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Director Edgar James Olmos describes the events surrounding Walkout as a historical period, and an "education in America,"
saying, "The key issue for the 1968 walkouts was that there was a real lack of cultural
history being taught in the East LA schools."
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Director Edward James Olmos.
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HBO:
Tell us about the story behind the film.
Edward James Olmos:
This story isn't really known by anyone
except for the students that participated. In
the schools that were walking out. During
the sixties and even today, we still have a
tremendous lack of understanding of what it
takes to have a well-rounded diet that really
makes people want to grow and be all that
they can be. The key issue for the 1968
walkouts was that there was a real lack of
cultural history being taught in the schools
of East Los Angeles. About seventy to
ninety per cent of the children that lived in
East LA and were going to school at that
time - especially in the schools that walked
out - were of Mexican American descent. So
they knew very little about themselves and
even today they still know very little about
themselves.
HBO:
What exactly were some of the ways
Chicanos teenagers were treated in East LA
in 1968?
Edward James Olmos:
During '68 throughout the southwest in the
United States, in English speaking schools
at that time, there was a lack of cultural
history being taught. The contributions of
say Asian Americans or Latinos or African
Americans or indigenous people. They just
taught a European based history. So the
basic problems that we saw were things that
would actually feed the self-esteem and self-
respect of people. There was none of that
going on. And that's why the kids walked
out and tried to bring attention to their
educational systems, and how lacking they
were in giving self-esteem and self-respect to
individuals. So a lot of the kids were
dropping out in the ninth, tenth, eleventh
grade and opted to go off and get a job doing
blue collar work.
HBO:
Tell us about the main character and what
prompted her to take action.
Edward James Olmos:
Well, she was one of many students that
chose to move forward and become part of
the leadership to bring changes to her
community. And they seemed to come
together around one teacher and one group
of individuals that were trying desperately to
bring a change in the educational system of
young Latinos, especially Chicanos, Mexican
Americans. During the 1960's, we were the
largest grouping of people of Latin descent
in the United States of America. We still
are. And I would say now more than sixty
per cent of that group was born here and
raised here and are Americans of Mexican
descent or Mexican Americans. And during
that period of time we weren't really
appreciated in the United States. Nor were
we appreciated in Mexico. So it was pretty
difficult to call yourself either an American
or a Mexican. And to call yourself a
Mexican American when neither side wanted
you to be either was difficult too. So that's
where the word Chicano came from. It was
its own identity. We received our own
identity during this period. So Chicanos
started to become a force to be reckoned
with. And Paula Crisostomo was one of a
group of kids that got together and tried to
make a difference in their community. And
they forged these walkouts. They tried
everything under the sun to bring attention
to the problem.
You're talking about an
event that really isn't known that well even
though it's the largest high-school student
demonstration that we've ever had in the
United States of America. To date. At the
height of the walkout there were over twenty
two thousand kids that stood up and walked
out of their classes in the LA County area.
And that means that not only did the East
Side try to bring awareness of it, but when
the beatings started to happen, all the San
Fernando Valley, the west side, schools from
all over the Los Angeles County were in
solidarity with the movement and stood up
and walked out. So it became the largest
single student walk out in the history of this
country.
HBO:
Now when you say beatings, tell us what
that means exactly.
Edward James Olmos:
Well up until 1995 none of us had really
seen or knew too much about the beatings.
We had only heard about them. And
different people have different stories. But
when you hear stories you don't really know
whether or not they're factual or if they're
just stories. In 1995, Hector Galan produced
a documentary series called Chicano which
was the first series to dig deeper into that
period, looking at the history of Mexican
Americans in the United States, especially in
the Southwest. They went into the vaults at
some of the local news companies here in
Los Angeles, and since nobody really knew
what they were looking for they just said
well we're looking for some information that
dealt with 1968 and the school walkouts
from that period. So they went into that
period and sure enough, all of a sudden they
found the footage. And they used it in the
documentary they made. Well it was the
first time in the history of this country that
that footage had been seen. Even though
they filmed it in 1968, no one had ever had
an opportunity to see it. So this was the
first time we got to see it. Well when we saw
it, it was blatant discrimination, blatant
prejudices that were seen. And the
discrimination and prejudices were so
intense that it went from the seventh grade
through the twelfth grade.
And this
happened at quite a few of the schools. The
majority of the kids were from eleven to
eighteen years old, standing up and walking
out. You see on the documentary incredible
acts of violence against these children. Men
and women, boys and girls were beaten,
bludgeoned, many were sent to the hospital.
