Working to Achieve the American Dream
by Commissioner Luis Aguilar (excerpt)
Commissioner Luis Aguilar addressed the Hispanic Bar
Association to recognize the increasing impact of Latina
leadership, discuss some background on the Securities and
Exchange Commission and improving financial literacy in minority
communities, and to share his personal story as an example of
the American Dream and why giving back is important. This
excerpt focuses on his personal story
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, DC
September 19, 2012
(1) I want to tell you a little bit about myself, so you can
understand what underlies my passion to protect investors-
particularly those hard-working men and women who invest their
savings in our capital markets. I was born in Cuba, and at the age
of six, my parents sent my brother and me to the United States
alone because they feared for our safety Fidel Castrol had
seized control of the Cuban government and rumors were
rampant that children would be sent to indoctrination camps
Cuban parents, afraid and unsure, were desperate to send their
children out of harm's way. Thousands of children arrived in the
United States, as refugees, without their parents or any
resources
. When
I arrived in the US, I did not speak a word of
Enach and
Select the correct answer from the drop-down menu.
How does Luis Aguilar introduce the idea of the difficulties minorities face because of their ethnicity?
He first introduces this idea when he shares that
he saw that the legal process can create societal change after moving to Arkansas and leaming about the "Little Rock Nine
he had to work as a 'stock by in a yam store and load baggage into airplanes to help pay his way through college
his parents sent him and his brother to America from Cuba when they were very young children
he served on the boards of organization such as the Hispanic National Bar Association which fostered diversity