Zapata: Part II (written July 29)

“Which Martin Luther King Jr. are you celebrating today? Because I can promise you that Bush and I aren’t celebrating the same one,” roared Tim Wise, author of White Like Me, to a not even quarter full auditorium. The majority of those in power like to speak of the deferential MLK that delivered impassioned speeches demanding fellow blacks not to hurt the misled, but well-intentioned whites. They fail to mention the MLK that would undoubtedly condemn their neglect of the inner-city poor or their disregard for the American and Iraqi lives lost every day this futile war lingers on.

Similarly, Emiliano Zapata means something different to every Mexican you ask. Like the US with MLK, Mexican culture has embraced Zapata as a national hero. As a result, all Mexicans, regardless of class or political persuasion, work hard to prove to others their loyalty to Zapata. Often, however, embracing Zapata while maintaining certain political stances requires quite a bit of repackaging. You know, like the watered down MLK we Americans are encouraged to honor for an entire 24 hours once a year.

When reading aloud a list of Mexican political parties one thing becomes quickly apparent: without somehow integrating a reference to the great Mexican revolution, a party obviously fails to embody Zapata’s revolutionary spirit. Just as seeming soft on terrorism is now taboo in American politics, a Mexican politician would be damned to be seen as being distant to the revolution. Unfortunately, many politicians waste time and energy playing this political positioning game instead of actually walking the talk of revolution.

The image lecturer Ross Gandy painted for us of the current state of Mexican politics is grim. On the chalkboard behind him Gandy drew a social pyramid indicating that over 70% of Mexican society is stuck at the bottom, 60% of whom are part of a category that in the US we know affectionately as the ‘working poor.’ At the top are the fat cat owners of multinational corporations including, as of last week, the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim. Also in this elites-only club is former Mexican President Vincent Fox who, prior to his entry into national politics, was owner of a little-known enterprise aka Coca-Cola Inc. Squeezed uncomfortably in between is a fledgling middle class with its base, small business, constantly the target of its friends higher up on the ladder.

Still, those sitting comfortably at the top of the social ladder and their friends in PAN who currently hold the reins of power, are just as likely as any of the 70% of Mexicans with barely anything, to sing Zapata’s praises. In fact, Gandy told us, in his presidential campaign president-elect Felipe Calderón ended every speech by touting his campaign slogan “For the employee,” maintaining an eerie closeness to Zapata’s own slogan praising the worker. Within the first three months of his presidency over 100,000 Mexicans lost their jobs. Not exactly Zapata-esque behavior if you ask me.

It’s bizarre to think that at the same time conservative politicians are attempting to prove their loyalty to Zapata, their most vehement enemies have named their movement after Zapata himself. Since 1994 and the imposition of NAFTA principles that promised to improve the life of everyday Mexicans by drastically lowering prices, the Zapatistas have maintained their fighting stance in the southern state of Chiapas demanding semi-autonomy.

Certainly, Zapata’s legacy shouldn’t be the exclusive property of any one person or social group. However, just as contradictions stare blatantly into the eyes of many American politicians quick to embrace MLK’s contributions to the US, one can’t help but wince when hearing the richest man in the world and his cohorts openly endorse a man who struggled for those hard working Mexicans who still can’t seem to catch a break. No, the agenda of the majority of those who hold political power is in stark contrast to Zapata’s ideals. And until that changes, they don’t deserve to hang his painting in their home, to include his greatest contribution in their party’s name or to make his life long promise into a catchy campaign slogan.