English Professor Elizabeth Rodacker had two speakers talk to her English for Multilanguage Students class on the morning of Oct. 8.

The speakers were brought in to Rodacker’s class to speak on the subject of racism and the civil rights movement of the 20th century, which was a main topic in the book the class had been assigned, titled “March: Book One.” This book is the first installment in a trilogy of graphic novels written by John Lewis and illustrated by Nate Powell.

The first speaker to arrive was the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Bakersfield branch, Patrick Jackson. Presented beforehand with questions written by the class, Jackson stated that he was happy to be speaking on this occasion. He said that the NAACP is still working and fighting for rights like earlier civil rights groups, and certain events have caused specific social issues to “come full circle,” a phrase he repeated throughout the class session.

When asked about the roots of the original civil rights movements, Jackson said, “They (African-Americans) felt wronged a majority of the time.” He stated that many African-Americans felt they were not being treated equally, even going so far as saying that people of their color were considered “one-third human.”

Jackson said that this was a main contributing factor for the push toward the civil rights movement.

The second speaker in the class, 78-year-old Mary Dulan, agreed with Jackson, and described an incident that occurred when she was a student at the University of Oklahoma in which an African-American man, who was attempting to attain a doctorate, was not treated equally.

In addition to being made to sit outside while the rest of his class were taught, the man had to be roped off from the rest of the students during times in which he was allowed in the classrooms.

However, when asked whether she thought she had hardships as an African-American, Dulan continued, “We (Dulan’s family) never had a hardship, because my mother had a job and all my sisters helped our mother.”

She added that every member of her family had a specialty with which they contributed to their brothers and sisters.

Near the end of the discussion, Jackson stated that education is important.

“If you don’t know your history, you’ll be doomed to repeat it,” he said. “If you don’t stay educated and learn, things will come back.”

Dulan agreed, addressing the entire class and said, “You’re not going to be slaves because you will all be educated.”