We sincerely regret having to subject our readership to this transmission. It was meant for the McAllen Monitor newspaper. The problem is that a cap of 300 words is placed upon those who wish to opine concerning various interesting topics. We generally send a certain number of folks a first look so as to help in quality control, both in the typing and the argumentation. My "eloquence" is wasted upon the masses, but my fellow father-in-law (he is the father-in-law of my daughter, and I am the father-in-law of his son) reminded me of the Truth, when he declared in response to his early review, "Sorry, but you never spoke 300 words on any subject, ever!!"
He apparently knows me well.
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Two different writers arrived on the 19th of November with submission for my attention, each writing to the McAllen Monitor's opinion page. One, sent by Jake Longoria, one of my very favourite contributors...wove a lamentable but accurate account of the damage being done to the Republic. The pointless snarking being done by the leftist Democrat Congressional bloc and continuous cascade of charges against President Trump has done them no credit. Mr. Longoria pointed out some of many of Trump's accomplishments in spite of the bitter resistance of the leftwing Democrat element in the Lower House of Congress.
I am puzzled by the other contributor who points out that Caucasian people came into what would become the "New World". He also declares that Negroid people came into that area. Most of those arrivals came beginning in the early half of the 1600s from many places and for many purposes. The Negro element, lamently, normally arrived under terms of slave labour. Many of the Caucasian people came in looking for fame, fortune, or perhaps just an opportunity.
But of those white-folks who came there were a large percentage who came in under a rule of slavery known as Bonded Indenture. Perhaps 20% of British subjects who went to the "New World" went essentially as slaves for a period of up to seven years. Stipulations were firm, payment for work done was retained until the end of the Indenture, and emoluments were very small...a few copper coins per month, two meals, a very common room, frequently in a barn, and rigorous punishment for attempting to flee. This applied to male and female alike.
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| The inimitable Antonio Orindain _____________ |
Mr. Rosales-Rosales, the writer of "Colors missing from our media" wishes us to forget that the White Folks who came into the New World beginning in the 1500's were "White Folks" who essentially enslaved a majority of the native population's various nations and tribes. While Mr. Rosales-Rosales might like to regard only the mite in his neighbour's eye, it is clear that he knoweth naught how very much of the mote might dwell in his own eye.
True, Dr. Hector P. Garcia was a worthy friend, ally, opponent, and investor in the community…(by the way, much more, in my very humble opinion, than Cesar Chavez). My preference among folks involved in those events and during those times was the exceedingly brilliant Antonio Orindain, a labour and community activist of the 1960s more or less up to 2016 when he died on my birthday on 12 April 2016. I disagreed with him quite a bit, but he was a true one-of-a-kind, and he always treated me with humour and civility.
There were many occasions when we exchanged calls for no particular purpose except to chat. He was one of the truly organically concerned.
But I diverge.
The Texas Rangers of those times had to encounter extremely violent miscreants. Rustling of cattle, horses, and anything not tied down was a nearly continuous threat to be stolen. During the nineteen-teens, especially when the East Texas Ranger companies were sent down, some of the companies had officers who were base, ruthless, and frankly, arrogant. While all of this was going on, sociologically a funny thing happened.
During the years, as the Texas Rangers gained more and more esteem and mystique (the confrontation of "Bonnie and Clyde", whitetrash murdering robbers) a funny thing was happening. The Rangers had Mexicanised socially and in cultural ways, etc. To-day, a Texas Ranger who is a Latin or a Black African of heritage…produces a big yawn, among the people waiting to pay out at McDonald's.
We bring to mind, also the "social work" done by a Texas Ranger in Sabinal, Texas back in the early 1970s as an example. To wit:
Incarcerated at age 18 for a minor offense, Rodriguez was overheard singing in his cell by Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson. Impressed, Jackson told the owner of Alamo Village, Happy Shahan, about the young man’s talent. Shahan hired Rodriguez, became his manager, and changed his name from “Juan Rodriguez” to “Johnny”. It was under that name, performing at Alamo Village, that "Johnny Rodriguez" was discovered by Bobby Bare and Tom T. Hall. From there it was on to Nashville. (We note as well, that Joaquin Jackson advised "Johnny" to write and sing in Spanish, but in the style of Texas and the Southwest…which he did in the most pleasing and fascinating manner.)
And finally. The issue of the Balli properties on Padre Island are far more complex than to simply lump it into the category land being "taken away". There were lawsuits that endured for generations. The issue of the King Ranch iscertainly not one of being purloined by the Gringos. The owner sold his tracts at two cents per acre for what amounted to 180,000 acres. This would mean around 3,600.oo American dollars, which at that time was a very considerable amount.
Richard Henry King and his wife also managed to recruit Mexican workers for the ranch who were extremely competent in matters of livestock breeding, horse care, farming and pasturing, etc. Those folks became known as "Los Kinen~os" and their descendants are still found at the Ranch complex. Some are highly placed professionals in the administration as well as in education and the business world, others are loyal to their "vaquero" abilities and traditions. The "Kinen~os" are revered people in that area, and are considered treasures of the Southern Texas and the entirety of the Republic of Texas to this day.
The oversimplifications of those times cause folks lose sight of other profound facts that are now largely disregarded. Remember, there was only one Mexican American who obtained the rank of General in the Confederate Army…that person being Santos Benavides. He and his brothers were famous for their incredible service as they passed literally tonnes and tonnes of Southern cotton around to the port at Baghdad. They had to fight bandits as well as elements of the forces who were fighting against French allies of Emperor Maximillian von Hapsburg…Emperor of Mexico briefly during that time.
They were also heavily decorated in the War along with over 800 of their soldiers. Santos Benavides was a leading figure after the War Between the States. Later, when the smoke had cleared in the political realm, Benavides became Speaker of the House of Representatives of Texas, while also establishing his own businesses in the Laredo and South Texas area.
Mr. Rosales is a vigorous supporter of his positions, but his facts are shallow. The complexion of the people of Spanish background is essentially impossible to identify since their range is from indigenous to Mestizo (mixed blood) to Mexicans and Mexican Americans who are whiter than the British and Germanic Americans. The Census and the Law in Texas formally identified those of Mexican / Spanish background racially as "White" from the beginning as a Republic.
The Latin element of the Texas social makeup is steadily gaining thousands of people of Latin American ancestry being attracted to the policies of positions of the Republican Party, and it shows in the number and quality of our GOP's members. A great surge that will bring much better days for all...
Thanks for your time and interest.
David Christian Newton
EL GRINGO VIEJO
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