Daniel Rodela was still a child when he first visited Taft in the summer of 1994, but the image he encountered stayed with him for decades.
Near his uncle’s home, a sign posted outside a house read: “No Mexicans, no dogs, no Indians,” followed by a racial slur.
“That was my introduction to this place,” Rodela said. “It gave me an early glimpse of what people here were dealing with.”…