 Celestino Mendez “The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance” For a man who is self proclaimed as leading a life in the public eye, Celestino Mendez is a private individual. As he welcomed me into his house, on a hot summer morning, the interview opened up a window to the past, a recollection of varied memoirs that describe and are a part of Celestino’s make up. Hence through an account of his memories, told by Mr. Mendez himself, as years have passed and in retrospect, the San Marcos community is able to learn and get to know the man through his experiences, his personal growth and his reassessments of such events. In parallel to the process of becoming acquainted with Mr. Mendez, the San Marcos community, Hispanics and others alike, have the opportunity to become aware and reminded of our history, our struggles, our success, and that something special that makes San Marcos worth living in, worth being a part of, and most importantly worth appreciating. Celestino Mendez was born in San Marcos September 10, 1930. He recalls, “I was born on Guadalupe St., south of the railroad tracks, went to what we used to call Southside Elementary School [at a time in San Marcos history when our] elementary schools were segregated.” Mr. Mendez lived in a time of historic momentum, during a World War and the Civil Rights movement. “I come from [a time] when it was real bad.” Mendez explains how minorities, Hispanics in particular had difficulties getting and keeping a job because of discrimination. The realities of racism and derogatory remarks and gestures were not only a faded memory most of us hold today, for Mendez, they were a part of mundane activities such as where he lived and where he attended school and who he could and could not date. Celestino Mendez’s youth provides insight into his devotion to the community, serving as an equalizing force for Hispanics and other minorities. Mendez served with the United States Air Force during the years of 1951 through 1955. He returned to San Marcos to finish and obtain his degree from the present Texas State University in 1957. When describing the time of his return to the country he claimed; “the time was important, during and after World War II, I saw the young soldiers come back, and some didn’t come back.” The years following the war, the United States was concerned with a faceless enemy, an enemy that had always lurked around, in and out of American hearts and brains, discrimination. The Civil Rights movement allowed Hispanics to take a stand, although the Hispanic Civil Rights movement preceded the sixties, the times were right, and brought strength to the cause of Hispanics in San Marcos, notes Mendez. Mendez was very much a part of that movement forward against segregation and discrimination. He was elected as part of the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School Board in 1963. He served two three-year terms until 1969. Celestino was President of the School Board his second term. During these years he took charge to integrate schools. In 1964, schools were for the most part segregated. Pioneers like Mendez fought long and hard to make use of their leadership positions to obliterate racist structures in the education system. He explained how in his leadership role he “wanted to be the good guy, you don’t want to be a rebel rouser” and although some did attempt to tag him as rebellious, Mendez attributes his legitimacy as an organized leader to his college degree. Since the sixties, racism has become somewhat of a taboo. Something that is politically incorrect, a myth that makes people squirm with discomfort and cringe with uneasiness. However, for the Hispanic youth in San Marcos, learning about schools being designated to Mexicans such as Southside Elementary or to African-Americans at Dunbar, the discrimination against Hispanic teachers, and the lack of them during a period of time seems ludicrous, and relatively unbelievable. That is why individuals like Celestino Mendez are important. He lived through the hardships that now cause our discomfort and uneasiness, the racism, the discrimination and the segregation. By learning about him, the San Marcos community also remembers the past, the painful reality of many that lead to changes that we all now enjoy. The mingling that we often take for granted, the various cultural restaurants around town, and the right to share a classroom with all people of all races and ethnicities are just a few things that can be attributed to the hard work of people like Celestino Mendez. While interviewing Mr. Mendez, he quoted Thomas Jefferson, “the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance” and he endorsed it. I could not agree more with Mr. Mendez. The positive changes that San Marcos has seen in the past decades are a freedom that we must oversee. “I think we’ve come a long way, there is certainly a ways to go.” As people like Mr. Mendez live among us, it is important to recognize their work, but most importantly to remember it and to pursue it. When faced with the question as to why the Hispanic community did not pursue with such force as he and his contemporaries did in the sixties he offers his insight in retrospect; “my theory is that as things got better the interest in improvements faded, the men started getting good jobs, and women going to work, and having more makes one complaisant, no longer the pressing need like hunger, no job…” As years passed, and as commodities became accessible to all cultures and racial backgrounds, it seems like the past faded, bitter years compromised for luxurious opportunities. So as we look back into Celestino Mendez’s life, his childhood, his years as the head of the School Board, lets also look back into San Marcos history. Remember the times and the people that changed our lives forever. Community leaders like Celestino Mendez make San Marcos a better place, a place that we all enjoy and have the opportunity to thrive in. |
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