la china has a name

By

Rodolfo F. Acuña

Names have meaning. They tell you an awful lot about people. In my case I remember faces but have a hard time remembering my students’ names resorting to giving them nicknames. It is easy for me to rationalize the habit since I come from a culture where it seems as if everyone has a nickname. Many of these names in English would be offensive. For instance, in some places in Mexico if a person is chubby we call them la gorda or el gordo. In English it would be crude if not offensive to refer to someone as the fat one.

I could go on and on. In Spanish it is not uncommon to refer to someone as el feo or la fea (the ugly one). They are often terms of endearment. In English, however, to call someone who is not a stereotype beauty ugly could be fighting words.

While playful, this habit can be rude. My wife, Lupita, for instance resents meeting people dozens of times at events and having to gently correct people who refer to her as “Rudy’s wife.” I can almost hear her say, “My name is Lupita.”

In or relationships with other groups it is not a matter of political correctness to call them by their name. Increasingly we refer to someone as the Mexican or the Black. We increasingly generalize – every Asian son chinos. I have heard pilipinos correct people for referring to them as chinos.  “La china has a name” just like my wife has a name.

My only excuse is numbers and a bad memory for names. I cannot blame it on the culture.

As you age your memory becomes very vivid. The other day at Marta’s home I was fascinated by the interplay between Jonathan and Anaya, it brought back memories of my childhood and my sister Teresa. My sister was in all respects the alpha dog of my family. She seemed take ownership of everything. At the photo shoot our first communion she kept pinching me and when I complained she told my father that it was I pinching her. Tere was a terror and she was always sure that my parents would take her side and blame me. As we entered our teenage years she always wanted to tag along. I did not appreciate her messing up my movidas. Tere always relied on my parents telling me, “Take care of your sister.” And I would have to take her to the movies and dances.  I knew I was losing when saw tears rolling down her cheeks as she mocked me. At the dances my sister took ownership of the floor. Like a queen she bounced to the rhythms of the cha cha, the rumba and boogie woogie. Not wanting to get into trouble I would tell her not to dance with this guy, that guy and that guy. Once on the dance floor Tere did what she wanted and danced with this guy, that guy and that guy. Heckled by my cousins and friends I found it honor bound to hit this guy, that guy and that guy. My sister walked home with the biggest smile on her face.

Don’t Be Afraid to Cry Wolf!

By

Rodolfo F. Acuña

Growing up in an immigrant household, I was always aware my parents were super careful as if they did not want to make mistakes. They repeated fables were such as la Llorona and the Cucuy, the mythical bogeyman. My father’s favorite fable was “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” about a shepherd who sounded the false alarm so often that when the wolf was finally there the people did not believe him so the wolf ate him up.

The fable was to caution us not to tell lies. “Peter and the Wolf” has taken more relevance lately. Immigrants are afraid of calling authorities even when present danger is present, e.g., sexual assault and homicide. No one wants to be a cry baby or an alarmist. So we often bite our tongues, afraid to set off a false alarm.

Although caution is at times good, it can be dangerous. For the past thirty-three, for example, I have not cried wolf because the Internal Revenue Service without provocation has questioned my tax returns. What is frustrating is that the auditors repeat the same questions about work related travel. It is obvious that the auditors have no background in academic research. Professors, according them, sit in libraries.

In my case, I am a professor, author, newspaper columnist, blogger and researcher. I travel a lot. The County of Los Angeles is the most populous county in the United States. LA County is larger than 40 of 50 U.S. states. Mexican America/Latino communities are larger than most nations.

This year disturbing new facts have made it clear that wolf will not go away. The IRS hit me with a multi-year audit, asking questions resolved since the 1980s. I alerted Chicano/Latino politicos that the wolf was endangering their constituents. I wrote to Xavier Becerra whose staff told me to contact my congressman. The other saviors of the Latino community did not bother replying. Perhaps they are afraid of the Big Bad Wolf.

I learned that audits in my category were no longer conducted in LA but out of Memphis, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and Red States that are culturally and geographically alien to Los Angeles. In other words, I am being evaluated by non-academicians, people who have never published, never been in Los Angeles, and are unfamiliar with my line of work. My accountant asked for the case to be transferred to LA. The IRS agreed to but then reneged.

