. . . . is brought to you by of the Alisal Union School District in Salinas, California.<\/p>\n
Seems as if the district is opening a new school.\u00a0\u00a0 They need to give it a name.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve chosen a name already.\u00a0 According to the Alisal Union District Superintendant, John Ramirez, they\u2019re planning to name that new school in honor of Tiburcio Vasquez<\/a>.<\/p>\n This decision has raised a few eyebrows and sparked some opposition. Why, you ask?\u00a0 Is it due to racism?<\/p>\n Hardly.\u00a0 Turns out that Tiburcio Vasquez has a rather . . . checkered history.\u00a0 Seems Vasquez committed his first crime at age 14 \u2013 he stabbed a constable.\u00a0 He then afterwards embarked on a life of crime, becoming essentially a professional bandit.\u00a0 He continued that career – interrupted by a couple of stints in San Quentin prison- until he was roughly 40 years old.\u00a0 His criminal career ended when he was hanged in 1875 for murdering two people.<\/p>\n In fact, the University of Southern California library calls Vasquez \u201cprobably the most notorious bandit California ever saw<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n The district Superintendent isn\u2019t backing down, though.\u00a0 He\u2019s predictably defending his choice publicly.\u00a0 Ramirez has made such noble and measured statements defending the choice as to say that one man\u2019s terrorist is another man\u2019s freedom fighter, and has referred to Vasquez as a \u201crevolutionary\u201d who was \u201cnot okay with oppression.\u201d\u00a0 Ramirez has also made the inane claim that understanding Vasquez\u2019s place in history requires consultation with Chicano historians.<\/p>\n Another member of the selection committee, Francisco Estrada, also defended naming the new school after a convicted murderer.\u00a0 Estrada has claimed that Vasquez was merely \u201cmisunderstood\u201d; that Vasquez \u201cwas not a murderer\u201d but rather \u201cwas framed by the system at that time.\u201d\u00a0 Estrada went on to compare Vazquez to Robin Hood, saying that Vasquez \u201ctook from the rich and gave to the poor\u201d and \u201cwas your inspiration of Zorro\u201d.<\/p>\n I guess these two guys could be right.\u00a0 All of their after-the-fact justification sounds more to me like PC apologia<\/em> and than anything else.\u00a0 But it’s a free country, and they’re entitled to speak their minds.<\/p>\n As am I.\u00a0 In a word, gentlemen \u2013 bullshit<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 Murder is very damn easy to understand; ditto a 25+ year career as a professional bandit and criminal.\u00a0 Both of those are ethnically and racially neutral.\u00a0 And it doesn\u2019t require any particular ethnic, racial, or religious background to figure out that naming a school after a 25+ year career criminal who was hanged as a murderer is a damnfool<\/em> idea.<\/p>\n Generally, I couldn’t give a hoot in hell what some school district in California names a new school.\u00a0 But this one is just plain wrong.\u00a0 \u00a0I really think they can find someone better to honor than a\u00a0 25+ year career criminal who was hanged for murder over 135 years ago.\u00a0 Like maybe the late USMC Sgt. Rafael Peralta<\/a>, perhaps?\u00a0 If I recall correctly Sgt. Peralta \u00a0was from California too.<\/p>\n Salinas is located in Monterrey County, California.\u00a0 Phone, fax, and e-mail contact information for the Monterrey County Board of Education may be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yes, this is a local decision.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not sure the County Board of Education is aware of this particular bit of idiocy \u2013 and IMO they damn well should be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"