Ma Barker Jr. High

About ten years ago my wife and I were driving south of Oakland and came upon a small building with a sign on it that told us it was THE TIBURCIO VASQUEZ PUBLIC HEALTH CLINIC. I burst out laughing, which I admit right here was an example of cultural insensitivity. 

For those unfamiliar with California history, Tiburcio Vasquez was a bandit who operated from around 1852 to 1874, when he was caught, tried for the murder of three innocent bystanders during a robbery, and hanged after Governor Romualdo Pacheco denied him clemency. Whether Vasquez actually shot the bystanders or someone else in his gang shot them is unclear. 

Vasquez was colorful, charming and much too successful with Latinas, which troubled their husbands and fathers and probably led to his final capture. Even before his death Vasquez had become a folk hero of the sort familiar to Americans, who made giants out of Jesse James, Sam Bass, John Dillinger, mafia dons and so on. "They stole from the rich and gave to the poor." Vasquez portrayed himself as an avenging revolutionary figure as he roamed from Sonoma County to Los Angeles holding up stores in small towns.

There is no doubt of the legitimacy of the anger among the original Californios, who were cheated and very badly treated when California was taken from them by force.

Today I read in the paper that an elementary school in East Salinas, a neighborhood known for gang activities, has been named by its school board for Tiburcio Vasquez. They did this to honor our nation's Latino heritage. I support this, of course, and I suggest that to honor strong independent women, we should build a Ma Barker Junior High. She was colorful. A Machine Gun Kelly High School might signal our support for innovative technologies.