It gets worse: Ms. Higley (IRS FOIA Office) from Atlanta, Ga who reviewed my FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request admitted she has never been in LA, but could not honor my FOIA request because I was not specific enough. She wanted dates and specific violations. This is despite the fact that the taxpayer is not obligated to keep records for more than seven years. Ms. Higley said that the IRS destroys their records after ten years. (I commented that this is a historian’s nightmare, and precisely why Donald Trump is able to avoid paying taxes; the IRS destroys their historical memory.

I have sufficient cause to believe that I am being targeted. During my last audit circa 2012, I was able to meet with the Los Angeles IRS Office. The supervisor admitted that an agent Johnson from another office had been sent to LA specifically to audit me. According to the supervision, the Los Angeles Office had a difficult time controlling him.

It is strange that I am always audited during times of political tension. So I want to know if outside sources are fingering me. It could be just a case of harassment or have more sinister motives.

I fear that the IRS is setting a dangerous precedent. A Los Angeles Taxpayer should be reviewed by his or her peers – not by someone from Los Angeles; an auditor with enough specialized knowledge to make a reasoned judgment.

It is unreasonable for Los Angeles taxpayers to travel to southern states. The cost for my wife and I to fly to Memphis or any of those Right to work states is prohibitive. Moreover, auditors should know the work backgrounds of who they are auditing

Most people do not read history so they don’t know the extremes people go to when they are desperate. The fall prey to fake news for example. Hitler said, tell a big lie and they will believe you. Fascism does not happen overnight. Mexico had a thriving nazi movement and today with the crumbling of its civil society the fascist have come into the open. The only difference today between the sinarquistas of the past and today is that they are not being driven by the Catholic Church although as in the case of PAN there are religious fanatics. Here in the United States there has been a resurgence of white nationalism mixed with Evangelicals whose energy has produced Donald Trump. In this series I am presenting a collage of images taken from Google. Many are recent and from Mexico and the US. Desperate people seeking solutions almost always are driven by a millenarian vision. Like it or not people are empowered by wearing uniforms or red caps reading “Make America Great Again.”

“Their eyes in prayer, and when they opened them the land was gone”.

¿Mas sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo?

By

Rodolfo F. Acuña

 Protecting the gains we made as a community involves more than complaining which is what most of us do. Three years ago an agreement between UNAM and Cal State Northridge touched off a prolonged confrontation that has lasted over three years. It ended with promises made by the administration that it broke once the heat was removed from its feet. In the end it did what it wanted and encroached on our area of study.  http://www.csun.edu/node/104966. The issue was and still is governance since the Chicana/o Studies Department was never consulted.

 The same thing occurred about a year ago when College of Humanities Dean Beth Say violated governance by not consulting with Chicana/o Studies about a multi-million dollar partnership with the University of Pennsylvania to mentor Latina/o students to enter doctoral programs in the Humanities. The absurdity was that people who opposed ChS and knew nothing about the community were now in charge of mentoring it.

 Valley girl Say has been an enemy of Mexican Americans since before her arrival at CSUN. As dean she has failed miserably at protecting the ChS Department’s interests or those of Mexican American students. She has made appointments from Humanities programs servicing Chicana/o students completely by-passing the ChS chair that is a violation of the department’s governance rights.

 So far ChS faculty has turned the other cheek. Many are new faculty members and do not understand the importance of governance – it is not taught in graduate school. Many of us, however, we here before Soylent Green and remember when CSUN presidents and administrators respected faculty traditions. There was a time when the faculty senate defended governance rights.

 However, we are no longer able to hold back the tide in the era of the new neoliberal university. The truth is that Hispanics are a valuable commodity too valuable to be left in the hands of a bunch of Mexicans. That is why Beth Say and Dean of Behavioral Stella Z Theodoulou (now Vice Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs) have lied and cheated.

 What makes this urgent today is the political climate. During the culture wars of the 1980s and 90s the right had not reached the point that they were in control of higher education. This has changed: the assault on governance, the growth of adjunct faculty and the imperial administration, and privatization have all minimized an intellectual response.

