Jim Crow Racism and the Mexican Americans of San Antonio, Texas
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ORAL HISTORY AS A MEANS OF MORAL REPAIR: JIM CROW RACISM AND THE MEXICAN AMERICANS OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS by Rebecca Dominguez-Karimi A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL May 2018 Copyright by Rebecca Dominguez-Karimi, 2017 ii ORAL HISTORY AS A MEANS OF MORAL REPAIR: JIM CROW RACISM AND THE MEXICAN AMERICANS OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS by Rebecca Dominguez-Karimi This dissertation was prepared under the direction of the candidate's dissertation advisor, Dr. Sandra Norman, Comparative Studies Program, and has been approved by the members of her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. SUPERVISORY COMMnTEE: ~~o..... .:i N1~"" Sandra Norman, Ph.D. ~~Susan Love Brown, Ph. 'S:"..,;ae~.~~o~ JosephinBeoku-Betts, Ph.D. Directo , mparative St ilies Pro? MiC11aeliOfSWclD.~-# Dean, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts andn:ers . 5"", "Zo/g "~~2.~~ ' iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author offers her sincerest thanks and gratitude to members of her committee (past and present-Dr. Robin Fiore, Dr. Marta Cruz-Janzen, Dr. Sandra Norman, Dr. Susan Love Brown, and Dr. Josephine Beoku-Betts) for their guidance, input, and support in bringing this manuscript to fruition. She wishes to especially thank her dissertation advisor, Dr. Sandra Norman, for her patience, advice, and inspiration during the composition of this manuscript. The author also desires to express her gratitude to Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Research for the Dissertation Year Grant Award that assisted in funding this study. iv ABSTRACT Author: Rebecca Dominguez-Karimi Title: Oral History as a Means of Moral Repair: Jim Crow Racism and the Mexican Americans of San Antonio, Texas Institution: Florida Atlantic University Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Sandra Norman Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Year: 2018 Oral history’s purposes have metamorphosed from a record of lifeways and stories of the elite to a means of healing for minority communities oppressed by trauma. This dissertation focuses on the power of oral history to catalyze the restorative justice process of moral repair for victims—in this case the Mexican Americans of Texas—who were traumatized by the Jim Crow laws and practices prior to 1965. I researched the racial, socio-cultural history of Texas from its colonial days up to the Jim Crow historical era of 1876-1965 and utilized archival, legal, and historical sources for my study. Additionally, I explore theories and frameworks of trauma, structural violence, and restorative justice, and analyze twenty-eight oral histories from the Voces Oral History Collection (University of Texas, Austin). Lastly, I apply oral history methodology to collect seventeen oral histories for my own project, Project Aztlan. My findings reveal a community suffering from structural violence—a theory that argues unjust laws harm individuals as much as physical violence. The oral histories v unearth several issues: first, both groups of narrators were victims of structural violence as a result of traumatic racism. I anticipated finding traumatic racism, but not on such a broad scale. The results reveal it occurred in all four corners of Texas. Second, these Jim Crow laws and practices targeted members individually and collectively through racially restrictive housing covenants, segregation of schools/public facilities, job discrimination, and disfranchisement or poll taxes. Thirdly, the oral histories demonstrate and legitimize the fact that the Mexican American community deserves atonement, apology and reparation from historically guilty institutions. The State of Texas battered them with mass lynchings, disfranchisement, racially restrictive housing covenants, school segregation, and discrimination, oppressing them for over 100 years. My dissertation concludes that the oral history process helps victims attain moral repair because, similar to moral repair, it also allows them the space to voice their stories of injustice. In turn, the oral historian validates their claims and reconciliation occurs when narrators received vindication through this reparatory process. This acknowledgment fuses broken moral bonds by equalizing members of society. vi DEDICATION This manuscript is dedicated to my family for their untiring support and to my dear husband, Rahman, who helped me in fulfilling my dream of attaining a doctorate. I also dedicate this dissertation to mi gente—the familias Mendoza and Dominguez –for instilling within my soul a profound love and appreciation of my wonderful Mexican heritage. This study would not have been possible without the cooperation of the oral history narrators in providing me the honor and privilege of gathering their life stories and I am forever grateful to them. Lastly, I dedicate this work to my mentor and spiritual father, Rev. Oscar F. Garza for his enthusiasm, vision, and belief in the merits of Projecto Aztlan. ORAL HISTORY AS A MEANS OF MORAL REPAIR: JIM CROW RACISM AND THE MEXICAN AMERICANS OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xv ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... V CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW ................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Project Overview ......................................................................................................... 3 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 4 Oral History Methodology .......................................................................................... 4 Expected Outcome ...................................................................................................... 5 Racist Beginnings ........................................................................................................ 6 Theories of Trauma, Structural Violence, and Moral Repair .................................... 11 Trauma .............................................................................................................. 11 Structural Violence ........................................................................................... 12 Moral Repair ..................................................................................................... 13 Oral History Methodology ........................................................................................ 14 Voices of the Barrio .................................................................................................. 15 Transitional and Restorative Justice Measures for the Alamo City .......................... 16 Closing Thoughts ...................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 2: RACIST BEGINNINGS ............................................................................ 22 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 22 viii A Note on Terminology ............................................................................................ 23 In the Beginning 1519 ............................................................................................... 23 Indigenous Societies in Tejas ........................................................................... 28 Colonization of Spanish Tejas 1684 ................................................................. 29 The Founding of San Antonio de Bexar 1718 .................................................. 31 Anglo Colonies and Slavery in Tejas 1822 ...................................................... 32 The Texas Revolution 1835 .............................................................................. 33 Racism in the New Republic 1836 ................................................................... 34 The Slave Republic: Slave Laws of 1836 & 1837 ............................................ 34 The New Republic: Lost Lands, Lost people 1836-1845 ................................. 35 The Texas Rangers as Agents of the State 1835-1848 ..................................... 37 Texas Statehood (1845) and the US War with Mexico (1846-1848) ............... 39 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Citizenships Rights and the Construction of Whiteness 1848 ................................................................................................. 41 Ethnic Oppression: Lynching, Pogroms, and Banishments 1848-1879 ........... 42 Ante-bellum Period of Texas: 1840-1865 ........................................................ 43 Texas and the Civil War 1861-1865 ................................................................. 45 The Emancipation Proclamation and Black Codes .......................................... 45 The Reconstruction in Texas: Blacks in Texas Government ............................ 46 Voting Rights for Mexican Americans: The Elusive Dream ............................ 47 Tensions Between Blacks and Mexican Americans: Mexican Americans