WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:05.520 Dear listener, This episode is about the recent mass shooting 2 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:10.440 in Uvalde, Texas. There are no graphic descriptions, but do 3 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:16.680 please take care before listening. Posuit George Gattisa is eighty 4 00:00:16.720 --> 00:00:20.279 three years old. On Tuesday, May twenty fourth, he was 5 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:23.160 getting ready for his lunch break on the west side 6 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:26.800 of Uvalde, Texas. It was around noon. 7 00:00:27.400 --> 00:00:30.840 I went into a convenience store to buy a newspaper, 8 00:00:31.080 --> 00:00:35.520 and coming out the parking lot, I saw police cars, 9 00:00:35.720 --> 00:00:39.519 sheriffs department cars moving out at a high rate of speed. 10 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:41.280 I bet they were doing one hundred mile an hour. 11 00:00:41.760 --> 00:00:45.360 George thought they were chasing a smuggler. He says that 12 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:51.800 had happened recently in town, so he didn't worry. George 13 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:55.480 has lived in Uvaldi for almost seventy years. He went 14 00:00:55.480 --> 00:00:59.040 to school here, then he became a teacher for twelve years. 15 00:00:59.040 --> 00:01:03.640 He was also the mayor of Uvaldi. He knows his city, 16 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.120 so he wasn't too worried about the police cars. He 17 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:10.919 went home and took a nap. About an hour later, 18 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:14.600 George woke up and that's when he learned about the news. 19 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:18.680 I had the TV on and Evaldi a shooter and 20 00:01:19.240 --> 00:01:22.800 barricaded in school, and I couldn't believe. I thought I 21 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:25.360 was dreaming for a while, because something like that had 22 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:26.840 never occurred here in Uvalde. 23 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:33.800 George says there were ambulance sirens blaring and helicopters circling NonStop. 24 00:01:34.720 --> 00:01:38.480 In that moment, he knew that his community would forever 25 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:49.400 be changed from Fudromedia and PRX. It's Latino Usa. I'm 26 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:59.840 Maria in no Josa today. Uvalde resiste, Uvaldi resists. By now, 27 00:02:00.240 --> 00:02:04.200 you've probably heard a lot about the devastating massacre that 28 00:02:04.240 --> 00:02:10.320 took place in Uvalde. An eighteen year old man, Salvador 29 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:14.520 Ramos entered rob Elementary school, and he shot and murdered 30 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:18.639 nineteen children between the ages of nine and eleven, and 31 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:26.240 two teachers. He also wounded seventeen others. Just days after 32 00:02:26.320 --> 00:02:30.520 turning eighteen years old, Ramos bought two assault rifles and 33 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:36.160 several hundred rounds of ammunition from a federally licensed gun dealer. 34 00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:41.120 The Uvaldi massacre is the deadliest mass school shooting in 35 00:02:41.160 --> 00:02:45.920 the US since Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, almost 36 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:52.240 a decade ago. This tragedy comes just days after ten 37 00:02:52.480 --> 00:02:55.959 black people were killed by a white supremacist in Buffalo, 38 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:00.120 New York, who was also eighteen years old, and more 39 00:03:00.160 --> 00:03:03.360 than twenty mass shootings have taken place in the last 40 00:03:03.440 --> 00:03:15.360 few days after Uvaldi. Uvaldi is over eighty percent Latino, 41 00:03:15.760 --> 00:03:18.200 and the ripple effects of this mass shooting have been 42 00:03:18.200 --> 00:03:22.680 felt across the entire community of nearly twenty five thousand people, 43 00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:28.679 but also among Latinos and Latinas all around the country. 44 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:35.640 Josue George Garza, who we just heard from in the 45 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:38.960 beginning of the episode, was one of the few Mexican 46 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:42.640 American teachers at rob Elementary back in the nineteen sixties. 