History of Racism Against Mexican-Americans Clouds Texas Immigration Law
Undated image shows Texas segregation sign in Dimmit, Texas. Signs like these were displayed under a system known as “Juan Crow” laws patterned after Jim Crow laws that enforced racial discrimination against Mexican Americans. Russell Lee / Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
Texas anti-sanctuary law SB 4 continues to get lots of attention. NBC News has an interesting story (“History of Racism Against Mexican-Americans Clouds Texas Immigration Law”) placing the new law into its proper historical context:
“When Texas leaders approved a tough new immigration enforcement law known as SB4, they did so in a state that has had a long, continuing and sometimes unacknowledged struggle for equity by the state’s residents of Mexican descent.
That struggle has existed since before Texas became a state and has ranged from mob violence and massacres — some perpetrated by the Texas Rangers — to voting and employment discrimination and school and housing segregation. More recently, courts have declared the state’s voter ID law and redistricting maps discriminatory.
Supporters of SB4 balk at suggestions the immigration enforcement law may foster racism or encourage discrimination, but as they try to enact it on Sept. 1, it will be impossible to ignore the state’s history of racism and the current challenges for Texans of Mexican descent.”
KJ