By María del Sagrario Ramírez
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 19, 1997

Mexican-American history is a part of American his-story! Her-story! Our-story

Arizona Daily Wildcat María del Sagrario Ramírez

Being part of a large and close-knit Mexican family, there was little room or desire for friendships outside of my family structure, which meant there was little impact from outside influences. I had my cousins, Lupita and Carmen Leticia, who were my constant childhood companions and continue to be a large part of my social life. It was the family adults who taught us kids about Mexican culture and heritage. Mi abuelita did family history, my aunts did traditions, and on weekends, the whole family ventured into Tijuana, Baja California, just to keep in touch.

We recognized Dia de los Muertos more often than Halloween, Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) more than Chrismas Day and for the new year, New Years Eve was for the adults and Dia de los Reyes Magos (January 7) was for us kids. We would place our shoes next to the door and in the morning we found money and other trinkets. During these family holidays, our parents paid careful attention to emphasize tradition and culture, as was the norm in many Mexican American families.

When we were old enough, Lupita, Carmen and I would spend our summers in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, practicing our Spanish and teaching English to our cousins. This was my family's Mexican American studies program and I am lucky to have had it. So now, as I see parents like myself desperately trying to convince the school board that Bilingual Education is neither enough nor the same as Hispanic/ Chicano/ Mexican American Studies program, I wish I could do the same for my children as my parents did for me.

Over 40 percent of these high school students drop out before reaching their junior year; this is tragic and unacceptable. Anyone who knows teen-agers knows these are crucial times in the shaping of their young minds as future leaders. Teens are constantly looking for someone to relate with, someone who will plant confidence in themselves and self-assurance in their existence. By approving the program and providing all students the chance to learn Mexican American history, Tucson Unified School District board members will be developing an area of interest for Hispanic students to relate to, thereby building confidence and self-esteem through the study of history.

Tell me this isn't true! I dare you. Up until the 1960s, there is little to no mention in American history books that there were any Mexicanos in the United States. Yet in one of our history books, "Occupied America: A History of Chicanos" by Rodolfo Acuña, it points out that Mexicanos and Americans have been interacting and making history since together since the early 1600s. We all know about the invasion of Texas and the annexation of land from there to California, but how about everything that happened after the war?

Do American history books cite and discuss the atrocities committed by the Texas Rangers, who murdered and raped thousands of innocent Mexicanos along the Mexican border? How about the Greaser Laws that outlawed Mexican culture and the Spanish language and the Sleepy Lagoon Trails? Or thousands of United States-born American citizens who were rounded up at supermarkets and street corners and deported into Mexico, or the farm labor workers who worked in conditions no white man ever wanted or would ever work? And what about the Mexican American soldiers who have defended this country by fighting in five American wars? American Indians and Mexican Americans used their native languages to communicate in code amongst each other and other American troops during World War II, and between 375,000 to 500,000 Chicanos served in the armed forces earning "more medals of honor than any other ethnic or racial group."

These small pieces of history will instill huge chunks of pride in Hispanic youth. Through their ancestors' struggles, they will learn about the many struggles to gain American-born rights, and they can see how they have always been a true part of American history. Granted, not all of it is as grand-a-splendor as some would like to think it is, but Mexicanos were there!

Doesn't this count for any respect and a place in American history? Yes, it does! Some school systems have already added such a program. Other American school systems, starting with TUSD, should right the wrong and make this happen.

Mexican American culture contributed to this country's history and it deserves its own study department, its own chance to be taught and learned and its own place in the memories of future generations. If not, parents will do it and it won't be pretty! Revolutions usually aren't. Depending on the life experience of some of these parents, this can make for some pretty angry teen-agers.

In the words of my daughter: Do right and vote fair! TUSD, show us you care!

And in the words of Mexican General Emilio Zapata: Prefiero morir de pie, que vivir de rodillas! (I would rather die on my feet that live on my knees!) Chicanos have the greatest quotes.

María del Sagrario Ramírez is a senior majoring in Mexican American studies and journalism. She offers a special welcome to assistant professors Gilbert Quintero and Arturo Gonzalez into the Mexican American Studies program.