Another Young Victim of the Stigmatization of Immigrants

By ALAN MAASS

School officials threatened to punish 14-year-old Anthony Soltero for standing up for immigrant rights. Now he’s dead as a result of their threats.

Anthony’s tragic suicide has shaken and saddened people around the country–but also made them more determined to continue the struggle for equality that he was a part of.

“He was just fighting for his rights,” Anthony’s mother, Louise Corales, said at a Palm Sunday mass for Anthony at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Ontario. “He would be proud that we’re here now to honor him because he is a hero.”

Anthony, an eighth-grader at DeAnza Middle School in Ontario, Calif., west of Los Angeles, helped organize a student walkout in the week following the 1 million-strong March 25 demonstration in LA against anti-immigrant legislation that would brand undocumented workers as felons.

Tens of thousands of students participated in the walkouts across Southern California–facing harassment and abuse from both police and school officials. In Anthony’s case, the threats had tragic results.

According to civil rights lawyer Sonia Mercado, Anthony was called into a school administrator’s office on March 30 for questioning about the walkout. The administrator told Anthony that he could be barred from attending graduation, that his mother could be fined $250 for his truancy, and that he could go to jail for three years, Mercado told the Press-Enterprise, a local newspaper.

Anthony was a top student, but had been disciplined for having a pocketknife at school and was nearly finished with a term of community service and probation, Mercado said.

Anthony called his mother from home to tell her about the threats. But before she could arrive back, he had shot himself in the head. He left behind notes apologizing to his mother–and asking her to keep his younger brothers from seeing his body.

“Anthony was born here, and his mother was born here,” said Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican American Political Association and an organizer of the March 25 demonstration in LA, who met with Anthony’s family last week. “This is an example of a native-born citizen who identifies with this movement and takes a leadership role in a middle school to organize a walkout of his peers. He did this, and the school authorities threatened him with incarceration if he did it again.”

In a bitter twist, Ontario police say they will ask prosecutors to charge Anthony’s stepfather with a felony–for not keeping his gun locked up.

But the people who ought to bear responsibility in this tragedy–officials of the local school district–this week defended to reporters their policy of punishing students who participated in the walkout. During the walkout itself, the school district asked police to round up protesting students and issue them citations–something even the cops who now want to send Anthony’s stepfather to jail refused to do.

Lopez says that this attempt to punish students for exercising their rights–which certainly isn’t confined to Ontario–is “absolutely repugnant.”

“It’s fine if they read passages from the Constitution, the history of the country, biographies of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson–who the English, back in the era of the American revolution, accused of terrorism,” Lopez said. “But then these children who are willing to practice these same precepts and theories can be reprimanded for actually living the Constitution.”

Students in Los Angeles have planned a march for immigrant rights on April 15, which they have named in Anthony’s honor. They have called on students around the country to hold events on the 15th to honor Anthony Soltero and his commitment to justice.

Alan Maass is the editor of the Socialist Worker and the author of The Case for Socialism. He can be reached at: alanmaass@sbcglobal.net

A number of movies that rewrite the history of the Americas are in the works, with their focus being on the prehispanic civilizations of Mexico. Antonio Banderas, star of Zorro and now Take the Lead, will play the infamous Hernan Cortes in Conquistador. The independent film directed by Brazilian filmaker Andrucha Waddington (Me You Them, House of Sand) and written by Nicholas Kazan (Reversal of Fortune,) tells the “story of the expedition that sailed west from Cuba in 1519 in hopes of expanding the Spanish Empire. Cortes and his band of soldiers came upon what is now Mexico and swiftly brought about the destruction of the Aztec empire led by Moctezuma.” This swashbuckling film now in production at Hollywood Gang Prods., has a budget of over $40 million - but most likely the money won’t help the producers get the story right.

When the Spanish conquistadors first saw the island city of Tenochtitlán (now the capital - Mexico City), they couldn’t believe their eyes. It was the largest city on earth at the time, and it’s huge gleaming temple pyramids looked out over a metropolis that was sectioned by an intricate system of canals and roads. Tenochtitlán rivaled Venice, Italy, for its beauty - and it certainly made Seville, the home city of the conquistadors, look small and insignificant. The Aztec capital had immense gardens, schools, libraries, and marketplaces. It was a place rich in architectural wonders, ritual celebrations, and magnificent wealth. The Spanish could not accept that “savages” would have been so graced by God, and seeing all the works of the Aztecs as simply the work of the devil, set out to totally destroy Tenochtitlán. They smashed every pagan idol, burned and toppled every building, sent the people into slavery (those not decimated by European diseases,) and built their “New Spain” from the ruins of the mighty Aztec city. The meeting of the two sophisticated cultures and the bloody clash between the antagonists gave birth to Mexico.

