Expedition through Aztlan

by David Sanchez – Published in 1978
Founder and former Prime Minister of the Brown Berets

David Sanchez was born in East Los Angeles in 1950. He founded the Brown Berets in December, 1967 and became their ‘Prime Minister.’ Sanchez has been portrayed as a civil rights leader in the media and US history textbooks in public schools and colleges. Nothing could be further from the truth.

An objective examination of Sanchez autobiography – Expedition through Aztlan – proves that he is an ethnic supremacist – a racist who promotes ethnic separation, domination and xenophobia. This is a book of propaganda with many factual errors.

In a letter he wrote to the LA times on behalf of the Chicano Movement in January, 1971, Sanchez condemns Anglo America on many issues. (page 15-17)

He blames conflict between the police and Mexican Americans on the United States for taking the southwest US from Mexico after they were defeated in the Mexican American War.(1) He condemns the United States for the deportation of Mexicans during the depression in the early 1930s. He condemns police for not protecting Mexicans during the ‘Zoot Suit’ riots of 1943 and blames the Catholic Church for the high drop out rate of Chicanos from school. He claimed there was a high Chicano death rate in the Vietnam War and claimed Chicanos live in a totalitarian-like atmosphere in Los Angeles.

All of these claims by Sanchez are false. The fantasy of the Brown Berets was to be modern day conquistadors and retake the southwest US for Mexico – which they call Aztlan – or else make it a Spanish state within the US. Their goal is advancing rapidly in California.

Today, 170 years after the war, Mexican pride still cannot accept the fact that a small American Army defeated the Mexican army. Many Mexicans consider the southwest U.S. stolen Mexican land and there are some Mexican American ‘civil rights’ leaders who believe all Anglos should be kicked out of the entire US – not just the southwest US.

Factual errors in Expedition through Aztlan

The Forward is by Armando Morales, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, who died in 2008. His knowledge of history was as inaccurate and fraudulent as Sanchez.’

Page – VII: Morales: “In Aztec language, Aztlan literally means the “white land.” Aztlan refers to the northwest provinces of the “Aztec empire which we know today as the southwestern part of the United States.”

CORRECTIONS: NOT true. The Aztec empire was centered around modern day Mexico City in central Mexico. The Aztec empire was nowhere close to the Southwest US – as the map to the rights shows. It was the Spanish who destroyed the capital city of the Aztecs and built Mexico City on the ruins.

———————————————————-

Page – VII: “Under the inspiring, brave, and tenacious leadership of Prime Minister David Sanchez, they
encountered numerous hazards during their journey” . . .”They experienced attacks and harassment by law enforcement officials, Anglo citizen cowboy ‘red necks,’ and even ‘establishment’ Mexican Americans.”

CORRECTIONS: About three dozen people lead by a ‘Prime Minister,’ wearing brown beret uniforms
marching under a Mexican flag demanding the southwest be turned over to Mexico and renamed Aztlan. I don’t know why any Americans would be offended by this.

————————————————————

Page – 4: “The next demonstration occurred on August 29, 1970. Twenty thousand or more people rallied at Laguna Park in east Los Angeles. It was a hot day and many people went to a nearby liquor store to get
refreshments. It was crowded at the liquor store and the storekeeper, fearing theft, called the police.”

CORRECTIONS: There WAS theft going on at the store. After the police arrived, rioting erupted that caused $1 million in damages to nearby businesses. Pictures of the rally below: