Editor,
In anticipation to the upcoming conference on "Nationalism and Imperialism" sponsored by ECDN, a local student group of Chicano nationalists, on Sept. 15, I feel compelled to state that at long last Chicano nationalism is being placed on the same level of legitimacy as the other three nations in representation at the conference; namely, Palestine, Ireland, and Quebec.
If you visit ECDN's Web site, these brothers spell it out in plain terms. The United States took the so-called "Southwest" from us between 1846 and 1848. Free market principles are now providing the framework for an open border and greater immigration from Mexico that will not abate for at least the next few decades.
In addition, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the territory now known as the "Southwest," but referred to by ECDN as El Norte, will be the home of a majority Hispano population as early as 2025.
With occupancy comes control and by this time the entire cultural and political landscape will have been transformed. Coupled with the unforgotten scars of a besieged homeland and territory, what we'll eventually see is a Quebecois style move toward greater autonomy and, eventually, secession.
What's most fascinating is the fact that in the age of globalization and its consequent isolation of human beings, the nationalistic sentiment is being evoked all over the world. Everyone is searching their roots for a tribe or a group to belong to. This same phenomena can be cited as responsible for the recent surge in "white liberalism," which is nothing more than a people without a nation in search of an identity in the global melee.
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I feel proud to be a Chicano on the cusp of a burgeoning national ethos that will only grow stronger as the tide roles in. It's time to shed the old and embrace the new.
≠Viva El Norte!
Mario Encinias,
Graduate Student
