The Robertsons, the Sutherlands, and the Making of Texas

Chapter 1. Discovering My Texas Identity

chapter 1 Discovering My Texas Identity Iwas a young girl when Edna Ferber came to Texas to do research for her book on Texas, which was later made into the movie Giant.1 In Texas it was a big event, at least for those of us who were preteens, when Giant hit the silver screen. Ferber was eager to describe the relations between the Mexican Texans and the Anglo Texans. To help her examine the issue of prejudice against Mexican Texans, she was introduced to my father, who, at the time, was executive secretary of the Good Neighbor Commission. This was a committee that President Roosevelt created to improve interactions between the United States and Mexico. One of its major goals was to end the segregation of Mexican Americans in Texas schools and to convince the University of Texas to allow Mexican Americans access to a university education. My father was introduced to Ferber as a man with deep Texas roots who closely identified with Mexico and Mexican Texans. Enthusiastic about showing Ferber the progress that was being made on civil rights in Texas, he drove her around the state and introduced her to his friends, both Mexican and Anglo. He took her to restaurants and bars where she met Texans who were rich and Texans who were poor, both Mexican and Anglo. They spent hours talking about Texas history and Texas identity, the points of pride as well as the imperfections. Driving Ferber across the desolate South Texas brush country, my father told her about the dismal conditions for Mexicans there. In particular he described a cause that he had personally been involved in, the Felix Longoria affair.FelixLongoriawasayoungTejanopatriotwhowenttowarforhiscountry during the dark days of World War II. Exceptionally brave, he won medals and commendations and died a hero in battle. When his body was brought home to the little town of Three Rivers, deep in the heart of South Texas, the one and only local funeral business refused to hold a wake for him, informing the Longoria family that only Anglos could hold wakes in their facilities. My father and Hector Garcia, who was president of the G. I. Forum, fought to correct this injustice. Their aim was modest: Felix Longoria had died for his country; therefore, he should be allowed a burial just like any other American. As Longoria’s nonburial turned into national news, the Mexican population 4 chapter 1 in South Texas became galvanized, creating a diplomatic crisis with the Mexican government. Interestingly, the local Anglos still did not budge, so the young idealistic senator Lyndon Johnson arranged for Longoria to be buried in a hero’s ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.2 Edna Ferber relished this story, making it into a cornerstone of her book. However, after reading the work, my father was very disappointed. In his opinion, Ferber, like so many writers before her, had ended up creating yet another caricature of Texas. She had simplified and stereotyped the Texas bluster, the cattle and oil cultures, the subtlety of relations between Texas Mexicans and Anglos, the complex tensions between rich and poor, male and female, and the deeply rewarding family ties. When the movie came out, everyone in my family piled into our DeSoto Suburban and went to watch it. Given what my father had said about Ferber’s rendition of Texas, I was taken aback that I liked the film. It was true that the movie was full of clichés and ridiculous exaggerations, but for me, at twelve years of age, it captured something I recognized in my life—the simultaneous pride and embarrassment at being Texan: embarrassment at the prejudice , the crassness of the oil rich, the way women are treated as if they do not matter, yet pride in the way that Texans can overcome prejudice, the beauty of family loyalty, and the way women are strong and capable. Watching Giant was a turning point for me, poised as I was on the cusp of adulthood. The movie spurred me to think about what Texas meant to me, why it is so full of contradictions, why is it so hard to understand, and why it is so maddeningly difficult to explain to others. my liberal education Igrewupinafamilythatwasanintegralpartoftheliberalpoliticalcommunity of Austin, Texas. During the 1950s and early 1960s, I spent my childhood steeped in that liberal culture. The Texas Observer was our newspaper, and its editors at the time, Ronnie Dugger and then Willie Morris, were regulars at our...