Bakersfield High School

KEN HOOPER: None had a greater influence than Earl Warren

The lights from Griffith Stadium shone down on Gov. Earl Warren as he helped present a brand-new Buick sedan to retiring football coach Dwight "Goldie" Griffith in 1948. Griffin was retiring after 40 years of coaching the Bakersfield High School football team to seven state championships and numerous valley championships. The governor of California, native son of Bakersfield, and a 1908 graduate of Kern County High School, had returned to pay tribute to the longtime coach.

Warren returned many times to Bakersfield over the years: from the Army after World War I, for Armistice Day ceremonies in November 1941, and to the ceremony renaming the Junior College Building on the BHS campus to Warren Hall in 1956. He attended his high school reunions, including the 50th anniversary of the class of 1908 when he was chief justice of the United States.

The greatest obstacle to naming the federal courthouse in Bakersfield in honor of Warren is probably his role in the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. In fact, it has been a constant obstacle to the construction of monuments or statues in his honor throughout the nation. Yet Warren was such a popular governor of California, he was once nominated by both the Republican and Democratic parties, running against himself in the general election of 1948.

Internment of Japanese-Americans in Kern County did not begin with Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in February 1942; it began on Dec. 11, 1941, when Sheriff Johnny Loustalot placed Kern County deputies at the "Japanese Camps" at the Sierra Vista Ranch near Delano and Di Giorgio Farms north of Arvin. Kern County deputies kept 150 people of Japanese ancestry detained at Di Giorgio Farms until the evacuation, along with the other 900-plus people of Japanese ancestry in Kern County, to the Poston Relocation Camp near Parker, Ariz., in May 1942. Many of them never returned to Kern County.

With the smoke and flames of Pearl Harbor a searing memory, every major politician in California, liberal and conservative, endorsed the internment of people of Japanese ancestry, citizen and noncitizen alike. Jim Newton, the author of the Earl Warren biography "Justice for All," wrote, "(Earl Warren) advocated internment not to punish the Japanese but to protect the rest of California. Warren was not, then or ever, a racist in the most venal sense of the word. But he embodied the racial callousness of his times." Warren was in favor of the limited internment of disloyal and dangerous Japanese, not the wholesale internment of the entire population of people of Japanese ancestry. But once Executive Order 9066 was signed, Warren, acting as attorney general for the state of California, implemented the internment policy to its fullest extent.

Student Team from Bakersfield's Centennial High School Wins First ...

Student Team from Bakersfield’s Centennial High School Wins First Place in 2011 Capital Markets Contest

The largest California student economics contest, co-sponsored by CFA Society of Los Angeles and California Council on Economic Education, challenges students in a timed, question-and-answer format.

Los Angeles and Bakersfield, CA (PRWEB) July 11, 2011

The four-student team from Bakersfield, California, lead by instructor Brett Dobson, won first place in the 2011 Capital Markets Contest. The winning team included students Sarah Monet Moore, Rocio Cruz, Grant Novins and Brandon Louey.

Dos Pueblos High School of Goleta, CA took second place; Loyola High School of Los Angeles placed third.

The annual contest rewards mastery of key economic concepts in an academic competition. Students analyze, interpret and present their views on explaining how recent economic events have influenced the financial markets. This year’s issues included the current housing market, job growth and developments in GDP. The Bakersfield team competed against five high schools and 20 students across California. Instructor Dobbins and the students were awarded cash prizes and a trip to New York City where they will be given a special tour of the New York Stock Exchange.

The contest, sponsored with the support of the CFA Society of Los Angeles, is the largest such competition in California. Robert Parry, retired President of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank; Jason Raefski, Executive VP of Sunwest Bank; and Ken Yee, vice president of Capello Capital, served as judges at his year’s event.

“We heartily congratulate these very talented students and teacher,” said Ken Yee of CFA Society of Los Angeles. “These students demonstrated their potential, and the potential of all students in California who are developing an understanding of the ‘rules of the game’ in this complex global economic environment. All of the 300-plus members of CFA Society of Los Angeles are committed to providing best practices in economic and financial literacy to our communities.”

About the California Council on Economic Education The California Council on Economic Education (CCEE) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the economic reasoning and financial literacy of California students. CCEE’s focus is preparing students to participate in the global economy by providing educational programs and materials to K–12 teachers. More information about CCEE’s professional development workshops, programs and student contests can be found at http://www.ccee.org.

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