For the few Latino students living in Lincoln, Nebraska in the 1960’s, the school’s expectations were low.
The high school counselor told Linda Hernandez and her sister not to worry about taking the SAT or ACT tests “because we were Hispanic women, [and] all we would do is have babies,” Linda told StoryCorps.
“So we went home and we told our parents, and my mother went in the back room and cried,” Linda says. “And then that’s when my brother said, ‘Uh-uhn, it ain’t happening.’
We were very lucky that he was over 6 feet tall. So he walked us down to school and told our high school counselors, ‘My sisters will take the test.’ “
(READ the story – or Listen to it – from StoryCorp and NPR)