Loco Parentis Goes Loco
LULAC targets 12-year-olds.

By Jim Boulet Jr., executive director of English First
March 7, 2001 10:05 a.m.

omething shocking happened at Lucille Erwin Public School in Loveland, Colo. earlier this year. And the most

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shocking thing about it was that the ACLU still hasn't complained.

School officials summoned a 12-year-old child, Kevin Weston, out of his homeroom. He was ordered to report to the library along with all other students of his ethnic background. You see, Kevin Weston is a dark-complexioned Hispanic young man.

When Kevin's parents, Liam and Carmen Weston, heard about this, they were outraged. Their permission had not been sought. Kevin's teacher refused to discuss the matter. The school principal was no help either. The Westons felt compelled to remove their son from the school.

The unusual thing about this tale is that not one word of protest was uttered on Kevin's behalf by any of the organizations so quick to cry "coercive indoctrination" at the sight of a classroom display of the Ten Commandments or when met with proposals to increase student patriotism.

Had Kevin Weston been forced to attend a Christian Coalition meeting on school grounds, his story would have been page-one news across the length and breadth of our land. But the meeting Kevin Weston was forced to attend was one conducted by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Only WorldNetDaily.com reported his story nationally.

The Weston family fits few stereotypes, despite the efforts of schools in both Colorado and California to pigeonhole the two Weston boys into a politically correct box. When they lived in Santa Clarita, Calif., the school system insisted that the Weston's other son, Brendan, be put in an English-as-a-second-language program. This, it seems, because Brendan had admitted on a school survey that Spanish was spoken in his home.

Not one month later, Brendan was ranked first among 100 nominees as the "Best and Brightest" students in the region by the Los Angeles Times, which captioned his picture:

So phenomenal is [Brendan's] command of the English language that judges in a district writing contest questioned whether Brendan was using his own wording. Quizzed by his teacher, Brendan spelled every one of his five- and six-syllable words correctly and used them in the proper context.

Liam Weston had been a Boy Scout leader and knew that formal parental permission was required before a child could take part in any scouting activity. His son had also asked his permission to attend other school activities.

The Weston family complained. Dan Johnson, the school-district superintendent, defended the lack of parental permission to the Daily Reporter-Herald: "I don't think anyone involved in this situation did the wrong thing…. It is

“A boy who just wanted to go to school and study was turned into a political pawn in this organization's efforts to inculcate in Hispanic-American children a sense of grievance against America and America's values.”

typical in many school districts that they don't ask parental permission for (clubs)."

So, there is nothing "wrong" with singling out a child based on his skin color and summoning him out of his homeroom while his classmates watched? Loveland, Colo., is neither Nazi Germany nor Communist Russia, where this sort of thing was eerily routine.

Superintendent Johnson even told WorldNetDaily.com that he "[did] not see LULAC as a political organization."

On March 13, this "nonpolitical" organization will present Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York with its 2001 President's Award. Al Gore earned the same award in 1999.

LULAC's choice of honorees dovetails nicely with its 'nonpolitical' agenda, as expressed by its 2001 Legislative Platform.

LULAC strongly endorses affirmative action, amnesty for illegal aliens, census sampling, "the expansion of medicare to cover the cost of prescriptions," and "an increased minimum wage." LULAC also "opposes the privatization of Social Security and any tax cut plan that would compromise its future stability" as well as "time limits on welfare."

Even Hillary Clinton did not dare run on such an extreme-left platform. Cuban-American businessmen, Mexican Americans with large families who would benefit from tax cuts, and Americans of Hispanic descent with views to the right of Paul Wellstone or Alec Baldwin most certainly are not represented by this organization.

Not surprisingly, "LULAC strongly opposes all legislation that designates English as the official language of the United States, " but then adds: "We recognize the value and utility of English proficiency." (Just imagine the hours of negotiation this codicil must have required!)

"LULAC believes that all textbooks should reflect the Hispanic community in a positive way and should be language appropriate and culturally sensitive." Coverage of Aztec religious practices or the Alamo in a history textbook might be problematic. So, too, might the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

LULAC itself has evolved a great deal from its founding in 1929. The organization's constitution stated that English was LULAC's official language and required that all members teach their children to speak what it called the "official language of our country."

As one chagrined observer noted: "Notable by its omission among twenty-five articles (in the LULAC by-laws) is any demand for any form of cultural pluralism."

How times have changed. LULAC today stands squarely against assimilation and firmly in the camp of the Democratic party. (In 1998, LULAC's executive council even passed a resolution opposing the impeachment of Bill Clinton.) And a boy who just wanted to go to school and study was turned into a political pawn in this organization's efforts to inculcate in Hispanic-American children a sense of grievance against America and America's values.

Kevin Weston has a loving father and mother who have chosen to continue their son's schooling at home. Other Hispanic kids aren't so fortunate.