Reconquista!: A Nativists Creation

One of methods used by those in wingnuttia is race-baiting when ever they start fearing there is a power struggle between minorities and non-minorities. This is not new. In the early 90s, those in wingnuttia where whining how all the engineering jobs where going to foreigners.

"AEA Action On Immigration Reform" covered AEA’S activity to seek the revision of the Immigration Reform Act of 1990 and reduce the number of visas available to foreign engineers and to reduce the number of foreign engineering students allowed to remain in the United States after they completed their education....What about the U.S. taxpayer who funds our college empire only to see their sons and daughters going without jobs. We know the college engineering degree production exceeds the demand for our young graduates. Parents of our college graduates say their tax dollars subsidized foreign students' education while they and their children go unemployed.

But then in the mid-90s, once it started working, that gave them an opening to start spreading fear, or as it was called, the white male backlash. One part of this attack was to plant the seed called La Reconquista - the idea that Mexicans are invading America to reclaim it for Mexico.





Although it started out as conspiracy theory among the white supremacists, their fears can be traced back to 1917 when Zimmermann Telegram was decoded by the British.

Zimmermann's message included proposals for a German alliance with Mexico, while Germany would still try to maintain a state of neutrality with the United States. If this policy were to fail, the note suggested, the Mexican government should make common cause with Germany, try to persuade the Japanese government to join the new alliance, and attack the U.S.. Germany, for its part, would provide financial assistance and the restoration of former territories of Texas (which had achieved independence in 1836), New Mexico and Arizona (which had been ceded in the US-Mexico war of 1846–1848), to Mexico.

Some say it was this telegram that brought the U.S. into World War I. But it was in that telegram, the word reconquer was used.

In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal or alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

After the discovery of the telegram, race relations between Hispanics and Whites have been soured, especially in the Southwest, thus, creating a situation that has lasted for decades.

The argument being used now, is now combined with the founding documents of the Chicano movement, "El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan."

In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal "gringo" invasion of our territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlan from whence came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their birth and consecrating the determination of our people of the sun, declare that the call of our blood is our power, our responsibility, and our inevitable destiny....With our heart in our hands and our hands in the soil, we declare the independence of our mestizo nation.

El Plan is a manifesto that appeals to nationalism as a way to achieve a self-awareness and self-esteem. El Plan never asked for the return of lost territories back to Mexico. So what is "Aztlán"?

The concept of Aztlán was originated by the poet Alurista in the year 1969 at the conference organized by Corky Gonzales in Denver. In an interview, Alurista said:

"People call California, Arizona, Nueva Mexico and Colorado Aztlán, but really, Aztlán is wherever we are. We don't recognize borders. It's more a matter of cultural/political identity. When I say this is our land, I don't mean that we own it. Who owns anything?"

Aztlán was a spiritual concept which was meant to unite all Chican@s. Hispanics through out the US are really divided because within the Southwest, Hispanics in each State has own history of discrimination and oppression. Tejanos, in Texas see themselves very differently from those in New Mexico, Arizona and California because Mexico lost Texas first and this occurred way before the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Nuevo Mexicanos, in New Mexico also see themselves different from those in Arizona and Californianos and vise versa even though those states were established from the Treaty. Before the Chicano Movement there was no concept that united them. In other words, "Aztlán," is spiritual concept that we are a people that have a homeland.

It was not until recently that Glenn Spencer, of the American Patrol, started spewing this conspiracy theory that the mainstream media started picking it up:

The so-called reconquista, an alleged plot to turn several American states into a Mexican state or some kind of puppet government controlled by Mexico, has been a top concern for Spencer for years. Back in 1999, he put it like this: "The consul general says Mexico is reconquering California. A Mexican intellectual suggests that anyone who doesn't like Mexicans should leave California. What else do you need to hear? RECONQUISTA IS REAL... . EVERY ILLEGAL ALIEN IN OUR NATION MUST BE DEPORTED IMMEDIATELY. ... IF WE CAN BOMB THE TV STATION IN BELGRADE [in the former Yugoslavia] WE CAN SHUT DOWN [U.S. Spanish-language stations] TELEMUNDO AND UNIVISION."

Spencer got involved in the anti-immigration movement in 1992, when he formed Voice of Citizens Together, also known as American Patrol, in California. In 2002, saying the battle was lost in that state, he moved to the "front lines" of the Arizona border, where he formed American Border Patrol. He was one of the first to call for border citizens' patrols and pioneered the use of surveillance technology.

Now you have people like Michelle Malkin and Lou Dobbs feeding their audience nothing but fear. Why? Because people become very irrational when they are fearful. When that happens they defer to authority because they're eager to be safe.

This is nothing more but a racist appeal from the far right. The sad thing, they are winning because they have been able to convince mainstream Americans that the Mexican flags they see on TV from the marches are signs of the invasion. Even Alex Jones has been spew the same bullshit without any real research. And some how people see this as being legitimate. It is time to end this propaganda now!