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monday, april 24, 1972
lincoln, nebraska vol. 95, no. 101
v.
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Guerra: cultural genocide
victimizes U.S. Chicanos
by Bob Latta
"The Chicano in America today is a
victim of cultural genocide. We have been
stripped of our past, our language and our
pride by economic imperialism and sheer
force," Carlos Guerra told a small crowd in
the Nebraska Union Friday. Guerra. a
participant in Chicano Awareness Week, is
co-founder of the Mexican American Youth
Organization. He also helped organize La
Raza Unida, a Chicano Political party.
La Raza Unida is an alternative to the
Democratic and Republican political parties,
Guerra said.
"The history that our children are taught
in school is not what happened in the past,"
he continued. "It is a selective memory of
what Anglos have chosen to remember and
the Chicano has been slighted in the white
memory.
"The American press picks our leaders for
us and then tells us that we are a minority in
our own land. Our children are taught that
to be intelligent you must speak English.
"They are taught that the Mexicans who
have sold out on their own people are
Chicano heroes and proud Chicanos who
fought for their people are called bandits."
Guerra said many of the foods grown in
America today, including com, rice and Irish
potatoes, were originally cultivated by
Mexican Indians.
He pointed out that the Chicanos
have made -nany contributions to American
culture but they are still the poorest people
in the country. He said Chicanos have now
begun to group together in self-interest and
racial pride.
"Anglos are afraid that a minority army
will rise up in America in organized rebellion
but that will not happen. Black people will
organize black people. Orientals will
organize Orientals and Chicanos will
organize Chicanos. -
"Chicanos must become a part of the
system in order to survive but we cannot aid
and abet the system because it is oppressing
us."
Guerra urged Chicanos to try to regain
some of the land that used to belong to their
ancestors. He told Chicanos in college not to
sell out to white affluence. "Go back home
and help your own people, they need yoo.
Become a part of the resistance.
"If an Anglo conies along and pats you on
the back and says that you're not like the
rest of those Mexicans then you're not a
friend of mine.
"We must realize that our real enemies are
those Anglos who ran this country who have
no respect for anyone but themselves."
There are 55,000 Chicanos in Nebraska
and 35 Chicanos at UNL. according to
Guerra.
State commission probes status of women
Last year Nebraska's Legislature joined the rest of
the states in establishing a statutory Governor's
Commission on the Status of Women. For the first
time in Nebraska, hearings are being held to
determine what problems face women in the
community.
Public hearings already have been held in Lincoln
and Omaha. The primary concern so far seems to be
the low wages paid to women, said Betty Jeanne
Holcomb-Keller. Lincoln attorney and vice chairman
of the 23 -member commission.
At Saturday's hearing in Omaha. Linda Pratt. UNL
assistant professor of English and chairman of the
Faculty Senate's Committee on Women's Rights,
testified about the low wages paid to women clerical
weaken at the University.
Some are paid less than $4,009 a year after 20
years of service, she said.
Another major problem is child care. Keller said.
Nebraska has never put money into child care, said
Kathy Braeman. commission member and candidate
for the Republican nomination to the House of
Representatives in Nebraska's First Congressional
District.
Some other areas the commission will investigate
are sex education, family planning, minority and sex
discrimination, abortion and equal employment
opportunity, Braeman said.
There's only been a small number at the hearings
(about 49 people including housewives and
professional women), Keller said. Some general
concerns voiced at the hearings have been "feelings of
inferiority, of being overeducated and
underemployed."
The turnout was due partly to poor publicity.
Braeman said. Some groups didn't get invited, and
there was no representation of the student's views,
she said. Braeman added that she would like a student
to be appointed to the commission.
Some groups were sent notices of the hearings.
Keller said, even though they are public and no
invitation is needed.
The statutory commission, chaired by Helen
Hafjgse, women's page editor of the Lincoln Journal.
was created by the Legislature last year. The
members housewives, educators and
professionals were appointed by the governor from
the state's judicial districts to insure geographical
balance, Keller said. The commission is permanent,
but the women's terms are staggered.
There have been other commissions on the status
of women, beginning under former Nebraska Gov.
Frank Morrison. Keller said, but they weren't
statutory. The current commission operates on a
limited budget, she noted.
There are now similar commissions in all states,
Keller said. After the hearings, the commission will
compile data and make recommendations to the
Legislature.
The schedule of hearings is: April 29 at
Scottsbluff. April 30 at North Platte. May 13 at
Norfolk, May 20 at Grand island and in Lincoln on
an undecided date.
Photographers win honors
Six UNL students were among the winners in the
college division of the Mrsska Press PrtoterBprters
Association Photo Contest held this weekend in
Lincoln.
Three students placed first in the contest. They
are: Bill GanzeL picture story; Gail Folda. news; and
Monte Gertedh. color photography.
Wick Partsch placed second in the feature category;
Mike Therter, third in feature; and Diane Peterman,
second in the color category.
Ganzel, who earlier this month placed fifth in the
national William Randolph Hearst Photography
Contest won the largest number of awards.
In addition to his first, Ganzel placed second in the
news category and second, third and honorable
mention in the sports photography division.
Ganzel and Folda are DmSf tistondksa staff
phcocraphers. '
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