An Inclusive Litany

10/3/96

If you've been using terms like Chicano, Latino, Raza, Mestizo, or Hispanic to refer to certain inhabitants of Mexico and Central America or their descendants, then you've been woefully wrong. The correct appellation is "Mexica," according to the Chicano Mexicano Mexica Empowerment Committee (CMMEC) of Huntington Park, California, publisher of the Mexica Handbook: The Mexica Guide to the 21st Century and Beyond.

"We, the people of Mexica Original Inhabitant (Indigenous) descent have been branded "Hispanic" and "Latino," comments the author, Olin Tezcatlipoca. "We are the descendents of the ancient so-called 'Mesoamerican' civilizations that covered an area from Aztlan (the so-called U.S. Southwest) to the area called Costa Rica in Central America."

The author urges the aspiring "Mexica Warrior" to learn Nahuatl, "the language of our people," not to marry outside the race, and to tell blondes how "ridiculous" they look.