2003 Texas Book Festival: The Border on Its Own Terms
from November 15, 2003
Book TV
Tape #69; 3:29:50 - 4:40:46

From the 2003 Texas Book Festival a panel of authors discuss immigration and the Mexican- American Border. Moderating the panel is Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton Administration. The panelists include Charles Bowden, "Down By the River"; Bobby Byrd, "The Late Great Mexican Border"; Patrick Carroll, "Blacks in Colonial Veracruz"; and Beatriz de la Garza, "A Law for the Lion."

Tape #69 The Border on Its Own Terms

[These are unedited notes. They will be edited later this week.]

A library in a small border town, Redford, created a library from her own funds. An example of anti-heros that Bobby Byrd worte about. The border is a place where there are not heros. There are antiheros. The teeth. Because of the guns on the border that prevents movement back and forth.

Beatriz—people who lived their for generations. They don’t think of it as a border. They don’t think of it as a dividing line between cultures. They personify transnational families. They are products of the 17th century. They have land on both sides of the border. They ranch on one side and have homes on the other side. They find it outrageous that there are more and more barriers. Children may live on one side and go to school on the other side. Families have family members on both side.

Patrick—in this region. Organic spatial zone that continues to change. How they have negotiated with one another. An more active history of civil rights of ongoing negotiation for more than 200 years. It is not an area that is marginalized. It is a dynamic area. At the vanguard of the process: How different groups in this country negotiate their relationship with one another. This is the strength of our country. Hispanics have been the fastest growing ethnic group and that is a crucibal where we can see the negotiations of the future definitions of the united states. Social, cultural change

Charles—200 people died the last year killed by coyotes, killed in car crashes. My section of the border is violent. This is where the first world and third world touch. What we have created is an militarized zone. Border patrol watching. And vigilantes, too. Get within 40 miles of the border—every phone call is intercepted. NAFTA has created an industrial zone we have put them in plants with so low wages we couldn’t survive and then the plants have moved to china. This is going to blow up in our face. Smugglers fighting each other to seize their clients. What bothers him is the denial. There is no neutral group on immigration. They are coming north because we have they want. It isn’t going to stop. This half assed reaction that we will hire more border patrol . What we have done is an apartheid south Africa. There are huge colonies of illegals. What they don’t get any protection, decent wages. This used to be called human slavery. The answer isn’t walling off mexico. I want a NAFTA that leads to investment in Mexico.

Cisneros—we have heard multiple viewpoints.

Beatriz—the tragic portrait of the border today is true. It has always been true. But there have also been people living there going about there legal business. But now it is a major enterprise to go across the bridge—driving, but it takes several hours.

Bobby—El Paso has an anger. 1917 bath riots to protest this practice. Mexicans were bathed in gasoline when they came across the border because of fears that Mexicans were not clean.

Patrick—there is hope for change. There are social action groups like the GI Forum, the Mexican American Civil Rights movements. Widow of fallen war hero was denied access to a mortuary. The public uprising against this was far reaching and wide spread, international uproar. They were recognized as Mexican Americans who were patriots that defended this country. They were just like their fathers and brothers who defended our country in WWIi. As bad as things are on now on the border it was much worse at the end of WWII. Camps that Mexican workers lived in migrants—dirt floors, no ventalition, terrible conditions, incredible differences in schools, institutional , no distinguish between Mexicans and Mexican Americans. And that changed because of the Mexican Amercian Civil Rigthts Moveent,