Official acknowledgement through the task of record keeping by the state is so common in our lives we take it for granted. Birth and death certificates mark our beginnings and endings in this world. It is a quite unremarkable process, indeed mundane.
While the process of official acknowledgement is mundane, state recognition carries the dignity of being remembered. It means a life mattered.
When the state fails to pursue a homicide case, it rewards the murderers with impunity. When the state continues to ignore a homicide case for over 100 years it compounds the injustice further by denying the dignity of the victim, their families and descendants by erasing the individual from official memory. It means their life did not matter.
The only way to address this injustice is through acknowledging its existence and correcting the official records by including unrecognized homicides. The institutional stain of erasure then can be wiped away and the dignity of being remembered restored.
From July to November 1915, it is estimated that between 200 to 300 individuals were killed in what the community called la matanza, massacre. The matanza occurred in Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy and Kenedy counties as arbitrary murders in response to the last colonial rebellion by ethnic Mexicans against US sovereignty popularly known as the Plan de San Diego but called the revolución de Texas by the community.
In response to the rebellion, ethnic whites created blacklists of suspected rebels or sympathizers and arbitrarily murdered them. The locals referred to victims being “evaporated” instead of using the words murdered or killed. Besides the use of these lists, Texas Rangers, local law enforcement and vigilantes executed people during questioning or after removing prisoners from jail cells at night supposedly for their own safety.
For a fuller history of la matanza and rebellion see Refusing to Forget “The History.” No one was ever held accountable for the murders and to the present these homicides are still not officially acknowledged by the State of Texas or county law enforcement offices.
The injustice of erasure continues.
To pursue justice for the victims of la matanza I wrote the report, “A Matter of Justice: The Uninvestigated Homicides of La Matana.” The report is meant for the Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy and Kenedy county District Attorneys to officially acknowledge the homicides. Through such recognition the dignity of being remembered represents a life matter can be restored.
The report is based on three lists that documented the murders providing various amounts of information. In some instances, the victims are named with approximate dates and locations and in other instances victims are not named. I coupled the lists with other documentation and sources. For example, I used Texas Ranger scouting reports to determine if they were at the location and date of murders. The state legislature’s investigation of the Rangers in 1919 concluded they were responsible for many of the homicides and therefore should be considered the most likely suspects (See report, 47).
All three documents related to the murders, along with legislature’s findings, and an editorial lamenting the fact no investigation was ever conducted of the murders are included in an appendix.
There are two versions of the report, one with a request from DAs to officially acknowledge the homicides, and the version that is on the RTF website with a different request for the public.
Besides seeking official acknowledgment, the second reason for the report was to create a dataset about the murders along with supporting documentation that the public can use to conduct further investigations. I hope genealogists focus on individuals and their families so that we can gain a better understanding of the victims and their lives. Historians can take the dataset and use it to create digital humanities projects like geo mapping or find out more about the killings
themselves or learn about the Rangers involved in the murders. There are unlimited ways the dataset can be used.
As a personal matter the report is also my effort to specifically bring dignity to my great-grandfather, Paulino Serda and his father Donaciano Cerda who were likely killed by Texas Rangers and local law enforcement on September 16, 1915 (See report, p 11). My father told me about their murders and showed me where they were buried at the Laguna Seca Ranch cemetery, since I was child. Going to the cemetery was a regular part of my childhood to my 20s. Besides cleaning up family gravesites, we dug graves for relatives who were buried there. My ancestors were vaqueros and ranch hands who earned a free burial plot as part of their lifetime work on the ranch. My effort in seeking justice for my great-grandfather, his father and the other victims is born from a respect instilled in me by my father to never forget our ancestors. That is why we Refuse to Forget.
Trinidad Gonzales
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