47 00:03:43.440 --> 00:03:46.320 In those years, the majority of the students were also 48 00:03:46.600 --> 00:03:51.400 Latinos as they are today, but the mostly white teachers 49 00:03:51.440 --> 00:03:56.520 and administration discriminated against students and tried to force them 50 00:03:56.640 --> 00:04:01.840 to assimilate. In the year nineteen sets, after George was 51 00:04:01.920 --> 00:04:05.800 denied the renewal of his contract to teach at rob Elementary, 52 00:04:06.440 --> 00:04:11.480 students parents and teachers became angered, and they rallied to 53 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:15.560 demand his reinstatement along with better conditions in the school. 54 00:04:16.080 --> 00:04:19.320 They held one of the longest school walkouts in the nation. 55 00:04:19.960 --> 00:04:25.200 It lasted six weeks. Though George did not get his 56 00:04:25.320 --> 00:04:29.280 job back. His history with rob Elementary continued for generations. 57 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:33.080 It's the school where his great granddaughter recently went. 58 00:04:33.440 --> 00:04:36.159 She was in that room a year ago. She got 59 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:39.520 promoted to the fifth grade, so she transferred to another school. 60 00:04:39.760 --> 00:04:41.360 If it would have happened a year ago, she would 61 00:04:41.400 --> 00:04:41.839 have been there. 62 00:04:42.760 --> 00:04:46.880 Many families who were impacted directly and indirectly are still 63 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:50.240 grappling with the aftermath of the shooting, and many in 64 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:53.040 the community still have a lot of questions about just 65 00:04:53.320 --> 00:04:58.080 what happened. There have been conflicting reports about how local, state, 66 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:02.040 and federal law enforcement responded to the shooting. Law enforcement 67 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.440 was there, they didn't engage immediately. 68 00:05:04.760 --> 00:05:08.000 It was reported that a school district police officer confronted 69 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:10.400 the suspect it was making entry not accurate. 70 00:05:10.640 --> 00:05:12.880 He walked in uninstructed initially. 71 00:05:13.200 --> 00:05:17.000 There's also been criticism of law enforcement that took more 72 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:21.359 than an hour to enter the classroom, and criticism for 73 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:31.440 not providing news updates in Spanish to this predominantly Latino community. 74 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:35.760 Some here in the community say this disregard for Uvaldi's 75 00:05:35.760 --> 00:05:39.279 Spanish speaking community, as well as the lack of trust 76 00:05:39.400 --> 00:05:43.719 in law enforcement, illustrates a deeper divide that's been going 77 00:05:43.760 --> 00:05:49.280 on in this city for decades. So today we want 78 00:05:49.320 --> 00:05:53.600 to tell this story of resistance of this Mexican American community, 79 00:05:54.200 --> 00:05:57.680 how the people here stood up against segregation and oppression, 80 00:05:58.320 --> 00:06:03.320 and how today, after such a devastating tragedy, Uvalde is 81 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:09.000 trying to heal, because Uvalde is much more than just 82 00:06:09.080 --> 00:06:14.480 the recent headlines. To understand the complexities and the nuances 83 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:16.960 of this community, We're going to hear from two people 84 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:21.839 who call Uvaldi home, George Garza, the former teacher and mayor, 85 00:06:22.320 --> 00:06:26.240 and Monica Munos Martinez, a historian at the University of 86 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:30.480 Texas at Austin who studies violence against Mexican Americans by 87 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:34.320 law enforcement. We're going to start now with my conversation 88 00:06:34.440 --> 00:06:42.279 with Josue George Garisa. George, welcome to Latino, USA. Thank you. So. 89 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:45.320 First of all, we're speaking just a little more than 90 00:06:45.320 --> 00:06:48.240 a week after the tragedy in Uvaldi, and I just 91 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.359 want to check in with you and ask how you're doing. George. 92 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.320 I'm doing well. Six months ago I lost my wife 93 00:06:54.640 --> 00:06:58.040 and that she passed away, but I was grieving also 94 00:06:58.080 --> 00:07:01.320 when this came up, and a greve the whole situation. 