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Show l 7 - FALL 2000 1 Editorial 2 VENCEREMOS S iaa E Official Enelish on Nov. Vote “No. Against Nov. 7 will be a day in which many potential changes could take place in the political realm of the United States and Utah. Voting is the first step that people must take in order for change to occur, 1f one chooses to particpate in this process. Though it may seem simple voting is a task that must be taken seriously. If one decides to vote, that vote should be thought out. This takes place when individuals investigate candidates, ¡nitiatives “and propostions to discover the true intent behind each and the change it could create. Casting a vote is only the Whether beginning. your choice prevails or not, 1t 1s still your duty to hold elected officials accountable for the decisions they make on behalf need to make an official language for government use. The initiative is before us again, but this time it is 1n the hands of the voters. It is up to us. We as the voting public need to educate ourselves and others on the real motives behind this legislation. Since it did not pass in the Wahsington D.C., claim that of the public. If you disagree with the making one language official actions of an elected official or will cut costs for the state and unify Utah's residents. the implications of a law, opposition the action must take place in the : However, form of phone calls to offi- claims this law saves mere pennies for our state governcials, letters, organization ment while creating language among peers, rallies, marches, enclaves in which non-English boycotts and general public speakers have more difficulty outcry. As activists we feel it 1s becoming active members of society. necessary to make movement We see Official English in on all levels and planes. The voting booth happens to be Utah as an attempt to further the conquest and colonization one of many planes where of the Americas by restricting action can take place. the language of our governFor example, Utah voters ment which is supposed to could potentially have a hard serve English speakers and time deciding what position non-English speakers alike. to take on Initiative A, the The Utah state legislature push to make English the offidefeated this bill for the past cial language of Utah. The proponents of the ini- three years, but the proponents apparently will not tiative, U.S. English, a nonprofit corporation based in accept that Utah does not legislature, the proponents want to have a friendly campaign and put it to a vote of the people. This strategy is sinister for two reasons. The people who this will affect, Non-English speakers and recent immigrants with moderate English proficiency, cannot cast a vote because they may not be citiWhy should citizens zens. make decisions that affect residents? Do you want someone Cartas you do not know to make decisions that affect your life? The other reason this 1s sin- ister lies in the fact that campaigns for ballot initiatives , everything from what the proponents say to the ad techniques they use on TV, can be Half- truth very deceptive. television commercials have won elections before and there is no reason it could not happen again. The ball is in the peoples” hands, it is our duty to discover the truth and act on it at all levels. Rallies, marches that and educationals, so those of us who are registered can cast an informed vote against Initiative A and those who can't vote or refuse to may educate the public about the harm this law would instill. Surveillance, Racism and Punishment business could concievably sucTo Editor, We can learn a lot about the ceed with the rate of recall of dominant society's values by it's products that we see in the “products” of our prisons?” examining its police, court and As stated in the Correctional penal systems. To paraphrase Dostoevski: The level of a civi- and Osborne Assoiciations of lization is reflected in the con- - New York October Newsletter, -ditions in its prisons as well as “For the prison system to warehouse human beings, prisoners their number and size. It is easy to see that the must cease, in the minds of the eople to be human beings... oppressive institutions in this he system works best when country are influenced by and linked to each other. Some of no one: judge, prosecutor or even defense lawyer can imagthe links are physical. ..technoline his or her son , nephew or oey makes that more complete...and some are pro- brother as the defendant.” And we don't even question grammed into us. this way of doing things. For We are carefully and thorthe priviliged, created fear of oughly taught to give up others makes control easy. We a to privacy in the name of safety. We are taught to have sucesfully been taught to believe that our safety and well accept negative stereotyping being depends on other people and not to object, for example, when we see young men of being hurt. “The Law” is resented to us color followed and harassed at as something absolute, which malls and in stores. exists in a pure authorized In 1985, then Chief Justice form, when actually it is made Warren Burger said, “What up and administered by those in power and is at best just another imperfect human institution.It is rarely pointed out by those in power that a major reason for the hideous jump in the number of people imprisioned comes from changes in the sentencing laws of the 1980". And so we accept new laws: states where high school dropouts lose their drivers” licenses and are automatically criminalized. Where those with criminal convictions are denied access to public housing. Where all those convicted of a felony must not only cut their hair a certain way (these rules fall more harshly on men), but also must provide DNA samples for computer databases. y See Larry on pg. 2 VENCEREMOS 200 South Central Campus Drive, Suite 240 Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 Tel: (801) 587-9751 Fax: (801) 581-3299 email: venceremosachronicle.utah.edu Editor in Chief: Luciano Marzulli-Vargas Associate Editor: Teresa A. Hughes Advisors: Scott Lewis, Greg Marcial Translator: Yolanda Marzulli : Guerrilleros: Emily Bitetto, Javier Chavez, Jacqueline Cheny, Maria Jaramillo, Teresa A. Hughes, Luciano Marzulli-Vargas, Victor Payan, Patrisia Gonzalez y Roberto Rodriguez, Veronica Perez, Bettsie Piette, Peter Phillips, Larry A. Sandoval. Art Directors: Emily Bitetto, Teresa A. Hughes, Luciano Marzulli-Vargas “Special Thanks: The staff of Venceremos would like to give a very special thanks to Lalo Alcaraz and la gente at pocho.com, Trent Call from Swinj productions for the tuition graphic,concerned friends and family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Peter Phillips from Project Censored, and Kilo Zamora for the cover art. Luciano would like to thank coffee from Chiapas for keeping him awake during production and especially the Zapatistas for inspiration. : a AE A Me A A AAA o cs A E E A A a a E o E E e |
