(Normally I only discuss genealogy...so I apologize for my soap-boxing here. First and only time, I promise)

So true...despite american plurality, there is an overwhelming right-wing ultra-nationalist "patriotic" sentiment that desires to silence by threat and violence any dissenting voice of history. The government's laws make it easy to criminalize protest take away free speech and assembly. So much of this land's real history is unknown or willfully concealed, I believe, as part of a greater agenda of assimilation and racial division. Where is the history of the Native peoples, Spanish/Mexican settlers, Africans, women, and so many others, who with their blood built the foundations of this country?? Concealed...obliterated.

Everywhere you turn - school, books, television shows, movies, magazines, newspapers, popular culture, media feeds, etc. - we are purposefully left out of the history of "America". Bernardo de Gálvez aided the Thirteen Colonies in their quest for independence and led Spanish forces against Britain in the Revolutionary War, defeating the British at the Siege of Peñascola/Pensacola (1781) and reconquering Florida for Spain. He spent the last two years of his life as Viceroy of New Spain, succeeding his father Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo. The city of Galveston, Texas, was named for him. Under him New Orleans' "Spanish" quarter was rebuilt after flooding - the architecture of the French Quarter is really Spanish. You're right, although Gálvez contributed way more, Lafayette occupies more space in history books. It's because Lafayette was French and Gálvez was Spanish. French...good, Spanish...bad. Really!!

Perhaps it is shame over the fact that the U.S. was founded on military conquest, slavery, genocide, segregation, oppression, subjugation, and is actually a police-state, that so much fact is left out of american history books. They don't want to be reminded of the horror. I have actually heard people say they wish american history could be rewritten, and so they do. The truth of history cannot be erased, it can only be covered up and hidden, by shifting attention onto some fake political non-issue...like illegal immigration or Islamic terrorism. Merely distractions from corporate-sponsored power-hungry war-mongering politicians seeking to stoke the flames of patriotism in their favor.

I remember history books used to cover lots of interesting thought-provoking material. Now they are so one-sided, simply focused on "Standards". Future history books may altogether neglect to mention the Native American genocide and forced removal (ie. Tippencanoe, Trail of Tears, Sand Creek and Wounded Knee massacres, policy of extermination, just to name a few), African slavery and segregation, or Spanish-Mexican history and accomplishments. We have been bombarded by explicit and implicit shaming of our cultures, to the point where our people believe the lies, feel a certain shame for their own culture and identity. Many Hispanic families have succumbed and lost their roots in this fashion.

Hopefully people will wake up, take their head out of the sand (I mean "smart" phones), and look up at reality. You might notice that US history is not "OUR" history. We get no respect. That is why I actually seek out the truth of my real history, my real heritage, and my real language - Español. If corporate books, TV history shows, or movies do not convey our voices and perspectives, then we must be the instruments of education for our younger generation at risk of losing their heritage and identity. We are fighting an arduous up-hill war against a powerful adversary...David and Goliath ring a bell.

No pierdan su historia e identidad. Enséñenles español a sus hijos y aprendan más sobre sus propias raíces. No se dejen vencer. ¡Sí se puede! ¡He dicho!

OK done venting. Now back to genealogy...
SFHL

Danny,

Now it's your turn to teach your teachers a little something about Mexican
history. There are many wonderful books but one exceptional book in English
is the War for Mexico's West, by Professor and Historian, Ida Altman. It
can be purchased at Better World Books, Abe's Books, Amazon and Barnes and
Noble.

On Mon, Aug 3, 2015 at 11:28 PM, Danny Alonso wrote:

> Hello Nuestros Ranchos Forum,
>
> I'm in high school and I never knew any of this and the teachers don't know
> about Mexico at all. The only time Mexico ever was mentioned they told us
> that Mexico was just Spanish people and Aztec people. I told my teacher
> there was lots of tribes and even Aftrican Americans in Mexico and she said
> that was silly, just Spanish People and Aztecs.
>
> Danny C. Alonso

As an avid fan of history since a very early age, I have always been curious about the traditions and stories my parents, grandparents, and family would tell me. My father and mother were indeed my first teachers - teaching me Spanish, math, history, and so much more. Learning from them and then learning in american schools I quickly figured out that american schools are laboratories for assimilation, bullying, and native cultural self-loathing. I grew up with a different perspective...an educated perspective, one of an outsider looking in.

Danny, your experiences with "silly" teachers that don't know about Mexico at all, are very well known to me and my brothers who have also pursued higher-level education and graduate school. In many ways I am self-taught on many subjects (I am fluent in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese...and English) and always looking for sources of authentic history - hidden history. Just like Rick Ricci said, I have learned more about Mexican history and my own family's history from my own genealogical research, than I have learned in schools.

