I grew up in New York City. Many of the neighborhoods in New York have many different nationalities. It wouldn’t seem like a likely place to have a real strong community base. When I lived there in the early ‘80’s, developing a community was still a strong aspect of our neighborhood. There were still parks in the community for children to play and had a lot of activities on our specific street. The one event I would always remember was the ‘block parties’. They would close the street off and families that lived on that section of the street would drag out items for the day. There would be the Puerto Rican family at one end of the street. There would be an African American family, four doors down, playing rhythm and blues. They would also be extremely jovial and loud. As the minutes passed the two families would be dancing with each other and enjoying the day. The Block Association was responsible for calling the police and making them aware of the date and events. They contacted the families in the neighborhood and gave them the information for the events. To the Block Association this was a time the people worked together to accomplish a goal. Communities can do a

Therefore, there were many issues the students at Roosevelt were attempting to address. These times were hard for the Mexican-American. Chicanos were dying at record numbers in the Vietnam War. Parents and Children were losing their foundation to battle. The effect of political isolation was standing over the community. High school for the Mexican-American was no place to look forward too. In East Los Angeles there were about 100,000 Mexican-American, 1 out of every 4 of them would complete high school. The unemployment rate for Chicanos was 2/3rds the national average. Their language was also an issue. They attended a school that was trying to make them abandon their heritage. Speaking English to most people is a way of life and taken for granted by most people that speak it. In the life of a Chicano, Spanish is not just the language they use to relate to one another. Spanish is one of their most cherished characteristics. Not just an incidental language picked up from growing up in Mexico, but a defining characteristic of who they are. There was also the basic issue of not being given a proper education. The teachers thought of them as inferior and treated them as such in the classroom.

Chicanos student had to face daily insults, directly and indirectly for a long time. The Chicanos have been treated unfairly in this country for a long time. Since the Acquisition of California from Mexico on June 14, 1846, there has been a struggle for equal treatment for the Chicano. This unfair treatment of Chicanos infected the minds of many white Americans, and many became schoolteachers. The Roosevelt High school in the eastern section of Los Angeles was just one of the places the students had to deal with the unfairness displayed by such people. A student from Roosevelt recalls a story when the teacher asked him a question. Only picke

Some topics in this essay:
Los Angeles, Chicano Spanish, Taking Schools, Block Association, Taking School, Board Education, York City, Chicano Taking, Mexico June, African American, community racial, chicano taking, chicano students, racial spirit, community racial spirit, los angeles, chicano taking schools, block association, civil rights, board education, community spirit, speak english, east los angeles,