In fact, the people never called themselves “Aztecs,” they instead referred to themselves as Mexika (Meh-shee-kah or “The people of Mexi,” a legendary warrior-priest from ancient times.) Mexika creation stories tell us the people originally came from Aztlan (The place of the white heron - what many believe to be the greater southwest of the present United States.) The word Aztec was eventually derived from the name, Aztlan. But it’s doubtful any of this will be told in the Banderas/Waddington/Kazan version of the conquest of the Mexika.

Meanwhile, Mel Gibson, fresh from the success of his bloody Passion of the Christ, will direct and produce his own version of pre-Hispanic history, Apocalypto. The film is supposedly based on the Maya civilization that existed in 1000 BC, but since Gibson wrote the script for the film, and Disney will be distributing it, some have questioned the authenticity of Gibson’s version of history. Shooting is now underway and the film is scheduled for release in the summer of 2006.

The name of the film gives some insight into the perspective of Gibson’s production. Apocalypto is a Greek word meaning “unveiling,” that a Maya word or concept was not chosen hints at a yet another Eurocentric view of the ancient Maya. Moreover, Gibson is offering a vision of the Maya that he wishes the audience to accept as fact - a vision that is hotly contested by scholars, anthropologists, and archeologists. These experts differ over the extent to which human sacrifice was practiced by the ancient Maya - and only in the last few decades has it come to light that the Maya may have engaged in the practice to any significant degree. However, Gibson’s film portrays corrupt Maya monarchs who use fear to control the masses in an attempt to hang on to power; commanding the people to build more temples and sacrifice more people else the gods destroy the world. This is not a viewpoint or theory supported by scientific research, but one made of whole cloth by Mr. Gibson. His Apocalypto has no religious message to it - so it is said - but that seems doubtful considering Gibson’s Passion of the Christ.

Not to be left out of the rush to re-write history, Ron Howard will be directing The Serpent and the Eagle for Paramount Pictures. Advance publicity for the movie states it is a “Tale of Spanish Conqueror Cortez who attacked the Aztec nation and plundered its riches with the help of an Aztec princess-turned-slave.” There’s no start or release date set for this film, but you can expect to see it in movie houses by 2007. Also currently in pre-production is Aztec. With a script by writers Jeff Schaffer and Ted Humphrey, and production by The Montecito Picture Company, the advance publicity for this film states; “Set in 1519 at the height of the Aztec civilization, the project revolves around a slave named Tez who plays a brutal ball game called Ullamalitzli, in which the loser is sacrificed. Tez and his team must play the game and try to stay alive long enough to orchestrate a plan to escape the capital city of Tenochtitlan with a fortune in gold.”

What is immediately obvious to any student of history is that the sacred ball game of Ullamalitzli was not a sport per se - and it certainly was not played by slaves. The Montecito Picture Company would have you believe that Ullamalitzli was some ancient form of Rollerball. Ullamalitzli was played by the nobility and the ritualized game had deeply religious connotations. The hundreds of magnificent stone ball courts constructed across ancient Mexico illustrate how important the ritual was to prehispanic peoples. Two opposing teams would attempt to bounce a rubber ball through stone rings inset in the walls of the court, with the ball representing the sun. The entire game was a ritualized battle between the forces of light and darkness, and to an agricultural people that is no small matter.

The game was also associated with fertility and the earth’s productivity, as the captain of the loosing team was sacrificed - his blood fertilizing the earth and giving strength to the Sun God. It was considered an honor, not a punishment, to be sacrificed to the Sun so that the world would continue. Another factual error contained in the script would be the desire of the slaves to escape “Tenochtitlan with a fortune in gold.” The Mexika referred to gold as “the excrement of the gods,” and it was just a medium of exchange, no more valuable than other objects of trade and barter. What the Aztecs truly cherished and considered priceless were turquoise and feathers - but a movie about escaped slaves making off with with a fortune in feathers doesn’t sound like a box office hit, so history must be rewritten Hollywood style.

It is said that Cortés once told the Aztecs that the conquistadors “suffered from a disease of the heart which is only cured by gold.” Apparently Hollywood film studios and distributors suffer the same ailment. One can only hope that the above mentioned movies will never see the light of day, and if they are released, will be greeted by a storm of protest. The glorious civilizations constructed by the indigenous people of Mexico, from the magnificent splendor of Teotihuacan to the extraordinary empire of the Aztecs, is certainly cinematic material, and it all deserves to be made into a major motion picture. But justice and history both demand the tale be told by indigenous people, and not by those who conquered them.

