David Campos – English Class | Past, Present, and Future Tense

Posted byAngela Chaidez VincentPosted inDavid Campos
English Class | Past, Present, and Future Tense It’s a photograph of a teacher going over an assignment with a child. It’s black and white. On the blackboard is the following inserted text: This is not my father. Nor was this child, to the best of my knowledge, smacked across his knuckles with a ruler for speaking Spanish in the playground. He didn’t beg to go back to Mexico. He didn’t go all the way back to the rancho to stay with an uncle. This is not my father. Sometimes I think of a future that could have been if he just stayed. Sometimes I’m the ruler. Over the teacher’s is the following text: There are times when I can’t reconcile that my mother cannot read the books I’ve written. All the language I’ve learned feels like a betrayal.

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Artist’s Statement: In the article “The Resegregation of Jefferson County,” Nikole Hannah-Jones writes that “since 2000, at least 71 communities across the country, most of them white and wealthy, have sought to break away from their public-school districts to form smaller, more exclusive ones.” This led to research into my state’s segregation and integration efforts. The rhetoric, the maps, and the data were all there—coded language, school boundaries, and even diversity statements covered the stagnant “struggle” toward integration. As an educator, this project provided context for my experience and those of the students in the classroom. Notes and citations will appear at the end of the project. 

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