Don't Let Politics Shut Down Mexican American History

Oppression never sleeps. Lucky we don't either.

But it's hard to give a wake up call to a people who never sleep.

So let's call it a work break before work breaks us.

Because I'm going to have to ask you to work hard, but not with your back. We're going to need you to work hard making calls, visiting representatives, and standing up for our historia and cultura.

We need our History in Texas class rooms now.

We have worked hard to achieve the American Dream for our families, our youth.

Well, that's in danger.

We know how Mexican Americans were one of the most highly decorated groups during World War II. But the rest of America doesn't know that.

And maybe I can cut Alaska a little slack for that, but I'm writing this from Texas. And as my Tejano friends like to say, "We didn't cross the border. We moved that s***."

The Texas State Board of Education is about to vote on which courses will be taught in high schools throughout Texas. Neither Mexican American History or Mexican American Literature is on that list.

Now there are some folks who will tell you that's ok because we are included in lessons throughout the Texas curriculum. That's just not true.

The Texas Book Festival scheduled for this weekend in Austin is a good example of how that has worked.  Gregg Barrios wrote an editorial about. He points out, "The festival’s definition of “Texas authors,” then and now, meant mostly white writers. . . This year’s lineup features only 15 Latina and Latino writers out of 250 invited writers." 

That's means only 6% of the line up at the TEXAS book festival is Latino. That means the status quo, the system as it stands, can only imagine 6% of us. When we know we are way more important to Texas history, literature, business than 6%!

Our children fare a lot worse in Texas class rooms. Our history, our literature make up less than 6% of Texas school curriculums.

This means that although you  tell your kids about our sacrifices for this country, their classmates look at us and still see only the stereotypes fed to them by T.V.

We know that Tejano and WWII veterano Dr. Hector Garcia founded the G.I. Forum which inspired the Viva Kennedy Clubs across Tejas and across the nation and got Kennedy elected. Your grand kids' classmates don't know that.

I know we would never let anyone ban the story of war hero Roy Benavidez, but his story will go untold if we don't stand up now and demand that his story be shared in classrooms?

People mistakenly refer to us as the sleeping giant.

We are not the sleeping giant. We are the working giant, and we are reporting for work for our History right now.

Do not let politics shut down Mexican American History.

We want MAS Texas in the classrooms now!

Now, let's get to work and make history.