family are still being harrased in their community of Longmont, Colorado. The original entry reads:

“Unfortunately, the Chicano people of the southwestern United States are going to be subject to this form of racism, which is inflicted multilaterally.
It begins with a hostile environment, such as racist anglo neighbors, who pressure the local police to put the squeeze on their Chicano (or minority) equivalents. In a state where even dignitaries, media and talking mouthpieces are hostile toward Chicanos and/or Mexican Nationals/the poor/minorities it is quite easy to discriminate against a small group of individuals and get away with it.

Such is the case in Longmont, Colorado – and the De Herrera family. As is often the case with our Gente we are family-oriented, and tend to have large families. Because many of us don’t make it toward “economic affluence” we as family tend to help each other out, and stick together. This is what has gone on with the De Herrera family and their household.

The De Herrera’s, like many Chicano people from the southwest have a lineage in this very territory that hails back to hundreds-upon-hundreds of years. Yet, racist Anglo Immigrants – people whose lineage likely only stems back little more than a century have taken a “NATIVIST” stance against the people, the Raza whose very blood is sewn into the soil of the southwest.

The hostile neighbors, in fear of this Chicano family’s tight bond have labeled them a nuisance, and have complained to the institutions and entities who share a similar bias toward the Chicano/Mexica people.

Those institutions have been the local District Attorney’s Office, the conservative publication, The Longmont Times-Call, and the Longmont Police Department. All these entities (and more) have collectively and multilaterally managed to terrorize, intimidate, surveil, and threaten the De Herrera’s in an attempt to remove them from their residence.

Every publicized news story in the Longmont Times-Call has shown unfounded evidence of the nuisance claims against the De Herrera’s…of course the RAG paper does all they can to elude to findings being confirmed, but their articles hold no water. We would post a link to this excrementitious news rag, but we don’t want to funnel them the web traffic. You will have to perform your own searches.

The De Herrera family came to the Carnalismo Brown Berets of NM in need of help, and we are committed to helping in such cases where civil and social justice aren’t being assured, and Gente are being marginalized, segregated, or discriminated against. We as Mountain States Brown Berets will continue to combat the issues at hand. We ARE watching the situation as it plays out…Keep visiting for updates on the matter.

-Rick Gonzales,
Prime Minister,
Brown Berets, Carnalismo NM”

The DeHerrera family was sent an anonymous letter by some coward, which was full of threats and racial epithets directed NOT only to the family, but to the Chicano people as a whole:

The anonymous letter, sent to a member of the DeHerrera family.

The anonymous letter, sent to a member of the DeHerrera family.

Continually have to deal with bad people…

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En El Movimiento, we are riddled and rife with so many ppl hung up on their own self aggrandizement – we continually have to address this susceptibility, and permeability in order to keep things honest. There is, however a certain phenomena where distinct bad actors continually try to amass own-ness or ownership of the Brown Beret persona. There are individuals who have distinctly sought to copywrite or trademark what we do. They thirst to own it. They are so hungry to own it, they are willing to pay the fees, and take the gabacho route to have “own-ness” over a cause, in an effort to own the Brown Beret persona. LETS BE CLEAR – ANYONE MAKING CLAIMS TO THIS, VIA THE GABACHO GOVERNMENT ARE STILL THEMSELVES FEEDING THE SAME MACHINATIONS THE BROWN BERETS HAVE HISTORICALLY SOUGHT TO CHALLENGE. In other words, your legitimacy continually envelopes toward your ILL-ligitimacy, and I for one am sorry that you squandered such expense to file through the gabacho system, compromise your physical addresses in doing so, and continuing to harass other Brown Berets. We will NOT allow “bad actors” en el movimiento – it simply won’t occur.

Ferguson Verdict gives me the needle farts

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After only perusing a few posts, I see many saying they’re NOT surprised of the Grand Jury Verdict today – over officer shit sh*t stick being acquitted of gunning down Michael Brown. It’s not enough to say that I wasn’t surprised. I am very much a “worst-case-scenario” kind of guy. Many might argue that I’m a pessimist – still many others would argue that I’m an analytical thinker. Day-to-day situations frustrate me, while I can be cool as a cucumber during crisis type situations.

But I am actually, honestly surprised. Anyone who knows anything about our justice system knows that it is not – nor has it ever been blind in any instance where it inconvenienced the prevailing “old world” powers.

Justice, as put forth by the philosophical Romans was beset on seeking “moral” argument of right and wrong – but since it’s inception, it was still engineered for nuances; “this is allowed here, but not there. We will be judged by peers, but not those peers – not the obvious ones, or the ones most afflicted or affected by the factors of the case.