 In Washington, there is an administration whose purpose it is to destroy public education. Elisabeth Dee DeVos Prince was confirmed as Secretary of Education. She is known because of her support of school choice, school voucher programs, and charter schools. She has no expertise in education other than she is a billionaire and contributes heavily to Republicans.

 (Her brother Erik Prince is a war profiteer. He is the founder of Blackwater and is meeting with Trump proposing the privatization of the Afghanistan War. In 2007, Blackwater Security Consulting, a private military company, killed 17 and injured 20 civilians in Baghdad)

 DeVos in 2001 singled out education reform as a way to “advance God’s kingdom.” She is now in a position that she can do a lot of damage since she has the money and she is well connected working with powerhouse charter school advocates such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 In California almost everyone has said the right thing in protecting the Dreamers and undocumented immigrants. However, not everyone is happy with this. Washington and right wing foundations are an important revenue stream for the CSU and this has led by Chancellor Timothy White to be careful not to upset the xenophobes. White’s policy has been “No ‘sanctuary’ at Cal State University, but no cooperation with Trump” reminiscent of Trump’s “I think there is blame on both sides,” statement on Charlottesville.

 Many of us are watchful and concerned with the CSU’s so-called General Education Breadth Requirements— Executive Order 1100 an executive order that supersedes Executive Order 1065. It was recommended by the Academic Senate CSU and focuses on Area D Social Sciences.

 (The State Faculty Center since the 1980s under W. Ann Reynolds has become a cheerleader for CSU Chancellors and part of the Old Boys Club. See: FRANK del OLMO. RODOLFO ACUNA, “Cal State Admission Plan Makes Naive Assumption,” Los Angeles Times, Jan 12, 1985, pg. B2 pg. 5.  “Bad Teachers: Putting the University on the Spot, Too; [Home Edition],” Los Angeles Times, Feb 14, 1985.  Response from the CSU Academic Senate, “Admission Standards; [Home Edition],” Los Angeles Times, Feb 7, 1985, pg. 4)                

 Executive Order 1100 returns us to the culture Wars of the 1990s when Arthur Schlesinger Jr published The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society (1998). Right wing Culture warriors accused multiculturalists of being un-American and joining forces with Marxists to attack Western Civilization.

 It real terms Executive Order 1100 is a direct attack on women studies, ethnic studies, Chicana/o Studies, Africana Studies, Asian Studies, Gender and Women Studies and other courses designed to integrate the disparate people of this community. For them making America does not mean making America White.

 Without getting into a long historical narrative, General Education is the Monopoly Board of a college education. It encourages students to experiment and take classes outside their fields. A student learns about their neighbors. They become educated – they learn about music, art and geography. Chile is not only something you eat but a country.

 The authors are taking direct aim at other cultures and courses “designed to provide the knowledge, skills, experiences, and perspectives that will enable CSU students to expand their capacities to take part in a wide range of human interests and activities; to confront personal, cultural, moral, and social problems that are an inevitable part of human life; and to cultivate both the requisite skills and enthusiasm for lifelong learning.”

 A major target salvo is Section F, the Cross Cultural GE Requirement that would affect Chicana/o Studies eliminate Spanish for Chicanos, Spanish for Chicanos II, Contemporary Issues of the Chicana, Language and Society: Chicanas/os and Other Language Minority Children, World Migration and the Chicana/o, and Third World Women and the Chicana.

 It must be remembered that these courses are electives that were accepted after hundreds of hours of negotiations and oversight. Now a faculty senate with no representation from the other America makes a major decision without consulting them.    

 Now comes the fight. Well, the devil is paranoid. Who is going to represent the interests of the Other America?

 Dean Say cannot be trusted to lead the fight. Besides being incompetent, her malfeasance is legendary. Even the administration in private admits this. Vice Provost Theodoulou is smart enough but her ambitions trump her intelligent. President Harrison is too involved with her deals. Chancellor White is no Chancellor Charles Reed who would have probably rolled over but you knew he could fight.

 A lot of the fight is going to fall on the shoulders of Chicana/o Studies that has a very young faculty. You do not learn about governance in graduate courses. Is it capable of generating prolonged moral outrage? The tendency is to have meetings, talk about it; contact elected officials, and the university president.  This is all good, you experience multiple organisms. However, perhaps this is the time to stop praying and take care of our land. Let the drums roll.