Raza Youth Conference relives Blowouts of '68

Published: Monday, March 16, 1998

Monday, March 16, 1998

High school students encouraged to continue their education

By Barbara Ortutay

Daily Bruin Contributor

In March 1968, over 20,000 students walked out of their high schools in protest of the state of Chicano education. Today, the event is remembered as the East Los Angeles High School Blowouts.

Reviviendo las Explociones, (Reliving the Blowouts) was the theme of Saturday's fifth-annual Raza Youth Conference, organized by UCLA's MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan).

Though three decades have passed, "we are under siege in our nation's schools," said keynote speaker Sal Castro.

Castro was one of the leaders in 1968's blowout, and currently teaches at Belmont High School near downtown Los Angeles. Students welcomed him with a standing ovation as he took the stage.

The conference urged students to "finish high school, graduate, and pursue higher education," said Lina Velasco, co-chairperson of the conference. "They have the power to lead the struggle," she continued.

Chicano students face the effects of the anti-bilingual education initiative Proposition 227, and the abolition of affirmative action in college admissions by Prop. 209.

Over 1,200 students, teachers, advisors and parents attended the event, from more than 50 southern California high schools.

Castro's opening speech vividly illustrated a Mexican child's experience in school, from reading Dick and Jane books where "everybody was pink except Spot the dog," to learning history from a white male perspective that pervades most American history books.

Castro brought up examples from American history as seen from the Chicano perspective to illustrate the missing voice in history books.

"There is Mexican blood in the cemeteries of Gettysburg. That's part of your American heritage," he said, draping an American and a Mexican flag over his shoulders.

Following the speech, students dispersed to the over 25 workshops offered. Ranging from "How to go to College for Free" to "Let's Talk About Sex," the workshops offered a wide variety of options for students to learn more about issues facing the Chicano community, as well as what to do about them.

"It makes you think twice," said high school student Horacio Chavez, of the conference's stress on higher education.

One workshop, "Queer Aztlan" addressed the issues facing the Chicana/o queer community through personal experiences, films and discussion.

Speakers defined terms such as homophobia and transgender to students, and promoted acceptance .

"Machismo is emphasized in the Latino community. Women are expected to be domesticated and subservient, and people are supposed to be attracted to the opposite sex," said workshop leader Jamie Estrada-Zambrano.

"For you to be sitting in this room is a big step," he added.

Another workshop, entitled "Pushed out of the High School: What the System Forgot to Tell you," focused on institutionalized racism, classism and sexism, and how it causes inequality in education.

"The school system is designed for white, male, middle-class students," said workshop leader Tomas Duran, a former member of MEChA at USC.

"You get 12 years of institutionalized discrimination by the time you finish high school," he continued.

According to a report by the U.S. Department of Education, 30 percent of Hispanic students between the ages of 16 and 24 drop out of school, compared to 9 percent of white students and 12 percent of African American students.

"We are leading the nation in teen pregnancy and high school dropout rates. That's nothing to be proud of," Castro said.

"Your parents did not send you to school to find a husband, a wife. Ladies, if you want to go to college and you've got a boyfriend, dump him. There are no excuses for not going to school. It's time, it's overdue," he continued.

In the last half of the conference, students participated in a panel discussion, with adults acting as facilitators. They discussed the theme of the conference (the '68 Blowouts) as it relates to them today.

"Overall, it was a very successful conference. We got a lot of positive feedback from students and advisors," said co-chairman Henry Perez.

"Besides a minor glitch at lunch, everything went smooth," he said. That glitch amounted to a delay in getting enough food for the 1,200 hungry attendees.

"For the past two years, we've had over 1,000 people attending, and the numbers are growing," he continued.

DERRICK KUDO

Sal Castro, who led the East L.A. Blowouts thirty years ago, spoke to high school students about Latinos' place in the U.S.'s heritage.