SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Racist Flyers Answered With Mural

Students at Marco Forster Middle School are painting away their anger.

Since racist flyers aimed at Latinos were found throughout the school in January, Latino students have responded by painting a mural depicting racial unity and American and Mexican themes.

“I feel proud because all the stuff that was in the flyer was not true,” said student painter Leonel Perez, 14.

“This shows them part of who we are,” he said, gesturing toward the bright image of an Aztec calendar flanked by the Mexican and United States flags.

The flyers, which officials believe were the work of a San Diego-based white supremacist group, were stuffed in all 1,200 student lockers Jan. 25. Identical flyers were found the same day at Laguna Beach High School, and just last week anti-Semitic flyers were found inside lockers at two Mission Viejo schools. It is not clear, however, whether the latest incident is related to the others.

The point of the flyers was to “rile kids up and create problems between students,” said Marc Lavine, Marco Forster’s director of in-school detention.

Mural painter Aaron Mandujano, 13, said the flyers made him “angry inside.” A friend started to cry after reading the flyer and the two left class and went outside to sit on a bench and think about how to respond to the insult.

Julio Peraza, 14, said he suspected that some white students at the school had distributed the flyers. He wanted to fight, but realized fighting could lead to “big trouble.”

Instead of brawling, about 30 students came up with the idea of painting a mural, and six students have been working on it every day after school and on Saturdays for three weeks.

They hope to finish by May 5, in time for the Cinco de Mayo celebration commemorating the victory of a rag-tag Mexican army over superior forces of a French invading army in 1862.

“It’s great for the students and it’s wonderful to see them develop the concentration and the discipline this requires,” bilingual instructor’s aide Andrea Siracusa said.

“It’s a source of pride and a centering point for them,” Lavine said. He added that some of the students had a history of truancy and other discipline problems, and the mural has given them a chance for positive recognition.

Prominently displayed in the school’s “cafetorium,” the mural depicts a likeness of Benito Juarez, the first Mexican president of Indian descent, who was considered a national hero for leading the war against the French invaders from 1862 to 1867.

On the other end of the mural is a likeness of the Virgin of Guadeloupe, the patron saint of Mexico, robed in royal blue and surrounded by bright pink flowers.

“That’s my favorite part,” said Fabiola Cardenas, 14, pointing her paint-stained hands toward the image.

Next to the Virgin, the students will paint a quote from Juarez that reads: “Between individuals as between nations, respect for another’s rights is peace.”