PHOENIX: Raul Hector Castro first noticed discrimination on his way to school in a dusty Arizona border town.
Why, he wondered, did the white kids ride on a bus while he and his friends from Mexico had to walk? And later: Why were Hispanics always working as laborers, not in offices or carrying the mail?
Castro would stare down discrimination and overcome extreme poverty on his way to becoming Arizona’s only Hispanic governor and a respected American diplomat.
After nearly a century of blazing trails, Castro has died in his sleep. He was 98.
Undeterred by the legions of school principals who wouldn’t make him a teacher or the law school dean who didn’t want to admit him, Castro spoke adoringly of the opportunities afforded to Americans willing to work for them. He was the embodiment of the American dream, a self-made man who left a life as a hobo to make an improbable career in the law, politics and diplomacy.
It’s a message he’d deliver to young audiences well into his 90s.
“I like to motivate them and say, `Look, this is the land where anyone can accomplish whatever they want to accomplish,” Castro told The Associated Press in a 2010 interview.
Castro’s success in politics was unlikely for a Mexican-American in the 1970s.
Arizona’s Hispanic community was sizeable but not active in politics. Despite deep nerves, many voted for the first time when they cast a ballot for Castro, he said.
“From then on they became more engaged, they became active participants, they became part of the state,” he recalled.
Castro’s races for governor were two of the closest in state history. He lost to Republican Jack Williams in 1970 by 1.5 percentage points. He fared better four years later, defeating Republican Russ Williams by less than 1 percentage point.
Castro, a Democrat, was governor for 21/2 years before resigning when President Jimmy Carter appointed him ambassador to Argentina. -AP
