⏰Sat, 12/30 12:29PM · 32mins
by: Ava Tello
Summary
The transcript covers an interview conducted by myself with California Assembly Member James C. Ramos. The interview discusses Ramos' journey into politics, his efforts to advocate for Native American and Latino communities, address education and mental health issues, and promote inclusion. Key topics include overcoming obstacles like poverty and lack of political representation, increasing educational access and scholarships, destigmatizing and expanding mental health resources, accurately portraying indigenous history, and encouraging students to pursue higher education and their dreams.
Chapters
Introducing the Interview
The student interviewer introduces herself and the project to compile interviews with community leaders. She thanks Assembly Member James C. Ramos for participating and explains the goal to discuss his journey, contributions to the community, and how he positively impacts people.
Ramos' Journey into Politics
Ramos describes growing up in poverty on an Indian reservation, starting a small business as a child to make money, and realizing more political advocacy was needed for the tribe. He pursued business degrees, won elected positions in tribal government, then local school boards and county roles before becoming the first California Indian in the state legislature.
Advocating for Native and Latino Communities
Ramos discusses legislation to remove offensive names, accurately portray indigenous history in schools, and direct more state resources to often excluded tribes. He aims to represent the identity of Latino and Native people in government and notes California's first peoples have long called this land home.
Addressing Mental Health Issues
Based on local student suicides, Ramos prioritized expanding age-appropriate mental health resources from kindergarten through 12th grade. He argues communities should destigmatize counseling and be more proactive with mental health support long before crises occur.
Increasing Access to Higher Education
Ramos describes securing scholarships and college funding for minority and homeless students. He believes communities should trust students to use flexible grants meeting basic needs beyond just tuition. Ramos advises Native and Latino students to pursue their dreams despite obstacles.
Conclusion
Having the opportunity of speaking with Assembly Member Ramos was a great insight into the ways in which leaders such as himself are advocating for multiple groups within his community. Whether Native American or Latino, his focus remains the same: providing representation and resources for those who need it. It is about understanding and responding to the issues you see as there are many different underrepresented groups here in Southern California. I am grateful to have gained this perspective through this interview.
Ava Tello 00:01
Okay, I'm so grateful that you were able to join me on this interview and that we were able to set this up. So I'm creating this project where I'm compiling interviews from different leaders in our community and just to kind of get a sense of their journeys and what they've done for their community and how they are like positively contributing to the people around them.
Ava Tello 00:31
So I'm thankful that you're able to join me and I can ask you some of these questions that I have planned for us today.
Assemblymember Ramos 00:40
It's great. You know your family's been close friends of mine for some time. And so it's an honor to be able to be here and do the interview with you.
Ava Tello 00:49
Thank you so much. Okay, I am going to get started now with the first question, which is just to describe briefly your journey to get to the position that you are in today, and maybe if there were any obstacles that you have faced and how did those obstacles inspire you on that journey.
Assembly Member Ramos 01:13
The journey really starts off growing up on the Indian reservation. We grew up in mobile homes and really went through a hard time of poverty stricken as a government. And there was really no outside sources helping us out during that time.
Assembly Member Ramos 01:31
And we had horse stables where people would come on the reservation to ride horses for a half hour and hour and maybe it was $300 a year leasing that land out to a couple called Jerry and Anne Bucco's during that time.
Assembly Member Ramos 01:50
And so we always knew that there needed to be more, right, in helping the government as a whole. So my grandmother, during that time, we built a little snack shack behind our trailer that sold soda pop, candy bars, and Indian fry bread to the riders that would come.
Assembly Member Ramos 02:14
And I seen how buying soda pop for like 50 cents and selling it for 75 cents, we made a little profit. So that's what intrigued me in the world of business, which then I pursued my degrees in business administration from Cal State San Bernardino and then my master's in business administration from the University of Redlands.
Assembly Member Ramos 02:36
And then you see the need in the community, housing, education, attainment. But yet there wasn't a strong voice specifically for the local Indian people on those issues. But then when you started to see what was going on in the community, it was really the same issues that played all of us.
