IN THE MIX:Activist isn’t as radical as you think

Who is Coyotl Tezcatlipoca?

It’s pronounced Coy-O, by the way.

You may know him as the man being led out of a Costa Mesa City Council meeting before being arrested. You might remember him being taken away by police as one supporter sang “We Shall Overcome” and opponents sang “God Bless America.”

That incident resulted in a lawsuit against the city brought by the ACLU. Orange County prosecutors decided not to press charges against Tezcatlipoca “in the interest of justice.”

You may also know him from a controversy at Orange Coast College when the student government decided not to say the Pledge of Allegiance before its meetings. That one led to a nationwide uproar over the general patriotism of OCC.

I know him as a student government trustee voted in on a slate of reform and transparency. But with all his press, Tezcatlipoca has gained a reputation as a rabble-rouser or worse, an anti-American, racist activist. Despite what his detractors say, Tezcatlipoca assured me he has no interest in radical movements such as returning California to Mexico.

“I’ve never been a part of MEChA. I don’t believe in what they do,” he said.

His focus is on respect. It’s a word he uses often. At OCC, the 26-year-old Costa Mesa resident has been instrumental in founding a cultural center on campus — the Calpulli Center. His goal is to get different cultures together for events to learn to respect each other. Respect is also the underlying force behind his participation in immigration-related events in our area.

Before Tezcatlipoca got his name in the newspapers — and on TV and on the blogs — he was working in relative anonymity with groups like the Tonantzin Collective based in Costa Mesa.

He was born Benito Acosta and, yes, he changed his name. He’s gotten flak for that one too. He says he doesn’t want to accept the name given to make his ancestors more acceptable to European conquerors. Somehow that reasoning raises a few hackles.

Tezcatlipoca was born in America, spent part of his childhood in Guerrero, Mexico and then came back to grow up in Anaheim. He dropped out of high school when he decided that what they were selling didn’t relate to him. When he wised up to the power of education he came back and made his way to community college where he is working toward transferring to a UC school, preferably UCLA.

He became politically aware in 1994 when Proposition 187 prompted protests in California. He said he met people at rallies and meetings who soon became mentors for him.

The Tonantzin Collective is now focused on defending the rights of undocumented immigrants. But Tezcatlipoca has also worked with the group to get high school students ready for and interested in college. Tezcatlipoca said he has a passion for helping young people understand what college can do for them. He wants them to learn they can balance that education with other areas they are passionate about.

Tezcatlipoca’s passion is his dominant characteristic. It’s the reason he’s in the public’s eye now and the reason I’ve heard him called “scary.”

He may not always use tactics palatable to everyone, but you can’t have too many people out there with a passion for protecting the rights and improving the lives of others.

His behavior has had some consider him a detriment to the battle to raise understanding about immigration issues. He said sometimes he feels the need to speak out of turn when he feels voices and ideas are being suppressed. That is what worries some who feel his actions at events are often a disruption and will lead to unnecessary controversy.

His passion is also the reason negative quotes about him appear in blogs nationwide, including this one from the American Flag Blog website.

“Acosta epitomizes what most (legal) Americans fear about the current flood of illegal immigrants — that they are militantly anti-American, are consciously and systematically using our own legal system (with lots of help from the ACLU) to further weaken America and they are ready to threaten violence with only the slightest provocation.”

Of comments like those Tezcatlipoca wrote in an e-mail:

“I try not to read comments like these, because there’s so much hate, ignorance and anger out there. I’m just a person who feels that our elected representatives are unfair with some people because of political, religious and racial reasons.

“When this happens, we all need to take a stand and that’s what I do.”

Who Tezcatlipoca is may be a mystery to some, but he’s pretty clear on the issue.

“I’m not an ‘illegal,’ or a ‘radical,’ or a ‘militant’ or any of the mostly unprintable things people throw at me and people like me who are trying to change many peoples’ attitudes toward millions of immigrants among us.”