‘The massacre’ of Mexican Americans in Texas, a decade not to forget

More than a century after ‘The slaughter’a bloody decade during which Mexican-American families were victims of violence racial in the border of Texas (USA.) with Mexico, Their descendants, historians and academics fight so that this part of history is not forgotten.

This massacre, which took place on that border between 1910 and 1920, is considered one of the worst cases of racial violence in the United States, but it appears little in official history.

Both men and women of Mexican origin were tortured and murdered by strangers, their neighbors, security guards or even at the hands of the authorities themselves, including the Texas Rangers police department.

“My grandfather and great-grandfather were murdered during this violent period against the Mexican-American community in Texas,” Trinidad Gonzales, a history professor at South Texas College, told EFE.

The academic indicated that during this dark period there was a lot of uncertainty in the border region fueled by the Mexican Revolution that was taking place simultaneously in the neighboring country.

“My grandfather had the keys to many ranches; A group of bandits forced him to open several bars. When the rangers came to question him about the facts, my great-grandfather was with him, my grandmother only heard the shots that took the lives of both of them,” Gonzales said.

The historian stressed that many of the people who died at the hands of the rangers or “the rinches”as Mexican Americans called them at that time, were people who were already detained facing false accusations.

“The story was the same, they shot them because they were trying to flee,” Gonzales lamented.

He indicated that this racial resentment was fueled at all levels, including state government.

In the case of his grandfather and great-grandfather, he considers that his family had “luck” because they could bury them. He says that it was common for bodies to be left out in the open as a “warning” to others.

One of the main reasons for ‘The Massacre’ was to take away the lands of many of these Mexican-American families, who for generations owned large areas, says the expert.

Gonzales, along with historians, educators and descendants of these victims, created the ‘Refusing to Forget’ project to tell this tragic part of the country’s history.

The group, which has been working on this project for more than a decade, considers that this period has not received the same diffusion as the violence against the African-American community.

“This project seeks to preserve the memory of the violence experienced on the Texas and Mexico border. However, it is something that is hardly read in history books or even in the media,” Benjamín Johnson, a member of the project, told EFE.

The collective established a website where they tell the story of “La Matanza”, make presentations and recently published a book to remember the 100 years of these bloody events.

They have also managed to establish plaques at different points along the border where they honor the memory of the deceased, which are estimated to number in the hundreds, although no one knows the exact number. Currently, the exhibition ‘Life and Death on the Border 1910-1920’ is being held, which will be presented in several museums in Texas until May 2025.

Johnson stressed that not all Texas residents supported these unpunished murders, and that several fought to end this social injustice.

“It is very important for all Americans, regardless of their origin, (to know) that we have dark periods in our own history, where abuses and crimes were committed against our own people,” said the history professor at Loyola University Chicago.

The academic considers that those people who believe that this country has never made mistakes are a “danger” because, in his opinion, they are less likely to “see it,” even when it happens in front of their own eyes.

For this reason, he regrets the crisis along the border with Mexico and the constant attacks against migrants who are arriving to request asylum.

“We see rhetoric where migrants are being demonized, it is not exactly the same as what we saw during ‘The Massacre’ since the migrants are only passing through and come from other countries, but nevertheless we see comments that qualify them as ‘criminals’“, said.

As during “The Massacre,” Johnson believes that the most dangerous thing is that the attacks come from the same people who occupy high positions in the government.

Sonia Hernández, another of the founders of ‘Refusing to forget’, told EFE that they hope their efforts will serve not only to inform the public about the history of this country, but also for people to reject violence.

“Behind the anti-immigrant rhetoric that we currently see has a lot of history behind it,” he indicated.

“I think it’s important for people to understand that if our politicians and representatives use a derogatory word like ‘animals’ to refer to a group of people, there are consequences,” he added.

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