Posted on 05/13/2010 6:39:52 AM PDT by laotzu
SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro was recently profiled in the New York Times, which referenced him as the next national Hispanic leader and perhaps president.
"It's been a very promising response," said Castro. "It's a very flattering article."
But comments he didn't make could draw some strong opinions. His mother, Rosie Castro, had strong words when asked about her memories of the Alamo, a symbol of Texas independence.
"They used to take us there when we were school children," Perez told the Times. "They told us how glorious that battle was. When I grew up, I learned that the 'heroes' of the Alamo were a bunch of drunks and crooks and slaveholding imperialists who conquered land that didn't belong to them. But as a little girl I got the message (that) we were losers. I can truly say that I hate that place and everything it stands for."
"I'm sure that a lot of people disagree with it," said Castro, when asked about his mother's comments. "I ... have a different perspective from what she does. I think that the struggles that the state of Texas went through at the Alamo and other places were necessary for the great state that we have today and all of us should be proud of it."
Today, tourists and locals walking around Alamo Plaza reacted to the comments.
"If what she did for further research proved to have validity, then I guess I'd side with her," said Parris Wedel, a tourist from Florida.
"I think it's a huge disgrace to people that live in San Antonio because it's part of their heritage, it's where they grew up," said Naomi Guerrero, who said she looked forward to her visit to the Alamo when she took Texas History in the 7th grade.
Castro said the attempt in the article was to show a generational difference.
"My mother's generation and generations before went through a particular experience that was painful at times," said Castro.
"I wouldn't want my mom making a comment like that, knowing that she would be disgracing me if I was the mayor," said Guerrero.
Rosie Castro was not available for an extended interview on Wednesday but said during the time period in which she was brought up, there was no real objective view of what happened.
Castro said said it's a non-issue to him and something he's addressed a long time ago.
Exactly. THEY should be angry with the Spanish and their descendants! I have heard that there are places in southern Mexico where Spanish is not spoken, and the Mexicans are not welcome.................
Pizzarro financed DeSoto's explorations of "la Florida", a vast territory extending all the way to Chicago.
One of my collateral relatives (an ancestor) worked for Pizzarro in the first Latin American revolution ~ they rejected Spanish rule and refused to succumb to the Governor sent from Spain. He kind of won and then this fellow was drawn, quartered, executed and his parts tossed into the fields for the wild dogs to eat.
He was also a Protestant ~ just in case anybody wondered what happened to Spanish Protestants in those days!
I think a lot of the bitterness simply is the result of envy. Some hispanics can’t stand the fact that Texas is prosperous while Mexico is a failure by comparison. If Texas was a dump, they wouldn’t care so much, and their pride would not be wounded by feelings of inferiority either. It makes perfect sense to me that envy made the cut as one of the seven deadly sins.
Dang tourist. Read up on Stephen F Austin. Lots of book published by the UT Press.
San Jacinto . . . loser.
:-)
Oh, c'mon Laz. You are a wacky mother.
Well put.
So you take after her side of the family.
I’ve often wondered as to how it would have affected American history—for better or for worse—had the US taken all of Mexico in 1848.
Because you don’t seem to know this, there were virtually no Spanish colonists or “Mexicans” in Texas in 1836 and before. Central Mexico was beautiful, agriculturally productive, lacked Apaches and Commanches, etc. People liked living there; it was civilized. Mexico City, for example, had had a university for centuries by the early 19th century.
Because their “claim” to territory north of the Rio Grande was just an assertion, the governments in Mexico City went through scheme after scheme to try lure settlers north of the Rio Grande and failed time after time. That is why they finally gave Austin and other Americans huge incentives to bring Americans here. The actual number of Spanish/Mexicans north of the Rio Grande in 1830 wouldn’t even populate a decent sized Houston subdivision, and most of the Spanish/Mexicans north of the Rio Grande were concentrated relatively near the river.
BTW, there were also very few Indians, especially in areas west of the rainfall line that runs through Houston. Why? Because it semi-arid or desert. Without advanced European civilization and its technology, the area is barely inhabitable.
The American settlers made Texas as a whole livable. People who claim they want “Texas back” are claiming something that never was theirs and that they didn’t create. Someone needs to teach that to LULAC MALDEF, MECHA and all the other so-called “latino” special interests.
What about those brave 7 gunfighters who risked their lives to save her village from Quavero and his bandits.
These people are so over the top it’s hard not to laugh at their absurdity sometimes.
Really, I doubt her experience is true. She’s probably regurgitating things she’s read at some favorite lefty web site and thinks she sounds pretty cool.
I’ve got a few others. Hope I don’t get banned.
Cabrona; sin vergenza; desgracada; and a few others.
I am sure that she is basing everything on race not actual facts, that probably would make her a racist
Parts of Texas are dumps, which is especially the case the closer you get to Mexico.
It was "more than that". The defenders of the Alamo chose to die to the last man rather than surrender or abandon the fort. It is a battle unique in American history. One does not sacrifice one's life merely for profit or territory.
Has anyone checked the Castros’ proof of citizenship?
Fancy silk underwear actually, but if this whacky La Raza inspired kook can make s*%t up about Texas patriots, I can distort the facts about her war criminal hero Santa Anna.
Ahh... the forever useful politician's “it's old news” trick, perfected by Clinton...
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