LATINOS in HOUSTON Trabajando Para La Comunidad Y La Familia
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VOLUME 15 • NUMBER 2 • SPRING 2018 LATINOS IN HOUSTON Trabajando para la comunidad y la familia CENTER FOR PUBLIC HISTORY LETTER FROM THE EDITOR savvy businessmen making it a commercial hub. By the What is Houston’s DNA? 1840s, Germans were coming in large numbers, as were “Discover your ethnic origins,” find other European immigrants. The numbers of Mexicans and the “source of your greatness,” trace Tejanos remained low until the 1910s-1920s, reaching about your “health, traits, and ancestry,” 5% in 1930. African Americans made up almost a quarter and “amaze yourself…find new rela- of the population, with their numbers growing during the tives.” Ads proliferate from companies Great Migration and with the influx of Creoles throughout like AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and the 1920s. MyHeritage enticing us to learn more Houston’s DNA, like the nation's, remained largely about who we really are. European due to federal laws: The Chinese Exclusion Acts Debbie Z. Harwell, People who send a saliva sample for of 1882, 1892, and 1902; the Immigration Act of 1924, which Editor analysis may be completely surprised by imposed quotas mirroring each ethnic group’s representa- the findings or even united with unknown family members. tion in the population and maintained the existing racial For others it either confirms or denies what they believed order; and the Mexican Repatriation Act of 1930, which about their heritage. For example, my AncestryDNA report permitted deportation of Mexicans — even some U.S. cit- debunks the story passed down by my mother and her izens — to relieve the stress they allegedly placed on the blonde-haired, blue-eyed siblings that their grandmother, economy. American attitudes toward Mexicans changed whom they never met, was a “full-blood Cherokee Indian.” during World War II. The U.S. and Mexican governments Instead, my DNA analysis shows zero percent Native signed the Mexican Farm Labor Program Agreement, American ancestry. which brought in Mexican workers to fill U.S. labor short- Our intern Johnny Zapata thought of himself as Mexican ages, but these braceros were not allowed to stay here. and one-sixteenth Chinese before receiving his surprising The fortunes of hopeful emigrants changed with passage AncestryDNA results. For starters, he is 55% Native of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that allowed American, which was unexpected since his skin tone is light people to enter the country based on new criteria, including and his family comes from Northern Mexico where higher their technical skills, family reunification, and political per- percentages of European ancestry predominate. The test secution. The law opened the way for waves of new residents confirmed he is 6% East Asian or Chinese and 6% Italian, who came to Houston, altering our DNA and expanding the which solved the mystery of his great-grandmother’s ances- breadth of our city’s culture. Beginning in the 1970s through try. She was known to be half Chinese, but no one knew if 2010, the number of Latinos and Asians in Houston rose dra- she was also half French or Italian. Looking deeper into his matically, with Latinos going from 11% to 41% of the popula- results, the 4% British, 2% Western European, 1% Irish, and tion and Asians shifting from less than 1% to 7% of the total. 2% North African reveal the centuries-long migrations of In thinking about the people discussed in this issue, I Visigoth, Celtic, and Arab peoples from across Europe and cannot help but be grateful that our DNA is so diverse! the Mediterranean to the Iberian Peninsula and then to the Latinos have continuously worked for our community and Americas. Like many who do DNA testing, Johnny began to families, even when they were not treated as equals. Club reassess his identity. As he explains, “In the United States all México Bello eased the transition for immigrants and people from south of the border are given a blanket label, maintained their cultural traditions, which have become Hispanic or Latino…The racial binary constructed in this integral to our community at large. Yolanda Black Navarro, country does not fit the reality of centuries of racial mixing who served on Houston History’s board, spearheaded vital that occurred in Latin America. Previously, when asked my civic programs and impressed on the community the power race I would select ‘white,’ but after taking this DNA test, I of Latino voters — not to mention making Villa Arcos now proudly select Hispanic or Latino for my ethnicity and, a mainstay of East End restaurants. Gracie Saenz paved when given the option, check three boxes for my race: white, the way for other Latinas in Houston politics and served Native American, and Asian.” the community through her legal work, her time on City As we worked on this issue about Houston’s Latino com- Council, and working with numerous nonprofit organi- munity, it raised the question, what does Houston’s DNA look zations. Hispanic