John Leguizamo wants to teach Latinos about their history with a new comedy project titled Latin History For Dummies. The 51-year-old actor and comedian was shocked that many Hispanics are not taught about what they have contributed to the country and has decided to take matters into his own hands.
“It was like, ‘I’m watching TV and I’m watching movies and listening to radio and we’re invisible’,” Leguizamo shared during an interview with HuffPost Live. “I was like, ‘where are all the Latin people?’”
After learning that 45% of Latino kids drop out of high school he decided to write his own educational material to shed light on a range of topics, including the absence of Latinos during the American Civil War, American culture and significant events, and introduce important historical figures that have been left out of the curriculum.
“Imagine, you’re a white kid and all of a sudden everybody’s Latino and everything they’re teaching you is Latino and you don’t hear anything about yourself or about your contributions,” the Colombian actor added. “You don’t hear about George Washington, you don’t hear about Thomas Jefferson and you feel like you haven’t contributed anything. How would you feel? How would you think of your future? How would you think of your participation in the American culture?”
A recent study published by the American Educational Research Journal, found that Latino students who are exposed to ethnic courses better perform and graduate at a higher rate compared to their peers who didn’t.
Leguizamo hopes to bring Latino culture and history to viewers in a new series which is currently under development and hopes to take Latin History For Dummies across the country.
“I want to go to jails and public schools and make them laugh while at the same time teaching them about our contributions,” the actor concluded.