The video game publisher Activision, has released Gun, a new game set in the American West that displays blatant racism towards Native Americans. One of the earliest tasks the game player must complete before advancing to the next level is to kill, not once, but on an ongoing basis, Apache Indians. After killing the Apache the game player must scalp his victim with a “scalping knife.” The Association for American Indian Development released a statement condemning Activision and calling for a boycott of their products. The statement in part reads:

“Let’s be clear - contrary to popular belief and myth, the near genocide of Native Americans is a shameful chapter in American history and should not be condoned or trivialized in a game as if it were okay. Yes, the brutal slaying of America’s indigenous people is historically accurate, it happened. But so did slavery, lynching and the holocaust - and we don’t see games glamorizing it as if it were the right thing to do. Why is it that still, today, Americans think it’s okay to talk, let alone spend millions of dollars to create video games about killing a bunch of Indians so casually? This is grossly insensitive and does not in any way acknowledge the brutality camouflaged as Manifest Destiny. This is why the Association for American Indian Development asks you to join us in letting the publishers of this offensive game know that this will not be tolerated — BOYCOTT Gun the video game, as well as other games published by Activision.

For more information concerning the boycott of Activision, and to sign a petition in opposition to their racist game, Gun, visit this website: www.boycottgun.com

American Beauties: Different Stories, is a group show at SpaceOnSpurgeon gallery in Santa Ana, California. featuring artists Michael Maas, Gregg Stone, Emigdio Vasquez, and Mark Vallen.

The owner of SpaceOnSpurgeon gallery, JoAnne Artman, visualized American Beauties as an exhibition “bridging cultures and challenging perceptions of Latino life.” The spanish language newspaper, OC Excelsior, wrote a positive review of the show, titled Four Painters Show Their Vision of Latin American Women. In the review Special Events Editor, Miguel Suárez-Orozco, wrote about how the artists view Latinas, “One sees her as an image of courage, another considers her an indigenous goddess, the third finds her haunting the nightclubs and the fourth imagines her as a Holy Mother, but all agree on the beauty of women of Hispanic origin. For his part, Vallen presents the Hispanic woman as a beautiful Indian, elegantly costumed, a proud goddess, aloof from any type of discrimination. These and other feminine images can be appreciated in the exhibition.” The April 1st opening night reception attracted some 100 art lovers.

Artman describes the exhibiting artists in the following way. “Figurative realist Mark Vallen creates art that chronicles a rich Latino culture. His vision translates and transforms the people and their times. Renowned muralist Emigdio Vasquez is a visionary storyteller who carves day-to-day struggles onto faces and into souls. Gregg Stone uses watercolor, gouache, and ink to create a modern realistic portrait of Latino life, and Michael Maas’ Mother and Child series is inspired by images of the Virgin of Guadalupe.”

American Beauties: Different Stories, continues through June 30th, 2006. SpaceOnSpurgeon is located at 210 N. Spurgeon Street, in Santa Ana, California. 92701 (Click here for an online map.)

The gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays, from 1 - 4 pm, and also by appointment (To contact JoAnne Artman, phone: 949-464-0105.) Visit the first Saturday of any month to coincide with the Santa Ana Artists Village Open House artwalk. Street parking is available directly in front of the Spurgeon gallery, and also at the Artists Village Parking structure located at Third Street and Broadway. Visit the SpaceOnSpurgeon gallery at www.spaceonspurgeon.com

Several organizations are calling for a National Day of Action for Immigrant Rights to be held on April 10th. Protests will be called to recognize the USA as a nation of immigrants, and to join in a massive rally to: “stop the anti-immigrant House resolution 4437, stop all attacks against immigrants, and stop criminalization of immigrant communities.” The organizers also are demanding comprehensive immigration reform, including: “a path to citizenship, not a temporary guest worker program, family reunification measures, worker protections, and full rights for all immigrants!”

The April actions will be followed by a May 1st, Nationwide General Immigrant Strike. Called “El Gran Paro Americano 2006″ (The Great American Boycott 2006,) the nationwide strike is also being referred to as “Un dia sin immigrante” (A day without an immigrant.) Organizers of the May 1st strike are saying, “Immigrants contribute 7 billion in social security per year. they earn 240 billion, report 90 billion, and only are reimbursed 5 billion, - where are the 85 billion? They also contribute to the U.S. economy 25 billion more than they receive in healthcare, etc. According to the anti-immigrant politicians and hatemongers, ‘immigrants are a drain on society.’ If this is true, then during the day on May 1st the stock market will surge, and the economy will boom. If not, we prove them wrong once and for all.” Marches are being planned in major cities for April 10th and May 1st. More details can be found at the Immigrant Solidarity Network for Immigrant Rights website, at: www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org