Yes, Law gives me a huge case of the needlefarts. I mean “needlefart” metaphorically, but it sort of means, something meant to relieve ones self which ends up causing a great deal of pain. Such is the case with the Ferguson ordeal. Fact of the matter is this: Too many cops are shooting too many civillians indiscriminately and getting off scott-free for it.

The police are enjoying a vindictive privilege we civilians are NEVER afforded – and worse yet, we PAY them! Our taxes pay them.

Even if we could find a way that our taxes no longer fund them, the GOP would hire private police. So what is there to do?

 

From the Original Brown Berets de Odessa, TX

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R.I.P. Former Odessa Brown Beret “Ruben Martinez,” ECISD Teacher, also ran the Motivation and Education Job Training Program. Clipping from El Mestizo, Chicano Newspaper published by the late Ramon Arroys de El Chuco. R.I. P Carnal.

RUben-Martinez-elMeztiso-clipping“Carnales Unidos.” Photo taken by the late Ramon Arroyos de Chuco, Tejas.

The Caravan of nearly 100 cars headed to Big Spring, TX, where we had apeacful march to the Howard County Courthouse, speakers and family member of the victims spoke to people of Big Spring. Brown Berets from all over Texas were here to support “La Causa.”

El Paso Comes Together in Support of Immigrant Children: Expels Border Convoy from City

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This article is republished from: www.http://elpasonews.org,

Written by: by Martín Paredes · August 8, 2014

mrtnz_convoy_picIt is seldom that I have an opportunity to write about the good things El Paso has to offer. In this case, not only is the topic close and dear to me it is also an opportunity to dispel the myth that the United States does not want immigrants. That the hate group “Border Convoy” was expelled from El Paso was just icing on the cake. As most of you are aware, a group of self-style “coalition of citizens who share a deep concern for the invasion currently happening unchecked” at the border, decided to convoy from Murrieta, California to McAllen, Texas. Their website states that they are hoping to “encourage communities to rise up and take a stand against unconstitutional federal incursions”. Although unwritten on the public relations materials, the “incursions” they refer to are the undocumented aliens coming into the country.

Unfortunately for the Border Convoy, although they expected a welcoming community on the border for their message what they got, instead, was a group of individuals pointing out their hate-filled message. Instead of their planned rally, they, instead, had to rely on the El Paso Police Department to escort them out of the city to ensure peace was maintained in light of their hate-led tour.

Because the group is attempting to distort the public message in order to keep their lie alive, I thought it important to give you a firsthand account of what actually transpired in El Paso. As you know I am not living in El Paso, therefore I was not able to personally witness the events.

Instead, Rosemary P. Martinez, who was actively involved in stopping the convoy from delivering their hate has graciously accepted to share with us her first person account of what happened. Miguel Juárez who was the second driver in the incident also contributed to this account independently of Martinez.

Rosemary Martinez writes that on August 3, 2014, she and her husband were having dinner at L&J with some friends. After dropping off their friends, they received a call from another friend who informed them that the Border Convoy had been spotted leaving Las Cruces and headed to El Paso. Although Miguel Juárez was under the impression that the convoy had decided not to go to El Paso, he and his wife inadvertently saw them on I10 as they were returning from Las Cruces. Juárez adds that they lost them after pulling over to gas up their vehicle and after not finding them at the scheduled rally point in El Paso they headed towards the freeway.

Martinez wrote that at about 5:30 in the afternoon they joined up to the convoy headed east on I10. Martinez describes the convoy as driving erratically and interfering with the traffic flow. Martinez’ group, of two vehicles, decided to follow the convoy to see if they were going to hold a rally or if not follow them to the county line. Juárez was in the second vehicle with his wife.

Rosemary adds that it appeared to her that the convoy seemed lost and stopped on Trowbridge, next to the refinery. As they waited for the convoy to continue, Martinez writes that she was informed by Juárez and his wife that a “guy with a rifle” walked towards her friends. Miguel Juárez writes of the incident that it seemed to him that the convoy had purposely boxed in Martinez’ car near Western Refinery and he became concerned for Rosemary and her husband. Because of this, they “waited about 40 feet away” from the stopped convoy. At this point, Juárez writes that a “heavy-set bearded” exited a “white sedan with Arizona plates” and came up to them holding a rifle and asked Juárez and his wife if they were following them. Juárez replied “no”. Juárez then writes that the rifle-toting man told them “then you best get going”. Juárez and his wife proceeded to join up with Martinez’ vehicle.

Martinez, in her account, wrote that she asked her friends to call 911 as both vehicles got together for safety. Rosemary Martinez added that she witnessed the individual with what appeared to her to be a “barrel of a gun”.

