Stephen Austin, for which the capital Austin, TX, is named, was a Yankee colonizer and the leader of the Republic of Texas who described the war with Mexico as one of "barbarism and despotic principles, waged by the Spanish and Negro race, against civilization and the Anglo-American race." Source: Jospeh Nevins, Operation Gatekeeper, p. 104.
Find the Alamo, La Villita, San Fernando Cathedral, Number
19, Institute of Texas Culture, and the King William Historic District on
this tourist map and then scroll down to see what these places are about.
San Antonio also has very large and distinctive Chicano
neighborhoods.
Examine a
topographic
map of this area and a c. 1860 bird's eye
view of San Antonio, by Hermann Lungkwitz, printed by Rau &
Son.
San Antonio prides itself as the Hispanic "capital" of the United
States. What is the evidence for this claim?
Examine a
map of Mexicans in U.S. counties and a
map of Mexican festivals in Texas.
Texas
as twice as many Spanish language radio stations (SLRS) as
California, which has double the Hispanic population. Half of these stations
are in the Tejano Homeland, where Tejano music originated. The popularity
of Tejano music might explain why Lubbock, TX, has more full them SLRSs with
51,000 people than in New York City with over one million Hispanics!
Answers:
the Alamo: one of the five original Spanish missions; today associated with Texas "independence" from Mexico. In 1905, the Texas government appointed the Daughters of the Republic of Texas to run this state-owned historic park This "patriotic" women's organization presents an Anglo and pro-United States perspective on what happened here, to the displeasure of many Latino organizations.
La Villita: formerly an Hispanic district and market; now a tourist-oriented area with only retailing: gift shops, restaurants, and bars.
San Fernando Cathedral on Travis Square: Roman Catholic church located on one of many public squares that are left from Spanish colonization.
Number 19 locates the well-known Riverwalk with its restaurants, bars, and discos, along this portion of the San Antonio River.
Institute of Texas Culture: museum of the European ethnic history of Texas--relatively little space is used for Hispanic and Indian history, although black history is included.
King William Historic District: 19th century Victorian mansions and houses, many of which have now been turned into bed & breakfast inns. Many of San Antonio's German merchant families lived here. In 1856, a third of the city's residents were German.
Writer Sandra Cisneros says that San Antonio markets itself in the Disney style, offering Tex-Mex culture with no relevance to the present. Beginning with the Alamos' mythical status in the city's souvenir-laden downtown, " a monument to a loss that was a victory for the Anglos." Although the city has a Latino majority population, Latinos have no real political power and benefit very little economically from the tourism that celebrates their defeat! Source: Barbara R. Gonzalez, "Remember the Alamo Part II, " Z Magazine, April 1999, pp. 13-16.
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