Cicely Bingener: Looking back on your schooling, did adults at your school demonstrate respect for all the students at the school?

Rosalba Adame-Leon: I can say that most of my teachers did, but at some point I did feel ignored. I felt like a ghost just passing through classes. Sometimes, I remember not even being spoken to by the teacher. If you did not create a disturbance, then they never spoke to you. I went to some classes and never participated, but the majority of the teachers did “invite” us in to participate.

Treatment was not equal across the board. At Roosevelt, when I was there, the best of the classes and the best of everything was reserved for the Japanese American kids and only the top Black and Latino students. The Black and Latino students were mostly forgotten. We were just somebody they wanted to get out of there. We were not engaged. We were in the school but not a part of the school.

CB: Did adults at your school demonstrate that they valued students from different cultural backgrounds?

RAL: The Asian American students and the few white students tended to get the best classes. When minority students asked for classes, they were always “full.” I spoke to my guidance counselor only twice. The first time was when I got pregnant and he said I must go. The second time was for a geometry class and he said. “What are you going to do with a geometry class?” - like don’t waste my seat.

CB: Did they demonstrate that they valued students whose families spoke languages other than English?

RAL: Oh, no! They made you feel ashamed that you had an accent. When you spoke another language and you went in an English classroom, you didn’t participate.

CB: Did teachers utilize different cultural traditions as examples in classroom instruction? Were cultural traditions or customs celebrated in school activities?

RAL: I don’t remember ever doing anything like that in school.

CB: Did your school’s curriculum encourage students to draw upon knowledge that they learned at home and in their community?

RAL: No, not at all.

CB: How did teachers or other adults respond when students shared this type of knowledge?

RAL: I think they made you feel like “What is that?” and “Don’t speak about that here.” Like it was something awful to say out loud in public. I remember one of my teachers, a white Jewish woman. She was very nice as a person, but when it came to sharing my culture, what Mexicans do, she was always like, “Don’t speak about that,” like it was something dirty.

CB: How about today, do adults at the schools you observe demonstrate respect for all the students at the school? How do they show (or not show) respect?

RAL: I think that now the district has made some policies that they have to follow whether they want to or not, so I do see some cultural celebrations like Black History month and Latino celebrations. Now it’s done with more respect and with teachers decorating their classrooms or schoolyards. They hang pictures and stuff but I don’t think they go into the history of why we are celebrating. I think it’s more compliance driven, so they can say yes we’re celebrating, “look at these pictures” or “somebody sold tacos on Cinco de Mayo.” It’s not really deep.

CB: Are certain students treated with more or less respect than others?

RAL: This is something I see at Locke High School. When the students wanted to have a school dance with Spanish music, at first it was a problem. It was seen as them trying to separate. But then they (school officials) began to see that this was a type of music that a majority of the kids listened to, they did allow some dances. This gave the students a sense of respect, not only of their culture, but also of themselves, as students and young people. Everyone was invited to the dances and many (non-Latinos) came just to find out what the differences were, out of curiosity.

CB: Do adults at the schools you observe demonstrate that they value students from different cultural backgrounds? Do they demonstrate that they value students whose families speak languages other than English?

RAL: I think today there are ESL classes and I think they are better off than when I was a student. My needs were never met. I think high schools are looking more seriously at providing the right materials to meet second language students’ needs. Jordan High School is doing a pretty good job already and Locke High School has new leadership that is moving in the right direction. The bilingual department is looking more into the needs of those students, so that they are not just “ghosts.” It’s definitely improving. I see that especially under the leadership of Dr. Rousseau. Fremont High School is a majority Latino school and has over 5,000 students. There, the students are still pretty much treated like cattle. It’s almost impossible to meet students’ needs in an environment like that. So, I don’t know what’s going to happen there.

CB: Does these schools’ curriculum encourage students to draw upon knowledge that they learn at home and in their community?

RAL: I’ve been in several classrooms where students are given writing assignments and are encouraged to talk about themselves and not be ashamed to do it. I’m happy to see a new generation of teachers in some of the schools of this district. We used to get the “must hire" people to fill up the position. But now, for example, Locke High school has a group of young, energetic teachers who come with their ideas on how ALL the children are going to get educated and who are not afraid to say, “Yes, I represent this group and this is what I bring to the table.”

CB: Do adults at your school send unspoken messages that tell you whether or not they care about equal schooling? What would be an example?

RAL: I see it mainly in teacher attitudes. For example, I have gone to certain schools and passed teachers in the lunch area and I’ve smiled to them and said good morning and gotten no response. And if this happens to adults, I can imagine what goes on in the classroom. And then, the children don’t smile. So, you can see that they are taking in the message that this is not a friendly place. Teachers’ intolerance shows. But I do see a lot less than when I began working in this district 12 years ago.

CB: How would you know that schools are doing everything that they can to respect and validate their students’ culture, language, and community knowledge?

RAL: I think the best scenario would be, if I could walk into a school and see that ALL students were learning two languages, everyone being taught at the same level, and everyone having the same right to access. If I see classrooms where all students’ work is displayed and schools where teachers and principals were hired on the basis that they know how to teach kids, that would tell me that that is a school where everyone is being respected and being treated equally.

CB: What actions would you recommend to students or parents interested in joining this struggle for equality and educational justice?

RAL: I always tell parents to stop complaining about the restrooms. Go clean the restrooms if that bothers you, but go into those classrooms. Look at your kids’ work. Ask the right questions about why your kid isn’t advancing. Parents have all the tools and we give them the information. I wish I knew how to get them to say, “I’m going to speak to the superintendent because this isn’t right” or “I’m going to write a letter to the President because he’s not doing right in education.” All I can do is tell parents what’s going on, it’s up to them to pick up the flag and go. As members of advisory committee they have the right to question why Title 1 Programs aren’t working or how the monies are being spent.

CB: The Brown decision held out the broad promise of a society no longer shaped by the racism of Jim Crow segregation. What difference can equitable schooling make in today’s struggle against racism?

RAL: I think we have taken some steps, but we haven’t changed a lot of things, so we can’t let the struggle die. Otherwise we allow the same things to happen again. Racism is there but what is scary is that we may not see it—we see the results because there is still so much failure. It may not be so obvious in society but when we see the same problems of our kids not succeeding in education, we know that we are still in the same boat.