Tom Rivera, oral interview with Zandalee Springs, Grand Terrace, California. 16 April 2015. Digital Recording.
Dr. Tom Rivera is a long-standing member of his community and his ties span decades. Although he recently retired six years ago, he still continues to engage in community work that stems from his personal experiences as a professor and having grown up in Colton, CA.
Although Dr. Tom now lives with his wife in Grand Terrace, CA he spent his childhood growing up in Colton. He recalls that Colton was a segregated community divided by the train tracks into North and South Colton. However after Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the town began to be somewhat desegregated. Despite the end of legalized segregation, Dr. Tom and his friends still were discriminated against because of their race.
Since Dr. Tom was born in 1939, he was able to witness the effects that war had on his community. He recounts that with each passing war, veterans who lived in segregated communities and were discriminated against, questioned their treatment more and more. Veterans were incredibly instrumental in ending segregation even when it wasn’t mandated. They saw that since they had served their country, that they deserved to be treated fairly and would no longer stand to be treated as anything but equal to whites.
As a professor, Dr. Tom also noticed a difference between those who had been to Vietnam and those students who were civilians. He saw that there was a huge disconnect between the veterans and their peers.
Veterans also felt that their schooling wasn’t reflective of their lived experiences. As such a group of Veterans organized and took over the faculty lounge. Dr. Tom commented in reference to the curriculum that “ We are, the curriculum isn’t relevant to us, you are not teaching Chicano Studies, you are not talking about our histories, things we are exposed to in the barrio, you don’t have people that look like me or leaders either… We demand you make [changes] now.” He also noted a change in the students he was teaching as the war went on. Many veterans later felt that the government had lied to them.
Although he himself didn’t participate in the protests, he was aware of the atmosphere around the war as time went on. He commented about the atmosphere of the war towards the end when Kissinger gave a commencement speech and half of the graduating class turned their backs. However, for Dr. Tom, the reality of the war didn’t hit until one of his friends who had served in the Peace Corps with him was killed in Vietnam.
When asked about whether he knew many friends who went to Vietnam, he mentioned that since he was on the “college track”, that he didn’t know that many veterans. Dr. Tom has and continues to be close to many of his friends. To this day, he is still in contact with and regularly sees his friends from kindergarten.
Around thirty years ago, he contracted the flu, which infected him with a virus. His friends, family, and work community surrounded him and continue to be incredibly supportive. Dr. Tom has and continues to live a life that is reflective of the emphasis that he places on community.
He first became involved in community work when he joined the Peace Corps. The application was given to him by his friend and the same day he received his draft notice, he received his invitation to be in the Peace Corps. In Colombia he and other corps members worked with indigenous communities to build schools. From his experience in the Peace Corps, the importance of community was instilled in him.
Although Dr. Tom is involved in many different community organizations, he highlighted one particular organization that he helped co-found in 1985, The Inland Empire Future Leaders Program. The program conducts a weeklong leadership program for around one-hundred and twenty students. Alumni and parents of the program run the training that occurs once a year during the summer. Many of the students involved in the program go on to become student council members or are involved in other leadership activities. The idea of the program came from the fact that so many Hispanic students end up dropping out of school before the completion of college or even high school.
Reflecting back on the war, Dr. Tom sees Vietnam as a pointless war, but is thankful for those who served. He sees Vietnam in wars that are being fought today. He sees them as being “non-wars” and as not justifiable. Dr. Tom sees the role of capitalism, in that wars are fought in order for the people who manufacture weapons to stay rich.