Letters to the Editor: Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León have done grave racial harm to L.A. history with their books, The City in Black and Red (Cinco de Mayo: The Mexican War and the Rise of Los Angeles), and The Mexican American Rebels: A History of the Mexican American Nation, written with Hector Gomez. Their works are not only inaccurate, but they misrepresent the history of Los Angeles during the Mexican War era.
The Mexican American Rebels paints the Mexican American Rebellion as a peaceful movement against Mexican rule, but it was no such thing. The Mexican American rebellion was more violent. It was also a series of brutal rebellions against Mexican rule. Many prominent leaders of the Mexican American rebellion were shot dead, including Jose Avila, Jose Martinez, George Valadez, Joe Moreno and others.
The Mexican American Rebels also claims Los Angeles had its own version of the Irish War of Independence and the Mexican American War, but those were not conflicts between English and Spanish peoples.
These new books do not reflect the history of Los Angeles’ history or the historical reality of the Mexican American Rebels. But as a result, we can now add a new layer of historical ignorance to our city.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Hector Gomez,
La Habana,
California
My Dear Friend,
We are all friends in this country and no one is allowed to be a friend of his enemy. But what is happening in your society at this time is so much worse than anything I have ever seen before.
Today, with the support of many good, decent and dedicated people, I have just completed my journey from Los Angeles to my native village in the state of Sinaloa to protest against the senseless killings of our brothers and sisters.
I will make it my mission to ensure that the killings are stopped in all the states in which there are