'Deport yourself': Humble ISD candidate reports alleged home vandalism—"Latinos have to unite, because our students are our priority right now"

Friends:

This vandalism and harassment is so despicable on so many levels. The concept of "racialized voter suppression" and associated candidate intimidation should no longer be abstractions if they were to begin with. And please, telling a U.S. citizen to “deport yourself” based on her ethnicity and culture is racist to the core. 

It's also misogynistic, designed to push Latinas and women, generally, out of their pursuit of public office. This aligns with the regular defaming and misrepresenting of AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Cori Bush, and others is a way to discredit their policy positions and to manufacture disfavor with those they represent.

Castillo’s past advocacy for bilingual, community-engaged students earning graduation sashes should be uplifted rather than put down, considering her wonderful sense of civic duty and helping marginalized students. At the base of this civic harm to where she feels unsafe in her own home is trying to impact broader publics from ever considering running for office. I hope she wins her school board race in Humble ISD.

Great quote by Castillo. 

"This is the time where we Latinos have to unite, because our students are our priority right now. Our students deserve to have an equal education like anyone else."

I hope they have a LULAC Chapter in Humble or that they form one. I hear that Houston LULAC is on top of this. 

-Angela Valenzuela

'Deport yourself': Humble ISD candidate reports alleged home vandalism

"They're mocking my incident as if I'm doing this to get more votes instead of actually seeing it as a threat to a candidate."

By Brammhi Balarajan,Trending News ReporterMay 1, 2025

"Deport yourself" was written on a Humble ISD school board candidate's home. (Judy Castillo) 

By Brammhi Balarajan,Trending News ReporterMay 1, 2025

The Harris County Sheriff's Office is investigating an alleged incident of vandalism at the home of a candidate for the Humble ISD school board, where the words "deport yourself" were found on her door on Friday. 

Judith Castillo, who is running for a trustee position in Humble, said she's been targeted and harassed since her campaign began. In addition to the messages telling her to "deport herself," she said she's received harassing messages with name-calling and sexual content. She also said she's been followed to work and her social media accounts have been hacked.  

Although Castillo’s campaign centers on anti-bullying, she says she has been the target of similar hostility throughout the election. Much of the backlash, she says, has focused on her race—driven by the false belief that her platform only supports Hispanic students.  

"It's been an ongoing issue where people are saying I'm just running to represent Hispanic students. I'm not running just to represent Hispanic students, I'm running to represent all students," Castillo told Chron.  "I am running to have a voice for my community." 

Humble, Texas is 56.2 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to data from the U.S. Census. 

Some parents have criticized Castillo over an incident a few years ago, when Castillo, then a teacher, stood up for her students after the superintendent removed their graduation sashes. The sashes had previously been approved by the administration to commend the students for their volunteer work every week through mentorship programs aimed at improving bilingual literacy at the local elementary school. 

"A lot of parents thought I was trying to promote only my race and help only my people," Castillo said. 

Following the incident, Castillo raised the issue with the school board. But some parents have continued to lambaste her for her advocacy at the time, sending her messages saying "the clown wants to continue her show."

"People are stating, 'well, English is the official language now, you shouldn't worry about any Spanish students now," Castillo said. 

Since she reported the alleged act of vandalism, the hate hasn't let up. 

"They're mocking my incident as if I'm doing this to get more votes instead of actually seeing it as a threat to a candidate, actually seeing it as violence," Castillo said. 

The hateful messages have come at the expense of her mental health, Castillo said. 

She has begun having anxiety attacks. She can't sleep at night. 

"I wake up and I'm just shaking," Castillo said. 

Her family feels unsafe to the point where they might consider moving if she doesn't win the election, Castillo said.

"It just reminds me of the little girl riding on the bus. Little Judy riding on the bus, eight years old, and being called a wetback," Castillo said. The term "wetback" is a derogatory term used for a Mexican citizen living in the U.S. 

