In his own words

My current classroom is an anomaly: top to bottom, it is the exception, not the rule. Walk the halls of this entire building, and you'll find no other student space with carpet, mood lighting (I don't know if the switch is broken or the overhead fluorescents, but I thank baby Jesus for the lack of glare), and cabinets instead of closets. It is so quintessentially ESL. My space also has three doors: one of which I've disguised with a giant collage ("That's not a door," I say, and they believe me.), one of which leads to the warren of band rooms, go figure, and one of which is strong enough to lead to a bomb shelter intead of the main hallway. Needless to say, no window, so there's always a little air of mystery whenever we say, "Come in."

At my house I almost never answer a knock or the doorbell without peeking through the curtains. Here I'm denied that caution, but at least so far the Attendance Office does screen for Jehovah's Witnesses and magazine salespeople, and besides, no one here hesitates. A knock is just a gesture. Everyone who knows me walks in as if he's at home, and, more or less, really, they are.

This week that heavy door swung open to reveal two pleasant surprises, visitors who were entirely unexpected. Both former students had been in fairly recent touch, either by telephone or e-mail, but in-person is always better. No substitute for a smile or a hug, or even just making the effort. One of those day-brighteners left behind a commentary he wrote for his high school paper; I expect he still may be keeping a copy editor busy, but he's come a long way, and I'm pleased for him and for me, too:


Living la vida Latino

“Americans, what, nothin’ better to do? Why don’t you kick yourself out? You’re an immigrant too. . .”

--The White Stripes

Growing up Latino can be one of the greatest things in this world, but it can also be the worst. Being Latino to me has been the greatest gift that life has given me, because it allows me to stand out in any way, shape or form.

What makes a Latino so special to me is not just our food or our margaritas; it’s our culture, our language, our hometowns. It’s the rhythm that we have running through our blood, the passion that we have about what we’re doing in a specific moment, and last and most important, the love that we have for our families.

But besides all of the good things that make up a Latino, there’s another side that most Latinos have to face everyday, and that’s not being able to have human rights in a country full of opportunities.

To me, growing up as a young Latino has been the hardest thing I have ever lived with, because what sets us a part from typical Americans is fear. It’s the fear of seeing your favorite relative being taken away against his or her will, or not being able to see your best friend ever again just because of a bad mistake. It’s the fear of having your babies grow up in a place and then being forced to leave this country, and go to another place with worse conditions than the place where they were born.

I’m one of the few who is eligible to be living here with the proper requirements. What makes people who aren’t eligible to be living here mad is that our government is gambling with the lives of Latinos and their rights to stay here by threatening us with an immigration law. I believe this immigration law is just another of many other cover ups to make all Americans forget about the war in Iraq, which is much greater than any other problem this country is having.

You might think that immigrants are here to stay because they want to, but that’s wrong. They’re here because they have families to take care of, they have loved ones that are sick and need the kind of money that their healthcare won’t pay. There are many other reasons why illegal aliens have to leave their countries. You may be complaining that they’re taking every single job there is, but if immigrants won’t do them, just tell me who would. You might be complaining about them not paying taxes. Trust me they pay them, but since they have to have a fake Social Security number to be able to work in this country, they don’t even get a penny back. That money just disappears; either that or the government just keeps it. But it is up to us to find a solution to this confusion. Just imagine if the solution was reversed. What would you do? You would do the impossible to survive, which is the only reason they’re doing this.

The government knows what’s up by not getting rid of immigrants that they desperately need. Plus they don’t have the resources to kick them all out.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s not just a “Mexican thing,” it’s an “every single immigrant thing,” whether you’re Italian, Venezuelan, Asian, or Australian.