Assembly Member Ramos 02:59
But yet somehow there was a disconnect when it came to the Indian reservation. And so I ran for tribal office and won in 1996. And I served in leadership in elected positions there in the business committee, gaming commissioner, treasurer, and ultimately tribal chairman of the people of San Manuel.
Assembly Member Ramos 03:26
And along that round, when I was treasurer, I decided to run for the community college district. And I ran for that position in 2005 and won and started to move forward on then internet courses, right, where you could provide those online, but worked to ensure that history was always being correctly portrayed.
Assembly Member Ramos 03:52
And then ran for the county board of supervisors and won that position where I served as chairman of the board of supervisors for some time. And now in the state legislature. So every step of the way has always been a reason to make something clear with the history of who we are as Californian Indian people, but also to ensure that the things that are impacting a lot of Indian people is the same things that are impacting the community as a whole.
Assembly Member Ramos 04:22
But somehow, as money moves forward for food, housing in the state of California, tribes get left out of the equation. So we we needed to be a voice for that. And when I won the election in 2019 for the state assembly, 2018, I ran 2019.
Assembly Member Ramos 04:42
I was sworn in. I became the first California Indian ever elected in the state legislature. And a lot of people were like, that's great. That's great. But we have to ask ourselves as a state and even as a nation, California being one of the largest states.
Assembly Member Ramos 04:58
Anywise, why did it take so long? And you ask about obstacles, those obstacles that we had to go through to get to where we are today. They still exist. They still exist today. We still have those that I moved a bill that got rid of a derogatory name towards Native American women.
Assembly Member Ramos 05:18
And we call it the S word. The word is squaw. And that's really derogatory towards Native American women. And I had to push a piece of legislation to convince the state of California that it was derogatory.
Assembly Member Ramos 05:32
And I believe that that's one of the underlying mentalities towards Native American women here in the state of California that has led to the high rate of missing and murdered indigenous women here in the state of California.
Assembly Member Ramos 05:47
So in 2022, that bill, I got it through the assembly, the Senate and the governor signed it into law. And we still had pushback, pushback from Fresno County saying that that term was not illegal, that they spent a lot of time building a valley around that name.
Assembly Member Ramos 06:05
And I'm saying, well, that name is derogatory. And maybe it's time to change it.
Ava Tello 06:12
That's really incredible. At our school, we're still trying to be as inclusive as possible. We have a Native American population on our campus, and even though it is relatively small, being part of the leadership class, we're still trying to be as inclusive as possible.
Ava Tello 06:34
I think how you are, even against people who are pushing back and kind of challenging those beliefs, you still are persevering in what you believe in and trying to make sure that the Native American Indian representation in California, which is very present, is still represented.
Ava Tello 06:56
I think that's really special. So I really appreciate that.
Assembly Member Ramos 07:01
it truly is and and to the native american group that's there on your campus i mean i'm not sure if it's Acjachemem people but we need more we need more indian people elected in the state legislature um so by us being able to overcome a lot of the obstacles and still facing them today um there's you know still the mentality towards indian people is is not erased there's people that still hold on to why are we even in the legislature when we're from a sovereign nation can we even vote on issues in the state the answer is yes we can as a matter of fact it was our land before it became the state of California so we we're still dealing with that mentality another bill that i worked on um that hopefully the native american club there on your campus um knows about this ap 1703 and that deals with the educational arena and local tribes from the area itself that would work with the local school district to screen curriculum that's being used but also to give a glimpse of the true history for that local area itself in our area we're serrano and Cahuilla so we sing Serrano Bighorn sheep songs and Cahuilla bird songs and we teach the culture in this area that has to start being done throughout the whole state of California especially down in your area um where you're at that people start to see the true history of the people just because um there's not a federal Indian reservation in some parts of the state of California doesn't mean that Indian people don't call that area home we have to remember that the federal recognition is something that was um invented by the federal government to acknowledge some and not acknowledge others and so the educational arena is a great place to start and getting the true history of the state of California when it comes to California's first people moving forward
Ava Tello 09:02
I think it's really important. I know that at our school we have this, actually, I go to an art school, so we have this indigenous storytelling company that these two wonderful students, that I know created, where they created a lot of plays and kind of stage productions that is based in indigenous storytelling and the stories that they grew up with.
