Their ancestors were slain a century ago along the US-Mexico border. They say now is the time to ret

[Judi Lynn]

Their ancestors were slain a century ago along the US-Mexico border. They say now is the time to retell the horror
By Rosa Flores, CNN
Video by Lauren Cook, CNN

Updated 1:15 PM ET, Sat July 20, 2019

Hidalgo County, Texas (CNN)From the sedan's back seat, Melba Coody watched as the mesquite-lined flatland of South Texas rushed by. About a century ago, she explained, her family owned all this property, as far as the eye could see.

Christine Molis, her hands on the wheel, knew that already, of course. It was a critical detail of the story her 76-year-old mother was about to retell, the story of what happened in this place -- the single event that, in their view, altered their family's destiny.

The narrative had always been there, in relatives' musings about what might have become of the family's wealth and influence if not for the killings so long ago of hundreds of Mexican-Americans by members of the vaunted Texas Rangers who took justice into their own hands.

The saga -- known as La Matanza, or The Massacre -- had recently crept onto the public stage with a push for historical markers acknowledging the slayings, along with the era's anti-Mexican rhetoric and unequal treatment of Americans of Mexican descent in the border region.

More:
https://us.cnn.com/2019/07/20/us/texas-massacre-descendants-border-immigration/index.html

[Rollo]

1. Didn't know about this. Thanks for posting.

[Dan]

2. Amazing story - definitely worth the read.

[PatrickforO]

3. I was not aware of this. Given what is happening now, I cannot be surprised, though.

See, this is what these Trump racists don't get - there are Hispanic families that have lived in CA, AZ, NM, NV, TX, CO and other states that were there long before the US settlers came in their Conestogas.

We also cannot forget the indigenous peoples, who faced genocide from all the European conquerors, whether from England, Scotland, France, Germany, Spain or Portugal.

Until we actually acknowledge these things, as well as the utter evil of slavery, we will never rise to what we can be, and will always be stuck in this morass where a third of our people are racist nazi-wannabes. We have to get beyond this hate.

[Igel]

4. You should put Mexico in the list of oppressors.

Remember--"Hispanic" means basically "the children of Spanish imperialists" for that time period. And the only reason that Mexico had any sway--or there were "Hispanic" people there--was because it was Spanish imperial territory bequeathed to the non-indigenously created "Mexico".

The Spanish government left, but the same practices continued. But nobody wants to say that Mexicans had a thing for oppressing indigenous peoples. (Nobody likes saying that indigenous peoples had a thing for oppression and genocide, either. Ideology blinds more than illuminates.)

[Turin_C3PO]

5. I wouldn't

call most Hispanics oppressors in that time period. Most were mestizo (mixed race) and themselves were oppressed.