Texas has nearly two hundred monuments to the Confederacy. Many of them were erected during the 20th century.
There are only two monuments to the Union in Texas.
It wasn’t until the the year 2012 that there was a single monument to the Tejano people that was recognized by the state. It took eleven years to pass through the Texas legislature and to gain enough funding through private investors and interest groups. It was paid for through contributions by Tejano activists, and not by the state. An organization called the Tejano Monument, Inc., raised millions of dollars through private contributions to construct this monument, which is truly the first of its kind in Texas. The ten statues that comprise the monument are intended to represent Tejano life before the 20th century. A vaquero and his family dominate the monument and communicate the intent of the organization that saw to its creation.
Tejanos and their cultural were integral to the development of Texan identity, and have been since before Texas was a state in the Union. It is my opinion that they chose vaqueros and rancheros because they convey a sense of adventure and hardiness, as well as the fact that they were early settlers and helped create the infrastructure and economic base of the land. The ‘cowboy’ and rancher professions were by no means exclusive or even dominated by Anglo-Americans in history, as they are in popular culture. As these two groups rest at the heart of Texan identity, it is entirely understandable why Tejanos want to reclaim part of this legacy, and entirely justifiable.
The monument was nearly placed in a rather unflattering location between two buildings behind the state capitol, but the organization responsible for the monument fought from 2006 to 2009 to change the laws forbidding the construction of the monument on the ‘historic’ front lawn of the capitol, and ultimately succeeded.
The monument is indeed a great accomplishment and a move in the right direction. Acknowledging the achievements of Mexican-Americans and the integral role they played in the creation of our state is important and just. The majority of the statues are representations of social groups that existed roughly two hundred years ago. It took two hundred years for them to be memorialized, while monuments to Confederate soldiers were erected in Texas by their contemporaries. Hopefully this monument will help create a new wave of recognition for Tejano achievements.
Source:
Handbook of Texas Online, Andrés Tijerina, “TEJANO MONUMENT,” accessed September 05, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ggt02.
Image:
https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/tejano-monument-austin/
Thank you John for educating and bringing this to light. I wasn’t aware of this and even more so I am not aware of how many if any Tejano monuments are put up here in San Antonio and South Texas.
I am curious if there are any others that celebrate Tejano history that have just been forgotten. I think it would be cool to make a map of all the monuments in San Antonio so we can see what we have chosen to remember and what we have forgotten or not yet celebrated.
I meant Gabriel*, not John!
I think the idea of memorializing something often is used as a weapon, to inspire fear, and create distrust with minorities, as is common with Civil War statues. It makes me happy to see statues and memorials that represent the people of Texas that are often marginalized socially, and within history. Cool post!