Angry Words of Ruben Salazar Remain Potent

The words are as angry today as they were 25 years ago when Ruben Salazar first wrote them.

“A Chicano is a Mexican-American with a non-Anglo image of himself,” he wrote on Feb. 6, 1970, in his Times column.

“He resents being told Columbus ‘discovered’ America when the Chicano’s ancestors, the Mayans and the Aztecs, founded highly sophisticated civilizations centuries before Spain financed the Italian explorer’s trip to the ‘New World.’

“Chicanos resent also Anglo pronouncements that Chicanos are ‘culturally deprived’ or the fact that they speak Spanish is a ‘problem.’

“Chicanos will tell you that their culture predates that of the Pilgrims and that Spanish was spoken in America and so the ‘problem’ is not theirs but the Anglos’ who don’t speak Spanish.”

Not only was he right then about his assessment of the plight of Latinos in this country, he still is.

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The anger and eloquence of Salazar’s writing was remembered last week at the ceremony opening the new Montebello headquarters of the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. At the former Sacred Heart of Mary High School, speakers and guests praised Salazar, an L.A. icon who help establish the nonprofit service and educational organization.

Unveiling a hall of fame of Mexican-descent heroes, MAOF President Dionicio Morales made Salazar the first member. In fact, it’s called the Ruben Salazar Mexican American Hall of Fame.

Salazar was at the zenith of his influence--writing biting columns in The Times as well as serving as news director at Spanish-language television station KMEX--when he was killed in the chaos following the end of an anti-Vietnam War march in East L.A. on Aug. 29, 1970. He was only 42.

More than a few attendees at Thursday’s ceremony said Salazar would be angry at the anti-Mexican, anti-immigrant sentiment that they see sweeping Southern California. “He would be horrified,” Montebello resident Antonio Barajas said. “Can you imagine that after all Chicanos, and other Latinos for that matter, have done for this country, people still want to kick us out?”

Benjamin Rodriguez, who came with Barajas to the ceremony, agreed, “The things he said were wrong are still going on. They’re still wrong.”

At first, I argued with the two gents, both of them in their 70s. As a result of activism by Salazar and others, a generational tidal wave of Latinos during the 1970s became lawyers, engineers, dentists, physicians, lawmakers and even journalists. As a result, I argued, Latinos’ earning power has increased.

I started to rattle off other accomplishments when the two stopped me in mid-sentence.

“If things have improved so much, why is the high school dropout rate still high for Latinos?” Rodriguez asked.

Knowing that the dropout rate in the Los Angeles Unified School District is higher for Latinos than for whites and blacks--as it was 25 years ago--I couldn’t disagree with the old man.

“Why would gringos now want to deport Chicanos--people born in the United States--because someone in their family was illegal?” Rodriguez persisted.

Given the hostile atmosphere created by Proposition 187, and mindful of Salazar’s belief that Chicanos are as American as blue-eyed kids born in Nebraska, I was silent.

The two senior citizens peppered me with more questions, but they really had only one that they thought I could answer. “If things were so much better,” Barajas asked, “why would the MAOF move in this new place in Montebello?”

Before I could answer, Rodriguez chimed in: “Because it is still needed. After all these days, it’s still needed. Mexicanos are still discriminated against. They still can’t seem to get ahead and worst of all, the greater society still won’t accept us. As much as we try, they won’t accept us. If Mr. Salazar were around today, he would be upset like we are.”

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I knew they were right. After I came back to the office, I looked up an old Salazar column, in which he tried to explain why Chicanos, and other Latinos, feel so angry at their treatment in this country. His words, it turns out, touch on an old argument that still goes on today:

“Why, ask some Mexican-Americans, can’t we just call ourselves Americans?

“Chicanos are trying to explain why not. Mexican-Americans, though indigenous to the Southwest, are on the lowest rung scholastically, economically, socially and politically. Chicanos feel cheated. They want to effect change. Now.”