John Leguizamo Says Learning Latino History In School Would've Changed His Life

John Leguizamos new one-man show, Latin History for Morons,is all about giving Latinos credit for their place in U.S. history. In an interview with Vogue published Thursday, the 52-year-old discussed what motivated him to write the show, which is currently running at New York Citys Public Theater.Leguizamo recalled being treated like a foreigner as a kid because of his Latino heritage. Even today, the star saidhes told things like You dont belong here on Twitter. But after discovering that his son was experiencing the same kind of bullying in school, he decided to read up on Latino heroes in U.S. history.If in my sons class they would have read all the Latin contributions, people wouldnt be so ready to attack us, he told Vogue.When asked about whether he was taught anything about Latino contributions to the country while in high school, Leguizamo said it was nonexistent in his education.There was a little bit of improvement in my sons education, but Latin and black contributionsand I dont mean to lump us togetherwere nonexistent in my public school, Leguizamo said.Even when I went to college, there was nothing. When I was studying the Civil War, there was nothing about everything we did, not one mention of any participation or contribution, ever. And it wouldve changed my life.In 2015, Leguizamo made the point that high school history makes Latino students feel invisible during a HuffPost Live interview.Were not taught anything that we contributed to this country and weve been around for 500 years, Leguizamo said. Just imagine, youre a white kid and all of a sudden everybodys Latin and everything theyre teaching you is Latin and you dont hear anything about yourself or about your contributions ...and you feel like you havent contributed anything. How would you feel' How would you think of your future' How would you think of your participation in American culture'You feel like an invisible person screaming in the woods and nobody hears you, he added. And its really weird and unfair because we had huge contributions. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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