Monday, October 10, 2016

La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution

I was invited to be the Key Note Speaker for a Hispanic Heritage event.  These are my remarks, written in Spanglish. 


Hispanic Americans: Embracing, Enriching and Enabling America
September 29, 2016

Good after La Tuna, thank you so much for inviting me today as you celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.  When Luz Kraft asked me to speak I was quite flattered and I accepted.  After I hung up, I thought to myself, what was she thinking – ME talking about Hispanic heritage?  My next thought was – what was I thinking – Me talking about Hispanic heritage?  I don’t even like that word – Hispanic. 

 

Let me say that I am not an expert on Chicano Studies, Mexican Culture, or Hispanic history, I’m a social worker.  I’m just a kid from the barrio of San Juan in central El Paso.  As Freddy Fender says I’m a good ole Meskin boy, anyone remember his song, Redneck Meskin Boy?  That gives you a clue about my history and my heritage, I’m a Freddy Fender fan, Freddy Fender and the Texas Tornados, Hey Baby Que Paso. 

 

Let me talk about Hispanic a little.  The word Hispanic refers to being from or about Spain.  I visited Spain in 1977 and went to a restaurant where I ordered tacos, deme unos tacos por favor.  They didn’t know what I wanted.  Tacos, sabe tacos, de carne molida o de pollo?  Silly me, only later did I realize I wanted Mexican food, they didn’t have Mexican food in Spain. A lot has changed since then.  I took mija to Oktoberfest in Germany in 2011 and they had a café named Taco Libre and there was a german man in liderhosen with a mascara, you know like the Blue Demon.  Taco libre en Alemania.

 

Anyway, I don’t like the term Hispanic.  And I don’t like the term Latino because that means of or pertaining to Latin America.  When I see myself, and my compas, and all of you, we are NOT of or pertaining to Spain or Latin America.  We’re Americans.  I prefer Mexican American, but then I’m American born so I should I say American-Mexican.  The US census form says Hispanic so I guess since MY government uses that term that I SHOULD too.  I shouldn’t argue with the government, but it’s in my nature.  Porque somos pelioneros, right?   So who or what am I?  No se.  As that great American Vinny Barbarino once said, I am soooo confused. 

 

But, the theme is Hispanic Americans: Embracing, Enriching and Enabling America.  Let me tell you about my sister, que descanse en paz, she was the oldest and because mom, ama I called her – ama was always working, my sister literally raised us.  Anyway, mom was born in El Paso and my grandparents were from Delicias, she was born during one of those visits to El Paso, but she was raised in Delicias.  At age 15 she ran away from home and returned to El Paso.  She met my sister’s father who lived in Juarez, they lived in Juarez when Maria Estela was born.  She was the oldest and the only one NOT born a citizen. 

 

One day in 1993 we were all arguing about Operation Blockade, who remembers that.  That’s when the border patrol lined up along the river and literally closed the border.  She was in favor and I was against it.  Cabrona, they shoulda blockaded you, I told her.  I loved my sister.  One day while driving to ALB I was listening to a CD of Rocio Dorcal, you know, the Spanish singer, she was signing Amor Eterno.  I’d heard that song so many times in my life, but it wasn’t until that day that I realized it was a song of mourning, it was NOT a love song.  I put the song on repeat and cried all the way to ALB listening to the song and remembering Maria Estela.  Back to Operation Blockade.  Back then, El Paso was the car theft capital of the state and the conventional wisdom was that Mexican nationals were coming across to steal cars and taking them to Juarez.  Police and the border patrol said this would stop auto thefts and other crimes.  Well, it didn’t!!!  It turned out that was our own citizens stealing cars and taking them to Juarez. 

 

This is all a part of our heritage, the mixed legal statuses in our families.  The language we use, aye buey, no manches.  The single mom households.  Children raising children.  Taquitos con crema en Juarez.  The Kentucky Club.  Long Sundays shopping for cheap goods.  We used to walk to catch el trambia to the placita downtown, then catch another trambia into Juarez.  As soon as we crossed the bridge, young boys would get on the trolley and start signing rancheras, always finishing with ‘tan tan’ then walking around with their hands out expecting pennies or nickels.  This is the zarape from which we were made.  Life on the border. 

 

I’ve told people, we who have indigenous roots have lots of culture and history that goes back centuries.  Cabeza de Baca passed through the valley between Marfa and Alpine in the 1530s.  Beginning in 1540 the Pueblo Indians from the ALB area suffered assaults from waves of ‘settlers’ and missionaries and conquistadores. Don Juan de Onate crossed the Rio Bravo a few miles from here in 1598 – all of that antes de Jamestown in 1604.  Do you remember Jamestown, the first permanent English Settlement?  Don Juan was actually born in Zacatecas, so technically he’s Mexican.  I visited Jamestown in 1981 and from the dates on the historical exhibits, the Spaniards were in that area before the British. 

