Youth Opinion : The Dinner-Table Report From Foshay

The neighborhood around Foshay Elementary School in Los Angeles, west of the Coliseum and south of the 10 Freeway, is an increasingly immigrant one, with families struggling to get a foothold in America moving in alongside the area’s long-time African American residents. More than half of neighborhood households had incomes under $20,000, according to 1990 census figures.

Sixth-grade teacher MARY LEWIS asked her studentsthem to write about their families’ dinner-table conversation one day this month. There were many common concerns--jobs, crime, the high cost of living. But the talk was also of happier things and times: birthdays, quinceaneras, babies and accomplishments. There was also the extra burden of low-income life in Los Angeles: dealing with gangs and drugs. Here, with the assistance of Lewis and USC journalism professor JACK LANGGUTH, is the dinner-table report from Foshay:

“My mom and sister were talking on the telephone about my sister’s baby because he woke up crying, and my mom was telling my sister how to carry the baby and take care of him.” --Veronica Mejia

“My family talked about buying a car. So then we went to a car dealer at Toyota. And my mom said she wasn’t going to buy the car, and then the next day she bought it.”--Carlos Flores

“My parents told funny jokes and they said, ‘The bills! I hate the bills!’ But that their jobs were cool.”--Andony Corleto

“My family was talking about painting the house and getting new windows, and I wanted to help out.”--Victor Cetz

“What me and my parents do every day when we are at the table is talk about not getting in gangs or using drugs and alcohol because we want to be a drug-free family.”--Elizabeth Diaz

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Gangs and drugs worried other parents as well [student names omitted at teacher’s discretion]:

“They talked about my block because people sell drugs and they fight or they burn cars.”

“The gangsters on the street are talking and playing music in the night and don’t let us sleep.”

‘My mom and dad said that my cousin was going to stay in jail for 19 years, most of his life. They said he killed this man from Easy Riders, and my cousin is from [the gang called] 189+. They don’t get along so my cousin killed him.”

“We talked about the drive-by shooting that passed by my house.”

“My mom and dad were talking about a lady’s purse being snatched at the 32nd Street Market by two old guys.”

“My family asked why is the neighborhood so quiet. I had no idea why. They said, Because it is so dangerous.”

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Some of the crimes discussed at home were famous ones:

“My family talked about the 0.J. Simpson trial and how even after he won the trial, they are still messing with him. My grandfather said, ‘Just leave him alone.’ “--Marcelous Sammuel

“My family wanted to know how 0.J. Simpson had his glove on when they say that he killed Nicole, and then when he went to court the glove didn’t fit.”--Jose Soto

“My parents were talking about the news that a little boy of three years old took a picture of [Tejano singer] Selena even though she was dead. My parents couldn’t believe their ears. They said they must be dreaming. But they weren’t because I saw it on the news and heard it on the radio.”--Bernarda Mejia

“My family was talking about why Yolanda killed Selena. They liked Selena and said that Yolanda [Saldivar, who was convicted of murder], doesn’t deserve to live.”--Lilliane Sanchez

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Aside from crime, some families have tough problems in their lives :

“My parents say that the situation is getting harder and harder in Los Angeles, and they are closing a lot of clinics. And people are running out of jobs.”

“My family talked about sending money to Mexico to buy a coffin because my great-great-grandmother died, and they don’t have money to buy the coffin by themselves.”

Sickness troubled some families:

“My parents were talking about my dad having to have an operation because he has an inflammation of his appendix. At the hospital, the doctor told my dad that he had to stay there to see if he had appendicitis.” --Luz and Jose Franco

“My parents were talking about my godmother being very sick because she has cancer. I went to see her, and when I left she kissed me and burned my cheek because she had a fever. And now my mother and dad are trying to help her and take her to another doctor to see what they can do for her.”--Angela Mejia

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Family celebrations were prominent:

“They paid my dad more money today than he usually gets, so today was a great day for my dad. And he liked what my mom cooked for dinner. It was really delicious.”--Erika Arellano

“My family was planning to have a surprise baby shower for my cousin. We also discussed what new phone to get, and we got a cordless one.”--Mayra Ramirez

“My mom and dad were talking about our going to Disneyland instead of giving me a party.”--Nubia Rodrigues

“My family was talking about the next day when my brother was going to be in a quinceanera. His girlfriend was going to be 15 years old and we were talking about what we were going to give her. They decided my brother was going to give her a ring and my mom and dad a necklace and a bracelet.”--Karina Velador

“I heard my mom and dad talk about the baptism of my brother--how to dress him, what church they were going to take him to and how the party was going to be.” --Juan Pablo Ciriano

“My parents were talking about taking us to Raging Waters with my auntie, so they said that we are going to buy bathing suits for the trip. We are going to buy 10 tickets--one for my mom, another two for my auntie and uncle, one each for my two brothers, one for me and four for my cousins.”--Roxana Navarrete