Oral History Benchmark by Idamis Torres
Abstract
Tilda Elias, a 70 years old, Puerto Rican lady, recalls some of her memories about the time of the 1960’s. She’s shared with me many of the aspects in which life was difficult for the Hispanic community during this time. Mrs. Elias points out that while attention was focused on blacks and whites achieving equality, the Hispanic community was also struggling to obtain equality in this country. Aspects such as education, learning a new language, work and labor were some of the many obstacles the Latino community had to overcome during this time. She talked about how she was teased in school because she didn't know the language, and how she had to drop out of school, get a job, and support her family.This interview was originally in Spanish but it was translated to English by Idamis Torres.
Research
Throughout the 1960s, about 900,000 Latinos were facing unequal rights in the United States. In terms of education, in 1963,Miami’s Coral Way Elementary School, offered the nation’s first bilingual program in public schools. It was not until 1965, that more than 50,000 Hispanics received a job contract in the United States, this was the result of a boycott organized by grape growers. During the 1960s hispanics made their fight for equality even more visible, modeling their actions in the successful African American struggle for civil rights. After the huge impact the civil rights movement had in the Hispanic community, the 1970s were more successful years. In 1972, another essential right was given to the Latino community, the opportunity to register and vote. Today, there’s approximately 38.8 million Hispanics in the United States, the largest and fastest growing minority.
The facts included in the previous paragraph, mostly coincide with the story told by my interviewee. The time of the 1960s was a rough one for the Latino community, but the situation has improved over the years. Mrs. Elias pointed out two of the most important issues during the interview, which were education and work opportunities. Today, being the largest population of immigrants in the United States, Hispanics enjoy of these without any exception. I can conclude that in a way, we've all come across equality.
http://hushcivilrights.tumblr.com/post/409451928/1960s-civil-rights-for-latinos (education, labor, and language issues)
http://knightpoliticalreporting.syr.edu/?civilhistoryessays=a-civil-rights-history-latinohispanic-americans (statistics, organizations that helped Hispanic community)
http://www.tolerance.org/latino-civil-rights-timeline (Latino civil rights timeline)
*Translated to English by Idamis Torres*
Interviewee: Tilda Elias
Interviewer: Idamis Torres
May 21st, 2014.
IT:”Today is May 21st, 2014. My name is Idamis Torres, and I’m going to interview Mrs. Tilda Elias. Ok. Good afternoon Mrs. Elias.”
TE: “Good afternoon.”
*Both laugh*
IT: “Well, my first question is: When did you move to the United States?”
TE:”I came to the United States in 1957.”
IT: “Okay. You know, there’s always been many problems, with racism. Did you ever experiment racism?”
TE: Yes.
IT: “Yes? Eh…”
TE: “By coloured people.”
IT: “Coloured People?”
TE: “Aha.”
IT: “So, how did you feel during the time of 1960’s, I mean, how people from different racial groups were treating each others?”
TE: “Very bad, because when we arrived here from Puerto Rico, African Americans didn’t like us being here. I felt hurt because they always had something with Puerto Ricans. You know?”
IT: “I think that’s odd because at first, they were also brought here.”
TE: “I know, yeah.”
IT: “Do you know anything about the Civil Rights Movement?”
TE:”No.”
IT: “No? Okay. Well, you kind of told me this but, since you’re not black or white, how was being Puerto Rican at this time?”
TE: “*Laughs* Being Puerto Rican at that time was a problem because according to them, we came here to take their jobs. They didn’t really like us. I didn’t know English so, in school….”
IT: “Was it hard?”
TE: “They bullied me because I didn’t understand the language. But, I had to go to school. It didn’t matter if you didn’t know the language, the authorities said you had to.”
IT: “An obligation?”
TE: “An obligation, yeah.”
IT: “Um, how was your education?”
TE: “I… I… never graduated high school, I had to get a job to help my family.”
IT: “Oh, Do you, or did you in the past feel like every racial group is treated equally?”
TE: “No.”
IT: “No?”
TE:”No.”
IT: “Okay. *laughs* Were there discrepancies between people of the same race?”
TE: “No.”
IT: “No? They always had the same opinion?”
TE: “Yes.”
IT:”How old were you in 1960?”
TE: “I was like 19, something like that.”
IT: “Um, what do you know about segregation? I mean, I asked you before and you said, you didn’t really know anything. So, How do you feel, or felt at that time about discrimination?”
TE: “About discrimination? I felt bad because, there’s was plenty of discrimination against Hispanics at that time, and we couldn’t protest because one part of this country was for the whites, and the other for the blacks, and then we were in the middle.”
IT: “Mhm…”
TE: “We didn’t know where to go.”
IT: “I think, it’s still like that in some ways.”
TE:”Yeah…”
IT: “How do you think the issues with race have changed over the years?”
TE: “I think it has changed a lot, as now, the President is black, I think some African Americans think they own America.”
IT: “*Laughs* Yeah. Well, okay, my last question is, How do you see race? What does it mean to you? What do you think, in terms of Hispanics, African Americans, and whites?”
TE: “Well I think today, the majority is black, and the minority is white and hispanics.”
IT: “Yeah, we could say that. But, that was all for today…”
TE: “*Laughs*”
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