A few minutes later, the convoy proceeded to return to the freeway. Martinez writes that “at approximately the Yarbrough exit” there was an “attempt to remove” them from the convoy. Martinez provided a link to a Youtube video showing the incident. The Youtube video appears to have been filmed by a member of the convoy riding in an RV.

youtube_convoy_rv

Accepting that the video was filmed by the RV in the convoy you can clearly see how the black pickup truck was dangerously surrounded by members of the convoy. Looking closely you will notice that the RV, filming the event, was on the emergency lane of the highway. Further, look closely at the flag-wrapped vehicle to the left of the pickup and you will notice that there is an individual hanging out of the passenger window holding what appears to be a camera.

Not only are these two actions a serious violation of the traffic laws and are dangerous to all traffic in the vicinity, they are also a threatening action directed at the pickup.

At this point, Martinez writes that the flag-wrapped vehicle was pulled over by an El Paso police unit, Martinez and her husband pulled over in order to press charges against the two drivers. Martinez writes that she witnessed at least one vehicle with an armed individual in it. Juárez, in his account writes that they encountered an El Paso Police vehicle on North Loop, which they flagged down to report they had been threatened with a rifle. The officer asked that Juárez and his wife follow him “in case” they “needed to ID the person who had the rifle”. Juárez wrote that the person who had brandished the rifle was not among the vehicles that were stopped on shoulder of the freeway.

Eventually, as you all know by the news media reports, the convoy was escorted outside of the city limits by El Paso Police officers.

It is gratifying that El Paso came together and let the Border Convoy know that the El Paso community welcomes and supports immigrants who ultimately represent the values of the United States.

 

The double standard with child migrants

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The double standard with child migrants
Ricky Gonzales

There are many instances, in which I’m in discussion/debate with some knuckle dragging moron who refuses to see the point I’m getting across. So one technique I use to combat this is “movie analogy.” I usually reference a movie that is a classic, and widely known to be influential and informative to “pop culture.”

So for instance, if I’m debating someone on immigrations issues – specifically concerning Cuban Immigration and Cuban Americans v.s. the way Mexican Migration is viewed, I might reference the movie Scarface, which depicts how the United States granted political asylum to Cubano refugees, because they were fleeing what the U.S. perceived a “hostile government.” People were more easily given refugee status because the U.S. hated commies. Funny because right now, commies own most of our debt, and make all the crap people buy at Walmart, but I digress.

With regard to the recent controversies enswirled with this Central American refugee children issue, a new “movie analogy” has come to mind; Godfather II. Why Godfather II? Anyone who has seen it knows it is interlaced with the story of the “present,” interlaced with Vito Coreleone’s “past.” Specifically to Vito Corleone’s past, we see him as a child, fleeing Sicily – fleeing being murdered by the local crime boss, fleeing ALONE, to the United States. We then see little Vito Corleone go to Ellis Island, with a huge, vast wave of other immigrants from several other European Countries.vito-corleone-ellis-island(sm)

We then see how young Vito Corleone’s name had been changed from Vito Andolini by some some dumbass clerk at Ellis Island. This was written into the script, because it references what occurred to so many European immigrants who came to Ellis Island. That’s right, their names were different because of grammatical errors. Boo friggin hoo! What a horrible immigration experience.

 

As young Vito Corleone goes through his in processing, it is discovered he has a disease! That’s right, little Vito Corleone has small pox, and cannot be admitted into New York. They put the poor little bastard in his own room, (with an actual bed!)  in quarantine, presumably for a few months until he gets healthy, gets released and eventually becomes one of the largest crime bosses in the United States.

Wait a f*cking minute! Do I see another of many double standards of American Culture? Vito Corleone gets freely admitted into the United States, through Ellis Island, even though he is diseased and unaccompanied by either parent? Vito Corleone gets freely admitted into the United States, through Ellis Island, even though he came via Europe; another land mass, and crossed a whole ocean to get to the United States?

And yet, 90,000 little “vito corleones,” from the same continent as the United States, who are ALSO fleeing for their very lives are being called “diseased hordes,” and sleeping on concrete floors, surrounded by chainlink, just like dogs in a pound. And they too are escaping crime, and crime bosses.

Undocumented Immigrant Buses Turned Away in CaliforniaSo the attitudes of anti-migration (via the Mexican border) carried by the Tea Baggers, the Minutemen, the militias, politicians, etc. are PURELY racist, xenophobic, and Euro-centric. Unless of course, they feel about Vito Corleone the same way they feel about the 90,000 kids from Central America; that he should have been given a teddy bear, and a soccer ball, and sent back to the place from which he came.

