Erasing Racism - Recited by Tino Rayos

Tino Rayos is a Alcohol & Drug Counselor Specialist II at Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency and was a Substance Abuse Counselor at Avenal and Corcoran State Prisons for twenty years. He Studied English language at California State University, Fresno, California. And he is a poet.

Here is a recital of Erasing Racism by Tino Rayos during a Buddy Jones and Friends gathering.

“Eracism”

What explanation is there

For the open hatred in our nation?

Have space aliens overtaken

The brains of humans?

Making us inhumane

Removed our humanity

Replaced it with insanity

and ideas of supremacy

over those we view as inferior to ourselves,

like Orson Wells “Attack of the body snatchers”

Saturating the minds

Brainwashed us against different factions.

Even good meaning Americans

in the lower and middle classes

like my coworkers, family members

and friends are liking and sharing

hateful ideas on their social medias

to believe they are better than minorities

being used as scapegoats

The rich are getting richer

at the expense of all of us

It’s a virus going viral,

a downward spiral into an outbreak

that keeps snowballing rolling downhill

Because bad news spreads like wildfire!

Even the non-infected are

Affected on how we treat each other 

Why is racism still such a problem? Even in religion?

Let me tell you about a friend of mine

who got wrongly discriminated

against for having darker skin,

worked with his hands, didn’t speak English,

an Eastern immigrant with a different accent,

experienced ethnic tensions,

Got deported and falsely imprisoned

For standing for love, peace and respect,

But we fell into mob mentality

And beat him to death

We’ve got to stop this and erase racism

He was the first of Christians,

This man I speak of, his name - was Jesus

I thought I invented the word.

Turns out it’s already quite the movement.

As an activist, I stand against discrimination,

Based on race, gender, sexual orientation,

Religion, class, immigration status etc.

I have poems specifically protesting:

Violence on the basis of race,

Border Walls, family separations, kids in cages,

Residential schools, the abuse of Native Americans

And Indigenous children found in mass graves

Missing and murdered Indigenous women

And advocating for Black Lives Matter,

Every Child Matters, unity and justice.

I left the poem Eracism vague on purpose.

My hope is the reader or listener will fill in the blank

That is personally relevant to them.

In Lac’ech Ala K’in

Means you are my other me

And I am your other you.

If I hurt you, I harm myself

If I love and respect you,

I love and respect myself.

This is Mayan and Toltec law.

May we stop allowing ourselves to be divided.

Let us appreciate our differences

May love and art unite us.

Tino Rayos 2-29-16

Apache and Yaqui Nations

Diversity Equity and Inclusion Trainer

Local Heroes - Tulare County California

This page is dedicated to capturing stories of Tulare County local heroes, many of whom are alive today. We will begin by pursuing interviews with people of color who have made important contributions to the growth of the community. Please enjoy reading and viewing these interviews. Visalia is the oldest San Joaquin Valley town between Los Angeles and French Camp. When California achieved statehood in 1850, Tulare County did not exist. The land that is now our county was part of the huge County of Mariposa. In 1852, some adventuresome pioneers settled in this area, then called Four Creeks. The area got its name from many watershed creeks and rivers flowing from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. All the water resulted in a widespread swampy area with a magnificent oak forest. The industrious group of settlers petitioned the state legislature for county status and on July 10 of that same year, Tulare County became a reality and Visalia became the county seat.

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