It was an incredible journey. The journey started as a six-year-old picking cotton in West Texas to the poorest school district in Texas. I visited many places around the world.  I adapted to change more importantly, I was the agent of  change,

We lived in a transitional world, and we did not know it. We speak of change as if we knew what it was. As if we could describe it. We live around change. Change is a part of us.  Change can be dramatic or it can be subtle. Sometimes we drive change sometimes change drives us. I can relate to change.

In 1954 the appearance of the cotton-picking machine our lifestyle changed immediately. Out of work, we moved to San Antonio. There were not many jobs in Texas. The main industry was agriculture mostly cotton picking.  Thousands were now without a job. This would have a devastating effect on future generations.

With the departure of cotton our destination became San Antonio. I adapted to an urban lifestyle. In between trying to raise money to help support the family I attended school. I managed to attend school even if sporadically. I made it through the senior year. One day, I was summoned to the Dean's office. I was informed that I was being suspended from school for playing “hooky.” This is an example of cultural ignorance. The Dean did not want to hear the reason for my absences, nor did he want to know. He just  me to sign the paper and take off for three days. In all my school years I had never been in trouble. I refused to sign the paper and I just walked out. This was an irrevocable act. My life would be changed forever.

The Naval Reserve wanted me to finish school. I had pending scholarship offers to Saint Mary's or Trinity. I wanted to finish high school. That was not possible. A couple of days later the army recruiter came by to get me to join the Army. I told him he had 24 hours to get me into the Army.  24 hours later I was on my way to Fort Carson Co. It was a life that I was not prepared for. I could not look back. I could only look forward. Cast my fate to the wind. Life in the Army was almost the perfect storm. I still spoke with a thick Mexican accent. I was assigned to a headquarters where I was typing top secret plans. Besides being fast and accurate I was responsible for correcting spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. I was fortunate that the chief of staff was a brigadier general who would come and say good morning every day he was at the office. My accent did not seem to bother anybody. My next assignment would be to a small unit as company clerk. That assignment would come in very helpful in the latter part of the Army. My next two assignments would be as a clerk typist.

At Fort Leonard Wood I decided I wanted to be an officer. There was a catch. There were too many enlisted running around wearing stripes claiming to be officers. I asked them how you can be an officer and wear stripes and they had all been Officers. but the Army called RIF (reduction in force) or, RIFFED.  If you did not get promoted to Major. you would go back to being Enlisted. They had all been eliminated because they couldn't make Major. To make Major in the Army you needed two years of college, something I did not have. We discussed the criteria. The Major recommending me for OCS suggested and I agreed that I should go to half of the infantry training at Fort Benning and then transfer over to Fort Ben Harrison for personnel training so that I would be commissioned as  Adjutant General. The plan it did not go well. At Fort Benning the people there did not agree. They wanted me commissioned in the Infantry Corps. I did not want to be in officer one day and enlisted the next. I resigned.  The idea of being officer one day and enlisted the next did not sit well with me. That was the end of my career as an officer. My next assignment would be Vietnam.

From Vietnam I went back to Germany. I thought about my situation. I needed to go back and go to college like I originally wanted to. I went to visit a friend of mine at the Army recruiting office and we talked.  All this time that we are talking the Air Force recruiter was listening in on the conversation. When we finished, he told me that if I wanted to be an engineer that the Air Force could help me. All I had to do was pass the Electronics test. I passed the test and I was on my way to Keesler Air Force Base to be an electronic technician.

My time in the Air Force was unlike a military service. I acquired considerable skill at fixing airplanes. If you were skilled, you had considerable latitude and power. In all my time in the Air Force nobody questioned my skill  as a technician, leader or manager. My last assignment as a technician in the Air Force my squadron commander took me out of the shop and created a position for me working directly for him. According to him I was much more valuable as a manager than a technician. My last assignment was to Dyess Air Force Base.  The Air Force sent me because they were having problem getting it fixing airplanes. I looked at the problem and I fixed the problem.

Why is change so important. Because we Latinos are behind. And we really don't even know which way is forward. Here is a good question. Is the American dream achievable? For some “yes” for most “no.” I will explain why. I attended conferences where the topic was acculturation and assimilation. One of the presenters asked “Who spoke Spanish? Several of us raised our hand. He explained to us how that was a barrier in succeeding in a “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Culture (WASP).” He explained in Spanish the clock walks; in WASP culture the clock runs. We  value time differently.

These are the forks in the road that I went through.

1. High school to Army

2. Army to Air Force

3. Air Force to schoolteacher

4. School teacher to principal

5. At the moment I am involved in a committed a couple of community endeavors

Education

Of all the classes that I have ever taken the most important ones that were  the most valuable to me were typing and grammar. I used both all my life. I asked myself how important is the education that our children are getting? What is the purpose of our education system. Once upon a time the purpose of the educational system was to teach children the three R'Is. Is education just a way for the rich to get richer? Why do wealthy school districts get state funds to subsidize the private education of their children? Bottom line, we do not need the state of Texas to test anybody.

Texas has a propensity for testing. What is the purpose of testing? I recall going back to Neely Ward elementary school where One teacher eight classes and she taught them all. From statistics this is what I remember it was not even in the book but something that the professor said the professor put it this way figures don't lie, liars’ figure. The thing is that if you want to change the outcome all you must do is change the figures.

The outcome of testing is heavily influenced by parental involvement. Parental involvement is limited when a parent does not have an education. If you look at Texas South to North, you notice that there are areas, especially in the South where testing has not been successful. That can be attributed to parents who are not educated. Most of the children who were picking cotton did not get an education consequently when they grew up, they could not help their children in their education because they did not have an education.  It goes that way through generations.

We are entering an area which I call Communist Conservative you may recall that when we left Vietnam because the communists won the war that the first thing they did when they took over was to create “reeducation camps.” Vietnamese that had been loyal to Americans were sent to reeducation camps so that they could learn how to be a good Communist. There was no deviation from communist ideology. Texas has entered a similar error Bible will not be taught in schools. We the people are powerless against the autocratic state. The question is, will we the people recover our democratic power through elections?

Two types of hate inherited and acquired

Inherited Hate

There is a monumental change that has affected all of us. If we look back at American History, we will run to a point where in Europe people, were fed up with the king, queen and the church. Their heart was filled with hate. A freak discovery by Columbus opened the opportunity for all these people with so much hate in their heart to migrate to an area where land was plentiful and not owned by the king. It was the chance discovery that opened the door to thousands of Europeans to find a home in the new world. The land they claimed was home to thousands of Native Americans. The land was gradually taken away from Native Americans. They were slaughtered or placed in reservations. Native Americans, Black Americans bore the brunt of the Manifest Destiny.  History books have a special section on Mestizos. The conquest did not end in North America it continued around the world. America is an amalgamation of many different peoples.

Acquired Hated

The issue was slavery and government intervention.