Edward James Olmos speaks in Plachta about diversity, racial issues

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Actor and philanthropist Edward James Olmos spoke about diversity and racial issues to a crowd of about 200 Wednesday night in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium.

Olmos, who is known for his roles in “Selena,” “Miami Vice” and “Battlestar Galactica,” spoke to kick off the upcoming Hispanic Heritage month events on campus.

A self-proclaimed Chicano, Olmos gave the audience a breakdown of his heritage and the Hispanic ethnicity in general. He also underlined the importance of minority cultures being taught in grade school.

Olmos described his work as a philanthropist and encouraged the audience to give back to maintain balance in one’s own life.

“There is no such thing as a Latino, Asian, African American or White race,” Olmos said. “There is only one race and that is the human race — we are all related. The sooner we get rid of the word ‘race,’ the sooner we can realize that we’re closer than we want to be.”

Olmos spoke about his past experiences and the importance of unity between different heritages in the U.S.

“I am a MAC (Multicultural Advancement and Lloyd M. Cofer) scholar, so I have to attend this event, but I am actually genuinely interested to learn a little bit about his life because he is an activist,” said Lansing junior Victoria Velasquez. “I love him as an actor.”

The event ended with a question and answer session for the audience along with a standing ovation for Olmos. He was then presented with a distinguished leadership and achievement award from the Hispanic/Latino Commission of Michigan. After the presentation, many remained to take pictures with Olmos.

“He has a really important message to share,” said Assistant Director of Multicultural Academic Student Services Keisha Janney. ”It’s important for people to see a role model they can identify with.”