Giovanni's Story
Giovanni MontesDeOca
My life began when a 16-year-old Hispanic mother gave birth to me. She was still in high school, had a job, and also had to take care of me. My father was 16 years old as well, and playing soccer in Mexico, when I was born and he had to come back to help take care of me. Fortunately, my mom and I were able to live with my grandparents. My grandma did not make it very easy for my mother, but my mom knew this was the only way to maintain our situation. Mexican parents can often be strict, especially when you had a kid at such a young age. Through the help of my aunts and uncles, my mom was supported when she had to do her other duties. The school I attended until high school was a private school that only had Hispanics and a couple of black students. My school was very small; it was one of the smallest private schools in the area. I played the game of soccer throughout my entire childhood. My uncle was a professional soccer player in the MLS, and he was the person I looked up to most. My mom’s side of the family all played soccer, so it was something that was instilled in me at a very young age. I began playing soccer with a team at 4 years old and have played it ever since. I always looked forward to the weekends because that was when we played games. Most of the teams I played for were coached by a family member; from my grandpa, to my uncle and even my father. I was a very competitive kid growing up and many of my classmates gave me a hard time for it. I always wanted to win, whether it was in kickball or playing tag.
A story I recall that that demonstrates a time I struggled because I was a minority was during my freshmen year in high school. I was qualified to participate in varsity for two sports, cross country and soccer. However, I was not allowed to because I was not from the district of the school that I attended. It was a private high school in a wealthy neighborhood, and the school accepted in students from various cities around Dallas. Since I was not from this district and lived about 25 minutes away, they did not allow me to participate on varsity teams. However, the wealthier kids that lived in this neighborhood were given the opportunity to participate on varsity over me, although I was more talented in these sports. I was a disappointed by this, but accepted that sometimes things that we do not have control over happen this way.
Racial equality means a lot to me. Everyone experiences different situations that cause them to struggle and everyone deserves an equal opportunity regardless of race. If you are qualified for a certain position, you should not be held back from it. Unfortunately, in many cases this does not happen because of our biases. This is why we don’t see much representation for people of color in higher positions and it is very frustrating. To not be born as “white” in America puts you at a disadvantage. People of color have to work extremely hard to prove that we are qualified. I do believe racial equality is slowly improving, but a lot of things still need to change. We need to continue to educate and keep pushing the importance of equality.