March 26, a book presentation was held at the Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center in San Benito. One of the major luminaries in the field of Mexican-American History or Chicano Studies gave a preview of her book “No Mexicans, Women, or Dogs Allowed.”
Dr. Cynthia E. Orozco shed light on a history that has been for the most part bypassed. The period of the Mexican Migration north to Texas and the other border states. This was due in part to the chaos of the Mexican Civil War as well as the growth of industry and agriculture in the border region. At the same time of the Mexican migration northward many settlers were coming south from the Midwest states. Many of these settlers were Swedish (Stockholm Settlement Video) and German, Polish and others. The Germans of course had been in Texas for many years, having fled Germany since 1848.
The era and the area were ripe for ethnic conflict and a fast emerging caste system. The population before this time was small, and everyone that passed south of the Nueces River knew that Spanish was the lingua franca. The people of Mexican descent that lived along the border were just beginning to think of themselves as Mexican-Americans. The border had after all crossed them, not the other way around. At the First League of United Latin American Citizens conference in 1929 difficult and painful decisions had to be faced right away. One of the first acts of the newly formed anti-discrimination civil rights organizations was to deny membership to Mexican Citizens. There were very valid reasons for this, in fact, without it, it is very doubtful that the organization would have survived. But it does seem ironic, doesn’t it?
Visit Dr. Cynthia E. Orozco’s official website>>
We have excerpts from Dr. Orozcos talk.
Grab a copy of the book from Amazon here>>
Dr. Orozco is also an associate editor of Latinas in the United States: An Historical Encyclopedia>>
Dr. Orozco wrote a forward in this book: “Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History”