Protestors at AZ Border detain YMCA School Bus

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article-2677429-1F51916100000578-825_634x321 Jose+Magana+Anti+Immigration+Activists+Protest+py271SVyda5lEarlier this week, on an Oracle, Arizona Highway a bus full of school kids en route to summer camp was stopped by a bunch of peckerwood vigilantes. These peckerwood vigilantes have pledged to block buses transporting the influx of minor migrants from Central America. After these knuckle-dragging morons realized the bus they stopped was carrying children from a local school district in Marana, they waved the bus through, and let it pass. The bus was on it’s way to a YMCA summer camp.

The protests from these Tea Bagging, militia-types began earlier this month, in Murrieta, California and has spread to other border states. Scenarios like these can become dangerous situations, when a busload of school kids cannot travel freely, there is a problem.

These Tea Baggers and self-appointed militia groups have hurried to block buses after a government official leaked information about the travel itineraries of federal buses carrying undocumented migrant children. The mayor of Murrieta held a press conference, in which he announced information about the buses. The dolt sheriff of Oracle, Arizona also leaked the information about buses on his Facebook page.

In both towns, however, these morons have only numbered in the dozens – NOT hundreds, as right-wing, corporate news is trying to misportray. Many officials have also helped in pumping up fear surrounding these migrant children.

What is ironic is that these militia morons have made such an issue of showing presence in “guarding the border” after hearing about mere children entering the United States. They must feel emboldened since they’re standing opposed to kids, instead of squaring up toe-to-toe with grown ups. They ought to pick on someone their own size.

The Tea Baggers have announce over 160 events protesting the arrival of these migrant children, who are fleeing deplorable conditions for their own chances at survival.

Lost another friend to racism

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Here I am, once again, pondering. I’ve been down this road many times before, with regard to the Confederate Flag. Last time, it had to do with a lake trip, and my ex-girlfriend’s dad’s “lake friends.” They refer to themselves as “Buoy 13.” Among their ilk were many a redneck, and one in particular flew a Confederate Flag from his fifth wheel. The first time I saw it, the damned thing bothered me. I told my girlfriend, and her mother. I got VERY agitated, but girlfriend’s mom (a Native American from South Dakota of all places) told me to keep quiet, that I would upset my girlfriend’s dad if I made any sort of a fuss.

The damned thing pissed me off. I said something about cutting the flag down later that night, and slammed a twelve-inch buck knife down on the camping table. I then decided to make a silent statement; I went inside the tent, grabbed my Brown Beret, went outside the tent and sat in a chair. Everyone saw me wearing my Beret, and tensions rose. I said nothing.

My girlfriend then decided we leave the lake early, and we began packing up. Later, in town my girlfriend’s thirteen year old nephew told me …”those guys at the lake said you’re like a Nazi, and that I should stay away from you…” I was taken aback. First of all, the self-proclaimed rednecks never once confronted me, or told me anything about my Beret. Secondly, I was surprised they would know anything about why I was wearing a Brown Beret. They were obviously filling her nephew’s head with lies.

The next time we went to the lake, I premptively asked my girlfriend if those Confederate Flag guys would be there. She said she didn’t know. We ventured off to the lake that weekend. The Confederate Flag guys showed up that night at our camp. They were nice, jovial, etc. They shared a big bottle of Crown. The next morning, a bunch of us left the camp on our boats to check out a cave. Again, this was fun and lighthearted. But when we returned to the camp, someone who had stayed behind was once again flying that fucking flag. Again, I was furious, and again we left early.

The issue caused a lot of fights with my girlfriend, who was half Chicana and half Native. She was raised in the heights, around mostly white people – who were mostly self-proclaimed rednecks.

The issue of the flag later came to a head at another party, in the East Mountains (East of Albuquerque). That night was a full October moon, and I was nervous. The moon always does things to me. I again asked my girlfriend if the Confederate Flag brothers who had the fifth-wheel were going to show up. And yet again my girlfriend told me she didn’t know. We went to the kegger. Later that night, the Confederate Flag brothers DID show up in their fifth-wheel. They didn’t put the flag up, likely because it was dark and late.

I still approached one of them calmly, and told him, “I just wanted to tell you, I saw you flying that Confederate Flag at the lake, and I wanted to let you know I took offense to it.”

