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1. Decade of Disorder: The Execution of León Martínez Jr. and Mexican/Anglo Race Relations in Texas during the First Four Years of the Mexican Revolution
- Texas A&M University Press
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ChaPTeR 1 decade of disorder The Execution of León Martínez Jr. and Mexican/Anglo Race Relations in Texas during the First Four Years of the Mexican Revolution Nicholas Villanueva Jr. I listened again to this list with a profound interest at the mixture of names, for the names bear the marks of the several national stocks from which these men came. But they are not Irishmen or Germans or Frenchmen or Hebrews any more. They were not when they went to Veracruz; they were Americans, every one of them, and were no different in their Americanism because of the stock from which they came.1 On May 11, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson read this tribute to the nineteen servicemen who had been killed in action at the Mexican port of Veracruz weeks earlier. A memorial procession bearing the dead soldiers traveled through the streets of New York City. The parade of vehicles passed one million onlookers, and cities across the country conducted their own ceremonies of honor. In concluding statements Wilson announced, “We have gone down to Mexico . . . to serve mankind.”2 In Pecos, Texas, on that very day, a ceremony of a different type occurred. Citizens came to the county seat to witness the execution of León Martínez Jr., a Mexican teenager, for the murder of Emma Brown, a young Anglo woman. Newspaper reporters across Texas had followed the case for nearly three years. Citizens had voiced concerns about the inferiority of Mexican migrants and the increasing number of undesirable aliens entering the country. A racial order that privileged Anglos over Mexicans had long existed in Texas, but new 8 • nicholas villanueva jr. developments were threatening to further reduce the number of Mexicans. The presence of anarchists and “un-American activity” among some people of Mexican descent increased Anglo hatred during the decade of the Mexican Revolution. Anglos viewed these men and women as uncivilized and intellectually inferior. The influx of more migrants into Texas during this decade further intensified Anglo abhorrence of Mexicans, who became increasingly vulnerable to verbal and physical attacks. This case study of León Martínez Jr. provides a window into the life of one such ill-fated Mexican. Wilson’s speech identified the Irish and the Jewish soldiers as US citizens who had given their lives at Veracruz, and he welcomed them into the North American family. The status of Mexican immigrants, by contrast, remained uncertain. Large numbers of Mexican laborers came to the United States in the first two decades of the twentieth century and became more visible to Anglos in border states like Texas. During the 1910s, Mexican refugees fled to the United States, particularly Texas. When the United States verged on war with Mexico in 1914, US troops along the border clashed with rebels, and Texas Rangers, border patrolmen, and North American servicemen lost their lives. At odds with native-born Texans, Mexicans during these tumultuous years appeared dangerous, and many questioned their national allegiance. After the murder of Emma Brown, Anglos considered Martínez a sexual predator of Anglo women, one who could not control himself because of his savage roots. The jury dehumanized Martínez Jr. and convicted him of murder. In the local papers, journalists portrayed Martínez as a brute. His father, deemed a Mexican radical, linked the family with anarchist factions of the revolution, which threatened people both in Texas and abroad. During the final weeks of Martínez’s life, US and Mexican diplomatic relations became strained, and newspapers posted warnings in border towns that Mexican rebels posed a threat to the locals. This study of the Martínez case raises more questions about the fate of ethnic Mexicans living in Texas during the early years of the Mexican Revolution: Were Mexicans falsely accused of crimes? Did they receive equal treatment under the law? Was Martínez innocent but unable to receive a fair trial in this hostile environment? To Anglo Texans, Martínez appeared as an enemy, and over the course of three years his image worsened as the Mexican Revolution intensified. The Murder of emma Brown Martínez was born in the state of Durango, Mexico, in 1896. His parents, León Sr. and Sidra, also had a younger son named Manuel. As a youth, Martínez Jr. attended El Paso public schools. His father spoke English and Spanish and [54.242.75.224] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 09:49 GMT) decade of disorder • 9 reared his...