DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974 | 1973-04-14 Workshop II, Chicanos: Political Process Page 6

Transcribe
Translate

Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974

1973-04-14 Workshop II, Chicanos: Political Process Page 6

by the local leadership in a similar political process panel. I want to congratu late you at the outset on the tremendous number of people that appeared today as in contrast to the very small numbers that came at that initial meeting. I made an introductory comment at that time that I think is of even grater importance today than then. I said I was very happy to participate and proud to participate but I felt in future meetings of this kind, I am sure that the local leardership would want to have Chicanos heading these panels rather than anglos. So that I have no misgivings about your comments about the development of your leadership, the development of an identity that will identify your own goals. That is the way it has to be if you are at all ever going to achive success. On the other hand I am not going to come on as the typical class rule liberal and say, I am going to agree with everything. I think you really want exchange of ideas and some honesty in this kind of exchange. Just let me throw out a few as we go along. Perhaps when we get into the open discussion we will get into more of these.

I am of course not terribly familiar with the experiences of Chicano people outside the Midwest except for one very informative summer while teaching in the Los Angeles area. Where indeed everything that our first speaker said about inequities particularly I would stress the inequities as they existed at the level of the criminal justices system. That is my teaching area, Constitutional Law and Criminal Justice Systems. They are overwhelmingly documented in the Los Angeles area. There are many of course in this region itself. I am not talking about it just out in Chicago, it's right here in the state of Iowa. So these are things that often are not immediately, directly susceptible or responsive to changes in the political system whether they are changes that come about through the creation of a third party and the election of candidates who are part of LA RAZA directly, or whether you work through the political party. Certainly that is a question you must decide for yourself whether it is worth your while, whether it is to your own best interest to work whitin the party. Many of the things that you have said about the treatment the parties have given you are abundantly true. No question about that. And if that is true obviously there is no reason why you should give them your time, your vote, your efforts in these regards. In some instances it perhaps has not been true, but I think you have to decide that point by point in each area. I think that the most combustible issue, the most dangerous issue for the safety and integrity of your own people and the safety and integrity of the whole legal justice system, if we can be very candid about it, is at the level of criminal justice matters. When you have a situation as you have in Los Angeles County, the only legitimate means of appraising and supervising in stopping police brutality is accessibility to grand juries. When Chicano people are systematically

Saving...

by the local leadership in a similar political process panel. I want to congratu late you at the outset on the tremendous number of people that appeared today as in contrast to the very small numbers that came at that initial meeting. I made an introductory comment at that time that I think is of even grater importance today than then. I said I was very happy to participate and proud to participate but I felt in future meetings of this kind, I am sure that the local leardership would want to have Chicanos heading these panels rather than anglos. So that I have no misgivings about your comments about the development of your leadership, the development of an identity that will identify your own goals. That is the way it has to be if you are at all ever going to achive success. On the other hand I am not going to come on as the typical class rule liberal and say, I am going to agree with everything. I think you really want exchange of ideas and some honesty in this kind of exchange. Just let me throw out a few as we go along. Perhaps when we get into the open discussion we will get into more of these. I am of course not terribly familiar with the experiences of Chicano people outside the Midwest except for one very informative summer while teaching in the Los Angeles area. Where indeed everything that our first speaker said about inequities particularly I would stress the inequities as they existed at the level of the criminal justices system. That is my teaching area, Constitutional Law and Criminal Justice Systems. They are overwhelmingly documented in the Los Angeles area. There are many of course in this region itself. I am not talking about it just out in Chicago, it's right here in the state of Iowa. So these are things that often are not immediately, directly susceptible or responsive to changes in the political system whether they are changes that come about through the creation of a third party and the election of candidates who are part of LA RAZA directly, or whether you work through the political party. Certainly that is a question you must decide for yourself whether it is worth your while, whether it is to your own best interest to work whitin the party. Many of the things that you have said about the treatment the parties have given you are abundantly true. No question about that. And if that is true obviously there is no reason why you should give them your time, your vote, your efforts in these regards. In some instances it perhaps has not been true, but I think you have to decide that point by point in each area. I think that the most combustible issue, the most dangerous issue for the safety and integrity of your own people and the safety and integrity of the whole legal justice system, if we can be very candid about it, is at the level of criminal justice matters. When you have a situation as you have in Los Angeles County, the only legitimate means of appraising and supervising in stopping police brutality is accessibility to grand juries. When Chicano people are systematically