Nation of Aztlán

The Nation of Aztlán is a Chicano nationalist organization that has been described as antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League, which says that " [t] he group's nationalist message is blurred by frequent appeals to anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, homophobia and other expressions of hatred."cite web
url = http://www.adl.org/learn/Aztlan/default.asp
title = Introduction
accessdate = 2007-11-08
date = 2001
work = Backgrounder: Nation of Aztlan
publisher = Anti-Defamation League] The group has made numerous vitriolic statements about Israel and Israel's relationship with the USA. The group is also vocal about the USA's relationship with Mexico, being particularly critical about the Anglo "gringo"'s attempts of nativist immigration exclusionism of people who enter the USA from Mexico, whether legally or illegally. They have claimed that non-Brown people are the true illegal aliens, maintaining that they are the only natives with a credible complaint about illegal immigration. They, along with the Mexica Movement hoisted signs saying "PILGRIM GO HOME!", during the 2006 United States immigration reform protests and Great American Boycott. They have been direly opposed to the Minuteman Projects, which says its mission is to prevent one of Aztlan's objectives, that of unrestricted immigration, or the seasonal migration of Mexican workers.

Origin and leadership

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Nation of Aztlán was "first organized in the early 1990s" and is headed by Hector Carreon, the publisher of the website "La Voz de Aztlan".cite web
url = http://www.adl.org/learn/Aztlan/cur_lead.asp
title = Current Leadership
accessdate = 2007-11-08
date = 2001
work = Backgrounder: Nation of Aztlan
publisher = Anti-Defamation League] Carreon denies having any leadership in the Nation of Aztlán and insists that his website is separate from the group.cite web
url = http://aztlan.net/sonsisrael.htm
title = "Sons of the Covenant" Defame La Voz de Aztlan
accessdate = 2007-11-08
last = Carreon
first = Hector
date = November 19, 2001
work = La Voz de Aztlan
publisher = Aztlan Communications Network]

Activities

The Anti-Defamation League says that in 1998, "a group of ten people wearing masks, including Juan 'Ralphy' Avitia, a spokesman for the Nation of Aztlan at the time, burned a U.S. flag in front of city hall in Fresno, California."cite web
url = http://www.adl.org/learn/Aztlan/R_activity.asp
title = Recent Activity and Background
accessdate = 2007-11-08
date = 2001
work = Backgrounder: Nation of Aztlan
publisher = Anti-Defamation League]

Alternate uses

According to the Alpine Survival Group, a survivalist group that is opposed to illegal immigration, " [i] llegal Mexican Aliens ... now seek control of entire states. Gaining political clout by occupational numbers alone, they now demand state secession from Oregon to Texas into what they call the 'Nation of Aztlan.'"cite web|url = http://www.alpinesurvival.com/immigration.html
title = Illegal Mexican Immigration Invasion - Nation of Aztlan Act of War
accessdate = 2007-11-08
publisher = Alpine Survival Group
archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070609052619/http://www.alpinesurvival.com/immigration.html
archivedate = 2007-06-09] Indeed, many anti-illegal immigration and anti-immigration groups refer to the Nation of Aztlán as a separatist or irredentist, though not always antisemitic, group. The Immigration Watchdog, for example, created a three-minute film about a supposed plot to return the Southwestern United States to Mexican control entitled "The Nation of Aztlan".cite web
url = http://www.immigrationwatchdog.com/?p=811
title = The Nation of Aztlan
accessdate = 2007-11-08
date = March 27, 2006
publisher = Immigration Watchdog]

ee also

* Secession
* Ethnic nationalism

References