"This is the time where we Latinos have to unite, because our students are our priority right now. Our students deserve to have an equal education like anyone else," Castillo added. 

For now, Castillo said she's showing up and talking to the community as election day approaches on May 3. 

"I'm just eagerly waiting for election day. I'm still going to go out to the polling places. I'm still going to greet people." 

Important Post on the Struggle for Women's Rights by Martha P. Cotera

Martha Cotera (L) with Alicia Gaspar de Alba (Center)
and Angela Valenzuela (Right) at Alicia's May 2,  2019
speaking engagement at the UT Benson Library where
her archives were deposited.
View at: https://tinyurl.com/y3av23bd

I think the post below speaks volumes to young women who feel that the movement for women's rights is irrelevant to them: If you have time, read the post and consider that in 1975, I could not get a phone account for my business without my husband's signature; nor could women get loans for homes, get tubal ligations on their own, and in some cases, not even birth control, of course we had to fight for women to be hired as firefighters, police, and as principals, superintendents, city managers, bankers (basically most professions were closed to women).

These are our own heroinas: Margaret Munoz Simon, Gloria Anzaldua, Lena Guerrero, Isabel Mcgran Gonzalez, Emma Tenayuca, Luisa Moreno, Francisca Flores, Irma Rangel, Virginia Muzquiz, Margaret Cruz, Jovita Idar, Jovita Gonzalez and thousands others deserve our gratitude for their advocacy on our behalf.

-Martha P. Cotera

Women’s March, 2017. Philadelphia, PA

You Are Not Equal. I’m Sorry.
by Dina Leygerman | Medium
Jan 22, 2017
(A post is making rounds on social media, in response to the Women’s March on Saturday, January 21, 2017.
It starts with “I am not a “disgrace to women” because I don’t support the women’s march. I do not feel I am a “second class citizen” because I am a woman….”
This is my response to that post.)

Say Thank You
Say thank you. Say thank you to the women who gave you a voice. Say thank you to the women who were arrested and imprisoned and beaten and gassed for you to have a voice. Say thank you to the women who refused to back down, to the women who fought tirelessly to give you a voice. Say thank you to the women who put their lives on hold, who –lucky for you — did not have “better things to do” than to march and protest and rally for your voice. So you don’t feel like a “second class citizen.” So you get to feel “equal.”

Thank Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul for your right to vote.

Thank Elizabeth Stanton for your right to work.

Thank Maud Wood Park for your prenatal care and your identity outside of your husband.

Thank Rose Schneiderman for your humane working conditions.

Thank Eleanor Roosevelt and Molly Dewson for your ability to work in politics and affect policy.

Thank Margaret Sanger for your legal birth control.

Thank Carol Downer for your reproductive healthcare rights.

Thank Margaret Fuller for your equal education.

Thank Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shannon Turner, Gloria Steinem, Zelda Kingoff Nordlinger, Rosa Parks, Angela Davis, Malika Saada Saar, Wagatwe Wanjuki, Ida B. Wells, Malala Yousafzai. Thank your mother, your grandmother, your great-grandmother who did not have half of the rights you have now.

You can make your own choices, speak and be heard, vote, work, control your body, defend yourself, defend your family, because of the women who marched. You did nothing to earn those rights. You were born into those rights. You did nothing, but you reap the benefits of women, strong women, women who fought misogyny and pushed through patriarchy and fought for you. And you sit on your pedestal, a pedestal you are fortunate enough to have, and type. A keyboard warrior. A fighter for complacency. An acceptor of what you were given. A denier of facts. Wrapped up in your delusion of equality.

You are not equal. Even if you feel like you are. You still make less than a man for doing the same work. You make less as a CEO, as an athlete, as an actress, as a doctor. You make less in government, in the tech industry, in healthcare.

You still don’t have full rights over your own body. Men are still debating over your uterus. Over your prenatal care. Over your choices.