95 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:05.840 But I'm handling it pretty well my family and I. 96 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:08.400 I'm so sorry for your lost George, and I know 97 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:10.400 that this can't be easy. So I want to thank 98 00:07:10.400 --> 00:07:14.160 you for speaking with us today, because you actually have 99 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:18.520 a very unique connection to Uvaldi's history, and I'm wondering 100 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:20.840 if you can tell me a little bit more about that. 101 00:07:21.320 --> 00:07:25.040 I'm from Uvaldi. I wasn't born here, but I came 102 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:27.920 to Evaldi when I was in the ninth grade and 103 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:32.520 I adopted Valdis as my home, and my parents transferred 104 00:07:32.520 --> 00:07:36.400 after seven years back to San Antonio, and I stayed 105 00:07:36.400 --> 00:07:39.040 here and I'm married here. 106 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:41.000 But I had. 107 00:07:40.880 --> 00:07:44.040 Goals that I had set for myself, and I have 108 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:48.560 always strived to meet him. There was what was instilled 109 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:51.440 in me by my father and mother. I stayed in 110 00:07:51.640 --> 00:07:54.200 Uvaldi because it had a lot of possibilities. 111 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.040 I find it interesting that Uvaldi, for you as a 112 00:07:57.080 --> 00:07:59.960 young man, was a place of a lot of hope 113 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:04.480 and possibility. And yet you can talk to us about 114 00:08:04.960 --> 00:08:09.760 a particular kind of history in this city. So for 115 00:08:09.880 --> 00:08:11.800 people who are not and there are a lot of 116 00:08:11.880 --> 00:08:14.080 us who are not from this part of Texas, right, 117 00:08:14.520 --> 00:08:18.640 can you give us a history of the community that 118 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:19.560 you are a part of. 119 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.880 We moved to Euvaldi in January the twenty first, nineteen 120 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:27.280 fifty five, and I didn't like Uvaldi at the time, 121 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:31.200 and there was a lot of racial discrimination. There were 122 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:36.120 two towns within Uvalde, the Mexican town and the Anglo town, 123 00:08:36.400 --> 00:08:41.199 and it was divided by race and the burial where 124 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:44.880 the white folks lived and one where the Mexicans lived. 125 00:08:44.880 --> 00:08:49.120 And we sort of kept our boundaries to ourselves. But 126 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:53.040 in school, when I enroll in junior high or high school, 127 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:56.760 you could sense that there was some sort of maintaining 128 00:08:56.800 --> 00:09:00.720 a tradition of separation. But I met the's that of it, 129 00:09:00.760 --> 00:09:04.240 and so, by the grace of God, I graduated from 130 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:07.920 high school in nineteen fifty eight, and shortly thereafter I 131 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:08.760 went to the army. 132 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:12.080 I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about 133 00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:15.960 what happens when you are discharged from the army in 134 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:18.680 nineteen sixty two and you kind of come back to 135 00:09:18.800 --> 00:09:22.679 Uvaldi and you decide to become a school teacher. So 136 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:24.479 tell me about that decision. 137 00:09:25.400 --> 00:09:30.280 At that point in time, Valdi was separated in a 138 00:09:30.400 --> 00:09:36.360 very unique manner. It was a de facto segregation. For instance, 139 00:09:36.440 --> 00:09:40.240 rob Elementary School was deep in the Mexican burial and 140 00:09:40.280 --> 00:09:42.480 there was no way an Anglo kid could go because 141 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:44.520 they didn't live there in that vicinity. 142 00:09:44.920 --> 00:09:47.480 But let me just understand what you're saying. In the 143 00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:52.560 history of the segregation of Uvaldi, it was very clear 144 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:56.760 that rob Elementary was a school for the Mexican kids. 145 00:09:57.120 --> 00:09:57.959 Is that what you're saying? 