The Power of Latino Leadership

CHAPTER 13Building a Diverse and Humanistic Society

STARTING SCHOOL NOT SPEAKING inglés was my first foray into the Anglo world. My teachers seemed cold and distant, had strange rules, and did not hug or touch the children. And the food tasted bland. Before the civil rights movement, America was whitebread. I never saw a Latino in any professional position or as a teacher, bus driver, or even a clerk in a nice store. The schools were whitewashing institutions that taught the history, norms, and values of the dominant culture. Like most children I wanted to be accepted, and the path to success was assimilation. I learned to read and write inglés and even forgot most of my español.

When I became a teenager, there was no Catholic escuela (school) ...