Read @viaSimonRomero for @nytimes “Lynch mobs Killed Latinos Across the West: Descendants Want it Known” Features @Refusing2Forget public work & descendants of the Porvenir massacre Arlinda Valencia & Brandi Tobar: “It's about time for the entire country to know the truth.”
3 quick reasons the history of anti-Mexican violence has been forgotten:
1 Texas Rangers local police & US soldiers participated in anti-Mexican violence. Agents regularly denied people of Mexican descent due process & murdered them w/o fear of prosecution. Extralegal violence has for too long been shielded in a cloak of legal authority. #TexasHistory
2 Victims of anti-Mexican violence were regularly criminalized in death as “bandits” or “thieves.” State institutions neglected to keep accurate records of racially motivated killings, bolstering efforts to erase this period of terror from state history. #TexasHistory
3 Politicians, historians, the media, & historical commissions of the era all inscribed a celebratory version of events in newspapers, books, lesson plans, museums, & monuments. This version of history hid state crimes & disavowed the loss & trauma experienced by residents.
@MonicaMnzMtz @viaSimonRomero @nytimes @Refusing2Forget This isn’t about victimhood, though there are plenty of victims. This is about accountability and the courage to confront the truth. No one does it better than @MonicaMnzMtz ! @Refusing2Forget @DrMChatelain @Alexander_Avina @AOC @ProfSifuentez @AnneMMtz