Freedom Award bestowed
Since this same time last year, Maria Rodriguez Salazar has traveled more than 13,000 miles in pursuit of equality for all students of color in public education.
“I’ve talked to parents, educators and school administrators about what’s really taking place,” said Rodriguez Salazar, local president of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “What we have found is there is disparate treatment when it comes to access to education for Latino students and all students of color.”
“But no matter where I go, these parents, they all have the same dreams for their children. They want them to succeed and to have the same opportunities as everyone else.”
Rodriguez Salazar of Okanogan County was given the Freedom Award on Saturday by the Spokane Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at the group’s Freedom Fund banquet.
About 200 people attended the annual event, which highlights people in the community working for human and civil rights.
“I am very honored that the NAACP would give me this award,” Rodriguez Salazar said. “I really didn’t know it was such a big deal to be outspoken.”
Rodriguez Salazar has been working with the parents of students in the Brewster School District. In August, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights concluded that the district had violated the civil rights of Latino students when it required them to sign a contract accepting harsher disciplinary action than white students.
“The parents in Brewster just said enough is enough,” Rodriguez Salazar said. “We just took a stand, and said, ‘Hey, there is a problem here.’ “
Her organization has been working nationally for the rights of Latino students, visiting U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige in October, asking him to employ more Latino Americans on his staff.
Locally, the league is working with Spokane Public Schools to establish a relationship and perhaps organize a summit on civil rights issues within the district. “I really do believe we can make a difference,” Rodriguez Salazar said.
Also at the event, the Richard Allen Youth Academy of Spokane was given an award for community service; and the Spokane-based Massai Girls Education Program, which sponsors women in Kenya, was given an education award.
The theme of the banquet was Embracing Our Freedom, focusing on military veterans and personnel. Guest speakers included Col. Porcher Taylor, a war veteran and former president of Virginia State University.
Taylor, 79, served with the “Triple Nickels,” the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion made up of African American enlisted men and officers during World War II. The Nickels became the nation’s first all-black parachute infantry test platoon, company and battalion.
The decorated vet from Jacksonville, Fla., asked everyone at the banquet to close their eyes and go back in time, pretending to be a black soldier training in Fort Benning, Ga., or a sailor shipping off to boot camp along the shores of Great Lakes, Ill. “Anything that a colored person did back in those days, he or she had to prove it,” Taylor said. “And you made it, because you were just as smart as anyone on that ship.”
Other speakers included Lt. Col. Trent Edwards, commander of the 92nd Refueling Wing Comptroller Squadron based at Fairchild Air Force Base.
It’s important to honor the armed forces for their service to our country, said V. Anne Smith, president of the Spokane NAACP. “They are the troops out there, working hard for diversity and equality.”