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WRITE FOR YOUR RIGHTS: TAKE A STAND AGAINST DISCRIMINATION LA YOUTH ESSAY CONTEST
Third Place Winner: Natalie Campos, age 16, Los Angeles, CA
Discrimination
I was raised speaking English, but I also spoke Spanish at home, which makes me bilingual. When I went to school for the first time, I was enrolled in E.S.L. classes. If you do not know this, E.S.L. stands for English as Second Language. I was also put in the Limited English Proficiency Program. In all these classes, I always got the highest grades. I was the best reader they had. I was also the best speaker. There was no reason for me to be in any of those classes.
My parents had no idea that I was in any of those classes. They thought that I was in regular classes with other students who spoke English. But they eventually found out and went to investigate why I was in there. But the school administration stood quiet. They had nothing to say. My parents tried to get me out of the E.S.L. classes, but they were unable to. The school fought very hard to keep me in those classes. And then we found out why: for every student the school had in the E.S.L. and Limited English Proficiency Program, they would receive $400.
This was pretty devastating. The school's only excuse for keeping me there was because I lived in a Spanish-speaking household and that I was influenced by the way my parents spoke. My parents were outraged. I remained in the E.S.L. and Limited English Proficiency Program until I was in fifth grade. At this time, my parents really started fighting for me to get out of those programs.
I switched to a new school. The principal at this school knew my parents and told them that I was going to take a test. If I passed it, they would immediately take me out of the E.S.L. and Limited English Proficiency Program. Everyone knew that I was going to pass it. I took the test and I aced it. The questions were ridiculous. It had questions like, "How do you spell Ôking'?"
I was immediately taken out of those programs. I was back on track and still ahead of the game. The first school I had attended would have never let me out of those programs or even let me take the test. I was too Spanish for them.
This experience taught me many things. Most importantly though, it taught me not to judge people by the way they look. On the outside, I was viewed as a Spanish girl who did not know a word of English. But on the inside, I was way ahead of most of those who judged me. I am trying my hardest not to view other Spanish kids as only being E.S.L. students. Once in a while I still do that, but I try not to most of the time. When I catch myself thinking like that, I remind myself that I was once in their shoes and take a trip back to the past.
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