[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 86 (Monday, June 17, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E889-E890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING SAL CASTRO

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 14, 2013

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, Sal Castro (October 25, 1933-April 
15, 2013) was a Mexican-American educator and activist. He was most 
well-known for his role in the student walkouts at East Los Angeles 
high schools in 1968. With Sal's assistance and guidance, the students 
protested against unequal conditions in the Los Angeles Unified School 
District schools.
  Long after he retired from teaching, Sal continued his lectures that 
shared his experiences and the importance of education, particularly in 
Mexican American communities. After a seven month battle with cancer, 
Sal Castro passed away in his sleep on April 15, 2013.
  A funeral mass was celebrated for Sal at the Cathedral of Our Lady of 
the Angels in Los Angeles on April 25, 2013. In tribute to Mr. Castro's 
life efforts, I would like to submit into the Congressional Record the 
eulogy honoring him which was delivered by Mario T. Garcia, Professor 
of Chicano Studies and History at the University of California, Santa 
Barbara.

                         Eulogy for: Sal Castro

                  Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

                    Los Angeles, CA, April 25, 2013

       About fifteen years ago, I invited Sal Castro to speak to 
     my Chicano History class at UC Santa Barbara. My students and 
     I were enthralled with the power of his voice, the humanity 
     that he projected, and that wonderful humor. I knew then that 
     I had to write his story. That story testifies to Sal's place 
     in history and it is an honored place.
       Very few of us have the opportunity to make history that 
     affects others' lives. Sal Castro did that. He did that by 
     first of all dedicating his career to being a teacher. There 
     is nothing Sal would not do for his students. He did this for 
     four decades and touched the lives of countless young people.
       Sal made history by the inspirational and courageous 
     leadership that he provided his kids as he called them in the 
     1968 Blowouts or walkouts in the East Los Angeles schools the 
     largest high school student strike in American history. I do 
     not believe that the Blowouts would have occurred without 
     Sal's leadership. He put his career and perhaps even his life 
     on the line for the students in this movement. He didn't do 
     it because he personally wanted publicity or rewards. He did 
     it because of the injustices of an educational system that 
     for decades had denied Mexican American students a quality 
     education and an opportunity to go to college. Sal Castro 
     took on the entire educational establishment because they did 
     not care about his kids.

[[Page E890]]

       He knew that real change does not come from on top from the 
     elite but from the bottom, from the people. In 1968 it was 
     senior and junior high school students who through Sal came 
     to recognize that they were not the problem nor were their 
     parents the problem for their lack of educational 
     achievement. Sal helped open their eyes that it was the 
     schools, too many teachers, too many principals, and too many 
     members of the board of education who were the problem. Sal 
     taught them that there was no ``Mexican problem'' but instead 
     a racist problem as it affected the schools and the Mexican 
     American community. Because of Sal, the students--the Blowout 
     generation as Sal called them--empowered themselves. They 
     were not going to accept anything now but a good education so 
     that they could advance as far as their personal talents 
     would take them. Sal knew he had achieved this change in 
     consciousness as he saw hundreds of students walk out of 
     Lincoln High School and Roosevelt High School and Garfield 
     High School and Wilson High School, and Belmont High School 
     and other high schools in other parts of Los Angeles. He knew 
     that it would never be the same and he was right. With tears 
     in his eyes and pride in his very being many years later he 
     said of that day in 1968:
       ``As the bell rang, out they went, out into the streets. 
     With their heads held high, with dignity. It was beautiful to 
     be a Chicano that day.''
       In that first week of March, 1968 with thousands of high 
     school students on strike, the students, the college students 
     who helped, the brown berets who provided defense, and Sal 
     made history. They brought the educational establishment to 
     its knees. They showed what Chicano power meant.
       Various reforms followed but they were never enough and 
     still not enough even today. But Sal and the students showed 
     that week that major social change can only happen when the 
     people themselves realize that only they can make the changes 
     that will improve their lives. This was the lesson of the 
     Blowouts and the lessons of the Chicano movement. It was the 
     lesson that Sal as a teacher taught that generation and 
     continues to teach us today and in the future.
       Sal Castro was first and foremost a teacher but as a 
     teacher he made history not only through the Blowouts but by 
     year after year producing students who would dedicate their 
     lives in whatever profession they pursued to go out and 
     fulfill the legacy of his blowout kids--to change the world. 
     Sal never rested on his laurels. There were still too many 
     kids that he needed to reach and which he did not only in his 
     classes but through his unselfish work in inspiring new 
     generations of future Chicano/Latino leaders by his Chicano 
     Youth Leadership Conference.
       Sal Castro is a giant in Chicano history and also needs to 
     be recognized as a giant in American history. He showed us 
     that real education is different from schooling. Schooling 
     produces students who accept the status quo and never ask 
     ``why?'' Education produces students who not only ask ``why'' 
     but act on their question.
       I personally will miss a colleague, a fellow teacher, and a 
     dear friend. I will miss him coming to my classes as he did 
     for many years never asking for compensation but always with 
     the same passion wanting to share his story with students. I 
     often joked that if Sal couldn't show up I could give Sal's 
     talk because I had heard it so often. And now I will give 
     that talk by myself but I also re-dedicate myself today to 
     his mission in life and will teach others about Sal Castro 
     and his place in history.
       The last question I asked Sal is how do you wish to be 
     remembered. He simply said: ``I want my tombstone to read--
     Sal Castro a teacher'' and he added in concluding his story 
     and he is saying this to us today:
       ``Que Dios les Bendiga y que La Virgen Morena les proteja''

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