Building a bridge between Spanish and English worlds is new L.A. Times columnist’s mission

I have always known the United States in one way or another. And as I witnessed the loving solidarity of the women of Escondido, I also saw the exploitation of Latinos by other Latinos in the farmworker camps, like at the former Rancho de Los Diablos, also in north San Diego County, where those who had papers to work legally “rented” their papers in exchange for 30% of the salary of those who did not have documents. I saw them holding school walkouts and confronting the many racist groups that began to proliferate in the most unlikely places, like in Fallbrook, where I had the opportunity to interview Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan Resistance, who told me, “I sincerely love Mexicans, but I love them in Mexico.” Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan Resistance. “That’s why we came here, to work,” this New York City bicycle messenger told me. And it’s not like some think, that “they should learn English to integrate into society.” Many of us do speak English, but prefer to communicate in Spanish, because this language is part of our identity.