Christian Ramirez Shares His UCLA Story

Kind of fitting. On a weekend so many BNers poured their heart and soul sharing their UCLA stories, the Daily News ran a touching profile on Christian Ramirez, which would have fit in perfectly with rest of the gems in our comment threads.

In case you missed it Jill Painter from the Daily News penned a beautiful story on Christian and his family:

Ramirez, 21, plays a high-profile position for UCLA. He's 6-foot-2, 222 pounds, and appeared primed to start for the Bruins until hamstring and ankle injuries sidelined him.

His name undoubtedly will connect with some members of the Latino community because there aren't a lot of Hispanic football players.

"There's been several times I've come out here and people get excited," Ramirez said. "They say, `We have a Hispanic running back.' There's one guy, I don't know who he is, but he always says, `Hazlo por la raza."'

Do it for the race.

Ramirez's biological father is black, which makes Ramirez half black and half Hispanic. He embraces both cultures and his mom always taught him never to favor one over the other.

"I see it as the best of both worlds," Ramirez said.

And what kind of toughness and persistence Ramirez showed when he navigated through two worlds embracing both cultures? Well this is how he stuck to his heritage (with the help of his Mom) when his family lived in Louisiana:

The family moved to Louisiana when Ramirez was 10, and that's when Ramirez started to play football. Ramirez was in a predominantly black area and was teased because of his last name and because he was light-skinned.

Ramirez also was teased for being bilingual. He told his mom he didn't want to speak Spanish anymore, but she insisted he should and they were allowed to speak only Spanish in the home. She didn't want him to forget.

And here is how he dealt when he moved back to California, living with his grandparents in El Centro:

[R]amirez still was searching for his identity. Some of the problems he faced in Louisiana resurfaced in California.

"In El Centro, I was the black kid and always heard black jokes. It's 90percent Hispanic," Ramirez said. "In Louisiana, I faced discrimination because I'm Mexican. I heard racial slurs. That's why I've never considered myself more than one or the other.

"It's kind of tough to find your place or comfort zone. It's hard to pick the right crowd. I didn't let it get to me or bother me. I just learned to deal with it. I still deal with it. It's nothing serious, but there's jokes. I don't let it get to me."

We have seen what Ramirez can do on the football field when he got limited carries in 2007. What I didn't know was despite his academic difficulties (which kept him out last season) how he has been using his life experiences to translate into success inside classrooms at UCLA:

Ramirez is interested in sociology because he loves working with people. His life has been an interesting case study, so he wrote a 10-page sociology paper on his various experiences. And he got an`A.'

Needless to say this kind of story is more than just feel-good ones. Given what we have read over the weekend here on BN, it's evident how Christian fits so perfectly within the greater Bruin family.

Well, Christian is still a little gimpy from his camp injuries (although he is not on crutches any more from the high ankle sprain he suffered during Fall scrimmage). I hope he can stay hang in there and show the same kind of persistence he has shown in real life. Meanwhile, more importantly hope Christian can be successful in all of his classes.

The entire Bruins Nation will be rooting for him. How can we not? Christian is just another amazing Bruin like rest of the members of his extended Bruin family.

GO BRUINS