All-White Texas Historical Commission Listens to White-Dominated Chamber of Commerce
El Paso Greater Chamber of Commence Uses Influence to Deny
Historical Designation to Union Plaza / Duranguito
Was it really surprising that an all-White historical
commission would reject historical designations to area in of El Paso of great
historical significance to people of color in El Paso?
The Texas Historical Commission states it:
“…works to save the real places that
tell the real
stories of Texas. THC staff consults
with
citizens and organizations to
preserve Texas’
architectural, archaeological and
cultural
landmarks. The agency is recognized
nationally
for its preservation programs.”
“The THC is composed of 12 citizen
members appointed
by the governor to staggered
six-year terms. The agency
employs about 175 people who work in
various fields,
including archaeology, architecture,
history, economic
development, heritage tourism,
public administration
and urban planning.”
Source: Website of the Historical
Commission.
According to the US Census regarding Texas:
Hispanic Population is 38.8 percent.
American Indians 1 percent
Asian 4.7
Black, African American 12.5
percent.
So with Asians, Africans Americans, American
Indians, and Hispanics, these groups of color make up 57 percent of the
population of Texas.
Currently, the website only listed 9
members not twelve.
If we analyzed based on surname,
none of the commissioners have Hispanic surname or surname that would be Asian (maybe Nau). In looking at the photos listed on the page
above, none of the commissioners look Asian, African American, or Hispanic.
John L. Nau, III
Monica Burdette
Earl
Broussard
John Crain
Wallace B. Jefferson
Tom Perini
Gilbert E. Paterson
Robert Shepard
Daisy Sloan White
Although this is not the best
indicator of the demographics of the commission, it’s a safe bet to say that no
or hardly any commissioners are people of color.
I also scoured the bios connected to
each commissioner to look for indication of any memberships in organization
associated with people of color. Nothing.
So in a state where almost 60
percent of the State’s population is people of color, none or hardly any of the
9 commissioners are persons of color.
That should be of no surprise as
most are appointed by the governor to six year terms. In looking at the
anti-people of color politics of our current governor Greg Abbott and our former
governor Rick Perry, it’s predictable to say that they would not appoint any
people of color to this commission.
Regional
It is also interesting to note that
at the same website, it lists where these commissioner live. Only one of the
nine is from West Texas. None are from the Valley of Texas, another large
region of people of color in Texas. None are from San Antonio, another city
with a large Hispanic population.
Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce
So why would a letter from the El
Paso Chamber of Commerce be so influential. It’s a good bet that the El Paso
Chamber of Commerce has not corresponded or corresponded very little with the
State Historical Commission in decades.
Looking more local
The Great of Chamber of Commerce is
a little more diverse.
Thirty seven of the 109 Governing
Board Members has Hispanic surnames and at least one is known to us to be
African American. That means for a city that is 81.3 percent Hispanic and 86.7% people of color, the Governing
Board of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce only 33 percent of the board
is Hispanic.
The Chamber of Commerce Executive
Board has a 19 members. Eight members have Hispanic surnames. So in a city with 81.3 percent Hispanics, less than a third of the Chamber Executive Board is Hispanic.
You have to remember, there is a reason why Hispanic chambers of commerce were founded in most cities. It was because of exclusion from the regular chamber of commerce.
Is it surprising?
We must ask ourselves, is it
surprising that a State Historical
Commission with no people of color and a Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce
that only a third of their Governing Board being Hispanic would conspire to
reject historical status for places in the Union Plaza district of significance
to people of color.
The history of Mexican Americans has been under attack for generations. First our history was not taught at all, and more recently, the Texas Board of Education recommended a racist Mexican American history text book.
This movement by the Chamber is just another continued action against the culture of people of color, not even the first.
Even taking out the action of the El
Paso County Judge, is it real surprising?
