Condoleezza : "My country will not tolerate illegal actions by the Minutemen vigilantes"

by
Miroslava Flores
La Voz de Aztlan

Tenochtitlan, Mexico D.F. - March 11, 2005 - (ACN) The Secretary of State of the USA Condoleezza Rice said, "My country will not tolerate illegal actions by the Minutemen vigilantes" yesterday at a press conference here in Mexico City. The press conference took place at the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) after her meeting with Mexico's Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez. Rice assured that her government "will not pardon any extra-legal actions by border vigilantes nor do we support the activities of these groups". She added, "Even though we can not interfere with these activities, you can rest assured that if they violate the law, they will be held accountable".

Condoleezza Rice's strong statements against the Minutemen vigilantes may be a reflection of the lynchings her own people suffered at the hands of white vigilantes in the "Old South". Black slaves in southern plantations were routinely "tarred and feathered", lynched, hung on poplar trees and then burned by white racists. These atrocities continued after the "Emancipation Proclamation" and cases resurface from time to time even today. Condoleezza Rice in fact can trace descendants in her family tree that were victims of white vigilantes. The lynching of Condoleezza Rice's ancestors were immortalized by a haunting song sung by Billie Holiday titled "Strange Fruit". La Voz de Aztlan is making the photograph that inspired Lewis Allen to write the song and the song itself sung by Holiday at http://www.aztlan.net/strange_fruit.htm

Historically, Mexicans and especially Mexican migrant workers have been the victims of lynchings by white racists as well. As the USA agricultural and other sectors have become increasingly dependent on Mexican labor, Mexican immigration has increased to meet the demand. These workers usually have to settle in communities that do not welcome them. Mexicans are at times segregated, victimized, and resented by the surrounding white population. This maltreatment may eventually escalate into racial oppression comparable to that of the Blacks in the Jim Crow south.

The racial hierarchy in certain parts of the US leaves Mexicans with little support from the law. Officials and policy makers serving the courts and police departments in certain isolated regions are usually the same white supremacists who want Mexicans removed. A perfect example of this is what is occurring in Ceres, California today. The white police chief and police department are presently cracking down on "El Campo" part of the town. "El Campo" is were Mexican agricultural workers reside. Historically it has been the infamous Texas Rangers who have been the most brutal. In the name of justice they executed thousands of Mexican migrant workers without any repercussions. The Texas Rangers would routinely arrest Mexicans on false charges and promptly lynch and leave the bodies hanging for days in front of the courthouse. In the period from 1848 to 1870 official records indicate that 473 out of every 100,000 Mexican migrant workers died as victims of lynching.

The situation today, thank God, has changed quite a lot from the time when Jim Crow laws ruled the south and the Texas Rangers roamed the Texas badlands looking for victims. The Minutemen vigilantes will not get away with what their predecessors did in the old times. There are just too many Mexicans now in all levels of US society. In fact, the present US Attorney General is a son of Mexican immigrants and he would throw the book on the face of any anti-Mexican vigilante that breaks the law. On top of this, the vigilantes would face prosecution by the Mexican government in US courts and in international tribunals. In addition, there will be a large numbers of monitors from US based human rights groups who will be documenting abuses in order to sue for monetary damages on behalf of any Mexican victims as is presently being done to the vigilante Roger Barnett in the Federal Court in Tucson. My advise to any naive vigilante that plans to travel to Tombstone, Arizona on April Fools Day is "STAY HOME!!!".