Sunday, September 07, 2008
My Heroes
In my heart and in my soul, I am a Texan.
I will, probably, never live there, again. But, that is a part of me that will never die. I consider El Paso, TX, to be the place ... that is "My" Texas.
On the other hand, I have spoken out against illegal immigration. Some people will say that makes me anti-hispanic/Mexican.
That makes no sense to me.
One of the best examples of this is that there is a place in downtown El Paso called San Jacinto Plaza. This plaza celebrates the victory of the Texans over the Mexicans in the Texas War of Independence (1835-1836).
When I lived in El Paso, some of the local liberal politicians advocated changing the name of the plaza, because they felt it was anti-hispanic.
This is ludicrous. At the point that Texas decided to secede from Mexico (Texas, at the time, was a state within the United Mexican States), ALL of it's citizens were, technically, Mexican ... that includes Jim Bowie, William Barrett Travis, Sam Houston, and Stephen Austin.
I, as all true Texans, find the story of the Alamo both inspirational, and tragic.
However, I agree with Lieutenant General George Patton. He said, "Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
In terms of the Texas War for Independence, the person who did this best would not be anyone at the Alamo, Goliad, or any "Anglo" at the Battle of San Jacinto.
It was Juan Seguin.
If you read the history correctly, there would have never been an independent country of Texas, and, therefore, no state of Texas in the US, without Juan Seguin.
So, San Jacinto Plaza, in downtown El Paso, is "Anglo" centric how?
I will, probably, never live there, again. But, that is a part of me that will never die. I consider El Paso, TX, to be the place ... that is "My" Texas.
On the other hand, I have spoken out against illegal immigration. Some people will say that makes me anti-hispanic/Mexican.
That makes no sense to me.
One of the best examples of this is that there is a place in downtown El Paso called San Jacinto Plaza. This plaza celebrates the victory of the Texans over the Mexicans in the Texas War of Independence (1835-1836).
When I lived in El Paso, some of the local liberal politicians advocated changing the name of the plaza, because they felt it was anti-hispanic.
This is ludicrous. At the point that Texas decided to secede from Mexico (Texas, at the time, was a state within the United Mexican States), ALL of it's citizens were, technically, Mexican ... that includes Jim Bowie, William Barrett Travis, Sam Houston, and Stephen Austin.
I, as all true Texans, find the story of the Alamo both inspirational, and tragic.
However, I agree with Lieutenant General George Patton. He said, "Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
In terms of the Texas War for Independence, the person who did this best would not be anyone at the Alamo, Goliad, or any "Anglo" at the Battle of San Jacinto.
It was Juan Seguin.
If you read the history correctly, there would have never been an independent country of Texas, and, therefore, no state of Texas in the US, without Juan Seguin.
So, San Jacinto Plaza, in downtown El Paso, is "Anglo" centric how?
