The Injustice Never Leaves You : Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas

**A moving account of a little-known period of state-sponsored racial terror inflicted on ethnic Mexicans in the Texas-Mexico borderlands.** Between 1910 and 1920, vigilantes and law enforcement—including the renowned Texas Rangers—killed Mexican residents with impunity. The full extent of the violence was known only to the relatives of the victims. Monica Muñoz Martinez turns to the keepers of this history to tell this riveting and disturbing untold story. Operating in remote rural areas enabled the perpetrators to do their worst: hanging, shooting, burning, and beating victims to death without scrutiny. Families scoured the brush to retrieve the bodies of loved ones. Survivors suffered segregation and fierce intimidation, and yet fought back. They confronted assailants in court, worked with Mexican diplomats to investigate the crimes, pressured local police to arrest the perpetrators, spoke to journalists, and petitioned politicians for change. Martinez reconstructs this history from institutional and private archives and oral histories, to show how the horror of anti-Mexican violence lingered within communities for generations, compounding injustice by inflicting further pain and loss. Yet its memorialization provided victims with an important means of redress, undermining official narratives that sought to whitewash these atrocities. __The Injustice Never Leaves You__ offers an invaluable account of why these incidents happened, what they meant at the time, and how a determined community ensured that the victims were not forgotten. Winner Of The Caughey Western History Prize Winner Of The Robert G. Athearn Award Winner Of The Lawrence W. Levine Award Winner Of The Tcu Texas Book Award Winner Of The Naccs Tejas Foco Nonfiction Book Award Winner Of The María Elena Martínez Prize Frederick Jackson Turner Award Finalist “a Page-turner...haunting...bravely And Convincingly Urges Us To Think Differently About Texas’s Past.” —texas Monthly Between 1910 And 1920, Self-appointed Protectors Of The Texas–mexico Border—including Members Of The Famed Texas Rangers—murdered Hundreds Of Ethnic Mexicans Living In Texas, Many Of Whom Were American Citizens. Operating In Remote Rural Areas, Officers And Vigilantes Knew They Could Hang, Shoot, Burn, And Beat Victims To Death Without Scrutiny. A Culture Of Impunity Prevailed. The Abuses Were So Pervasive That In 1919 The Texas Legislature Investigated The Charges And Uncovered A Clear Pattern Of State Crime. Records Of The Proceedings Were Soon Filed Away As The Ranger Myth Flourished. A Groundbreaking Work Of Historical Reconstruction, The Injustice Never Leaves You Has Upended Texas’s Sense Of Its Own History. A Timely Reminder Of The Dark Side Of American Justice, It Is A Riveting Story Of Race, Power, And Prejudice On The Border. “it’s An Apt Moment For This Book’s Hard Lessons...to Go Mainstream.” —texas Observer “a Reminder That Government Brutality On The Border Is Nothing New.” —los Angeles Review Of Books The Injustice Never Leaves You Documents A Little Known Period Of State Violence In The Early Twentieth Century That Targeted Ethnic Mexican Residents In The Texas-mexico Borderlands. This Book Takes On The Task Of Explaining Why Violence Occurred, What It Meant At The Time, And What It Means Today. It Examines A Policing Regime That Killed With Impunity Between 1910 And 1920. Politicians, Historians, The Media, And Historical Commissions Of The Early Twentieth Century Inscribed A Celebratory Version Of Events In Newspapers, Books, Lesson Plans, Museums, And Monuments As A Practice Of Nation Building. They Disavowed The Loss And Trauma Experienced By Residents. The Architects Of Official History And Memory, However, Did Not Account For The Witnesses And Survivors Of Violence Who Would Pass Their Own Memories From One Generation To Another. They Underestimated Residents Who Would Stake A Claim In The Border Region, Residents Who Would Share Their Story With The Next Generation, Residents Who Would Leave Records That Documented The Terror That Shaped Daily Life. More Than An Act Of Recovery, This Book Gives Insight Into People Who Lived In A World Shaped By Violence But Who Refused To Be Consumed By It.-- Divine Retribution -- From Silence -- Denial Of Justice -- Cultures Of Violence -- Idols -- Reckoning. Monica Munoz Martinez. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The Injustice Never Leaves You documents a little known period of state violence in the early twentieth century that targeted ethnic Mexican residents in the Texas-Mexico borderlands. This book takes on the task of explaining why violence occurred, what it meant at the time, and what it means today. It examines a policing regime that killed with impunity between 1910 and 1920. Politicians, historians, the media, and historical commissions of the early twentieth century inscribed a celebratory version of events in newspapers, books, lesson plans, museums, and monuments as a practice of nation building. They disavowed the loss and trauma experienced by residents. The architects of official history and memory, however, did not account for the witnesses and survivors of violence who would pass their own memories from one generation to another. They underestimated residents who would stake a claim in the border region, residents who would share their story with the next generation, residents who would leave records that documented the terror that shaped daily life. More than an act of recovery, this book gives insight into people who lived in a world shaped by violence but who refused to be consumed by it.-- {u01C2}c Provided by publisher From 1910 to 1920, Texan vigilantes and law enforcement killed ethnic Mexican residents with impunity. Monica Muñoz Martinez turns to the keepers of this history to create a record of what occurred and how a determined community ensured that victims were not forgotten. Remembering and retelling, she shows, can inscribe justice on a legacy of pain. Contents Introduction 1. Divine Retribution 2. From Silence 3. Denial of Justice 4. Cultures of Violence 5. Idols 6. Reckoning with Violence Epilogue Notes Acknowledgments Index