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Ernest Rodriguez' "Impressions," 1960s-1980s
American GI Forum by Ernest Rodriguez Page 2
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-2- In fact is said there are more Mexican people residing in Los Angeles than any other city o Mexico outside of Mexico City. To quote another authority there are more Mexican Americans in San Quentin Prison than there is enrolled in California;s colleges. Mexican Americans trail the national level of education for Anglos by 4 years and that of black Americans by 2 years. So you can readily see that education is one of the most serious of problems facing our ethnic group. Already we have witnessed social for us at work to draw attention to the educational needs of our young people. At every conference held to hear the problems of Mexican Americans, our leaders urge school official, state and government officials to action on these problems. Unfortunately not enough has been done in this direction. Some of the frustration of Mexican Americans directly affected by the lack of official action was dramatically portrayed in the much published walkout of MA's students from East Los Angeles high school a couple years ago. Our American school systems have too long merely tolerated the MA Child rather than accommodating him within the system. School systems built on standards a values of a middle class Anglo society tend to ignore the difference in cultural background of the Mexican American child who very often comes from a Spanish speaking home and therefore is in need of bi-lingual instruction in order that language presents no barrier to his learning progress. In many schools to the southwest this problem is compounded by discriminatory practices by some insensitive educators who literally force these children out of school and into alienation. As one Mexican American child in a school in California said "how can I like school when the teacher calls me dumb" This dismal failure of a school system accounts for the fact that 40% of the so called "mentally handicapped" in California are Mexican Americans. Some of you may wonder whether we have any such problem here in Davenport and the Quad City area. Some of you may also remember when you yourselves experienced a similar language problem upon entering school. Having to learn English before you could learn why was being taught by the teacher and thus failing a grade or two behind the rest of your age group and later dropping out to go to work and contribute to the family larder.
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-2- In fact is said there are more Mexican people residing in Los Angeles than any other city o Mexico outside of Mexico City. To quote another authority there are more Mexican Americans in San Quentin Prison than there is enrolled in California;s colleges. Mexican Americans trail the national level of education for Anglos by 4 years and that of black Americans by 2 years. So you can readily see that education is one of the most serious of problems facing our ethnic group. Already we have witnessed social for us at work to draw attention to the educational needs of our young people. At every conference held to hear the problems of Mexican Americans, our leaders urge school official, state and government officials to action on these problems. Unfortunately not enough has been done in this direction. Some of the frustration of Mexican Americans directly affected by the lack of official action was dramatically portrayed in the much published walkout of MA's students from East Los Angeles high school a couple years ago. Our American school systems have too long merely tolerated the MA Child rather than accommodating him within the system. School systems built on standards a values of a middle class Anglo society tend to ignore the difference in cultural background of the Mexican American child who very often comes from a Spanish speaking home and therefore is in need of bi-lingual instruction in order that language presents no barrier to his learning progress. In many schools to the southwest this problem is compounded by discriminatory practices by some insensitive educators who literally force these children out of school and into alienation. As one Mexican American child in a school in California said "how can I like school when the teacher calls me dumb" This dismal failure of a school system accounts for the fact that 40% of the so called "mentally handicapped" in California are Mexican Americans. Some of you may wonder whether we have any such problem here in Davenport and the Quad City area. Some of you may also remember when you yourselves experienced a similar language problem upon entering school. Having to learn English before you could learn why was being taught by the teacher and thus failing a grade or two behind the rest of your age group and later dropping out to go to work and contribute to the family larder.
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