One of ‘Those People’ Delivers an All-American Speech

I telephoned Carla Rush to talk about student volunteers, but that subject will have to wait for another day. Rush is just starting her second year as principal at Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach, and our conversation eventually turned toward the school’s changing ethnic makeup.

There’s no point denying that Orange County’s increasing ethnic diversity upsets lots of folks. The slowness with which people of different cultures and colors learn to get along reminds me of a former editor who, while lamenting his staff’s mediocrity, said, ‘What am I supposed to do, snap my fingers and say, ‘Be talented?’ ”

No, it takes more than just a snap of the fingers to make people become either talented or tolerant.

Last year, the non-Anglo population in Orange County schools reached 49.2% of the total. This year, white students will likely be in the minority. Not pulling her punches, Rush said last year’s student elections at Ocean View resulted in “quite a bit of tension,” because the newer students ascended into positions of power in student affairs formerly held by whites.

But then, she told a remarkable little story, the kind of episode that public schools can produce every day and that says a lot about the future.

At Ocean View, all seniors can try out to be the “Senior Speaker,” chosen by a panel of teachers to give a speech at graduation ceremonies. Last spring, teachers picked Jose Calderon.

“I was apprehensive,” Rush said, “because here was a kid taking a spot normally reserved for white Anglo-Saxons, or valedictorians, and he had a quote-unquote funny accent and he was not one of the mainstream kids, and here he was, getting this position of privilege.”

That was before he gave his speech. Afterward, Rush said, “his speech had the entire class stunned. Then they rose and gave him a standing ovation.”

See what you think. Here’s Jose’s speech to his classmates:

“When I was 12 years old, in my native Mexico, I had to stop going to school because I had to go to work. At that time, food took priority over education. I worked in factories and fields, and when I was 15, I came to the United States. I didn’t even know I could go to school until a teacher from Migrant Education explained to me that I could go to high school and learn English. At first I didn’t believe her, but on the following Monday morning at 8, there she was at my door, waiting to drive me to my first day at Ocean View High School.

“I was 16, terrified and excited at the same time--terrified because I couldn’t speak a word of English. Oh, I could say Mickey Mouse and McDonald’s, but I knew that wouldn’t help. I was excited because I felt deep in my heart that going to school in the United States was going to change my life forever, and it has: from a terrified 16-year-old who couldn’t answer yes or no in English, who was hardly literate in his first language, to the person I am tonight, a high school graduate preparing for college. More hopes and dreams have become possible than I could have ever imagined.

“You see, Ocean View High School became the key to unlocking my potential. I stand before you this evening to thank all of you who have made the dream of education possible for me and all the immigrant students who pass through these doors.

“I feel this country has given me everything--a place to live, food, an education, and a future. Now it is time for me to give something back to my new community, my new country.

“What I have to give is myself and my effort. In this democracy, I have discovered that every person has the power to make a positive difference. Some bigger than others, but all important. I want to be a person who makes a difference in this country.

“In my English class we read a poem about the mythological hero Ulysses, by the British poet Tennyson. One line from the poem stuck in my head. As Ulysses is examining his life, he says he wishes to ‘shine in use.’ Shine in use--that is the dream I have for myself, to shine so my light can make a way for others.

“It is impossible to express what this graduation means to me, and to all immigrant students. Most of us came here with little more than the clothes on our backs. But we have learned that if you work hard, your dreams can come true.

“When I was a little boy, I wanted to design big buildings. I had never been in a big building. I had only seen them in pictures. In August I will begin college with a major in architecture. So many beautiful buildings are in my head, and because of you, Ocean View High School, I’ll build them some day.

“Thank you with all my heart.”

What I frequently hear from people afraid of the changing makeup of Orange County is that “those people” want to impose their culture on America. I may have missed something in Jose’s talk, but that isn’t what it sounds like to me.

So, thanks, Jose. That was one heckuva commencement address. In writing it, you may have done something that the snap of a finger couldn’t.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.