DES MOINES, Iowa (By Connie Lozano-Kidman) April 6, 2009 — Growing up Hispanic in Des Moines, Iowa, I had a very different experience compared to Hispanics in the Southwest.  My family knew practically all the Hispanic families that lived in the Des Moines area.

They all had something in common, as most were immigrants from Mexico and came to work on the railroad, as my grandfather did. Between the 1920’s and the 1960’s, there were about 500 Hispanic families of Mexican heritage.

The Mexican immigrants, coming to the Des Moines area to work on the rails, were not liked by the "güeros" because they were known as the strikebreakers.  My grandfather, Rafael, lost his wife (my grandmother) to the Spanish Influenza in the early 1900's in the State of Coahuila, Mexico.  He had been coming to the U.S. for jobs and now he had to bring his family.  My mother was only about 4 years old when she crossed the border with her father and three brothers.  They accompanied my grandfather to Iowa, so he could do migrant work on the farms and then later work on the railroad.  Rafael inherited one fourth of his family's mine fortune.  But, he was not a good money manager, and was the only sibling that had not invested well and had to look for work across the border.  I feel fortunate for that, or I would have been born in Mexico and would not have had the opportunities offered in this country.  My grandfather Rafael had found and married another Mexican lady, who was younger than he.  At that time, he needed a mother for his young children, having been widowed with a family.  My step-grandmother, Doña Francisca, joined Rafael in the United States and took over the duties of a wife and mother.  My mother, coming at such an early age, learned English easily.  Back then, if you were a Mexican, you married another Mexican. 

My mother met my father working on the fields doing the work of migrants.  Both families knew each other and they gave their blessing.  My father, John, was raised by a single mother during the depression.  He was born in Elgin, Texas, but came to Iowa with his mother and siblings. He and my uncle Frank, who was the eldest brother, worked by gathering coal that fell off the train and selling newspapers.  This would help put food on the table.  Being a single mother in that era (1920's) was unheard of and it was amazing they survived with 4 children.  My grandmother was abandoned by her husband when her oldest was only 10 or 11 years of age.  My father was 9 years old, at the time and started what was to be a lifetime of taking care of their mother.  My father served in the Army during World War II and was on board a ship during the Pearl Harbor attacks.  He was one of the lucky ones that avoided the infamous attacks during that time and came home to Iowa, after the war ended.   

My step-grandmother, Doña Francisca, was widowed, as my grandfather passed away in 1950, so she came to live with my mother and father. At that time, it wasn't acceptable to be a widow and live alone in our tight-knit Mexican community.  I became my grandmother's companion when she would visit her circle of friends.  I went to more wakes and rosaries than most 9 year old girls.  While I am a second generation Hispanic, I pretty much had to learn to speak Spanish, as my grandmother refused to learn English.  Many second generation Hispanics do not speak Spanish. I have had Mexican immigrants marvel at the fact that I do speak Spanish.  It was never an issue with me.  I grew up bilingual and used my English to help translate for the bus driver, when me and my grandmother would go to Mexico.

Spending summers in Mexico really helped my Spanish skills. Thus, began my early skills as an interpreter, which I use daily now, to work with Hispanic families in the school system.  I also got to go to the local “curandera” an elderly lady who had was an expert in extracting “el mal del ojo”, which my grandmother was certain I had fallen prey to.  Come to think of it, I did feel better that night, after her healing hands and prayers tried to expel the negative forces that had been bestowed on me.  Who would think that a curandera existed in the heart of Des Moines during the 1960's?  Of course, I never talked about it to my classmates.  They wouldn't have understood.  I'm sure they would think I was a nut case. 

I went to a high school with only one other Hispanic girl and I knew her from church.  Now that same school, East High School, has a high Hispanic population and I work with those students.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know much about my Mexican background because our history books had nothing about Latin America or it's rich history, that is until I went to Drake University and majored in Spanish.  It was an easy major, as I already spoke the language.  I took Latin American studies with Professor Mario Soria, an immigrant from Bolivia.  He opened my eyes to the Aztec, Mayan and Inca civilizations.

Who would think at a private university, there would be an excellent Spanish department?  I also had an expert female professor, Hilda Prieto, who helped mentor me and she was also from Bolivia.  They really helped shape my future. 