Ava Tello 09:27
And I think having that at our school and just having that outlet, because I don't remember the tribe they are a part of, but I think having that representation that you are also touching on is just really amazing to have.
Ava Tello 09:48
And I think that it definitely needs to be recognized more because it really isn't where I go to school. So that's something I'm going to very much keep in mind from the next part of my academic career.
Ava Tello 10:02
Yeah, I want to actually kind of move towards, I know that you are an advocate for education and mental health, and I wanted to touch, coming from an art school, the mental health of students and that competitive nature has been a large issue to tackle in our school and is still something that we are struggling to kind of overcome.
Ava Tello 10:26
Can you discuss your approach to education and students' mental health and what actions have you done to improve the mental health of students in your community?
Assembly Member Ramos 10:40
mental health is very important. Those that know you're just speaking in a forum yesterday and brought up mental health again. And it's sometimes carries a stigma with it that if someone's reaching out for resources that somehow they're looked upon within the community, we have to get past that stigma.
Assembly Member Ramos 10:58
And in education, it's so hard for young people or young adults like yourself to continue to navigate through the educational arena and still deal with the atmosphere of what's going on in the community.
Assembly Member Ramos 11:12
And sometimes that gets blown out and infiltrates and starts to affect people. Then you get into the competitive nature of educations, scholastics, and all those different things. So mental health is something that's needed.
Assembly Member Ramos 11:26
I got engaged in the mental health component. When I was a county supervisor, there was several suicides that took place in our area, some in Redlands area, San Bernardino, and then one out in Rancho Cucamonga that it was a person of sixth grade that committed suicide based on social media and the peer pressures that were there.
Assembly Member Ramos 11:53
And I got engaged in that discussion and found that there was resources for those seventh grade to 12th, but nothing from Kindergarten to sixth grade. And so I pushed, one of my first bills was pushed to make sure that resources are available, age appropriate, from K all the way to 12th grade.
Assembly Member Ramos 12:12
And I got in some debate with legislators saying that that's too early. People shouldn't be talking about that. And I said it's never too early to start talking about mental health, especially being more proactive to the situation.
Assembly Member Ramos 12:23
If all we're waiting for is the 24 hour hotline, 988, for someone to call, that's at the end of that spectrum. We need to be more open as a community with resources way before they get to that phone number.
Assembly Member Ramos 12:37
And so that bill did get through and it was signed into law by Governor Newsom, one of our first bills. Then we followed up with the Office of Suicide Prevention that was also signed into law and has ongoing funding in the budget cycle.
Assembly Member Ramos 12:52
So that now is moving forward. But it took for me to push a piece of legislation in 2020 to bring that full circle to the state of California that this is a top priority. That when we talk about the economy, we talk about job creation, there's no way you could talk about those two without having some type of mental health structure to it.
Assembly Member Ramos 13:14
And then you've seen how it affects our students going through the whole COVID situation. And then all of a sudden announced schools are opening back up. So students were just expected to just think like nothing happened, show up and start performing.
Assembly Member Ramos 13:31
We have to make sure that mental health is part of that component. And those that are in education, it's tough, right? It's tough that there should be more resources there for you to be able to go to.
Assembly Member Ramos 13:44
So we're a big opponent of making sure that mental health resources are there in forms of counseling and forms of outreach. And even in the forms of working with parents to identify different sides and how to react to some of those things.
Ava Tello 14:00
Yeah, I completely agree. I think schools being more proactive about providing those resources and making those resources available and pushed out, almost advertised to students is important. I think a lot of schools will kind of say they have resources but never show students they have access to them and that, hey, you can come and see your counselors if you have any issues.
Ava Tello 14:25
Our school just opened up this new room where if you are just having a bad day or trouble, you can just go into the Serenity Center. So even it's just those small efforts that I think make a really big deal for us that who spend eight to nine hours at school a day.