His eyes got big. He said, “That wasn’t me, that was my brother, Ian. I’m not racist, I’m a quarter Spanish…” blah, blah, blah. We had a frank, civil, amicable conversation, but others at the party overheard and started butting in. I blurted something out about the Irish being wetbacks too, since they crossed a whole ocean to get here when a young lady said, “Hey! My boyfriend is Irish and I take offense to that!” Then my girlfriend called her a bitch and told her to shut her mouth. Apparently there was an underlying beef between my girlfriend and some other girls at the party. One of the girls took a swing at my girlfriend, and she swung back, landing every punch.

Soon after a brawl broke out, and spread like fire. People were swinging at each other left-and-right. I pushed the crowd away from us, and got us out of the crowd, somehow managing to duck every stray and deliberate punch.

Some months later, we went to a shit kicker bar in Albuquerque called the Dirty Bourbon. It’s actually not any real cowboy bar by my standards. I grew up in the country. This was more like an urban cowboy bar. I hated the place. Some people from the kegger crowd were in good with the bouncers, and told them I hit a girl with brass knuckles at the kegger in Moriarty, and that I was a dangerous person. I was 86’d from the bar, though I had done nothing. My girlfriend and I got in an argument because she wanted to stay. The argument escalated, to the point she yelled, “Where the fuck are your Brown Berets now?!!!”

This sort of thing led to the eventual breakup with my then girlfriend, and it was very sad because her two sons regarded me as a father figure to them. But I could no longer take her and her family’s apologetic attitudes about racism, bigotry and American Exceptionalism. I could no longer stand her dad’s incessant NASCAR watching, NFL, Reality TV, and all the bullshit they used to pull the wool over their eyes. I eventually ejected myself from the situation – harshly, and permanently.

 

So today I write this because it seems I have yet again confronted the Confederate Flag. A good friend of mine recently got a new boyfriend, and was over the moon with him. He seemed to treat her nicer than some of her passed boyfriends. My friend is a half Navajo, half Chicana, single mother, who lives at home with her parents and daughter. She doesn’t work, but goes to school, and up until recently has been a very good person to me. The whole time she’s known me, she’s known that I’m a Brown Beret. She has met my friends who are Brown Berets. She always thought it was cool that I was a Brown Beret.

I met her new boyfriend this passed weekend, at her birthday dinner. The dude was a creep – twelve years older than her, and kept sitting like he was trying to invoke James Dean, but he just came across as a creepy douche bag. Being what I am, and what I know I am pretty adept about identifying tattoos. I know gang affiliations and what jailhouse tattoos mean. My friend’s boyfriend had a scraggly jailhouse looking tattoo of a Confederate Flag on his forearm. He wasn’t trying to hide it, but I saw it immediately. I had some crude inscription above it. For the sake of my friend’s Birthday, I decided to say nothing that night.

The next night another friend and I met Birthday girl and her boyfriend at a house party. They had been drinking quite a bit, and so had the friend I accompanied, who started making conversation, and then asked the boyfriend about his tattoo. He got really uneasy, agitated and uncomfortable – almost defensive. I then blurted out, “That’s some racist-assed shit right there.” By this point I got a better look at his tattoo inscription. It had his name, and a number. Had to be KKK or some shit. He got even more defensive and began yelling. I began yelling back. I told him, “lets settle this outside! All tell you what, I’m gonna go take a leak, and when I get back, we’re gonna settle this!” I wasn’t gonna throw down with this huge urge to piss the whole time. How good could one feel about cleaning someone’s clock while wetting one’s own pants?

I got up and took the fastest leak I’d ever taken. When I got back, he and my friend were gone. Worse yet, they left her car behind, along with her cellphone. The rest of us were worried sick about her. He was a creep, and from his reaction we worried he’d pull some sick stuff on my friend. We waited all night, and she never returned. I was fixing to call her dad the next morning when I got a scathing, nasty text message from her accusing me of ruining her Birthday weekend. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe I was worried about her.

Sadly, her and I are no longer friends. Nor should we be. I DON’T associate myself with “Confederate Apologists,” or people who downplay what the “Stars and Bars” mean. My former friend is a very dark complected, plump little girl with kinky hair, and there ain’t no chance in hell she’d be treated in the South with the same acceptance she gets in New Mexico.

 

As a Brown Beret I would be neglectful of my duties if I didn’t confront racism toe-to-toe. So many minorities (Chicanos in particular) in New Mexico have adopted this belief that they can get along fine with their bigoted, tongue-in-cheek racist counterparts if they simply turn a blind eye to the realities of racism. That is a sad and cowardly stance. And though I know that if I choose to “ignore” these little symbols of racism I too could be accepted among these types of people. But I would NEVER do that. I am forever congruent and in alignment with this cause to combat and confront racism, and to stomp it out wherever it exists around me.

 

Ricky Gonzales,

Brown Beret