Even though I had gone to Mexico with my family several times I never learned about the rich history behind my roots. I knew more about the Vietnam war that I did about the Chicano movement.  I knew an Aztec calendar existed, but didn’t know the meaning of it until I was an adult.  Now I know who Cesar Chavez is and he is the hero of Hispanics in the United States.  In fact, I was on a committee here in Des Moines to try and get an elementary school named for him.  It didn’t pass.  In fact, it is called Capitol View Elementary, because it is near the capitol building.  We still do not have a school named for a famous Hispanic in Des Moines, or any other Iowa city.  However, since the 1980’s, our Hispanic population has boomed.  It is now the largest minority population in Iowa and the average age is young and of childbearing age, just like the national average age of Hispanics in the U.S.  

I became a teacher and work for the largest school district in Iowa.  I still see our students struggle with the same issues I had growing up and even added issues.  Many Hispanic students don’t strive for college, even though their GPA’s are 3.0 or above.  I know this, as I keep track of our Hispanic students and their GPA’s.  They don’t know how to start preparing for college while in high school.  In fact, many wait until the spring semester of their senior year to start inquiring about scholarships.  I have had to work really hard to find a way for our undocumented students to get into college without paying for international student fees.  Finally, the colleges and universities are finding a way to help these students get admission.  These students can be productive and contribute to our future.  That is the reason 15 years ago, I decided we needed a Hispanic College Expo just for our students.  We go to a different college campus each fall and have sessions on admissions and financial aid, as well as a college tour.  You would be amazed at the number of students that have decided to attend college because of this experience. 

My job as a teacher/Hispanic Liaison has given me a wealth of opportunity to meet families of different Hispanic American regions.  In fact, as an adult ESL teacher at the local community college, I have met many Hispanics who are trying to better their English skills for jobs and other reasons.  I work with adults, from time to time, helping them translate forms and tell them how they can visit their relative at the local jail, or translate for a family member who needs assistance at a doctor's appointment.  One client stands out, I'll call him Marvin.  He is from Honduras and is now 30 years old.  He crossed into Mexico to gain entrance to the U.S. through their border.  However, he was deported 9 times from Mexico into Guatemala. On the 10th time, he was successful and hopped on a train towards Chiapas.

Unfortunately, he had taken some "toque" to alleviate his hunger and homesickness.  Some male friends he made on his journey introduced him to this drug.  He wasn't in complete charge of his faculties and stepped on what was a coupling that joins the cars together.  When the other railcar came speeding towards him, he did not realize it was going to come crashing on his feet.  He lost half of one foot and injured the other.  He had to wait on the car for an hour until it would slow down enough for him to jump off.  He had one heel with enough undamaged skin to be able to pivot off of the train with.  He landed on a small hill in Chiapas and fainted from blood loss.  Some kind soul took him to a hospital and he woke up to the damage to his feet. He was there for almost a year, recuperating and in a wheel chair.  The surgery done in Chiapas was not the best, but he finally was able to walk.  He then made his way to Georgia and worked in a Mexican restaurant there.  He met a Mexican from Iowa who told him to come home and his mom would take care of him.  That was a stroke of luck for Marvin, as he was funneled to the Division of Hispanic Affairs, where the then Administrator, Liz Newby, helped him get free surgery that would improve his foot injuries.  He was then helped to get a brace and now works two jobs.  I continue to help him with other issues and marvel at a man with the extent of his injuries working  and sending money home to Honduras. He was a teenager sent by his mother to the U.S., to make money and send it home to help out the rest of the family.  His teenage sister accompanied him, but lost her on the way.  He thought she had been killed or kidnapped for quite some time.  When he arrived in Des Moines, sometime later, he learned she had survived and met and married a Mexican man and has children now. 

We are still fighting the same racism as my grandparents experienced in Iowa.  Now with the raids that happened in in Postville, Iowa, as well as Marshalltown, ICE arrested and deported many undocumented Hispanics.  In fact, that closed the AgriProcessor Plant for some time in Postville, Iowa and dealt a blow to their economy. The Plant owners, who were Jewish, as it was a Kosher plant, had to try to import newer refugees to work in the plant. It has never been the same as when Hispanics were working there.  In fact, there were several violations of underage Hispanic kids, who they knowingly hired and who worked in dangerous jobs.  The white population still blames the Hispanic for making salaries lower at packing plants and other jobs.  One of our congressmen that represents a rural white population, Steve King, wants to keep English as our official language in Iowa, and always talks about ridding our state of undocumented Hispanics.  Have we come far since the turn of the century, as Hispanics in Iowa?  I suppose that in some ways we have, but we are lumped together as a population and still have to worry about our image in Iowa, as well as the rest of the country.  The drug problems on the border do not help our cause any.  Fear always is at the root of racism, as far back as history show us.