146 00:09:58.640 --> 00:10:03.200 Well, and the they built the school in nineteen fifty 147 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.920 five deep in the Mexican section of town, So who 148 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.160 was going to go to that school? Ninety nine percent 149 00:10:11.280 --> 00:10:16.160 or ninety eight percent were Mexican Americans. The other school, Dalton, 150 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:20.120 was built deep in the barrio or the section where 151 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:24.920 mostly middle class Anglo families lived, so they were considered 152 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:29.959 neighborhood schools, but we considered it the facto segregation. And 153 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:33.760 I could tell in school where I was teaching that 154 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:36.120 we would get hand me down from the other schools 155 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:43.400 predominantly Anglo. And the school was very limited forest, playground equipment, books, 156 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:47.040 sometimes our workbooks. The students had to buy them was 157 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:48.160 they didn't have any money. 158 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:52.360 So George, can you describe for me, for example, the 159 00:10:52.520 --> 00:10:55.880 environment inside the school, like what was it like, especially 160 00:10:55.960 --> 00:11:00.000 with teachers and administrators, how were they interacting with students. 161 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:04.680 For example, we had some good teachers at rob Elementary school, 162 00:11:05.040 --> 00:11:08.800 but it was the administrator of the school, the principal, 163 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:15.480 that was not as enthused about the students. And students 164 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:19.920 they would bring putlock to the cafeteria and someone would 165 00:11:19.920 --> 00:11:23.520 bring the bean, somebody who bring tortillas and piccadillo and 166 00:11:23.640 --> 00:11:27.080 piccola ayo, and they would separate themselves into a different 167 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:30.560 area of the cafeteria and started sharing the Mexican food. 168 00:11:30.640 --> 00:11:33.120 Then the Anglo kids would go, hey, give me a taco. 169 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:36.120 I'll get my sandwich if they I'll trade the sandwich 170 00:11:36.520 --> 00:11:39.600 for a taco, And the administration didn't like that, so 171 00:11:39.640 --> 00:11:42.120 they kind of put that down, you can't do that. 172 00:11:42.920 --> 00:11:46.520 Wow, okay, So the students wanted to learn from each other, 173 00:11:47.320 --> 00:11:51.920 but administrators weren't happy about that. So what else was 174 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:53.280 happening at the school. 175 00:11:53.640 --> 00:11:57.760 You couldn't speak Spanish, the kids couldn't speak Spanish. There 176 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:01.840 was a punishment if you were caught speaking Spanish in 177 00:12:01.880 --> 00:12:05.280 the playground or in the halls or what have you. 178 00:12:05.280 --> 00:12:07.600 You know, this is really important for people to hear. 179 00:12:08.280 --> 00:12:11.560 There are many Latinos and Latinas who will look at 180 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:13.200 others and say well, how is it that you don't 181 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:17.640 speak Spanish and then you hear about these stories. So George, 182 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:22.439 can you tell me what the punishment punishments were at 183 00:12:22.520 --> 00:12:26.320 rob Elementary School. If you were caught speaking Spanish, what 184 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:27.080 would happen to you? 185 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:31.560 It depends, It depended on the teacher. At one time, 186 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:35.120 we were about four or five Hispanic teachers teaching, and 187 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:40.400 there was different kind of Hispanic teachers in the whole system. 188 00:12:40.640 --> 00:12:43.760 He was supposed to administer two or three licks with 189 00:12:43.880 --> 00:12:46.600 a board paddle we called it. But there were some 190 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:50.480 of us that were non conformists. I mean, I consider 191 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:53.560 myself one of those. I'd hear a kids speaking Spanish 192 00:12:53.640 --> 00:12:56.800 and playground, oh say, hey, be careful, and oh okay. 193 00:12:57.520 --> 00:13:02.240 Another was a conformist okay, okay, come here, you're speaking 194 00:13:02.280 --> 00:13:05.320 Spanish and gave you one lick with a board kind 195 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:09.319 of soft. Now they were super conformist, and they will 196 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:11.520 give you three hard licks like they were supposed to. 197 00:13:12.400 --> 00:13:16.719 You were saying that there were Latino teachers in the 198 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:21.600 school who were, as you're saying that, super conformist. In 199 00:13:21.640 --> 00:13:27.000 other words, they were giving even more intense punishment to 200 00:13:27.160 --> 00:13:29.520 any kid that was called speaking Spanish. Is that what 201 00:13:29.520 --> 00:13:30.040 you're saying? 