In 1973, 12 year old Santos Rodriguez and his 13 year old brother, David, were taken from their home and interrogated by Dallas police about a “burglary of less than $10 from a soft-drink machine.” Hoping to illicit information, one of the officers put a gun to Santos’ head and pulled the trigger, killing him instantly. Both Santos and David were later found innocent. The police officer was imprisoned, but only briefily, and “the crime remains one of the nation’s most troubling civil rights incidents.”
SMU recently established the Santos Rodriguez Memorial Scholarship in honor of the slain teen. Funded by Dallas’ Latino Center for Leadership Development and the Embrey Human Rights Program, the scholarship will help SMU students obtain undergraduate degrees in human rights. Last month, sophomore Karly Zrake became the first recipient.
Zrake has been a Dedman Scholar and straight A student since arriving at SMU in 2014. She works part-time for the Embrey Human Rights Program, and helped coordinate the program’s first 10-day study trip focused on past and present human rights struggles of Native Americans.
“[I hope] to enlighten others about Santos’ story, especially those in my generation who may not know about the tragedy,” Zrake says. “My hope is for his name to live on and be associated with change and justice.”
To celebrate the launch of the scholarship, the Embrey program sent Santos’ mother, Bessie Rodriguez, to a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) tribute to her son on November 2. The event took place at Santos Rodriguez Memorial Park in Seattle, Washington. The park is the only public space in the nation named for her son.
“We named our children’s park for Santos Rodriguez not only in memory of this young victim of racism, but in defiance of the society that caused his death,” explains Estela Ortega, executive director of El Centro de la Raza, the organization responsible for the park’s formation. “[We are] confident we’ll win in our efforts to do away with racism.”
