Racism Takes a Vacation : Regular Field Trips Help Asian, Black and Latino Preteens Understand One Another’s Cultures

Virginia Taylor Hughes is the founder of the Slauson Western Youth Enrichment Program (SWIPE). The nonprofit organization aims to foster friendships among children to reduce racial tensions in urban areas. Hughes, a 48-year-old mother of six and grandmother of 22, was interviewed by Karen E. Klein.

I knew we needed to reduce racial tension in this city since the riots, and I thought I should be doing something to help. I met with the leaders of three racial groups for an extended period of time and I was not satisfied with our progress.

Then I realized it is the kids who are going to make a difference. We adults are the idiots who teach racism and prejudice. I thought if I worked with kids and they learned something about each other’s cultures and some history they would discover that they are so much alike. And hopefully they’ll be better prepared to work together when they’re adults.

I’ve got about 60 kids, ages 8 to 12, who are participating in field trips we take together on Saturdays. Since July 1, we’ve been to two libraries, the Hollywood Bowl, the circus, Knott’s Berry Farm, Koreatown, East Los Angeles and next we’re taking a tour of South-Central. We’ve all learned some Korean and Spanish words, and now we’re going to get them all talking a little bit of ghetto-ese.

The parents think it’s a wonderful idea; they’ve been very supportive. I have a waiting list of up to 30 kids who want to go on the field trips, but I can’t handle any more until I get more volunteers.

I have a rule that the kids have to join up with someone from a different group for the day; they can’t just sit and talk to the kids from their own racial group. And the adult volunteers are all different races too, so the kids learn they have to respect everybody no matter what they look like.

It’s been interesting the reactions we’ve gotten on the different trips. When we ate in a Mexican restaurant in East L.A., the black kids and the Hispanic kids were having a great time. The Asian kids did not like the food at all. Then, when we were in a Korean restaurant, the little black kids were going, “Where’s the gravy for my rice?” “Where’s the shrimp fried rice?” We all got to learn what Korean food is like.

I started the tutoring program at Western Avenue Elementary after I got very frustrated on a field trip one day. I heard a black little girl ask an Asian little girl, “Do you know what is (rapper) Ice Cube?” The little Asian girl started off on a long explanation about H2 O and the chemical components of ice. The black girl looked at her and said, “You so dumb,” and walked away. When I asked her later what she took out of her mama’s freezer to make her drink cold, she said, “A ice.”

I said to myself, “Oh, no. I got work to do. These kids are not relating on the same level.” I found out that the Asian kids study for more hours after school each day and they go to Asian schools on the weekend and get tutoring on Saturdays for English. I realized the black and Hispanic children needed some additional help.

We have about 15 to 20 kids at Western Avenue that we tutor after school every day from 2:30 to about 4:15, helping them with their homework. All my tutors volunteer their time. They’re mostly retired people who are parents themselves or my neighbors or friends of friends. I’d like to extend the tutoring to 5:15 if I had more volunteers.

The kids are just wonderful. I call them my little flowers--not to their faces, of course. I was born in East L.A. and grew up in South-Central and if I had gone to public schools I would have attended Western Avenue Elementary. Also, my family’s furniture business is right across the street from the school, so it seemed like a logical place to start.

I have five board members and about 20 adult volunteers, all putting in their own time. We’ve just gotten our nonprofit status so now I’m going to do some fund raising so we can expand.

The L.A. Slauson Swap Meet donates office space, and a lot of the children of the merchants are in the group.

I hope that even if these kids have learned racism at home, the experiences they have with our group will give them a different perspective. If no one takes the time to learn about other cultures, nothing’s ever going to get better.

The best part for me is when I see the Asian kids and the black kids exchanging telephone numbers at the end of the day, and the little girls, who are really timid in the morning, holding hands and sitting next to each other. That’s my reward.