202 00:13:30.400 --> 00:13:30.679 Yes? 203 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:35.400 And there were also white teachers who were paddling the 204 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:39.240 students for speaking Spanish. What did that look like? 205 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:43.080 Maybe some Anglo teachers would take it to the extreme, 206 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:46.320 and there were some that did, especially in junior high. 207 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.600 But the students at a certain point in time, they 208 00:13:49.640 --> 00:13:54.520 started to rebel against this type of system. They started 209 00:13:54.800 --> 00:13:59.920 asserting themselves. And I know an incident where three cousins 210 00:14:00.040 --> 00:14:02.640 were talking to each other real loud in Spanish and 211 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:07.360 the Mexican American principal or assistant principle hollered at him 212 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:10.680 real loud, Hey boys, are you going to be Mexicans 213 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:14.000 all your life? Because I was speaking Spanish and one 214 00:14:14.040 --> 00:14:17.480 of them was a fair bride student said yes, sir, 215 00:14:17.920 --> 00:14:19.920 we're going to be Mexican soul in our lives and 216 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:26.000 you too, you too can't be in Yeah, assistant principal 217 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:29.640 told me, you know, that kid really taught me something, 218 00:14:29.680 --> 00:14:32.640 he said, and. 219 00:14:32.520 --> 00:14:37.320 That resistance only grew. In fact, George, in nineteen seventy 220 00:14:37.920 --> 00:14:42.560 there was a six week school walkout in Uvaldi, and 221 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:47.880 that started because your contract at rob wasn't renewed. But 222 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:51.040 it wasn't just that, right, I mean students were demanding change. 223 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:54.160 They wanted more Mexican American teachers at their schools, and 224 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.520 they wanted to be able to speak Spanish. And I'm wondering, 225 00:14:58.200 --> 00:14:59.600 what was that moment like for you. 226 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:05.320 Well, my name was Mud because I was blamed for 227 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:09.760 the walkout and I kept telling the people I wasn't 228 00:15:09.800 --> 00:15:12.240 the leader of it. I was a participant. 229 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:16.000 And these were pretty tense. I mean this part of 230 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:19.440 Texas in terms of Latinos and Latinas standing up to 231 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:23.920 kind of white Texas authority, this was very radical. I 232 00:15:23.920 --> 00:15:26.040 think it's important to kind of put into history. This 233 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:30.240 was a time when Latinos and Latina's, Mexican Americans, Mexicanos 234 00:15:30.280 --> 00:15:33.920 and Tejas were organizing La Rasa Nia Party. There were 235 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:37.400 the brown Berets. There was a lot of activism around 236 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:42.640 students and education, and so during the walkouts, the Texas 237 00:15:42.760 --> 00:15:47.200 Rangers were called in to the city of Uvalde. 238 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:49.680 The chief of police at one time wanted to make 239 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:53.480 a mass arrest, you know, and the mayor Victosi, he said, no, no, no, 240 00:15:53.520 --> 00:15:55.240 where are you going to put on? The jail is 241 00:15:55.320 --> 00:15:58.720 not big enough and he sort of used his head 242 00:15:58.800 --> 00:16:02.080 and he was rather rational, you know, he said, they 243 00:16:02.160 --> 00:16:05.360 want to marsh without a permit letter Mars even though 244 00:16:05.400 --> 00:16:09.280 they were Texas Rangers there, and we weren't afraid of them. 245 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:11.920 You weren't afraid of the Texas rangers coming down trying 246 00:16:11.920 --> 00:16:14.960 to squash a peaceful student teacher walkout. 247 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:18.160 We weren't. I don't think we were failing timidated. We 248 00:16:18.160 --> 00:16:21.160 weren't afraid of them. As long as we've kept it peaceful, 249 00:16:21.800 --> 00:16:25.200 the government has to guarantee you the right to do that, 250 00:16:25.560 --> 00:16:30.840 andamos noamos. The students lost one of your school, and 251 00:16:31.800 --> 00:16:36.600 the school board was very adamant in not making any 252 00:16:36.680 --> 00:16:41.000 changes to favor the Mexican Americans, not even the food 253 00:16:41.040 --> 00:16:42.000 in the cafeteria. 