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Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974

1973-04-14 Keynote Speech Page 3

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This organization whose name was in Spanish attempted to take care of its own. Since we couldn’t be buried, Since we couldn’t go to the doctor, since we couldn’t go to school, since we couldn’t go to the right places in town or cross certain streets or railroad tracks, this organization became a mutual benefit society and this is the first kind of organization we have in our Chicano communities throughout the U.S. mutual benefits societies, because this country no sooner than it stopped conquering us, began in the process making us bastard children of this country. Not wanting us but wanting our land and riches. Not wanting us but wanting our labors. Not wanting us but wanting our talents and our skills. So, from this organization came another one, Ordan Hijos De America. 
America, the word America has a very special indifferent meaning to us. It exemplifies our non-racist position. It exemplifies our humanitarian position because to us America does not have stamped on it United States of America. America to us is this whole western hemisphere. America is a land of all of us. The people who worked the soil, the people who were born on this soil. But other countries especially this one has made America and stamped on it the “U.S. Good keeping House of Approval,” that this is only their country. That there are no other Americans except foreign Americans who now call themselves super patriots. 

So, we came and we tried to use this word America to explain to people we were Americans too. But it did not work. This too was a mutual benefit society. Then came some wars, because not every Mejicano tried to assimilate and try to ignore the problems like these two organizations were doing.   There were some people who went out and fought and resisted. In Mexico you had the Lincoln Country Wars. You see these wars glorified in the T.V. series and the movies which have been produced by M.G.M and the comic books such as Billy the kid. Billy the kid was nothing more than an outlaw that belonged to the Santa Fe Ring. The Santa Fe Ring not only stole land they stole cattle. In Lincoln country, the Santa Fe Ring was coming in to steal the land from Mejicanos; the Mejicanos shot back. 
The Mejicanos resisted. The Young Mejicanito who was leading them in a successful revolt was Jose Patron, who graduated from Notre Dame, in Indiana. And he succeeded. A similar experience was in El Paso, El Paso Mejicanos has discovered salt. But being humans, con un sentido de responsabilidad, we did not try to go and put a copyright or a patent on the land that the salt bed was on. We figured this was a natural product resource that belonged to all the people as we still hold today under the Raza Unida Party. The resources belong to all people. 
So, simply people went and got the salt they needed. Well Sam Maverik, from San Antonio, found out that there was a salt bed by El Paso and he went out and staked a claim. Because our legal system under Mexico was different than the legal system under this country we didn’t have land deeds and we

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3 This organization whose name was in Spanish attempted to take care of its own. Since we couldn’t be buried, Since we couldn’t go to the doctor, since we couldn’t go to school, since we couldn’t go to the right places in town or cross certain streets or railroad tracks, this organization became a mutual benefit society and this is the first kind of organization we have in our Chicano communities throughout the U.S. mutual benefits societies, because this country no sooner than it stopped conquering us, began in the process making us bastard children of this country. Not wanting us but wanting our land and riches. Not wanting us but wanting our labors. Not wanting us but wanting our talents and our skills. So, from this organization came another one, Ordan Hijos De America. America, the word America has a very special indifferent meaning to us. It exemplifies our non-racist position. It exemplifies our humanitarian position because to us America does not have stamped on it United States of America. America to us is this whole western hemisphere. America is a land of all of us. The people who worked the soil, the people who were born on this soil. But other countries especially this one has made America and stamped on it the “U.S. Good keeping House of Approval,” that this is only their country. That there are no other Americans except foreign Americans who now call themselves super patriots. So, we came and we tried to use this word America to explain to people we were Americans too. But it did not work. This too was a mutual benefit society. Then came some wars, because not every Mejicano tried to assimilate and try to ignore the problems like these two organizations were doing. There were some people who went out and fought and resisted. In Mexico you had the Lincoln Country Wars. You see these wars glorified in the T.V. series and the movies which have been produced by M.G.M and the comic books such as Billy the kid. Billy the kid was nothing more than an outlaw that belonged to the Santa Fe Ring. The Santa Fe Ring not only stole land they stole cattle. In Lincoln country, the Santa Fe Ring was coming in to steal the land from Mejicanos; the Mejicanos shot back. The Mejicanos resisted. The Young Mejicanito who was leading them in a successful revolt was Jose Patron, who graduated from Notre Dame, in Indiana. And he succeeded. A similar experience was in El Paso, El Paso Mejicanos has discovered salt. But being humans, con un sentido de responsabilidad, we did not try to go and put a copyright or a patent on the land that the salt bed was on. We figured this was a natural product resource that belonged to all the people as we still hold today under the Raza Unida Party. The resources belong to all people. So, simply people went and got the salt they needed. Well Sam Maverik, from San Antonio, found out that there was a salt bed by El Paso and he went out and staked a claim. Because our legal system under Mexico was different than the legal system under this country we didn’t have land deeds and we