 

I certainly agree that hispanos in America have enriched this country.  I was in Boston a couple of years ago.  My nephew lives in the area and I took him some frozen chicos tacos.  Chicos is one of those tasty treats that defines hispanos del chuco.  So my nephew and I go to a restaurant near the hotel. What’s on the menu?  Quesadillas and nachos, they weren’t very good.  I was there for a conference, and registration was in the afternoon so that morning I took a trolley tour.  I stopped at Cheers, you know, the bar where everyone knows your name.  The customer next to me at the bar ordered tacos – IN BOSTON, they’re eating tacos.  Later that day, after the opening session of the conference there was a social mixer, and what was on the table with hors d’ouevres?  Chile con queso and tostaditas.  In Boston, tacos, quesadillas, nachos, chile con queso.  I didn’t get to taste Boston baked beans, or boston cream pie, or New England clam chowder.  Nope, I ate quesadillas and tacos. Boston knows tacos, but Spain, not so much.  How can I be Hispanic when Spain doesn’t know my food.  I visited a placita there and they had a farmer’s market with lots of Spanish speakers mostly from central and south America in BOSTON.  I even got to see Big Papi, who knows him? David Ortiz, with the Red Sox.  Certainly, Hispanics in Boston are enriching one of the original 13 colonies.  Big Papi, and let’s not forget A Rod, and Ron Rivera, two more hispanos who are enriching America. 

 

When we think of cultura, we think about our language, food, music, dress, dance, customs.  I think of the Mexican influence on me.  From my childhood, at family gatherings.  The music was Cuco Sanchez, Pedro Infante, Antonio and Vicente.  Later I remember Vicki Carr, somos novios, and Eydie Gorme con los Dandys singing Gema.  They don’t write lyrics like that anymore.  Eres la gema que Dios convirtiera en mujer para el bien de mi vida, what a lovely thought.  Fast forward in the music world, Linda Ronstadt was on AM radio in the 70s with a group called the Stone Poneys and later as a solo artist, I was a fan, I have those albums.  And then she recorded Canciones de mi Padre, Mas Conciones, and Frenesi.  I’m a tad biased, I think Frenesi is her best work.  Did you know her roots are Mexican & German?  And that she did not speak Spanish when she recorded Canciones?  Of course we know Chakira and Cristina.  Tuesday night after the debate, channel surfing I heard a young girl, Elia Esparza, singing a Selena song on one of those talent shows, she’s from El Paso.  In the entertainment and sports world, Hispanics have enriched America.

 

All of you Hispanos, Chicanos, Latinos, Meskins here at La Tuna, you’re dedicated public servants.  Many of you put your lives on the line every day.  You are part of justice & corrections system in our country and part of your job is to keep us safe.  Your stories are much like mine.  How many of you are veterans, stand up?  You served your country and now you are public servants.  You have embraced America.  Hoooaaah!  I too am a proud and patriotic veteran, with 31 years of military service.

 

But we have many more examples of Hispanics embracing and enriching America, what about the cuates from San Anto, Julian and Joaquin.  One is the mayor of SAT and the other is Secretary of HUD, and there was that other HUD guy from SAT, Henry Cisneros.  I have a beef with President Obama, the highest ranking Hispanics in his administration is Secretary of Labor: Hilda Solis and Tom Perez.  Really?  Is that what Mexicans are good for – Labor?  Why not defense or state of Secretary of the Army?  No, keep the Mexicans at HUD or at Labor.  Chihuahua Obama!  Nonetheless, these are some of the highest ranking hispanos in D.C.  In El Paso we have a civic group of local latinos who are dedicated to instilling Hispanic pride, it’s known as CommUNITY en Accion: Richard Castro, Raymond Palacios, Ed Escudero for example.  It includes mostly Hispanics who are business and education leaders.  I’m proud to be a member.  Do you agree, these folks are embracing, enriching and enabling Americans?

 

There are an estimated 320 million Americans in our country, and of those 55, million are hispanic.  That means that one out of every six people is Hispano or Latino or Meskin – ijole.  That includes 11,000,000 or so hispanos who are here illegally.  I have a question for the trumpster, where are you going to get 275,000 buses to deport them?  That’s a lot of raza.

 

Anyone remember Mario Moreno?  He was known for a few things, the hat, the little mustache, the jokes and those pantalones bajo de la barriga.  Do you see his influence today?  It’s everywhere.  Young men wearing their pants down low with their underwear showing.  That’s Cantinflas’ influence on America.  Do you remember the old ’67 chevy low rider?  Yep, you guessed it, low riders went main stream and now you see them everywhere, not just in San Juan or Segundo Barrio.  The bloods and the crips drive low riders, we even saw a few hydraulic shocks in those fast and furious movies.  I was watching a show on the food channel with Anthony Bourdain in Iran.  Yep, they had low riders in Iran – imaginate eso, low and slow in Persia.  Not only are WE, tu y yo, enriching America, we are going global.  Orale!