Having bad teachers is what propelled me to become a good teacher myself. I teach high school Spanish levels 1, 2, and 3. Although I don't actually teach history I actually do, in my Spanish classes.

While I was pursuing my BA in History, I came across many books and their authors that many of you NR readers may enjoy.

- "Lies My Teacher Told Me", by James W. Loewen
- "Lies Across America", by James W. Loewen (and others by Mr. Loewen)
- "A People's History of the United States", by Howard Zinn
- "The Truth Must Be Told: How Spain and Hispanics helped build the United States", by Carlos B. Vega [GREAT BOOK!!]
- "Bernardo de Galvez (Latinos in American History)", by Russell Roberts
- "The holy war in Los Altos", by Jim Tuck (I did my BA thesis on the Cristero War)

- Also check out any books that talk about the covert privateers who undermined Tejas and led to it's conquest and annexation, the Alamo, and subsequently the Mexican War to fulfill Manifest Destiny.
- Any book about the 1898 explosion of the USS Maine, a deliberate act which led to the Spanish-American War and it acquisition of the former Spanish empire (Cuba, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, etc.) [It was an inside job just like 9/11 and blamed on Spanish "terrorists" attacking the US].
- Any book about the life and beliefs of Cesar Chavez, the UFC farm labor/civil rights activist who protested against pesticide use.

And that is only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more hidden history beneath the surface of the illusory waters of our present-day corporate mainstream society.

The truth wants to be known
SFHL

Danny,

As I tell the members of our Genealogical Society, It's up to us to learn
our history and tell our history. When you know your true history, you're
able to tell others about it and no one can brainwash you when you know the
truth. Once you learn it, you'll be doing what primo Paco Hernandez is
doing, learning it and teaching it with conviction. Not saying it doesn't
take time, it takes a lot of time and dedication, but slowly you'll get
there. It takes patience and perseverance.

Alicia

On Wed, Aug 5, 2015 at 4:06 PM, Danny Alonso wrote:

> Hello
>
> I'll look for that book and I'll try to teach them but sometimes it's hard
> after the teacher says they don't believe something and the students only
> believe the teacher.
>
> Danny C. Alonso

If you print out a copy of a map showing the original territory of Mexico, or if you have the internet on your smart phone or iPad, or if someone in class does, you can show them that Mexico was once twice the size it is now, and that the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, parts of Louisiana etc were Mexico the other students will believe you. Students sometimes have to do their own research. You can also bring up lists of the various tribes in Mexico to show that not "just Spanish and Aztecs" live there. Also there might be a new immigrant from Mexico at the school who might want to give a presentation about Mexico, if it is not discouraged. I didn't know how ignorant some adults in this country are about our neighbor to the south.

Emilie
Port Orchard, WA

> Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2015 16:06:36 -0700
> From: dcalonso97@gmail.com
> To: research@nuestrosranchos.org
> Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] Getting History Straight
>
> Hello
>
> I'll look for that book and I'll try to teach them but sometimes it's hard
> after the teacher says they don't believe something and the students only
> believe the teacher.
>
> Danny C. Alonso

Danny,

You'll have lots of support along the way with Nuestros Ranchos. Join your
local Latino Genealogical Society wherever you live, it helps to have face
to face contact with other people with similar areas of research. It's a
great opportunity to bounce ideas off of people and to have others assist
you along the way.......where do you live?

Alicia,
San Jose, Ca

On Thu, Aug 6, 2015 at 6:19 PM, Danny Alonso wrote:

> Thank You Mr. Hernandez and Alicia and Christopher for your advice and for
> the books to check out. I will go to the library and start looking for all
> of them. I already learned more since joining the Nuestros Ranchos Forum
> than I have in high school.
>
> Danny C. Alonso

And don't they wonder why we have The Alamo in the middle of San Antonio? It was once a mission and fort named after a cottonwood tree in Spanish. Don't they wonder why we have cities with Spanish saints' names like San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, etc. etc.? I heard of someone visiting San Antonio and asking why they put "The Alamo" in the middle of the city. They don't know it used to be the only thing out there and the city grew around it, just like Los Angeles grew around a tiny mission church out in the middle of what used to be a desert?

Emilie

> Date: Sat, 8 Aug 2015 20:13:08 -0700
> From: dcalonso97@gmail.com
> To: research@nuestrosranchos.org
> Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] Getting History Straight
>
> Thank you Emilie and Mr. Hernandez. That map is so cool. Only since being a
> part of the Nuestros Ranchos Forum did I know that Mexico once owned so
> much of America. We were once supposed to talk about The Alamo in our
> textbook but the teacher skipped it to talk more about the civil war.
>
> Danny C. Alonso