254 00:16:42.760 --> 00:16:45.600 So the school ends up not making any changes. But 255 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:48.680 you all didn't stop there. So what happened after that? 256 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:52.480 I kept telling the people was not over. We had 257 00:16:52.520 --> 00:16:55.880 a lawyer from San Antonio, mister Pat Maloney Senior, and 258 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:59.960 another attorney, Jesse Gamez, that took our case to federal court, 259 00:17:00.560 --> 00:17:02.880 and we had a monster for a federal judge. He 260 00:17:02.920 --> 00:17:07.120 didn't be leaving giving an inch to the Mexican American 261 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:10.639 people that in the walkout situation, and we lost the 262 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:15.119 case in del Rio. The judge dismissed it. There was 263 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:18.119 no discrimination and you valued no segregation whatsoever. 264 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.680 And wow, wow. 265 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:24.760 Some of my older Mexican American friends said, he none, Ghanas, 266 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:30.200 you can beat the system. Well, mister Maloney contacted Maldale. 267 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:33.439 They took our case and appealed it to the Fifth 268 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:36.879 Court of Appeals in the Orleans and the Fifth Court 269 00:17:37.040 --> 00:17:41.720 overruled judge would they overruled. 270 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:47.359 Him, so you had to take it to a higher court. 271 00:17:47.720 --> 00:17:50.960 But in fact you did win. The schools were forced 272 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:55.960 to change. The community kept pressuring officials and eventually schools 273 00:17:55.960 --> 00:18:00.639 started offering bilingual classes. There were more Mexican Americans teachers 274 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:04.120 who were hired, and Latinos in general were more present 275 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:07.920 in leadership positions in town. In fact, in the nineteen nineties, 276 00:18:08.520 --> 00:18:11.440 you even decide to run for mayor of Uvaldi and 277 00:18:11.560 --> 00:18:14.760 you win, and you were mayor for twelve years. 278 00:18:15.080 --> 00:18:19.359 You know, when I was elected mayor, I had connections 279 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.360 to La Razonia in Crystal City. I taught school there 280 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:26.159 one year and the council was very, very experienced, and 281 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:29.840 we were all Hispanics except one, but we all work together. 282 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:38.760 Things are quite different now. The mayor of Uvaldi is 283 00:18:38.840 --> 00:18:43.480 white in a city that is overwhelmingly Latino and Latina, 284 00:18:43.520 --> 00:18:46.240 and I think a lot of people find out a 285 00:18:46.280 --> 00:18:48.680 little surprising, so I better keep us on. 286 00:18:49.520 --> 00:18:51.960 In my opinion, it's voter suppression. 287 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:54.800 Can you tell me exactly what that looks like? In Uvalde? 288 00:18:55.800 --> 00:19:01.000 When we have city elections, school board elections and general elections, 289 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:04.399 we gather around the polling places passing out cards to 290 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:08.240 the people. Many first time voters come and they've never 291 00:19:08.280 --> 00:19:11.040 seen a ballot before, and we work with them. But 292 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:14.600 sometime back, the mayor at the time, they passed an 293 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:19.239 ortonance that you couldn't put karapitas into the pulling place too. 294 00:19:19.320 --> 00:19:21.560 You can people, you can meet the people before they 295 00:19:21.600 --> 00:19:24.280 go into the pulling place. And they set a setback 296 00:19:24.320 --> 00:19:27.680 and the Hispanic councilman voted for it. And then they 297 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:30.240 tried to pass another one that if an ordnance that 298 00:19:30.320 --> 00:19:33.440 if I go give prospective voter a card to ask 299 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:36.240 them to vote for me, I could face a misdemeanor 300 00:19:36.320 --> 00:19:38.840 charge of five hundred dollars fine. And of course we 301 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:42.520 got together and it didn't pass. Our city councilman stood 302 00:19:42.560 --> 00:19:43.520 for them and said no. 303 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:47.760 You know Georgia's story in Uvaldi is one of resiliens. 