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1. 

   Anie / April 28, 2012

   I am in receipt of a doucment written by the Vice President of the Tejano Monument Board of Directors, Renato Ramirez. It makes me wonder how many of these business men and educators, involved with the Tejano monument, are native Tejano. Surely if they are Tejanos, they know the difference between Spanish , Mexican and indigenous . Tejanos are a culture derived from several cultures not just Mexican. If his information is based on the fact that our ancestors were of the Mexican culture therefore, we are of Mexican descent because of the bloodline, then we are also French, Polish, Czechoslovakian, German..etc. Tejano and Texas history clearly state that the Spanish were the first to explore this territory before they took it a step further and gave it the name it now possesses. According to Texas history, Mexico was then New Spain not Mexico. Then came the Anglo-Americans, French, Czechs, Polish, Germans, Mexicans, Africans etc. came and settled in Texas. These are the cultures that make up the Tejano bloodline so why is the Tejano referred to as solely Mexican ? What of all the other cultures that are part of the Tejano bloodline? All these mentioned cultures settled in Texas after it got its name from the Spaniards. Tejanos were born of these cultures and the native tribes that existed in Texas at the time the Spaniards explored it. Mr. Renato Ramirez further states that Tejanos means people of SPANISH AND MEXICAN DESCENT. How does he get Tejano out of the terms Spanish and Mexican descent? The term Tejano simply means Texas-born and it is only common sense that a Tejano is of Spanish and indigenous descent because the Spaniards were the first to cohabit with the women of the Native Indian tribes. Texas had already been named by the Spaniards therefore the children born of these two cultures were the first Tejanos. The first having originated in Texas. Other cultures also cohabited with the women of the Native Indian tribes and other ethnic women. This is historical background and fact about the Tejanos. I agree that the monument is not about the Spanish or Mexican heritage. It’s about the Tejanos. Also, it wasn’t just Mexicans that were killed defending the Alamo. Historical facts state that Tejanos fought along side Sam Houston and others therefore also Tejanos lost their lives defending the Alamo.The point is that individuals like Renato Ramirez and Tejano historians with the mindset that Tejanos are Mexican Americans have been misleading Tejanos with their inaccuracy regarding the Tejano culture. It is inaccurate information that is hindering the Tejano culture from being recognized as a separate culture from the Mexican culture. The tejano has been over shadowed by the Mexican culture because of mistaken identity. Yes, our ancestors were Mexican and they are in the Tejano bloodline but so are all the other cultures that migrated into Texas. Tejanos are not Mexican, Polish, Germans, Czechs etc. We are Tejanos and we are a culture.

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