Remember the Alamo (review)

Remember the Alamo departs at once from both the traditional story as well as the first wave of revisionist accounts, and even from familiar features of PBS's "American Experience" series. Narrated by Hector Elizondo rather than David McCullough, this episode views developments in nineteenth-century Texas from the perspective of José Antonio Navarro, the tejano leader who supported slavery, regarded Stephen F. Austin as a brother, and remained committed to local rule. Written, directed and produced by Joseph Tovares, a descendant of Alamo defender Enrique Esparza, this documentary presents a nuanced and sophisticated analysis of what is arguably the most complex period in Texas history.

Tovares's Navarro is not a romanticized hero; nor is he castigated for his stance on the issues of the day. He is portrayed as a classic economic liberal, who in adolescence was deeply affected by the tejano-initiated independence movement against Spain in 1813. Navarro's father was a Corsican-born slave trader whose home in San Antonio was occupied by royalists, including one young Antonio López de Santa Anna. The Navarro family was forced to flee to the United States. After returning in 1821, Navarro became mayor of San Antonio; by 1830, he owned more than 25,000 acres of nearby land. Although antislavery sentiment was strong in Mexico City, Navarro introduced a proslavery loophole into legislation for Coahuila y Téjas that, in the words of U.S. historian Harry Watson, forged a crucial link to the cotton-producing American South. It was not very long before Anglo settlers and their slaves vastly outnumbered tejanos on Mexico's northern frontier.

Remember the Alamo runs for at least a half an hour before the Alamo takes center stage; menacing music identifies Santa Anna as "an old enemy of Texas" while the script maintains that prominent tejanos initiated the conflict that is usually portrayed as Anglo Texan versus Mexican. No one, according to Tovares, had more to gain or lose than Jose Antonio Navarro; it was said that his hands shook as he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Sadly, newcomers from the United States who arrived after 1836 confused tejanos with Santa Anna. Navarro's own brother was killed by a recently arrived American. Likewise, with Austin's premature death, hopes for fair treatment of tejanos perished. By 1846, the Texas that Navarro had hoped for was gone; even in San Antonio, tejanos were now a minority that suffered from a generalized anti-Mexican backlash. Some Anglos made an exception for Navarro; as James Crisp notes, he was "not of the abject Mexican race." To be sure, when Navarro died in 1871, he was mourned by Anglos and Mexicans alike.

This documentary ends rather abruptly, but its 60-minute length makes it perfect for use in the classroom. It serves as an excellent complement to, and in some ways supercedes, Touchstone Pictures The Alamo (2004). There is an excellent website, www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alamo, that amplifies key themes. On-screen interviews with a dozen historians, including Watson, Crisp, Stephen Hardin, Andres Tijerina, Frank de la Teja and Carolina Castillo Crimm, offer nuanced insights that enable Tovares to move beyond the confines of political correctness in a strikingly sensitive and poignant way. Remember the Alamo certainly merits the proverbial thumbs up.