304 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:50.600 You stayed in the city to try to make your 305 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:54.199 dreams come true, and you did. You have your career, 306 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:58.439 your beautiful family, but you actually had to fight for 307 00:19:58.520 --> 00:20:01.040 all of that. I mean, there was inten one activism 308 00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:05.920 against racism and injustice in Uvaldi. And I'm wondering, as 309 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:08.480 you're looking at your city now in this much pain, 310 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:11.240 is is there a part of you that says this 311 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:15.200 history of activism is in fact part of Uvaldi's soul. 312 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:19.399 And I'm wondering if you've been wanting to see that 313 00:20:19.560 --> 00:20:22.639 kind of activism come back in this moment. 314 00:20:23.080 --> 00:20:26.720 Yes, but we have lost our will to stand up. 315 00:20:26.800 --> 00:20:29.520 You know, I've got grand kids that can speak Spanish 316 00:20:29.760 --> 00:20:32.760 or won't speak Spanish what I mean, And I'm the 317 00:20:32.840 --> 00:20:36.760 biggest Chicano activist I want to think that at one 318 00:20:36.840 --> 00:20:41.840 time at all and can't even speak Spanish, And I said, well, 319 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:44.680 where are we here to? Don't forget our culture. 320 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:50.440 I see mismo borgueto Luca and piso bordefen there eli 321 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:55.400 de Espanol in las squire less, I see mismo respeto 322 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:58.240 ti and thank you for giving all of us a 323 00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:01.199 very unique and special portrait of the city that you 324 00:21:01.280 --> 00:21:06.679 love muchas Gracias Posue George Garsa pray for you Alde 325 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:14.119 coming up on Latino USA. A conversation with historian Monica 326 00:21:14.200 --> 00:22:09.960 munjos Martinez about her hometown Uvaldi. Stay with us, Yes, hey, 327 00:22:10.359 --> 00:22:18.840 we're back. Before the break, we heard from Josue George Garza, 328 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:23.080 the former rob elementary school teacher who participated in one 329 00:22:23.080 --> 00:22:26.160 of the longest school walkouts in the country and who 330 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:29.680 later became mayor of Uvaldi. And now we're going to 331 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:34.320 speak with historian Monica Mugnos Martinez. Monigua is a professor 332 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:38.320 at UT Austin and she's from Uvaldi. For many years, 333 00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:42.160 she's been studying violence against Mexican Americans on the border 334 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:47.520 and her project Mapping Violence documents forgotten cases of racial 335 00:22:47.600 --> 00:22:51.960 violence in Texas in the early twentieth century. Last year, 336 00:22:52.040 --> 00:22:55.880 Monica was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant for her research. 337 00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:59.520 But though Monica has been studying this as an academic, 338 00:22:59.800 --> 00:23:09.600 the Uvaldi tragedy hit very close to home. Here's our conversation, Ola, Monica, 339 00:23:09.760 --> 00:23:12.119 so welcome to let you know USA, and I just 340 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:14.159 want to thank you so much for being here. And 341 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:17.480 I want to ask, actually, can you tell me where 342 00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:18.280 you are right now? 343 00:23:18.560 --> 00:23:21.760 I'm in Austin. So we drove back on Sunday, Okay, 344 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:24.880 and have been driving to San Antonio to visit family 345 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:28.399 there as well, who have also been impacted by this tragedy. 346 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:32.960 People from Uvaldi who have left the town live in 347 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:37.520 San Antonio, they live in Austin. Everybody's devastated. Everybody in 348 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:43.280 Uvaldi is only one degree of separation from the victims. 