Students Are Reminded of a Lesser-Known President’s Day

In plazas, markets and government buildings throughout Mexico, statues and busts of Benito Juarez are ubiquitous, as are his famous words: “Between individuals, as between nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.”

On Tuesday, the beloved former president was honored in his native state of Oaxaca and throughout Mexico, on what would have been his 200th birthday. It is a national holiday every year -- not unlike Feb. 12, when Abraham Lincoln is remembered in the United States.

In 2006, Juarez is being honored all year by the Mexican Congress, which has been planning the Juarez bicentennial for two years.

But to many in the United States, he remains something of a mystery -- even to some pupils at Anaheim’s Benito Juarez Elementary School. But they were told his story Tuesday at a program by Mexican cultural and government officials.

Fourth-grader Karen Rojas, 9, said she learned about Juarez from her parents Monday evening when she mentioned he would be discussed at school.

“I liked learning this because I’m Mexican,” said Karen, who waved a Mexican flag during the festivities.

Sandra Barry, superintendent of the Anaheim City School District, recounted for the children how Juarez, a humble Zapotec Indian, was a lawyer, city council member, legislator and judge before serving as president in the 1860s and ‘70s.

He “serves as a wonderful role model for children,” she said. “It is with great pride that I say: happy 200th birthday to Benito Juarez.”

For many of the 1,000 third- to sixth-graders from Juarez and Mann Elementary schools listening, it was a refresher course on Juarez’s life.

Juarez School Principal Casandra Carroll said the first- and second-grade social studies curriculum included lessons on Juarez and that he was often chosen when biography reports were assigned.

But sixth-grader Andrew Galvan, 11, who plays first base and pitcher in Juarez Park and has attended Juarez Elementary since kindergarten, said he didn’t know who the man was until this week when his teacher told him in anticipation of the Tuesday event.

Schoolmate Angela Farid, born in Afghanistan, said, “I actually thought he was Spanish, but I found out he was Mexican and a full-blooded Indian. I thought he was rich, but I learned he was a poor boy from the country.”

Learning about him “changed what I thought. I figured he was really rich,” said Roselia Gonzalez, 11.

Santa Ana resident Margarita Valle, who heads a cultural group that stages such events, said that was why she conceived the celebration, and she said she chose the school because of its name. “We want children to encounter their culture. We will be the best for this country when we know our own roots.”

In Los Angeles, Mexican Consul Ruben Beltran was host of two ceremonies Tuesday, including one with councilmen Eric Garcetti and Ed Reyes.

In Anaheim, Luis Miguel Ortiz Haro, Mexican consul in Santa Ana, told Juarez’s story to the children: His parents and grandparents died, and Juarez later abandoned a surviving uncle.

Eager for a better life, Juarez walked 35 miles from his village to the city of Oaxaca and managed to get an education. Years later, he launched a political career.

His story was known to Anaheim school officials in 1965, and they named the school after him as they chose American patriot names for other schools.

Schools in Cerritos, as well as in Texas and Illinois, are also named after Juarez. A Juarez monument has been placed in a New York City park.

In Anaheim, members of the Oaxaca Assn. of Orange County gave the school a photo of Juarez, which will be displayed.

“This has been a wonderful lesson for the children today,” said Ortiz Haro. “The birthday was a good excuse to teach them something about Mexican history.”