Texas Community Organizing Oral History Project Raul Duran Interviewer: Moises Gurrola Date: January 01, 2014 Place of Interview: Fort Worth, TX Mr. Duran: There were instances that certainly stand out. I remember my aunt Esperanza, taking me one time to Marine Park which is the big part right there on the North side of Fort Worth. They had a big slide I remember. You could just climb up and just slide down. And I remember there was an Anglo woman there and her child. I can’t remember if it was a boy or girl or what. But the little boy or girl started getting real pushy and was pushing me either to get off the ladder getting off the slide or something to the point where my aunt kind of intervened and told the lady, “You kid is kind of bothering my kid” or whatever” and this is the first time I’d heard that term but the Anglo woman said back to my aunt, “oh you pepper-bellies” or something, and I was like, ‘What?’. And I tried to ask my aunt what that was or what that meant later and you know, my aunt, I don’t know if through embarrassment or anger, but she just kind of, “Don’t worry about it. It’s because we’re Mexican. She’s calling us that because we’re Mexican. And I’m like… you know I think I was very young and I was still not understanding what that meant. Mr. Gurrola: Anyway, you were saying pepper-belly? I’ve never heard that term before. Duran: I hadn’t either! Gurrola: Have you heard it since? Duran: I don’t know. I don’t’ know. I’m sure I have. I remember going back home and telling everybody, “You know what they called Cha-cha?” Because that was our nickname for Esperanza. They called her a pepper-belly. What does that mean?