Prologue, My Enemy Summary

According to Rudy Salas, Sr., a sculptor and painter, his father's hatred of gringos stemmed from fighting against them when Pershing went after Pancho Villa in Chihuahua. Salas himself realized that gringos were the enemy when he went to first grade and he was told he was inferior because he was Mexican. He understood that the white teachers were his enemies, but he did not know why.

He refers to his feelings of racism as an "insanity" he developed after being beaten by police in 1942 when he was a zoot-suiter. In retaliation for a punch he had thrown, four officers took him into a room, locked the door and kicked him in the head. His eardrum was fractured, and he went deaf. He says that he does not like feeling the hatred for white police officers he has had...