Legacy of the Missions

* Re “Darker Side of Mission Era Emerges in Light of History,” Sept. 2.

The Times contradicts itself. On Page 2 of Valley / Metro is a sentimental photo piece on San Fernando Mission (“Mission Style”). I have been told by indigenous people from the San Fernando Valley that not only was the mission system brutal, genocidal and slave-oriented, it also destroyed an area that once had many lakes and great beauty.

Please, enough of the despicable romantic lies about [Father Junipero] Serra and the padres. Tell the truth from the people who heard it firsthand from their grandparents: Indian slaves were forced to build the missions, plant olive trees and all the rest of it. California had one of the highest concentrations of indigenous people. There was a holocaust here in sunny California. I’m Jewish and I can say that. I urge schools to teach the truth and bring the languages and cultures of California Indians to the forefront of education.

JOSHUA SPIEGELMAN

Sylmar

* Re “Valley’s Next Century Seen as Bloom or Rust,” Sept. 4.

The article emphasized the need for improved educational opportunities. Sometimes I feel that all of the academicians and The Times itself operate in a vacuum.

Are you not aware of the lack of control exercised in today’s classrooms? Students actually threaten teachers with bodily harm to them, their children or their pets if they don’t get a passing grade. The ability to discipline students has been eroded by the powers that be to the point that it is virtually nonexistent. Enter any classroom, particularly in a high school, and you will see students sleeping at their desks or paying absolutely no attention to the instructor. To a lesser extent the same attitude prevails in our community colleges. I attended a community college class and was amazed that so many youngsters never did their homework.

I also feel the bilingual concept is harmful. At the college, students everywhere were chattering in their native tongues. . . . I can readily accept that their fathers and mothers may have just come from the “old country” and therefore speak in their native tongue, but why shouldn’t the children be more comfortable speaking English, the language of their country?

The deterioration of the Valley and most other areas of Los Angeles can be directly attributed to the inability to discipline and control the student. . . . I challenge anyone to show me a country where the native tongue is not the principal language of the schoolroom . . . other than ours.

LOUIS BALOCCA

Glendale