More Than Just a Logo

The tree represents who we are. We are a family with many branches. The branches come together to form the trunk. The trunk is what holds the tree together and although there are many branches that feed to the trunk there's only one trunk. The main parts of a tree or the root, the trunk, and the branches. Roots are what make the trees strong. Our cultures are the same. 

Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture. The other tree is the Tejano culture. There are there are still Indian tribes in Texas that have their own culture. Texas culture is an amalgamation of three different cultures. White, Black and Tejano. The cultural lines become blurred when men and women decide to marry someone from another culture. Trying to stop this process legally has not worked. 

The three broadly characterized cultures are White, Black and Asian. For those not satisfied with one of the three choices there is always another choice “other.” 

Tejano has been the culture of Texas for over 300 years. 

During the Mexican Revolution, thousands of Mexicans jumped the border and came back to their ancestral home in South Texas. They became Tejano. Tejano culture is still dominant in South Texas.

Author's note

In Texas, there is a dichotomy of cultures. There is the Tejano culture in South Texas that has been here for over 300 years. More recently, thousands of Mexicans crossed the southern border of the United States fleeing the Mexican Revolution. Most of these Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande into South Texas. Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande in such large numbers that they overwhelmed the smaller Tejano population. South Texas retained its Tejano culture.

North Texas was sparsely populated. It was the domain of the Comanche. Mexico provided the manpower Texas needed. Mexicans were recruited to work the railroads, coal mines, the oil fields and the cornfields. First to be recruited were the railroad workers.

American recruiters went to Mexico and recruited unaccompanied workers to work the railroad. Railroad workers tended to earn money and head back to Mexico. American entrepreneurs surmised that if Mexicans were allowed to bring their families, they would stay and not return to Mexico. Housing for families was solved by converting railroad cars into living accommodations. A similar approach was used to recruit coal miners. Miners could bring their families. Coal mining in Texas was going to be safer, there were better wages, there were schools for the children, and medical care. Coal mining in Texas was much more lucrative.

With the arrival of the train, there was a need for coal. In Texas there was bituminous coal, a coal of much better quality than the anthracite. The first coal mine in operation in North Texas was at Bridgeport in the early 1880's. There were about 1000 workers; 75% were Mexican (Bridgeport Museum). About 1885, a much larger coal mine was opened in Thurber. Thurber was home to over 10,000 people 1000 of whom were Mexican. Similarly, Rock Creek and Lyra each had about 1000 people, 75% of whom were Mexican.

The discovery of oil in Ranger ended coal mining. Thurber is now a restaurant stop. Lyra and Rock Creek have disappeared. Mexicans dispersed north to other mines, agricultural work, and industries. There were plenty of jobs in Cement City in Dallas and the meatpacking and Texas Steel in Fort Worth. An era ended for Mexicans in North Texas and another one began.

Mexicans brought their culture to North Texas. As I look back at this era. I see the Tejano music beginning in Thurber. Thurber was the only place where there was a mingling of nationalities (races). Each one of them had their own area they lived in. Fences did not separate anybody. Safety being a prime concern, areas were segregated by language. The cultures were exposed and they were transparent. Mexican could see the Germans playing their polka and dancing. Mexicans could not dance to mariachi music. Mexicans could buy the musical instruments, they could learn how to play them, and they could learn how to dance the polka. And they did.

South Texas was heavily segregated. In South Texas, everyone knew their station in life. The railroad tracks kept everybody in their place.

A demarcation line separated South Texas from North Texas. Tejanos lived in South Texas, and Mexicans lived in North Texas. Lack of transportation and resources made travel to North Texas difficult for Tejanos. North Texas was inaccessible. Not many had the money to pay for the train fare north. When cultures are adjacent to each other, there is always going to be some intermingling of cultures. However, a culture will never be totally obliterated.

I recently visited Edgewood High School in San Antonio, the school I graduated from. The word Mexican did not appear anywhere in the West Side of San Antonio. Edgewood High School was an American school with American values. The band played John Philip Sousa, and the Acapella choir sang God of our Fathers. Edgewood has been so Mexicanized that it does not even seem like we are in America. It does not seem logical that we must study Mexican to be American.