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Martinez / Living in Two Worlds

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Interviewer-"How did you find the relationship with your fellow students Hispanics [?]?" Mr. Martinez-I look for outlets, I wasn't discriminated as much as Jerry was, Jerry was on the gridiron and he was an outstanding athlete, so I wasn't discriminated directly, never called names, but I could feel the tension, I was admitted into certain circles, but then there were other students, Anglo students who came from other parts of the country: Illinois, New York, Florida, one of my best friends was from Georgia, uhh so I bonded with him. I also had a group of Latin American students, not Mexican American students, but Latin American brought from Panama, Peru, Columbia, and so I bonded with them. I was fortunate to live at home, so I lived two worlds, I lived two worlds, I would go home during the day and on weekends I would sometimes stay on campus in the dorms of my friends and on weekends, I would go home and before after a few years I was taken, we had a very large home, you know, Cedar Springs, I was taking this young man home with me and spending the night at our house, so they would go to Mexican dances, they would eat my mother's cooking and so I had the luxury in living in two worlds and that was a very strong factor in terms of who I am......

Interview Interview with Rene Martinez
Subjects Race Relations › Anglo-Mexican Race Relations
Discrimination or Segregation › Discrimination or Segregation at School
Family › Parents
Tags Levias, Jerry
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Interview date 2011-09-07
Interview source Documenting the History of the Civil Rights Movement in Dallas County
Interviewees Martinez, Rene
Interviewers Dulaney, W. Marvin
Thomas, Alfred
Locations Dallas, TX
Panama
Illinois, USA
New York, USA
Georgia, USA
Peru
Colombia
Duration 00:01:40
Citation "Living in Two Worlds," from Rene Martinez oral history interview with W. Marvin Dulaney and Alfred Thomas,  September 07, 2011, Dallas, TX, Civil Rights in Black and Brown Interview Database, https://crbb.tcu.edu/clips/6087/living-in-two-worlds, accessed December 24, 2025