DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974 | 1973-04-14 Workshop II, Chicanos: Political Process Page 3

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Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974

1973-04-14 Workshop II, Chicanos: Political Process Page 3

When I say La Raza I am not specifically talking about partido alone I am talking about La Raza in the state of Illinois. We are only a handful compared to the over one million of us in the state of Illinois. We are getting stronger and we are getting bigger. The support is growing everyday. One of our objectives is to build our own political party. We want every man, every woman, every child to become a member of our partido because it is going to be their partido, their political party. What makes us different from the other two political parties is that everyone, all Raza regardless of age whether your nine years old or ninety years old. You have the right to participate in the decision making process that is going to affect their lives in our party. So everyone is going to have a say so. Whether you are a third grade grammar dropout or whether you have a Ph. D in whatever field. You have an equal say so.

Everyone that wants to become a member of Partido La Raza Unida is welcome. We want all Raza to become members. One thing I would like to point out is that everyone that joins the Partido La Raza Unida must carry their own share of the load. We have a big load to carry, we have a lot of responsibilities. We have a great task before us. But we do not want leeches, we do not want opportunists in our partido. We do not want adventurers. We do not want them to join us because the Chicano movement is the "in" thing this year. We do not want Republicans, Democrats or members of any other political organization or white liberal "good doers" to continue coming to our barrios with the mentality that they are going to come into our barrios to organize us because we are too dumb to do it ourselves. No more!

We do not support candidates from other political parties. We only support La Raza Unida candidates. Only Raza Unida candidates are the ones that can truly and fully represent our people, because only Raza knows and understands our problems because they have lived, they have suffered what La Raza has suffered. So therefore we are only going to support La Raza Unida candidates. However, members of other political parties whether Democratic, Republican or any other political organization, if they believe in what we are doing, and if they want to be part of what we are doing, they can join us. They must sever and denounce all affiliations from all political parties from where they come. They must denounce the other political parties as being unfit or unqualified to help our people.

As I look out into the audience, I see mostly young people and a great amount of adults. I would like to address the following to the young people primarily to the students, not just the students of the University of Iowa but students from all over the country. I would like to say you, the students,

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When I say La Raza I am not specifically talking about partido alone I am talking about La Raza in the state of Illinois. We are only a handful compared to the over one million of us in the state of Illinois. We are getting stronger and we are getting bigger. The support is growing everyday. One of our objectives is to build our own political party. We want every man, every woman, every child to become a member of our partido because it is going to be their partido, their political party. What makes us different from the other two political parties is that everyone, all Raza regardless of age whether your nine years old or ninety years old. You have the right to participate in the decision making process that is going to affect their lives in our party. So everyone is going to have a say so. Whether you are a third grade grammar dropout or whether you have a Ph. D in whatever field. You have an equal say so. Everyone that wants to become a member of Partido La Raza Unida is welcome. We want all Raza to become members. One thing I would like to point out is that everyone that joins the Partido La Raza Unida must carry their own share of the load. We have a big load to carry, we have a lot of responsibilities. We have a great task before us. But we do not want leeches, we do not want opportunists in our partido. We do not want adventurers. We do not want them to join us because the Chicano movement is the "in" thing this year. We do not want Republicans, Democrats or members of any other political organization or white liberal "good doers" to continue coming to our barrios with the mentality that they are going to come into our barrios to organize us because we are too dumb to do it ourselves. No more! We do not support candidates from other political parties. We only support La Raza Unida candidates. Only Raza Unida candidates are the ones that can truly and fully represent our people, because only Raza knows and understands our problems because they have lived, they have suffered what La Raza has suffered. So therefore we are only going to support La Raza Unida candidates. However, members of other political parties whether Democratic, Republican or any other political organization, if they believe in what we are doing, and if they want to be part of what we are doing, they can join us. They must sever and denounce all affiliations from all political parties from where they come. They must denounce the other political parties as being unfit or unqualified to help our people. As I look out into the audience, I see mostly young people and a great amount of adults. I would like to address the following to the young people primarily to the students, not just the students of the University of Iowa but students from all over the country. I would like to say you, the students,