Today is the second day I've watched the high school students at Jefferson High School walkout. It's hard to miss from my window, with all the gritos of "Viva la Raza!" exhuberance - along with two police cars trailing behind them on the lane of expensive homes on Donaldson Street. It looked to be about 60 students or so, dressed in their regulation khaki pants with red or white polo shirts and sweaters - a patriotic rumble with the occasional blue windbreaker.
Jefferson High School, I believe, is the oldest high school in Texas. It's a gorgeous Spanish colonial estate, with a Moorish dome, archways, mosaic tile, and I've been told it was a country club back in the day. That's in the days of segregation, when students like the ones marching today weren't permitted in the exclusive district next to the barrio where I live. After desegregation, everything changed, of course, and now few of the upper-class latino parents send their children to Jefferson High School, which is fed by the surrounding working-class barrios.
The cops watching the students are probably latinos, just like the principal and teachers. I hope they remember what it's like to be an immigrant. I hope they're teaching the students that the civil rights we have in this country have not come easily or cheaply. And that it's been us, those who have been marginalized, stereotyped, caricaturized, and downright hated - who have made this dream of America come true for all.
It's quiet now, and only the rooster next door is squacking for freedom. I think I'm gonna let him out.
Jefferson High School, I believe, is the oldest high school in Texas. It's a gorgeous Spanish colonial estate, with a Moorish dome, archways, mosaic tile, and I've been told it was a country club back in the day. That's in the days of segregation, when students like the ones marching today weren't permitted in the exclusive district next to the barrio where I live. After desegregation, everything changed, of course, and now few of the upper-class latino parents send their children to Jefferson High School, which is fed by the surrounding working-class barrios.
The cops watching the students are probably latinos, just like the principal and teachers. I hope they remember what it's like to be an immigrant. I hope they're teaching the students that the civil rights we have in this country have not come easily or cheaply. And that it's been us, those who have been marginalized, stereotyped, caricaturized, and downright hated - who have made this dream of America come true for all.
It's quiet now, and only the rooster next door is squacking for freedom. I think I'm gonna let him out.
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As a side note, I encourage everyone reading this to pass along the word that EChALE, the Chicana/o graduate student group at UTSA will be holding a "Border Crossing" Statue Peace Vigil in response to the ultra-conservative Movement for the Future's demand that the statue be taken down. This is an attempt to whitewash not only our cultural legacy, but the legacy of America, which was built upon the shoulders of immigrants. The vigil will be held on April 13th at 12:30 on in front of the statue on the UTSA 1604 campus. For more info, contact echale_utsa@hotmail.com.