MEChA should not be in the position of seeking approval to exist or function, he said. Gonzalez said that MEChA is prepared to wage a long struggle to counter Propositions 187 and 209. We know this struggle will not be won in a couple of months. He predicts that the next MEChA statewide conference this spring in Santa Barbara will be a crossroads. Rudy Acuna, one of the co-founders of Chicano Studies at CSUN said that he saw the conference as very positive in terms of how students are responding.
Students feel the pressure.
They're under attack. In addition to the generalized polarization and racism that is part of California politics, Acuna said that certain hate groups have focused their attacks against MEChA. One such group, he noted, is the San Fernando-based Voices for Concerned Citizens. They's out to destroy MEChA, he says, noting that they have placed full page ads in local newspapers against the organization and are stalking its leaders. It is an attempt to push people of color out of the educational system, he said. He said that Spanish-language press had not been as vocal as they had been i the campaign against Proposition 187.