Ava Tello 14:45
So I really appreciate that perseverance and advocacy for students like myself. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I just, I kind of want to now shift more towards the education part of this and kind of ask what ways do you plan to advocate for increased resources and funding directed towards improving the educational infrastructure and resources that are supporting schools, serving predominantly minorities, communities and students because I know that for students who are wanting to pursue a higher education, wanting to gain those resources in order to access higher education can be hard depending on the schools that they could go to.
Ava Tello 15:37
So I was wondering if you have any plans to tackle that aspect.
Assembly Member Ramos 15:44
Definitely. I mean, we see it per capita wise. I also served on the State Board of Education, appointed by the governor. First California, Indian ever in 2011, appointed. So we've seen how our communities, how people are expected to perform, even though parts of their life might be in a chaotic state.
Assembly Member Ramos 16:05
I have, during that time, if you know the area down in San Bernardino, the Mount Vernon area, we had students that were going into school and they weren't performing. What happened was they would have to, at night time, move their beds across the windows, so because of gunfire and danger.
Assembly Member Ramos 16:26
And so they weren't able to do their homework to the caliber that they were expected to do. And then there was someone that gave a live account that when they were going to school, that the cops had a place roped off and there was a body on them.
Assembly Member Ramos 16:40
And they had to walk through all that to get to school and then get called in the principal's office because their homework wasn't done. So I think we, as a community, have to be more open to understanding the plight that people truly are in.
Assembly Member Ramos 16:56
Now, as far as getting resources to those that are underrepresented or that need to have calibers, we've been able to create a non -profit, the Ramos family non -profit, that is geared towards homeless students that then they could get a scholarship.
Assembly Member Ramos 17:16
And what's different, and I think the community needs to move in this direction because of homelessness and students' needs in general, that there's money in there for tuition and books, but the majority of that grant is money that goes to the basic necessities of life, meaning that we have to put trust back into people that if you give them funding, scholarship, and it's not tied straight to books and tuition where you could get a receipt, that they have money now to buy food and possibly a place to stay that night.
Assembly Member Ramos 17:48
We have to start believing back in people that they're gonna take that and move forward in the right direction. I think our community has gotten away from that. That we start to stereotype, stereotype those that might be going through a struggle that somehow was their own fault.
Assembly Member Ramos 18:07
Maybe people just need to know that there's caring people in the world, right? That would help and at least try to be a voice for that. So we've worked on scholarships to ensure that first -time college people that are going to college have resources to move forward.
Assembly Member Ramos 18:25
So we're part of them and we chair the California Legislative Native American Caucus, but we're also a standing member on the executive committee for the Latino Caucus. So we're involved in all of those areas that we drastically need to get resources to.
Assembly Member Ramos 18:40
We just had another scholarship where it was awarded to a person here in San Bernardino that went through a horrific journey to get to where they are today and we brought them in and gave that scholarship there.
Assembly Member Ramos 18:56
But I think the more we talk about that, the more that we get businesses that have the means to get scholarships and help those getting into education to start to break down that stereotype and be more understanding that if a student is going to school, then we need to be more understanding as a community and help them, not hold them to more regulations.
Assembly Member Ramos 19:21
So we're always trying to get scholarships, trying to make sure that when I was on the community college, board of trustees, I got a funding, $250 ,000 to go to our San Bernardino Valley College for first -time students, predominantly minority neighborhoods.
Ava Tello 19:44
Wow, yeah, I completely agree. Need -based scholarships and merit based scholarships, they all help greatly because how not just college, but just school in general, can be so expensive nowadays with also the aspects of transportation and supplies and just the little things.
Ava Tello 20:05
And they all add up to when you just wanna go to school. So I think it's important that we continue to have those scholarships. I know I'm planning on applying to scholarships myself for the upcoming years since I'm applying to college this year.
Ava Tello 20:21
So I think having those scholarships that you are helping support is very beneficial in more ways than just college, but just school in general for families who just need to get their children to colleges or to schools in general.
Ava Tello 20:40
If you were to give one piece of advice to students, Native American students or Latino students that are wanting to pursue higher education, what would that one piece of advice be?
