Exploring untold histories of racial violence along the Texas-Mexico border

Published October 10, 2021 at 5:39 PM CDT

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“Captured Insurrectos” (c 1910) by Otis A. Aultman. Photographers often staged scenes of “frontier” life in Texas, labeling Mexicans as bandits or revolutionaries, which made the border seem dangerous and in need of policing. These photographs also presumed the guilt of those in custody.

Texas historian Monica Martinez was recently awarded a MacArthur fellowship, known as the "genius grant," for her work uncovering and bringing to the forefront troubling truths about centuries-old killings along the Texas-Mexico border.

Martinez says that unearthing these untold histories of racial violence can help communities reckon with their past and work toward healing, and "help inspire a more inclusive and equitable future.”

Guest: Monica Muñoz Martinez, Ph.D., associate professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, author of "The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas," and founding member of the nonprofit Refusing to Forget

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*This interview was recorded on Monday, October 12.