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Overcoming discrimination Drew Fleming photo Bonita King, 34, of Eagle Point, is surrounded by her children as she prepares to graduate from Southern Oregon University. Her children are, clockwise from left, Edward, 14, Stephany, 15, Tiffany Cherry, 17, Steven, 11, and Duane, 10 Bonita King fought her own prejudices as well as others� before earning her degree at Southern Oregon University By DAMIAN MANN Discrimination has hounded Bonita King since she was a child growing up in Texas and has plagued her as a mother raising five children in Eagle Point. Out of this rancor of racism, King has discovered she can not only conquer her own prejudices but find a way to help other minorities cope. On Saturday, this 34-year-old African-American woman will don cap and gown to join the graduation ceremonies at Southern Oregon University. About SOU�s commencement When: 9 a.m. Saturday. Where: Butler Memorial Band Shell at Lithia Park, Ashland. Number of graduates: 1,244 (750 will come to the ceremony). Male graduates: 516. Female graduates: 728. Minority graduates: 93. Commencement speaker: Juan Carlos Romeros Hicks, governor of Guanajuato, Mexico. King has majored in Spanish so that she can eventually teach Hispanic middle school children. "I saw the importance of language in the classroom with a lot of Spanish students who need a lot of attention and help," she said. "When I came here, I saw they were treated worse than we are." King is one of 12 students majoring in Spanish out of 1,244 who will graduate in Lithia Park. With a life spent fending off discrimination and overcoming a family in Texas that discouraged her from aspiring to loftier goals, King has had to conquer her own demons. "I had this feeling that if I try to do something better, there is always somebody who will pull you back down," said King. An Eagle Point resident for the past five years, she frequently finds herself combating racism in her own neighborhood. "People have thrown things at my children and called them names," she said. In the past year, King said, these problems have lessened. "They know I�m not going to stand for it." Despite being the victim of discrimination herself, King wasn�t always sympathetic to Hispanics. A native of Abilene, Texas, King said she was the victim of racism growing up, but later, in El Paso, she found herself falling into the prevalent misconception that Latinos were somehow inferior. In fact, like many people in that area, King thought the Latinos were the lowest class of people. "It was weird being on the bottom all your life and then being in a place where there were people even lower," she said. Asked if she considered herself prejudiced then, King admitted, "It is kind of embarrassing to say, but yes." Instead of being wary of Latinos, King now embraces their culture and the diversity in the community. "They�re still different," she said. "But we�re all different." After she moved to Eagle Point, King said her feelings changed about Latinos as she witnessed the struggles they endured trying to fit in and learn a new language. She compared their problems to her own. "What I had to go through here made me see what they had to go through," she said. King had briefly gone to college while she was in Texas, but after her first child was born, she had to put education on hold. Her family also discouraged her from attempting to go beyond her station in life. "I kind of thought that if I could get away from my family, I could do something," she said. After moving to the Rogue Valley, she enrolled at Rogue Community College in summer 1995 with the support of her husband, Adam Putnam, and her children. Her 15-year-old daughter, Stephany King, said of her mother, "She�s accomplished a lot." Her mother, who has received three scholarships at SOU, also receives praise from her teachers. "Diversity is the root of the word �university�," said Spanish professor Priscilla Hunter. "Bonita symbolizes what this university is all about." Hunter, who believes King has a natural facility with languages, said her student took on the intellectually challenging task of comparing the book "Abel Sanchez" by Miguel de Unamuno and showing its relation to the "Iliad." This was done in Spanish for her capstone project. King also volunteered more than 100 hours at White City Elementary as part of her graduation requirements, Hunter said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.