Duval, Webb, Zapata and Starr Counties set example for Tejano communities

In February 1937, premiere Tejano Civil Rights leader Alonso S. Perales said:

“As Mexican Americans from San Antonio and other places, we rejoice and feel pride upon seeing our fellow Mexican-American citizens from Duval, Webb, Zapata and Starr guide their communities towards the future.” (Alonso S. Perales and Emilio Zamora, In Defense of My People (Houston: Arte Público Press, 2022), 225).

He said that Mexican Americans over “the entire world, feel at home” in those counties because “the honorable descendants of Hidalgo and Cuauhtémoc, as well as the no less worthy descendants of Washington and Lincoln, advance in all fields of activity.”

Alonso S. Perales

“These places,” Perales said, “are totally devoid of racial prejudice and symbolize the ideal circumstance that no doubt existed in the minds, souls and hearts of Antonio Navarro and Francisco Ruiz, signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence.” Antonio Menchaca, Juan N. Seguín and other Tejano patriots who supported “liberty and democracy in Texas also must have dreamed of this.” (Ibid.)

Perales pointed to these counties and communities in their jurisdictions as models of governance, public spirit, and progress. They were led by Tejanos, just as well as counties governed by Anglo-American citizens. In the early twentieth century, these counties were “bulwarks of true Americanism…true liberty and democracy."

The civil rights leader was moved to make these observations by a story that appeared in El Demócrata in San Diego in early 1937 concerning a “campaign for progress that the Junior Chamber of Commerce” had initiated in that town. Perales directed his words to Dr. A. Durán y Carbajal, Editor of El Demócrata. (Ibid., 224). 

The Junior Chamber of Commerce initiative, Perales said, was “exactly” what was needed “to reach the level of…Anglo American citizens…”.

“We must have self-esteem and civic pride in our cities, communities and neighborhoods that depend on Mexican-American leadership for their progress. Our Raza must not appear in an unfavorable light next to the Anglo-American cities, communities and neighborhoods.” (Ibid.)

Tejano leaders should “clean, beautify, modernize and advance…progress and well-being” in their communities. The Junior Chamber of Commerce from San Diego served as an example for others.

On another occasion, Perales also pointed to these counties—Duval, Webb, Zapata, and Starr—as models for others to follow. Addressing the issue of “white primaries” that were designed to deprive Tejanos and Blacks of their voting and civil rights, Perales asked Americanos if they would like it if these counties adopted a law denying Anglo-Saxons, Irish, Scotch, and Germans the right to vote. Elected leaders in these counties had the political clout, legal ability, and popular will to enact such a measure. (Ibid., 247-248.)

“Well, you need not fear that the Americans of Mexican descent in the counties I have mentioned will never do anything of the kind though it is well within their power to do so,” Perales wrote. “They will not because they are honest-to-goodness Americans and harbor no prejudice in their hearts. They love our country, our flag and our institutions.”

Perales recognized what political leaders, both Tejanos and Americanos, in Duval, Webb, Zapata, and Starr Counties realized early on in the twentieth century. Political power is in the numbers, and the Tejanos had the numbers to effectuate change that would benefit their communities.