Assembly Member Ramos 20:54
Go after your dreams. Don't let nobody cut you short of your dreams. There's going to be a lot of naysayers along the way trying to pull you back down. But know that there's a lot of us that are out here rooting you on, right?
Assembly Member Ramos 21:07
There's more. There's more that are rooting you on than the naysayers in those obstacles that come your way. Pursue your dreams. Go after them. Your dreams are just as important as anybody else. You hear about these stories about following your dreams, but we have to accept it.
Assembly Member Ramos 21:21
We have to know that that is something that's attainable. So go after those dreams. Don't let those naysayers cloud your mind. Be focused and get it done.
Ava Tello 21:31
I completely agree with that. I love that enthusiasm with it. You know, I think sometimes I feel like I just, like I'm applying for college and I'm like, I gotta do it, but I have to remind myself of that enthusiasm, the fact that I want to go and pursue a higher education, that I want to gain a career in something that I'm really passionate about.
Ava Tello 21:50
So that enthusiasm and that, like, to never forget what you are capable of is so important and I think a lot of people don't realize how important it is to just believe in your own capabilities. So that's really amazing.
Assembly Member Ramos 22:07
it i mean the obstacles are always going to be there you you gotta be sound in what it is you want to take for me the passion and desire it comes from honoring our people uh... that still are calling out the grounds in the state of California tell the state who we truly are Californian people because there's been so much uh...
Assembly Member Ramos 22:29
books written about colonization romanticize of the spanish missionary all those things but it was detrimental to Californian people one of the bills that we moved forward on was AB 338 that replaces the Junipero Serra Statue on the capital grounds on the in Sacramento and replaces it with a Nisenan leader from the Sacramento area and that's now is giving honor to California people so now when students go up there they're able to see and hear the other side of the story so it's that passion desire that drives you.
Ava Tello 23:05
That's amazing. Having that just representation, just to remind you, is really important. Honoring your people and having respect is something that is just needed and more, and to just have that appreciation.
Ava Tello 23:20
I wanted to, I have a couple, just two more questions, and one of them kind of touches more on an aspect that I go through, going to an art school, and that being that arts tend to be a more underfunded part of education.
Ava Tello 23:35
What are your thoughts on keeping the arts alive in middle school, high school, as well as higher education, and just kind of keeping that aspect of art education involved in our curriculums?
Assembly Member Ramos 23:50
We've been an advocate of keeping arts in the school through the dance theater, those types of things. We've been a strong advocate. We've supported and we still sit on the Redlands Bowl to bring some of those concerts into the area.
Assembly Member Ramos 24:06
There's different plays that are done by groups. We need to make sure that arts is something that allows people to express themselves and to escalate in an area, in a field. So what has happened along the way is that people are gonna start focusing back on just math and English, not letting people find their way of what they can contribute to the community.
Assembly Member Ramos 24:30
Now we see it here in our area with the California Theater where the symphonies moving forward, plays are being done, but yet, if we started that mentality and held onto it from the beginning, from Kindergarten all the way through the grade schools, we would see people in our own area now performing on those stages.
Assembly Member Ramos 24:50
We believe firmly that there should be a mentality of cradle to career. From the cradle, from the beginning, identifying what it is that's interested to people and paving that way for them to stay in the community.
Assembly Member Ramos 25:02
Arts is something that still needs to be there. I think we have to make sure that, again, as a community that we embrace it, that it shouldn't be an afterthought, that it should be something that's actually thought about in the beginning.
Assembly Member Ramos 25:15
Because I think what has happened, when we had the arts and we had those different types of components ingrained in the school, that was like a release for the mentality, for the mental health component to be part of something moving forward.
Assembly Member Ramos 25:32
I think we have to get back to that. And that could be a component of making sure that everybody's well -being is something that we truly look at.
Ava Tello 25:43
I like that idea of cradle to career, kind of, just like seeing what peaks interest the most in pursuing that, because like arts and athletics, they tend to be a really important aspect of having just an extra curricular part of your life so that you are not just in school and then you may not have any other outlet for yourself.
