by Tob°as Durán
Daily Lobo guest columnist
The brouhaha about the tearing of the Mexican flag may have a silver lining. President David Schmidly's comments quoted in the Daily Lobo on Sept. 19 appear to reveal a sensitive knowledge of New
Mexico's past.
"It's inexcusable to desecrate a flag," he said. "What makes the situation worse is that it was a Mexican flag. For God's sake, New Mexico was part of Mexico at one time. Bonds exist between New Mexicans and people from Mexico." The president declared that UNM "won't tolerate this kind of behavior."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Perhaps, partly out of ignorance, seldom are these sentiments expressed publicly at UNM. And almost never by high officials.
Indeed, Nuevo MÇxico was the northernmost province of the Mexican Republic from 1821 until 1848. Before that, it was a part of the Spanish Empire from 1598 until 1821 - except for an interlude from 1680 to 1692. In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico, and in August of that year, the commander of the U.S. Army of the west ordered the removal of the Mexican flag, replacing it with the U.S. flag in Santa Fe, the capital.
The Mexican flag would never again, except symbolically, be raised in New Mexico. New Mexico became a territory of the U.S. in 1850, after being ruled by the U.S. Army since January 1847. The first Americano governor appointed by the U.S. military commander was killed on Jan. 19, 1847, during a widespread rebellion against the U.S. and its army. In fact, he was beheaded.
New Mexico remained a territory from 1850 to 1912 under the U.S. territorial system, which was based on the colonial political framework of the English empire. New Mexico was ruled under a colonial system for more than six decades - longer, by far, than any other territory in the history of the U.S. All the top officials, including judges and governors, were appointed by Washington, D.C., officials. New Mexico was allowed to elect a delegate to Congress, but the representative did not have the right to vote. No native-born New Mexican was appointed governor until 1897, when President McKinley named Miguel Otero, who was "thoroughly American in every way," according to the Chicago Times-Herald. A perfect
intermediary.
At the turn of the 20th century, New Mexico was being considered for statehood one more time. Sen. Albert Beveridge, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on territories; President Theodore Roosevelt; Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge and other powerful politicians opposed statehood for New Mexico because "Mexicans were unfit" to become full-fledged U.S. citizens. Too many spoke Spanish, and being Catholic made them "incapable of self-government."
Believing the myth that the "Anglo-Saxon race" was superior in every way, they genuinely and sincerely cast "the Mexican race," according to official documents, as "mongrel," therefore "inferior."
In public speeches and on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Beveridge proclaimed, "We, the white Anglo-Saxon protestants, are God's chosen people. We are a superior race, imperial by
virtue of our power and endowed by Divine Providence to rule the world." All other races, he wrote, "are inferior and are not capable of participating in our democracy."
New Mexico was taken as an imperial possession of the U.S., much like Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands were conquered after the Spanish-American War.
Nevertheless, due to changes in the political climate, New Mexico did become a state in 1912. And New Mexico's constitution, unique among state constitutions, guarantees in the Bill of Rights (Section 5) that the provisions of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which was signed by the U.S. and Mexican representatives, shall be preserved without violation. Article VII, Section 3, guarantees, "The right of any citizen of the state to vote, hold office, or sit upon juries shall never be restricted, abridged, or impaired on account of religion, race, language, or color, or inability to speak, read or write the English or Spanish languages. At least three-fourths of the electors voting in the whole state, and at least two-thirds of those voting in each county of the state, shall vote to amend
this right."
Other articles guarantee that all children have the right to an equal education. Further, it provides for the right to a bilingual education.
The flag episode and Schmidly's comments have given people an opportunity to publicly express opinions and to review history. Even ill winds bring blessings.
Tob°as Durán is the director of the Center for Regional Studies at UNM.