Many were injured but never went to the
hospital. And nothing was ever said. They
never went to court. Nobody was ever
prosecuted. So they got the footage. And
they used it in the documentary and that
was the first time anyone had ever seen any
of it. And it was amazing footage which
really inspired some of the people who had
taken part in that to move forward and try
to create this project. One of the
participants, Moctesuma Esparza was one of
the people who was in the forefoot of the
entire Chicano movement, who is also a very
distinguished producer. He decided to push
for doing this film. And it's taken him over
five years to complete it. And it's been quite
an experience. It's a wonderful story which
at the same time is very enlightening. I think
people are going to discover a little bit about
themselves inside of this story--who they are
and where they come from. I don't care
what culture they belong to.
HBO:
What's it like having a lot of the original
people from the original walk outs in 1968
on set participating in the film?
Edward James Olmos:
It's fun having the the real people on board.
It's also fun to hear the stories. Because it
always enlightens us and makes us
understand and go deeper into the situation
that we're working on. Because we'll be
sitting there shooting a scene and they'll say
oh yeah when we did this, this and this and
this happened. And gosh you know I don't
know if you guys know but this and this and
this happened. And all of a sudden a light
bulb goes on and you say, Wow. Because I
don't care how deep you go, I don't care how
well the script is written, when you're doing
it a certain process occurs in which you go
deeper into the story. And that's what has
has happened. We've gone deeper into the
story.
HBO:
Do you think teenagers today are capable of
doing what these teenagers did then?
Edward James Olmos:
I think the young are not only capable of
doing it, but I think this story will inspire
them to do more. And I think the idea of
bringing about social change by way of non-
violent behavior is the strongest single
method that we have, of making ourselves
understood and understanding ourselves
better. Non-violent social change is to me
the best kind of change for the communities
at large. Because it really speaks from the
core of our humanity rather than a political
or a religious belief; it really comes from the
core of the human being and it encompasses
all religions, all cultures and all political
types. And I think that we've had some
wonderful examples of that in our lifetime.
With Cesar Chavez, Ghandi and Martin
Luther King. So basically I think it'd be
quite interesting for the kids of today to see
the kids in '68 and allow them to experience
this situation. I think they're gonna find the
movie not only entertaining but
inspirational.
HBO:
One of the main inspirations in the film is
Sal Castro who's a real person. Tell us a
little bit about his role in the walkouts.
Edward James Olmos:
Sal Castro has become an integral part of
the advancement of the Chicanos in the
United States of America. He not only deals
with Americans of Mexican descent, he deals
with the African American experience, the
Asian experience, the indigenous
experience. He's was a very strong teacher
who's now retired. He's in his seventies but
he's still an active member of the
community and still teaches kids leadership
programs. And this man has literally
changed the course of the future of this
country by his love and commitment to
helping the Mexican American youth
become all that they can be. And that's
really all we can do. It's just become the
best that we can be.
HBO:
In the film, why would Sal jeopardize Paula's
future career by encouraging her to
walkout?
Edward James Olmos:
Well, I don't know if he encouraged her to
walkout as much as he didn't discourage
her. It was their choice. These kids were
not manipulated by Sal Castro or by any
adult. The movie really stands on that
basis--this is really not so much of what
adults manipulated the students to do but
more of what adults did that created the
situation where the youth then learned from
their experiences. So this film is really a
story about what the adults' impact and
influence and behavior does to children.
HBO:
What is the legacy of the walkouts?
Edward James Olmos:
Well it's hard to see because basically no
one really knows about them. The people
who actually lived this have changed; they
grew from the experience. For instance, at
the time when the walkouts occurred, there
were forty Chicano students, not counting
the gardeners, that were at UCLA. Out of
over twenty thousand students. In the
years after the walk outs it went from 40
students to 1,250 students at UCLA. That
was just one school. Enrollment in colleges
after the walkouts went up approximately
ten per cent throughout the United States.
But the drop out rate right now in the Los
Angeles city school district is higher than it
was in '68. Sixty-three per cent of all the
students of Mexican American descent who
are in high school today will not graduate.
HBO:
Do you think this film is going to inspire
students?
Edward James Olmos:
I think this film will help inspire students,
to help students realize that their self-
respect, self-esteem and self-worth is the
single most important aspect of living. It's
what gives you the ability to say to yourself,
I want to move forward. I want to be all that
I can be. That's the single most important
thing that can be given to a young person.
And I think this film is gonna open up that
ability for them to see their future. Because
they're gonna learn a little bit about their
history. And I mean not only the kids that
are represented or the culture that is
represented, but also all the other cultures
that live here as well. This country is a
wonderful and beautiful place. It's one of
the greatest countries on the planet if not
the greatest. But I will say that we have a
lot of problems understanding how to give
water to the root. So that it can grow. And
that water needs to be given. This movie
shows what happens when kids try to take
upon themselves the responsibility of trying
to find the water and taking a drink as
they're thirsty.
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