Críticas Magazine

Bruce Jensen

Apartheid falls in South Texas town, 76 years late
May 14, 2008

One of the neighbor kids, a seven-year-old, is right now scrambling along the narrow top of the wall that separates our apartments from the gated community of roomy manors to the north. He stops alongside a place with a lovely pool and an ornamental fountain; people on the other side are having words with him. The kid lowers himself off down to our side and runs off.

Kind of impressive, given that the wall is more than twice his height. I imagine myself 15 feet up off the ground trying to keep my balance while asking the homeowners to toss me a beer. 

Walls are tragicomic monuments to our deepest, tallest insecurities. We've seen again and again throughout history that fences don't age well--sure, they start out all daunting and imposing but they often end up as just plain meaningless.  Laughable.

On Monday of last week, the city of Edcouch here in South Texas struck down a law that decreed,

It shall be a Misdemeanor for any person of Spanish or Mexican Race to occupy any building on the American side or Portion of the City...except as a servant or maid in a home..."

Now, keep in mind that the last census found that of Edcouch's three thousand residents, less than a hundred are not Hispanic.

Read about the 1931 ordinance, and its May 5, 2008 demise, here.

Posted by Bruce Jensen on May 14, 2008 | Comments (0)