You still have to pay taxes for your basic sanitary needs.

You still have to carry mace when walking alone at night. You still have to prove to the court why you were drunk on the night you were raped. You still have to justify your behavior when a man forces himself on you.

You still don’t have paid (or even unpaid) maternity leave. You still have to go back to work while your body is broken. While you silently suffer from postpartum depression.

You still have to fight to breastfeed in public. You still have to prove to other women it’s your right to do so. You still offend others with your breasts.

You are still objectified. You are still catcalled. You are still sexualized. You are still told you’re too skinny or you’re too fat. You’re still told you’re too old or too young. You’re applauded when you “age gracefully.” You’re still told men age “better.” You’re still told to dress like a lady. You are still judged on your outfit instead of what’s in your head. What brand bag you have still matters more than your college degree.

You are still being abused by your husband, by your boyfriend. You’re still being murdered by your partners. Being beaten by your soulmate.

You are still worse off if you are a woman of color, a gay woman, a transgender woman. You are still harassed, belittled, dehumanized.

Your daughters are still told they are beautiful before they are told they are smart. Your daughters are still told to behave even though “boys will be boys.” Your daughters are still told boys pull hair or pinch them because they like them.

You are not equal. Your daughters are not equal. You are still systematically oppressed.

Estonia allows parents to take up to three years of leave, fully paid for the first 435 days. United States has no policy requiring maternity leave.

Singapore’s women feel safe walking alone at night. American women do not.

New Zealand’s women have the smallest gender gap in wages, at 5.6%. United States’ pay gap is 20%.

Iceland has the highest number of women CEOs, at 44%. United States is at 4.0%.

The United States ranks at 45 for women’s equality. Behind Rwanda, Cuba, Philippines, Jamaica.

But I get it. You don’t want to admit it. You don’t want to be a victim. You think feminism is a dirty word. You think it’s not classy to fight for equality. You hate the word pussy. Unless of course you use it to call a man who isn’t up to your standard of manhood. You know the type of man that “allows” “his” woman to do whatever she damn well pleases. I get it. You believe feminists are emotional, irrational, unreasonable. Why aren’t women just satisfied with their lives, right? You get what you get and you don’t get upset, right?

I get it. You want to feel empowered. You don’t want to believe you’re oppressed. Because that would mean you are indeed a “second-class citizen.” You don’t want to feel like one. I get it. But don’t worry. I will walk for you. I will walk for your daughter. And your daughter’s daughter. And maybe you will still believe the world did not change. You will believe you’ve always had the rights you have today. And that’s okay. Because women who actually care and support other women don’t care what you think about them. They care about their future and the future of the women who come after them.

Open your eyes. Open them wide. Because I’m here to tell you, along with millions of other women that you are not equal. Our equality is an illusion. A feel-good sleight of hand. A trick of the mind. I’m sorry to tell you, but you are not equal. And neither are your daughters.

But don’t worry. We will walk for you. We will fight for you. We will stand up for you. And one day you will actually be equal, instead of just feeling like you are.

~ Dina Leygerman, 2017

In the wake of Bill Cosby's sentencing and Christine Blasey Ford's testimony tomorrow, I can't help but think about how all of us could benefit from both Ethnic Studies and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies in our schools, whether at the higher education or K-12 level—ideally, at both. 

How many lives, careers, and reputations could be saved by the knowledge and dispositions that these kinds of courses provide?  The answer is not to rail against feminists or the #MeToo movement for ostensibly raising a high bar—which simple human decency and respect toward others is not.  Nor should parents or families be entirely blamed.  After all, parents got the same (mis)education as their children.

Expressed differently, a systematic failure of our schools and society to offer these courses in sufficient numbers means that many of those present at tomorrow's Senate judiciary hearing will have failed to reap the benefits either of an enhanced, critical understanding of human experience or the skills, knowledge, and sense of empowerment and personal responsibility that are crucial to the successful, and ideally, fulfilling, negotiating of difference in a complex society and world.