349 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:47.440 If people don't know the children or the teachers personally, 350 00:23:48.040 --> 00:23:51.840 they know their parents or their grandparents, or their aunts 351 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:56.680 or their uncles. Everybody has been is shattered by this. 352 00:23:56.840 --> 00:24:00.480 I mean I have, for example, two cousins who know. 353 00:24:00.560 --> 00:24:02.200 One of them used to be a teacher at rob 354 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:08.080 another was classmates with Idma Gottacia and with Tony Gatticia, 355 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:12.240 and she also is coworkers with one of the parents 356 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:14.680 who lost a child. That's an example of two people 357 00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:16.879 who live in San Antonio, who haven't lived in Uvaldi 358 00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:21.720 for over a decade, and they're shattered. The depth of 359 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:28.800 grief is unimaginable. It extends far beyond Uvaldi. But for 360 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:32.280 the people who live in Valdi and the news of 361 00:24:32.320 --> 00:24:36.800 the tragedy was announced. It was not a question of 362 00:24:36.840 --> 00:24:39.560 whether or not people would know the victims, it was 363 00:24:39.600 --> 00:24:43.560 how many. I should also say, for example, in terms 364 00:24:43.600 --> 00:24:47.480 of the impact, that my mother worked for the Evaldi 365 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:51.720 School district for over thirty five years, and before she 366 00:24:52.040 --> 00:24:55.520 was an educator, she was a student who walked out 367 00:24:55.520 --> 00:24:59.480 in the Evaldi School walkouts. So her whole life she 368 00:24:59.600 --> 00:25:03.439 has been working to create the best educational opportunity for 369 00:25:03.520 --> 00:25:06.320 the children in Uvaliti. And she's just one of the 370 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:10.000 educators who have given their lives. It's devastating to think 371 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:13.920 of the teachers who had to physically give their lives. 372 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:14.840 For the children. 373 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:17.080 And so this is a tragedy not just for the 374 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:21.480 town but for in Uvaldi, where the school is the 375 00:25:21.520 --> 00:25:25.320 social fabric that ties people together. For this to be 376 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:30.480 an attack on the schools is horryfic. 377 00:25:31.400 --> 00:25:33.520 I've been trying to keep it together because I'm like, 378 00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:37.439 I'm not going to cry in these interviews, but you 379 00:25:37.560 --> 00:25:40.360 have brought it so home money guy, I mean, it's 380 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:42.760 just like you're like, look, I'm you know, I'm a 381 00:25:42.760 --> 00:25:47.199 product of these schools. But the school in terms of 382 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:50.560 what it represents for Uvalde, and as you say, Uvaldi. 383 00:25:51.600 --> 00:25:54.280 It's not just like a regular school because it is 384 00:25:54.320 --> 00:25:58.840 in this school and the whole educational system. The structural 385 00:25:58.840 --> 00:26:02.919 inequality of this schools in Nouvaldi is what led to 386 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:07.320 the protests and the walkout, which like enlightens so many 387 00:26:07.320 --> 00:26:12.200 people like your mom, And so it is like I mean, 388 00:26:12.280 --> 00:26:15.280 in your words, tell me, because it isn't just an 389 00:26:15.320 --> 00:26:18.640 attack on a school, but you're saying there's a much 390 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:22.280 bigger attack here, and I want you to kind of 391 00:26:22.320 --> 00:26:23.600 put that to words. 392 00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:27.360 I think when people are trying to understand the depths 393 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:32.480 of grief. So I haven't lived in Uvaldi in twenty years. 394 00:26:32.560 --> 00:26:34.960 My family has lived there, My family still lives there. 395 00:26:35.320 --> 00:26:39.800 I have cousins in those schools, little cousins. So even 396 00:26:40.040 --> 00:26:42.520 somebody like me who hasn't lived there in twenty years, 397 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:44.800 when I start to try to list all of the 398 00:26:44.840 --> 00:26:49.800 people who I know who are impacted, my mind can't compute. 399 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:54.600 And when you think about the impact on the families, 400 00:26:55.960 --> 00:27:01.719 what has become so challenging in terms of providing resources 401 00:27:01.720 --> 00:27:06.959