IDENTITY

Lamberto Roque-Hernández was born in Oaxaca, Mexico. Proud of his heritage, he recalls first experiencing discrimination in his home country for his Zapotec indigeneity and then here in the United States for being Mexican as well. He notes that some of this treatment derives from a history of Spanish colonization and how that impacted social relations. He explained that despite the fact that Mexico does not have a real caste system, often people’s privileges are closely linked to ethnicity and their socio-economic background. Most Mexicans are keenly aware of both class divides and racism. It is a simple fact of daily life that people with darker skin tend to be treated worse and this typically goes without challenge or even being questioned.

Related Resources:

Indigenous Zapotec people in Mexico, PRM

Mexico | Latin American Anti-racism in a 'Post-Racial' Age, Cambridge

Why Understanding Colorism Within the Latino Community Is So Important, Courageous Conversations

Toolkit for “What's 'Colorism'?" Learning for Justice

SKILLS

Mr. Roque-Hernández speaks English and Spanish and has worked in many areas before settling into an educational career. When he came here 25 years ago, he took an ESL course with an excellent instructor and this experience inspired him to also become a teacher. He noticed that his peers, mostly also from Mexico, were struggling in the classroom and he often helped both the students and the instructor with cross-cultural communication. “I saw the need and I realized that I like helping people.” So he enrolled in Cal State East Bay and earned a Bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies. He began to substitute teach in Oakland Unified as he completed his teaching certifications at Mills College.

Related Resources:

Latin American Studies, LAS

Latin American & Caribbean Studies: K-12 Resources, IU

Online Lesson Plans and Teacher Resources, FIU

K-12 Career Exploration Lessons, MDE

INTELLECT

Mr. Roque-Hernández has persisted personally to ‘do his own work’ to understand how to lean on history and emotional intelligence to support himself and his students to be equitable and ultimately antiractist. He recalled, “I mostly worked with African-American students in Oakland and I had to relearn so many things. For example, the way they spoke English was not the same I was used to. They would talk to each other one way and then another way with me - this is code-switching. I was interested to learn how to communicate with them better and I loved this idea. Teaching in Oakland taught me so much.”

“I like using the book “Now is Your Time - The African American Struggle for Freedom” because it addresses the African American experience historically through modern times. I really like the interesting facts it has and I share them with my ELD classes. We read in English and discuss in Spanish. This is our country and we have to share our lives with many other ethnicities. We need to break stereotypes early within our students. We talk bad about Blacks in our community at times so I want to make sure that no form of racism makes its way into our work together. We use books, articles, discussions, projects and so much more and it's all integrated.”

Related Resources:

Code Switching: Why it Matters and How to Respond, NCCLR

Lesson Plan: Code Switching | American Promise, PBS

Say Less: a Lesson in Code Switching | Naya Stevens, YouTube TedTalk

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story Paperback, Amazon

Now Is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom, Amazon

CRITICALITY

“I came to Hayward and worked in a bilingual classroom. I thought working with Latinx students wouldn’t be a challenge at all and I like being challenged. My goal was to get back to Oakland. But I quickly realized it really doesn’t matter where you teach so long as you are teaching from your heart. That is what makes the difference.” Mr. Roque-Hernández has taught at Palma Ceia and now at Park Elementary. He has experience teaching in the Juvenile Hall system and has observed problematic problems across these varying settings - “The Latinx and African-American kids, especially the African-American kids are always the ones in trouble and I feel them saying ‘just let me learn!’

He said he could relate based on his personal experience. He had felt the sting of biased treatment and was determined to break that cycle in his own life. “I believed a lot of what I saw on TV about the US watching in Mexico. It is such a different image than the actual reality. And we often internalize the stereotypes we are shown on TV. so I had to relearn many things. And this is what I share with my students.” In his Bilingual Program, he works diligently to expose students to different cultures and perspectives. He wants all his Latinx students to be proud of their heritage and their ancestors and their home languages.

He also wants them to understand how stereotypes work against us and help them to have a critical social consciousness. An example of this is seen when he heard his students referring to Oakland as a dangerous place. He took these comments as an opportunity to engage in a more full picture of that city. “We read ‘One Crazy Summer’, learned about the Black Panther Party and all the social programs they developed, looked at pictures, had talks, created slide decks, watched videos, and did what we could until we have a more full picture of the things that surface. The goal is to always find ways to be inclusive.”

Related Resources:

20 Inspiring Reasons Why You Love to Teach, Edutopia

Why Do I Teach? (Opinion), Education Week

Stereotypes, Simply Psychology

How Racial Stereotypes in Popular Media Affect People, Scholars

What Is Media Literacy?, Verywell Mind

Treating All Kids as Kids, Brennan Center for Justice

JOY

His joy is found in fulfilling his life’s purpose. “I love teaching - it is in my system, in my blood.”

His classroom is full of opportunities for students to build their cultural competence. For instance, they engage in an architect project that exposes students to Asian American Vietnam Memorial Designer Maya Lin. He notes, “I want, in particular, my Latinx female students to see BIPOC females making a difference in this country and to know that they can have that same impact.” Stories are often the entry point into these opportunities. For example, they read “A Long Walk to Water” and process significant topics like immigration, social justice, and resource inequities and make connections to the real people that inspire these stories. “It opens possibilities to kids and has a connection. We clarify for example that Africa is not a country - it is a continent. We of course address European cultures from Greece and Rome, but this is not where we start. I love what I do and believe strongly that Bilingual education should not only be about Spanish and English. We should expose students to all cultures in our community.”

Related Resources:

Promoting Culturally Competent Teaching, PPE

Cultural Competency in K-12 Classrooms [Vlog], TEU YouTube

Assessing your cultural competence: A checklist , Teach Away

Inclusion Classroom, K12 Academics

AAPI Heritage Month Educator Resources, HUSD