BEYOND BORDERS By Lily Lucero

L
iving in Berkeley, a city renowned for civil Inspired by labor and rural social movements, el
disobedience particularly among its Movimiento Estudiantil was intended to be nonviolent,
student population, many of us are inclined however, the tone of the uprising took a drastic turn on
to fight for justice amidst an unruly political October 2, 1968. During a meeting of movement leaders
climate. Almost every United States media and thousands of eager students in La Plaza de las Tres
outlet across the political spectrum has Culturas at Tlatelolco in Mexico City, the Mexican armed
covered the Women’s March, the Black Lives Matter forces entered the housing complex, having been given
Movement, and the March for Our Lives, yet there has “authority to move against disorderly students.” Bullets
been a lack of recognition of social movements beyond began to fly, fired from the buildings around the plaza
the nation’s borders. and the armed forces returned the gunfire. Students
were arrested, beaten, and killed, the death toll
While it is extremely important to remain still uncertain. Though years of speculation
informed on the current issues within this country, it is suggested students had fired first, recently
equally crucial to recognize that marginalized discovered official documents reveal
communities within the United States are not the only that the Presidential Guard ordered
ones suffering under a repressive government. Youth snipers in buildings
movements have taken place all across the globe, and surrounding the plaza to open fire.
our own efforts to unite a younger American generation This caused the armed forces in the
can benefit from looking to movements outside this plaza to do the same. This
nation. It all begins with understanding the history of orchestrated attack
civil (and not so civil) disobedience beyond the borders incited one of the most tragic
of the United States, specifically the Mexican Student massacres in modern Mexican
Movement of the 1960s. history.

El Movimiento Estudiantil swept Mexico in Though United States media often

1968. Students took to the streets in neglects to mention happenings
response to extreme political unrest. The outside of this nation, I believe that
movement began with a street fight between our youth movements can be
students at the Escuela Nacional strengthened by looking to those of
Preparatoria in San Ildefonso. The Mexico other countries. If we learn the statistics,
City riot police and eventually the speak to those whose lives are directly
Mexican Army were called to the impacted by conflict in different countries,
school and further aggravated and understand the value of educating
the violence, killing students ourselves on the histories of other nations,
through excessive force and young people may become even more
sparking national anger. unified. May we look not only to the four
Students led street students of Greensboro, North Carolina
protests against who began the lunch-counter sit ins
authoritarian during the Civil Rights Movement, but
oppression and the also to the students of Nicaragua
brutality of the armed countering President Daniel Ortega,
forces, demanding the the young people of Venezuela who
government honor the took to the streets in 2007 in
promises of the opposition of their government’s
democratic rights of human rights violations, and the
Mexican citizens Mexican students who sacrificed their
detailed in the 1917 lives in 1968 at Tlatelolco.
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T
wo Words: the wall.
That's enough to start a
full-fledged political discussion on
how divided and seemingly
backwards our government has
become. Since the 2016 election,
President Trump has targeted the Latinx
community and has constantly belittled us.
Our community has been at the center of his
attacks, and currently 49% of
Hispanic-Americans are
concerned about their place in
society under the current
“Perhaps, if we had existence of a large group of Americans
presidential administration (Pew another Democratic
Research). While our position in president in office that Obama administration. That is, a rhetoric
the US as a community is at its
worst under the Trump
many seem to love and
administration, maybe it is truly admire, we might not
needed to lift us from our be nearly as concerned
apathetic attitude towards
politics. with the social and
political issues facing
Although Mr. Trump has
cut deeper into the political divide
the Latinx community.”
of our country, this often chaotic
administration has the potential of
pushing us forward towards having a stronger
democracy. Compared to the 2014 midterm
elections, the overall young voter turnout for
18-29 year olds increased by 4%, and
California in particular saw a 9.3% increase.
So, maybe we really did need heartless and
racist comments directed towards the Latinx
community to raise millennial voting rates.
Think about it. Perhaps, if we had another
Democratic president in office that many
seem to love and admire, we might not be
nearly as concerned with the social and
political issues facing the Latinx community. A
prime example is Mr. Trump’s insistence of a
$5.7 billion budget to build a wall along the
US-Mexico border, which consequently led to
the longest government shutdown in US
history and a loss of $11 billion. This
underlying anti-immigrant sentiment is what
has urged many people, especially young
voters, to become more aware and present in
the political public sphere.
To quote the Washington Post,
“democracy dies in darkness.” The Trump
administration has brought light to the
who harbor anti-immigrant sentiment
that was largely hidden during the
once kept quiet during the Obama years
has now been brought to the surface of
American politics and social life. Mr.
Trump's attacks on the Latinx
community have hurt many inside and
outside this country, but what they have
brought is a clearer vision of the steps
we need to take to actively address and
dismantle the hateful discourse
regarding the Latinx community and
immigrants in general.
The Trump administration was and is
our wake up call as a politically inactive
generation. I’m not saying we’ve figured it all
out either. We must not only push ourselves,
but also our peers to speak out and at least
practice our civic duty of voting during election
periods. We must remind each other of the
hate and deception we’ve been overtly living
through even before the 2016 election. We
must promote greater morale and inclusivity
for the sake of future generations. So all I
have to say is thank you, President Trump for
being perhaps the most divisive American
president in the past 30 years, because
without you we wouldn't have the motivation
to fix the political climate of our country.
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