1993_12 The Daily Collegian December 1993

              Barrio Purgatory
By Anthony MuriUo \
I died yesterday in a shootout with a rival gang, so •'
naturally, I was surprised when the vail of darkness
lifted and I found myself walking down a cement path
that snake through a see of rich green grass. At first I  i
thought I was dreaming, but after running a hand across''
my forhead and feeling the gapping hole left by a bullet,
1 knew"that wasn't the case. Underfoot, L noticed writ¬
ing on the walkway. One block red:
"   On August 6, 1984,'CarIos Martinez committed the
crime of murder against the Raza.
As I walked further, there were more charges of
killing my own race and of contributing to the break¬
down Of solidaridy in the Mexican culture.
What seemed like miles of accusations later, I saw
two figures in the distance, waiting for me. One wore a
sombrero. The other was adomedwith richly colored
Azteca headdress and robes. I wanted to stop, to turn and
ran, but my legs would not obey. Seconds later, I stood
before them.
"Buenos dias," the one with the sombrero and funny
mustach said. "We've waited a long time for you."
* "Who are you*? Where ami?"
"Don't you know?" the Aztec asked in his native
toung. . .
^; "No." I was surprised that I could understand him; I
never studied Nahuatl.
■*I ani Huipzilopochtli, god of war." *
"And lam Zapata. From us, you have come and by
us, you shall be judged."       (      >'
"Why have you slaughtered your own people?"
Huipzilopochtli asked.     *
"I am HuipzilopochUi, god of warj*  ' ■ C*k ■ ■
"And I am Zapata. From us, ybuhave come, and by
us, you shall be judged."
"Why have you slaughtered your own people?"    ...
Huipzilopochtli asked. j    f^4"
"And why have you not hotforejfcyour familia?"
Zapata added,
"At this very moment, your jrfita mourns your sensless
death."
i    "You did not love your Mexican brothers!"
Huipzilopochtli accuseds
"That's not true! I love my raza!"
"Then why have you sinned against them?"
f, "You don't understand..! did it for the barrio. I didn't.
kill because they were Mexican; I killed because they
were from other barrios."
My ancestors traded cynical looks.
"Did you kill the white man for living io£ Beverly
Hills?" Zapata asked. "Or the black maTTfor living in
Watts?" ■•    .
"I did not." , .
"Thenwhy haveyou done sowiuth the Raza?^  "
"I don't know." I admitted, dropping my heJad. I was
so ashamed, I could not meet their gaze.
"Then you shall bum jp purgatory for eternity!"
Huitzilopochtli declared, and with a shake of his fist,
the ground below my feet began to open.
" Wait??'   ■ .
Fire, screams of agony and gashing of the teeth
spewed forth from the chasm. Unrepentant souls
laughed as the gates of hell opened wider.
"Nooooo!!", -
Huitzilopochtli and Zapata chanted: "VTVA LA
RAZA! VTVA LA RAZA!"
I turned to ran as a winged beast ascended from the
pitts of hell.
"Then why have you done so wiuth the Raza?"
"I don't know." I admitted, dropping my head. I was
so ashamed, I could not meet their gaze.
"Then you shall bum in purgatory for eternity!"
Huitzilopochtli declared, and with a shake of bis fist,
the ground below my feet began to open.
'!" Wait!"
Fire, screams of agony and gashing ofthe teeth
spewed forth from the chasm. Unrepentant souls
laughed as the gates of hell opened wider.
"Nooooo!!"       Y
Huitzilopochtli and Zapata chanted: "VIVA LA  :
RAZA! VIVA LA RAZA!" ' •'.-
I turned to run as a winged beast ascended from the
pitts of hell. . V -"■""'.
"Nooooo!!"       V.
"VIVA LA RAZA..."
I tried to fend .the beast off but he dug his, claws into
my body and laughed at my pitiful attempt to free
myself. . -   .,__'
"Welcome to the barrio!" Hetaunted, and with a
depraved laugh, gragged me into the inferno.    :''-■*■
"VivalaRaza.—VivalaRaza...." I
i
u
Listen Mujer Is.
By Irene Serrano "      v
I call my friend who lives in another city and her old man
answers the phone. I ask for my friend and in the background I
hear a fight going on. When my friend gets on the phone, she's
crying.. I ask her what he did to her? Why is she crying. She tries
to stop. She tries to pretend that she just has a cold. But I know
this girl for a long time. And I know that he has hit her again.
This is t|je same girl that no one would come up on*when we
were growing up. The same girl that no one looked^at wrong of
they knew chingasos were going to fly. So how can this same girl
who was so tough let her old man treat her like she's less than a
dog. has someone finally broken through that hard shell, and
made her weak? Absolutely not. this is not necessarily an issue
of physical strength** weakness Its about low self-esteem and
low self-image. Women battering takes a different twist when
that woman is a chicana. Chicanas are religiously taught that no
matter how bad the man treats you, divorce is against gods word.
"and if you leave your husband you're failed as a good Mexican
wife. So chicanas are faced with a confusing dilemma. Do we go
against what we are taughi to get out of a abusive relationship or
do we stay in the relationship to satisfy tradition? But for many
of us we don't ever reach this point of realization, we have
internalized the abuse so far that we believe that we are the root
to all men's problems, the responsibility of empowered women is
to reach out to our sisters, our cousins our friends, our mothers-
and teach them to demand respect of the men in their lives, most
importantly, teach them to respect themselves.
As far as the men; the next time you feel you neeo" to prove
your man hood by slapping a woman across the face think about
it..you actually need to prove that your a man? Sounds like your
problem, not the woman's!