Interview Transcript
Judge Sergio Gutierrez
Q: What was the importance of reading for you?
A: At a very young age I was very attracted to reading, reading books. And maybe it became sort of my hideout, my world.
Q: How important is it for children to read?
A: I don't think I would have done as well had I not had that kind of start. The exposure to not just to the skills of reading and comprehension, but to the materials. It can vary from something you really like to something that is more academic. So it makes a big difference. And I think the sooner children start, the better off they will be.
Q: Why would someone like you, who liked reading and school, drop out?
A: It was economics. Very difficult situation at home. Very little money. Whatever we earned as kids in the fields we would give to my dad, and he would pay the rent and buy groceries. But many times we were limited to eating whatever we picked in the field. In other words, if we were working in the cucumbers or the tomatoes, we'd take some of those home and maybe have some beans to go along with it, and that was it. So, I understood financially how difficult things were and I was in the middle then as opposed to the younger ones who were more dependent and realized that if I went out on my own perhaps they would do better. That's a decision I made. I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to leave school. But the economics of poverty pretty much took me in that direction.
Q: Do you remember working in the fields?
A: Working was something that I always enjoyed. In New Mexico as a little kid, I worked in the cotton fields and did other non-field related work but always found myself, whether it was selling newspapers on the streets, or whatever, enjoying working. As I got to be a teenager, back in California, I returned to work in the fields there. I do remember, before the family split up, I remember being in the fields with the adults working, and as a toddler carrying a little bucket, kind of a lard bucket and helping pick apricots or cherries. I would pick those up and then take them to my dad. As a teenager and then as an adult, the working was, it went from sort of a fun thing to the source for survival. So, waiting for a job at the bus, where the buses would take off to the fields, you became much more focused, much more serious. Sometimes I would work with family members who were contractors: my dad's father, my dad's brother, who was a contractor. That made it quite different, because you were around family. You were working and you were also having fun.
Q: Do you feel an affinity with farmworkers?
A: I wouldn't consider it a bad experience, but I understand the struggle and the vulnerable position they find themselves in many times. Perhaps very easy to take advantage of. So those things I am very sensitive to. The lack of a permanent place to call home. Having to move, having to shift many times with very little notice. And get all the kids and move on to the next town. I understand how difficult that can be on a family.
Q: We saw your family yesterday. How important is your family for everything that you've gone through?
A: Very important. Probably the most important thing in my life. The energy that comes in both directions really can make, in any situation, a tremendous difference. The support, the love, the care, the fun times, because family is about fun, just happy times. As you saw yesterday, from the adults acting crazy to the little ones and their smiles, that I think is what, family I think to me represents life and it was life yesterday at the park So you can take everything away from me, but without a family I think I'd be pretty miserable.
Q: Your family in its faces reflects the change in America, you have a very diverse, multiracial family, which many people may fear, or be made uncomfortable with that happening in their family.
A: Even among our relatives, we can sense that fear. It's interesting that it would be expressed even in the face of a baby, which I find difficult, because I could not reject regardless of their background racially. But there is that fear, and I kind of remember as a young boy growing up hearing some comments. But for me, my grandma's example made the difference in that when my children were looking at dating, or were looking at friends, I was very happy to see that they had a mix of friends and eventually the marriages and children that represent both Black and Irish backgrounds.
Q: So you're happy with that mixture in your family. Do you believe your family represents the future of America?
A: Yes. My view is that as Americans, our diversity really is our strength. For a while I think we've kind of lost touch with our roots and origins, but I think most of us are learning that that is something to appreciate and that there isn't one that is better than the other. All of them are good and we celebrate them, not just in terms of Hispanic, but all the other racial backgrounds. In my profession I've seen how people have been guarded about it, but once you bring it down to the level of family, then they realize there's nothing to fear; there's so much good in it.
Q: What made you go back to school?
A: I always loved school. In the back of my mind, there was always that desire to go back to school, to get either some form of degree, I wanted to be an architect initially, but to get a good education and to continue learning. And school, formal education was important, but also just learning in general was important, and I think that came from my grandma as well. But I also saw very early in my life the difference that it makes in one's life to have an education or to be without one and be struggling in many ways, not just economic, but struggling with how sophisticated society is and how education helps.
Q: Lawyers often get criticized. But I would assume you went into the law believing it could help the people you cared about.
A: I would agree that lawyers, many times we bring a lot of the criticism on ourselves. But in my situation, I had trained to be a teacher and looked forward to working with kids, but when I got to the job of legal work and saw the need, especially with farmworkers in Idaho, the need for advocacy, just the need for education in regards to legal rights and legal matters, I realized there was much to be done and that I could hopefully help in some way.
Q: What do you see as one of the greatest challenges facing the Hispanic community?
A: To me, and maybe it's because of my exposure, there are things that are interrelated. There's the issue of political power. But to me, it's so connected with education, because what I see is that as technology sort of dominates our life, you cannot either self-empower as a people, as a group, create a life, create an environment that is good for you unless you are able to get engaged and involved. Without an education, I don't see that we will be effective. I've seen already in the last twenty five years how we have improved and what a difference it's made: going to the scholarship awards the governor was at and other dignitaries were present, the influence of banks and others who see that need to support Latinos. Again, it's very connected to education.
Q: What about crime?
A: Crime is to me is connected to education as well. Crime has really taken its toll on our community in the sense that we are over-represented in the criminal justice system, in jails, county jails, in the prison system. When you break it down to the people who are moving through that process, you can see what the lack of education has done. It gives them very few options and many times, they view the only option as one of trying to work the system, cheat the system, commit crimes, get involved with drugs. So the effort at a very early point in our community to engage kids and keep them in school makes a big difference in terms of the crime issue.
Q: How much do you feel is a responsibility of the wider culture to change the way that its education system responds and how much is the responsibility of the Hispanic community itself?
A: Two areas I think that would impact that. The first one is trust. Many times the Latino community will not trust the school system, the education system, based on their experiences, based on how they are put off. The cold reception they get when they do show up to school. There's also trust the other way. The dominant community would say you're not doing enough, you don't care. And so, meeting those needs of trust will take us a long ways. But that's only the beginning, because that gets us inside the door and keeps us inside the door. To be effective, and then meeting the needs of children in Latino families in Idaho, many of them are from farmworker or immigrant backgrounds, so you have to have trained staff that can address not only the academic needs, which include to me, of course, the language issues, but also culture. And I think we can do a lot more than what we are doing now. I think that what we have in the classroom is many staff, teachers included, that have no clue in terms of the issues that involve culture or family with Latinos and many times miss great opportunities for teaching.
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to say?
A: I think one thing that I don't want to leave out is the significance of non-Latinos in my life. If you look at from the very beginning with teachers and mentors, at every stage of my career, my path in life, I've been blessed with people from other cultures who have extended their hand out and helped me. Whether it was providing me with a place to live; with taking me, transporting me to different universities to apply; mentoring me even at this level as an appellate judge. And I say that because I think many times we want to sort of look to one source, but really the source for self-realization and empowerment comes through many people who, for whatever reason, God brings across your path. And I've been blessed with knowing so many wonderful people who have been teachers and mentors to me. I just hope that I can give some back in return, as they've done to me.
Q: So minority populations should be open to the majority population wanting to help?
A: I think we need to be more open than sometimes we are. And many times just on a superficial level we don't look for those open doors or those opportunities. I think many times the things we will find out will bring so much enjoyment to our lives, and enrichment.
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