Women in Leadership, whose members like? Today a DNA test would reveal Houston is the most included Yolanda and Gracie, equally assisted in developing ethnically and culturally diverse large metropolitan region in leadership skills and serving as community advocates. The the United States, based on the distribution of the four larg- braceros performed demanding labor, which the country est racial/ethnic groups in the population. The 2010 Census desperately needed, for the opportunity to send a little showed Houston to be approximately 41% Hispanic, 33% money home and the chance to settle here someday. White, 18% Black, 7% Asian, and 1% other. But Houston’s Latinos and people of other ethnicities are now a funda- DNA has not always reflected such a diverse heritage. mental part of our DNA. They make us who we are as a city Populated originally by Native Americans, Mexicans, that proudly wears the badge of diversity and does so with and Tejanos before empresarios parceled out the land, a degree of inclusiveness rarely seen elsewhere. As Gracie Houston quickly became an Anglo town, developed by Saenz so aptly noted, “Diversity is a good thing.” Table of Contents FEATURES: HOUSTON PUBLISHED BY WELCOME WILSON HOUSTON HISTORY COLLABORATIVE El Club Cultural Recreativo México Bello: histoVOLUME 15 • NUMBER 2 • SPRINGr 2018y 2| Raza, Patria, e Idioma LATINOS IN HOUSTON: By Adriana Castro Trabajando para la comunidad y la familia 8| Yolanda Black Navarro: East End Reina EDITORIAL STAFF By Denise Gomez Joseph A. Pratt, Editor Emeritus Debbie Z. Harwell, Editor Adriana Castro, Oral History Intern Johnny Zapata, Intern Laura Bernal, Intern Joshua Valentino, Intern 13| Laying the Groundwork: Lyndon Kelly, Oral History Transcriptionist Gracie Saenz’s Life of Public Service Mohammad Abulawi, Office Assistant By Stephanie Gomez Marsha Van Horn, Art Director ADVISORY BOARD 18| El Programa Bracero, “La experiencia Monica Perales Oscar Gutiérrez de bracero nunca se te olvida” Martin Melosi William Kellar By Jadsia Roopchand Susan Bischoff Fred Korge Betty Trapp Chapman Jim Saye Barbara Eaves Anne Sloan Steven Fenberg DEPARTMENTS: EDITORIAL POLICY 23| FROM THE ARCHIVES Houston History is published twice a year by the Mujeres Unidas, Taking the Initiative: Welcome Wilson Houston History Collaborative in the The First Decade of Hispanic Women Center for Public History at the University of Houston. in Leadership We welcome manuscripts, interviews, photographic By Christian Kelleher essays, and ideas for topical issues on the history and culture of the Houston region, broadly defined. Please send correspondence to Houston History, University ECLECTIC HOUSTONIANS of Houston, Center for Public History, 3623 Cullen 26| Olympians in Houston: Their Blvd., Room 320, Houston, TX 77204-3007 or email Success Is Houston’s Success [email protected]. Phone 713-743-3123. By Asit Shah © 2018 by the Center for Public History. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this issue or any portion of it is expressly prohibited without written permission of 32| Past, Present, and Future: The the publisher. The Center for Public History disclaims Women Shaping Houston’s responsibility for statements of fact and opinions of Architecture contributors. By Alicia Islam 37| CULTURE HIGH AND LOW COVER PHOTO: Man with Girl/Hombre con Niña, The M.D. Anderson Memorial acrylic on paper. Artist Gabriela Magaña offers her Library: A Legacy of Growth perspective on the bracero history through rich and colorful By Khalid Sheikh paintings. Born and raised in Mexico, she now lives in Houston where she is an art student. The granddaughter of bracero Eduardo Lopez, she believes art is in everything and 42| HOUSTON HAPPENINGS through it lives can be saved and others can be honored. By Adriana Castro HOUSTON HISTORY Vol. 15 • No.2 1 El Club Cultural Recreativo México Bello: By Adriana Castro Raza, Patria, e Idioma Club México Bello celebrated holidays in style, as this Cinco de Mayo coronation in 1938 at the City Auditorium illustrates. Dorothy Farrington (Dr. Dorothy Caram), the child to the left of the queen, and her brother Phillip Farrington, at right, carried the queen’s train with help from the little girl sitting next to Phillip. Photo courtesy of Dr. Dorothy Caram. ressed in elegant floor-length gowns and formal white historian Arnoldo de León writes, “[T]hrough ‘México suits, men, women, and children, flanked by flags from Bello’ the traditions and customs of the mother country theD United States and Mexico, crowded together for a picture would be preserved and the name of Mexico kept sound and in 1938. At the center stood the queen, holding a scepter and safe.” In 1974 Reverend David Adame wrote a history of wearing an extravagant crown. This magnificent scene was Club México Bello for the fiftieth anniversary in which he captured at an event hosted by Club Cultural Recreativo outlined the club’s initial goals: “The idea of that club was México Bello, which became a model for many local Mex- to get as many people together with the idea of maintaining ican American organizations.