{"id":541,"date":"2012-12-19T00:22:18","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T07:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=541"},"modified":"2020-06-04T15:43:02","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T22:43:02","slug":"violence-on-the-oxnard-plain-the-opd-and-the-mexican-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=541","title":{"rendered":"Violence on the Oxnard Plain: The Oxnard Police Department and the Mexican Community"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Local Mural in La Colonia (2012). Courtesy of the author\u2019s photo collection.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWho writes for his people ought to use the past with the intention of opening the future, as an invitation to action and a basis for hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, 232<\/em><\/p>\n

It is essential to mention, as I focus my research and writing on the history of Mexicans in La Colonia,<\/em> it’s not a random topic to me. My mother\u2019s family migrated into the Oxnard Plain during the 1930s as agricultural workers. They first settled in the free abode housing off 5th Street, then moved into the Meta Street neighborhood near Oxnard Blvd. And finally they brought a lot in La Colonia<\/em> in the 1940s.<\/p>\n

I have deep roots in Oxnard and La Colonia<\/em>. Also, my research and writing are connected to my twenty years as a community organizer! I have first-hand knowledge of police brutality in my neighborhood.<\/p>\n

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Local newspaper microfilms at the local library (2009). Courtesy of the author\u2019s photo collection.<\/p><\/div>\n

I have spent many years collecting materials on the history of Mexicans on the Oxnard Plain. In that time, I spend hours in the microfilm room in the local library examining the local newspaper, the Oxnard Press-Courier (OPC) My goal was to develop a historical timeline by utilizing the local newspaper as a primary source in the development of the Mexican community in Oxnard, especially La Colonia<\/em> neighborhood.<\/p>\n

As I connected the dots in linking the Mexican community to numerous struggles in labor, politics, and education, it became clear to me that the local newspaper also played another part in the historical narrative. The OPC was utilized to construct stereotypes of the Mexican community! Over and over in the pages of the local newspaper, city officials, growers, police chiefs & officers, and other community members labeled Mexicans as criminals, uneducated, or as disposable labor!<\/p>\n

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Source: “300 Mexicans Swarm After Ramirez Arrest” The Oxnard Daily Courier, 26 Dec 1934<\/p><\/div>\n

And those stereotypes continue into today. As the local newspaper spread those stereotypes, the Oxnard Police Department (OPD) played an important part as the enforcer by using violence toward the Mexican community.<\/p>\n

It is evident that the OPD is not our friend! This can be seen in the police killing of Robert Ramirez and Alfonso Limon within the last eight months of 2012. So, it is vital to support the organizing of the Todo Poder Al Pueblo<\/a>, Union del Barrio, and other organizations in their mission to expose the crimes of the OPD!<\/p>\n

Please read the following article on the current violence against the Mexican community; \u201cNo Justice, No Peace\u201d: The People of Oxnard Continue to Gather Strength in the Fight Against Police Brutality<\/a>. Also, check out the following videos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The violence toward the Mexican community is not new to Oxnard; it has a historical past.<\/p>\n

The following is an excerpt\u00a0from my manuscript (rough draft), Searching for Memories in\u00a0La Colonia: Migration, Labor, and Activism In Oxnard, California, 1930-1980<\/em>, highlighting some of the tension and violence toward the Mexican community during the 1940s & 1950s by the Oxnard Police Department.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Source: \u201cPolice use tear gas against local crowd,\u201d Oxnard Press-Courier, 2 Feb 1942<\/p><\/div>\n

In the Mexican neighborhoods of Oxnard during the 1940s, tension and conflict continued between the police, growers, and Mexicans. This tension could be seen in the way the Oxnard Police Department (OPD) interacted with the overall Mexican working-class community. The OPD was utilized as the enforcer of Oxnard\u2019s power structure to keep Mexicans in their place or neighborhoods. A clear example of enforcement occurred on January 31, 1942 in the Meta Street neighborhood, as the police threw tear gas into a crowd of working-class Mexicans, who were watching people dancing in the street. The police labeled it a riot and arrested a number of Mexicans for disturbing the peace.<\/p>\n

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Source: \u201cPolice quell Colonia riot,\u201d Oxnard Press-Courier, 23 Apr 1955<\/p><\/div>\n