Ava Tello 26:08
So being that the arts are one of those types of outlets, yeah I really agree that finding what interests you from the beginning and then pursuing that is something that I think needs to be talked about more because some people just think that they can, that they only do like arts at like one point of time or they just like oh I played a sport and then they think I can't do that ever again or they lose that passion over time just because they think they can't continue on with that into their adult life when you can, when I think that having those passions should not be something you throw away over time.
Assembly Member Ramos 26:50
Our bottle up.
Ava Tello 26:51
Yeah.
Assembly Member Ramos 26:52
trashed, right?
Ava Tello 26:53
Yeah. OK, well, I have one more question, and that is, do you have a favorite TV show or movie, and why is that favorite show or movie your favorite?
Assembly Member Ramos 27:09
favorite TV show or movie, huh? Not really. I mean, I have a favorite football team, San Diego Chargers.
Ava Tello 27:20
Nice.
Assembly Member Ramos 27:21
Yeah.
Ava Tello 27:24
I have always grown up in rooting for the LA Rams, but football, yeah. I've always been more of a baseball person myself with the Dodgers, but...
Assembly Member Ramos 27:40
Dodgers?
Ava Tello 27:40
Yeah.
Assembly Member Ramos 27:42
Did they play?
Ava Tello 27:43
last night? Um, I think that you did.
Assembly Member Ramos 27:47
Ah, you're not a true Dodger fan. You should just turn over to the Chargers.
Ava Tello 27:53
No. Hahaha.
Assembly Member Ramos 27:57
No? I think movies, documentaries more when they come out, I'm trying to remember. The last movie at the show that I seen was called, it was called Jesus Revolution and that was the last one I seen at the show.
Assembly Member Ramos 28:16
We read so much on different shows.
Ava Tello 28:18
Yeah. I've also always been interested in documentaries. I just like finding out like aspects of a part of history or something that you don't normally get a full in -depth look at. And as someone that wants to pursue like anthropology, I think documentaries are just something that I find really interesting.
Ava Tello 28:35
So I can agree on that. Thank you. Oh yeah. Well, I wanted to thank you again once more for coming on this interview and for giving me all this information about yourself, how much you are passionate about representing your community and the Indian community in California, as well as just the work that you do in order to advocate for yourself, for mental health and education, as well as many other issues in our community.
Ava Tello 29:11
So I just wanted to thank you once again. What I will do with these interviews is I'm going to take the transcript that I have, and I'm going to write up a digital copy of the transcript. And I can send it to you just to verify that all the information I took down is correct and accurate.
Ava Tello 29:31
But that is all I have for today. And I thank you so, so much for offering me your time today, and I really appreciate it.
Assembly Member Ramos 29:41
No problem. Any time and thank you for taking interest and trying to identify some of the layers of why we got to where we are. But I would also say that the state of California needs people in elected office, school boards, county boards, city councils, state legislature, that represents the true identity of the people.
Assembly Member Ramos 30:03
And the Latino and Native American population is areas that are underserved. So take that message back that if I can do it, you can do it.
Ava Tello 30:16
Well thank you so so much. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. And I will let you know when I have this more physical form.
Assembly Member Ramos 30:28
Thank you. I think if Daisy's still on the deal, she can take a screenshot of us on this. Got it. I don't know if she... She can take a screenshot from her computer. Can you or no? Let me try it. Ready?
Assembly Member Ramos 30:50
Let me see. One, two... Okay. There you go. Okay, we'll take one more. Take one more. Okay. One, two, three. There we go. Oh, did you freeze? No. Oh, she's gone. Oh, there's just...
Ava Tello 31:22
I'm back.
Assembly member Ramos 31:24
I'm gonna send that to your grandpa.
Ava Tello 31:26
Got it. Oh yeah, he would love that.
Assembly Member Ramos 31:29
Alright, anytime, let us know.
Ava Tello 31:32
Got it. Thank you so, so much.
Assembly Member Ramos 31:34
Keep doing what you're doing.
Ava Tello 31:36
I will. Thank you so much.
Assembly Member Ramos 31:39
Alrighty, thanks a lot.
Ava Tello 31:41
Bye.
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