People of all ethnic backgrounds should find ways to value their own culture, while still becoming part of America's mainstream.
"Perhaps this tradition of looking backward and looking forward is what it means truly to be an American," said Judge Jose A. Cabranes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.Cabranes addressed Utahns as the keynote speaker of the Second Annual Cesar Chavez Peace and Justice Awards Luncheon at Little America Monday afternoon. Addressing the group first in Spanish and then in English, he said minorities need to put themselves in the middle of American culture.
"Our place is . . . in the mainstream, at the heart, rather, of this country's economic and political life," he said. He said minorities should celebrate their individual cultures but strive to be united.
"Our shield against those forces (drugs, alcohol and violence) ought to be our values," Cabranes said, referring to the fact that all Hispanic cultures emphasize strong family ties.
Cabranes' remarks preceded the presentation of this year's Cesar Chavez Award winners. Winners were honored in the areas of business, community, education and government.
Education
Preddy Osegura wasn't allowed to speak her native tongue when she went to elementary school in New Mexico. Not only did she lose her ability to speak Spanish, but it raised questions in her young mind about why the culture of her grandparents and parents wasn't as important as the English-speaking
culture. "I respected my grandparents and parents," she said. "I felt they had a lot to offer, but what they had wasn't valued in the system."
So after graduating from the University of Utah in 1970 with a teaching degree, she decided to re-learn Spanish and teach what she knew to her elementary school children.
"What I remember very clearly is the students would go home and show their parents what they had learned in Spanish in my class," Osegura said. She was recruited in 1974 to develop a bilingual education program for the Salt Lake School District. She's now the coordinator of those services.
Osegura said educating children in English, while teaching them to value their own cultural heritage, is critical.
"The dangers of losing a language are serious," she warns, explaining that many families lose the ability to communicate when children are forced to speak a language their parents don't understand.
Business
Mike Martinez tries not to forget the reason he became a lawyer.
"To help people who needed it," he said. New immigrants have become the bulk of his clientele - a clientele that can't afford to pay for legal
advice. Martinez was awarded the Chavez Award for business for his service to Utah's Hispanic com-munity, much of which is provided for free.
His office is a renovated house, and his attitude is laid back. Martinez said it's less intimidating to his clients, many of whom just need help knowing where to get a driver's license or a job.
"Most people wouldn't believe how many people don't speak any English," he said.
Community
Finding a way to revitalize neighborhoods is Maria Garciaz's job and the reason she was chosen to receive the Chavez Award for community service.
As the executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. she brings people together from business, government and the community to pump life into communities that others give up on.
The daughter of migrant workers who settled in Salt Lake City, she graduated with a political science degree from the University of Utah. She earned a master's degree from Utah State University and a certificate in community and economic development.
Garciaz enjoys her job because she sees daily the fruits of her labor.
Government
It's easy to forget you're talking to state government's highest appointed Hispanic official when you meet Joe Pacheco. Soft-spoken and friendly, he doesn't seem like a powerful man.
But as one of four state tax commissioners, Pacheco is powerful, and he knows other Hispanics look up to him.
"I view myself as a representative of the Hispanic community," Pacheco
said. That's why in addition to working as a tax commissioner, he has found time to work as an adjunct professor at the U.
"I believe it's important for minority students," he said. "They can look to a Hispanic professor and see there is some success that can be made. I think it's important to know that all of us had a part in the history of the United States."