Conflicts between the police and Mexicans continued into the 1950s with a number of so-called riots. In 1955, the police responded to a fight off Cooper Road in La Colonia<\/em>, which sparked a clash between the police and residents. The tension led to a number of residents throwing bottles and spitting & cursing at the police. The police responded by throwing a teargas bomb into the crowd of two hundred residents. In the end, one police car was damaged.<\/p>\n

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Source: \u201c5 men, 5 teenagers arrested in rioting, several injured,\u201d Oxnard Press-Courier, 27 Aug 1956<\/p><\/div>\n

The following years, another police riot rocked La Colonia. On August 26, 1956, more than one thousand residents were attending a church bazaar sponsored by the Christ the King Church on Cooper Road. The riot was touched off by the arrest of Richard Madrid, a few blocks away from the bazaar. Again, like the previous riot, tension between the police and residents led to the police being bombarded with rocks, beer cans, and bottles from the crowd. The police responded by launching more than 50 tear gas bombs into the crowd. In its aftermath, several officers and residents were injured and ten individuals were arrested, with five being juveniles. They were charged with disturbing the peace and failure to disperse. Police Chief Carl Hartmeyer stated, \u201cwe had to break the riot up and since the mob wouldn\u2019t disperse, we had to use drastic measures. I\u2019ll say this: tear gas is a lot better than shotguns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources: \u201cPolice use tear gas against local crowd,\u201d <\/em>Oxnard Press-Courier, 2 Feb 1942; \u201cPolice quell Colonia riot,\u201d <\/em>Oxnard Press-Courier, 23 Apr 1955; \u201c5 men, 5 teenagers arrested in rioting, several injured,\u201d <\/em>Oxnard Press-Courier, 27 Aug 1956; Juan Soria, Interview by Frank Bradacke, Oxnard, Ca, 25 Jan 1996.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

c\/s<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWho writes for his people ought to use the past with the intention of opening the future, as an invitation to action and a basis for hope.\u201d Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, 232 It is essential to mention, as I focus my research and writing on the history of Mexicans in La Colonia, […]<\/p>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6ibJA-8J","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1618,"url":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=1618","url_meta":{"origin":541,"position":0},"title":"Remembering Colonia Village, Part I","date":"July 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Part I - Series On The History Of Colonia Village: In 2014, Oxnard Housing Authority began the first phase\u00a0of demolishing Colonia Village, a public-housing tract\u00a0in La Colonia. Just like the house on Bonita Avenue, the housing projects is an essential part of my mother's history. In 1952, my grandparents, Carlos\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Oxnard"","img":{"alt_text":"Untitled","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/c1.staticflickr.com\/1\/544\/19210167479_456321bab2_o.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":59,"url":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=59","url_meta":{"origin":541,"position":1},"title":"Summer Research Project: Oxnard, CA","date":"May 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"My summer research project is composed of conducting archival research and oral histories, which I would develop a research paper and notes on the history of Mexicans in Oxnard and Ventura County. 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Local Chicana\/os organized one of the largest march held in Oxnard in 1970, exposing the Mexican community\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chiques History Notes"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2293\/2440471288_711c910eeb.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1059,"url":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=1059","url_meta":{"origin":541,"position":3},"title":"The OPD vs. Local Historians!","date":"November 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Local Mural in La Colonia (2012). Courtesy of the author\u2019s photo collection.I was born and raised on the Oxnard Plain. My family was part of the migration of Mexican workers into Oxnard during the 1930\u2019s. They settled in La Colonia in the 1940\u2019s. And we lived in the same house\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activism"","img":{"alt_text":"Untitled","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8208\/8275591475_65e77e190e.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2163,"url":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=2163","url_meta":{"origin":541,"position":4},"title":"Chiques History Note #10 \u2013 La Colonia Boxing Gym","date":"June 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Chiques History Notes is a series of posts based on my research on Oxnard, CA. The historical La Colonia Boxing Gym located at 520 East First Street has served the Latina\/o\/x community in multiple different ways since 1944. First, the city used it for Fire Station No. 2, which moved\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chiques History Notes"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/luishmoreno.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/oxnard-press-courier-Jun-29-1968-p-21.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":420,"url":"http:\/\/luishmoreno.com\/?p=420","url_meta":{"origin":541,"position":5},"title":"New Book: The History of Chicana\/os in Chiques!","date":"October 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Please check out this new book on the history of Chicana\/os in Oxnard, CA (Chiques). 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