When will we learn?  

-Angela Valenzuela

Why We Still Need Ethnic Studies and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies

By Susan M. Shaw | Huffington Post | January 18, 2017

Getty images

Recently someone wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper criticizing 

our university’s Ethnic Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies programs 

for being divisive by their focus on “tiny subgroups” (African Americans, Chicanos, 

Asian Americans, LGBTQ people, women) rather than the larger human population.  

In other words, this writer believes we don’t need Ethnic Studies (ES) and Women, 

Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) because we should be teaching about our 

common humanity rather than our different identities, experiences, and cultures.

He could not be more wrong.

First of all, human beings do experience themselves as people who have gender, 

race, sexuality, and culture. And those differences lead to different experiences in

the world. 

If we are to broaden and deepen our understanding of human experience, we have 

to examine it in all of its diversity and understand the difference difference makes. 

Ignoring social differences in human experience in academic study would make 

as much sense as ignoring differences in fish or stars or flowers. Commonalities 

don’t negate differences.

Second, those “tiny subgroups” are actually the majority of the human population, 

and, yet, those subgroups are still mostly ignored or marginalized in much of the

curriculum of higher education. Ethnic Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality 

Studies ensure that students have an opportunity to develop skills to understand 

how race, gender, sexuality, and other forms of difference work in the world.

Third, research shows that taking Ethnic Studies and Women, Gender, and 

Sexuality Studies classes is good for students and helps achieve the goals of higher 

education.

Many Ethnic Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies students are 

members of the groups studied in these courses, and they are attracted to courses 

that focus on their communities, identities, and histories because they do not find 

their experiences and concerns centered in many other classes throughout the 

university. 

Research shows that ES and WGSS courses have positive impacts on these students. 

Taking these courses improves students’ sense of empowerment and their sense of 

self-worth and enhances student engagement and academic achievement.

ES and WGSS courses also have positive impact on all students, especially 

heterosexual white men. White students who take Ethnic Studies courses experience 

reduction in prejudice and bias, and they become more democratic in their orientation. 

Students in ES and WGSS classes become more empathetic and more accepting of

diversity.

Additionally, students who take ES and WGSS courses develop greater cognitive 

complexity and higher levels of thinking because of their exposure to diverse 

experiences and ideas.

And on campuses with strong attention to diversity, students across all groups 

report that they are more satisfied with their college experience than students 

who do not engage diversity in college.

Finally, ES and WGSS faculty contribute essential scholarship to local and global 

communities. Here at Oregon State University my ES and WGSS colleagues are 

involved with research on motherhood, immigration, minority health, student 

success, and transnational adoption, to name a few topics. One just returned from 

supporting a medical team working with refugees in southern Iraq. Another works 

with Latino/a communities in Oregon. One was nationally recognized last year for 

work on behalf of transgender people. Another was recently honored by our local 

community on MLK Day for his work with students and other people of color on 

campus and in the community.

Ethnic Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies bring unique analytical

lenses to academic study that help us understand how race, gender, sexuality, and 

other forms of difference shape individual and group experiences. They help us 

examine social institutions and the roles these institutions play in maintaining social 

inequality. And these academic disciplines also help us think about how people can 

work to bring about changes in the world that create more inclusive, equitable, and 

just workplaces, families, schools, churches, and other social organizations.

We still need Ethnic Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies because 

race, gender, and sexuality are still important facets of human experience that give 

shape to the ways we are in the world. We need ES and WGSS because people from 

those “tiny subgroups” need an academic home to explore their concerns. We need 

ES and WGSS because all students benefit from exposure to diverse people and 

ideas. And we need ES and WGSS because the world still needs academics who can 

help us see things in a new way and develop skills to create a world that is 

life-affirming for us all.

Follow Susan M. Shaw on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drsusanmshaw