Rep. Alex Ybarra discusses personal story of prejudice suffered as House honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 20, 2020

In Olympia, the state House paused in its business Monday to honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Junior. John Sattgast reports.

SATTGAST: Representative Alex Ybarra was among the speakers on House Resolution 4647, which honored the life and work of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior. On the House floor, Ybarra talked about the prejudice he and his family suffered as migrant farm workers in Central Washington.

YBARRA: “As a freshman, my sophomore brother took me and he said, 'Alex, Here's the rules. You go down that hall, because that's a Mexican hall. You go down this hall, that's a white hall. And you don't want to go down that hall, because the Mexicans will beat you up.' And I said, 'What are you talking about?' And he said, 'They'll beat you up because you are trying to be like a white guy.' That is prejudiced. And that's what it's like. That's the real life of it. When Martin Luther King came, all of a sudden, things changed. I wasn't being called those vile names I was being called my whole life.”

SATTGAST: Quincy Republican Representative Alex Ybarra. The resolution passed unanimously. John Sattgast, Olympia.