 

When I joined the army in 1973 I learned about discrimination.  Why didn’t I know about it before?  Who was going to discriminate against me, the other Mexicans?  I didn’t know any better, but there were only a couple of Hispanic teachers in my schools.  Lots of kids, like me, didn’t speak English.  My Spanish teacher was Mr. Bostic, imagine that, a very nice guero Americano teaching us Spanish! 

 

Anyway, I grew up poor, the youngest of five in a poor neighborhood on Dailey street, with a single mom who was a food service worker.  So how poor were we?  We were so poor our cockroaches had to go next door to eat, our mice were malnutridos.  I don’t see too many of my grade school friends any more, but I know what happened to many of them.  In fact, you might know them personally, here, at La Tuna, inmates.  I was the kid who wasn’t supposed to make it, I didn’t have a snow ball’s chance in hell.  Thank God, truly, thank God; all of my hermanos made it, not a bum in the bunch.  I went on to graduate from high school and soon thereafter I joined the army.  This began a 31 year career in the military and I retired with the rank of LTC.  From my days as a squad leader to platoon leader to company commander and battalion commander, I embraced America.  I am proud to fly my flag and I stand for the pledge and national anthem.

 

A little bit about me.  My mom’s parents were from Delicias, Chih, she said they were Spanish Cryto Jews, so I’m a little bit jewish but still a practicing catholic.  My dad’s father was a Frenchman from San Francisco who traveled to Mexico in pursuit of the family business but was disinherited for marrying an India.  I’ve seen her picture, she looks Tarahumara.  So, I’m Spanish, Jewish, French, Mexican Indian y quien sabes que mas.  That’s my heritage, shabot shalom comadre, n’est pas.

 

There weren’t many hispanos in the army in 1973.  When they saw my last name Barceleau they thought I was some mixture of Cajun black French capirotada.  In the army back then they didn’t know the difference between Mexican and Puerto Rican, and some asked if I was Philipino.  My knickname in Germany was hot sauce, they never saw me eat hot sauce, I don’t like hot sauce, but that was what they called me.  But I was a squad leader, the scout section sergeant and tank commander, and they thought that I was a bad dude.  One day they complained that Smiley didn’t want to do his share of the work.  I knew that Smiley saw me as a stereotypical switch blade carrying Mexican.  So I said, hey Smiley, are you going to get your act together or am I going to kick your ass.  He was a tall, lean black soldier, I was bucking up to him and he was looking down at me.  But he backed up and said ‘ok sarge’ and got busy.  I embraced my cultura that day, and I earned everyone’s respect.  I also gained new self confidence, hey man, I can do this.  That continued pretty much through the rest of my military career.

 

When I got out of the army in 1977 I had the GI Bill and enrolled at UTEP.  While at UTEP I enrolled in ROTC so when I graduated I had a degree in social work and I had a commission as a second lieutenant in the army reserve.  For the next 24 years I would have two careers simultaneously, one as a social worker and one as a weekend warrior military officer.  In 1981 I went to my officer basic course with young officers from all over the country, including Ivy League schools and West Point.  I learned that they were no better educated than me.  Being a vet I had a place in the informal leadership of the class.  During our orientation they told us about the rich history of the area, they encouraged us to tour the Petersburg Battlefield where a great battle was fought during the civil war.  They said we might find musket balls that are 130 years old.  Me, the smart alex that I am made a joke, in my back yard I can find arrowheads that are 1000 years old.  Again, I felt validated, I could compete with my peers on a grander scale.  I was the best runner in the class and I chaired the academic committee.  This chicanito from San Juan was doing it.  Sabes como te digo?

 

What does this have to do with price of tea in Juarez?  You too have met the challenges of mainstream American living, you are validating yourself in the eyes of your family, and your community.  You are ‘the government and you’re here to help.’  You have embraced America and you are enriching her.  You are enabling your children to reach even greater heights than you and the generations before you.  It’s not easy, I know, its hard, but you must keep on keeping on, calmado.

 

In my civilian career I am the first Hispanic executive director for my agency.  When I got there 18 years ago there were two Hispanics on the board.  That has changed since then.  I serve on the board of directors of a credit union.  When I got there 9 years ago there were two Hispanics on the board, today there are 6. 

 
Why is this important?  Because it is up to us to establish a legacy for generations to come.  We must make a positive difference, dispel those old stereo types and myths about our cultura.  Mexicans are still picking crops, but we are also leading companies and serving on corporate boards. I look at YOU, tu y ella, chicanitos from the barrio.  You have gone mainstream, ese, you’re home owners, tax payers, voters, little league coaches, PTA moms, YOU ARE America and I salute you.  And I challenge you.  We have faced many adversities and we have overcome several of them.  We will always face additional scrutiny and we will be profiled.  The challenge is for us, tu y yo, to set the example for the chicanitos coming up behind us.  Make them study because education is the key to better quality of life.  Cherish your familia, especially nuestras hijas, and esposas, and never ever forget la virgencita.  Thank you for lending me you ear this beautiful afternoon.  Finally, La Tuna Federal Correctional Institute – La tuna, is that the fish or the prickly pear?  Hasta la vista baby.

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