https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/02/cynthia-tucker-american-exceptionalism-troubled-history/

Tucker: Why we skipped the Alamo on our visit to San Antonio
American exceptionalism is about our progress away from a troubled past.

On a recent trip to San Antonio with my 15-year-old daughter, I decided to skip the Alamo and the stunted history one gets on the official tour. Instead, I reminded her of some of the things she's already learned that what is now Texas was once part of Mexico and taught her some things she has not that the site of the Alamo has historic significance to some indigenous people as a burial ground.

I've never visited San Antonio's famous former mission, but my daughter visited, with relatives, when she was around 8. She's already gotten the "Davy Crockett was a hero, and badly outnumbered Texian fighters bravely fought to the death" version of history. If she ever goes again, I'd like for her to hear the rest of the story: that the expansion of slavery was a significant reason for the war over Texas.

Is that "woke"? Or is it fact?


As we end Black History Month and ease into Women's History Month, we are stuck with a broadly celebrated version of American history that continues to marginalize many of the main actors, whether they are women, Black Americans, Native Americans or Tejanos. Why is it so difficult to embrace a robust history that tells the whole story of the founding and development of the nation? Why are we so uncomfortable with acknowledging the pain, the exploitation and the violence that are as much a part of who we are as the courage, the sacrifice and the pride?

Our nation shares with many others a past that includes domination of the weak by the strong, violent acquisition of territory and assumptions of superiority by the ruling class. Our "exceptionalism" is partly born of a bold declaration by the founders that "all men are created equal," but history is clear that they could not live up to the dictates of their better angels. Not only did many of them hold Black people in chattel slavery, but their political practice left most white men out of the ruling class. For decades after the founding of the republic, poor white men could not vote.

That changed over time, of course, as the nation moved closer to its stated ideals. That's what makes the United States of America "exceptional" the drive to keep inching closer to that "more perfect union," to keep trying to build the "beloved community" of which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke. Isn't that something to be proud of?

It took centuries and a civil war for the U.S. to emancipate the enslaved people who built the Southern economy. And those enslaved people are essential to the story of the Republic of Texas. When Vicente Guerrero, then Mexico's president, freed them in 1829, Anglos in the territory were incensed. As Stephen F. Austin wrote, "I am the owner of one slave only, an old decrepit woman, not worth much, but in this matter I should feel that my constitutional rights as a Mexican were just as much infringed, as they would be if I had a thousand."

It is not unpatriotic to recount an unexpurgated version of American history. Humankind is complex, and the American story is full of complicated characters. Davy Crockett is one example. If you grew up on the Hollywood version of the "King of the Wild Frontier," you might not know that he was a slave-owner. Yet, as a Tennessee congressman, he vigorously opposed President Andrew Jackson's policy of forcibly removing native Americans from their land.

Crockett, of course, is central to the story of the Alamo, and a long-planned renovation continues to honor him. According to Texas Monthly, a new statue of Crockett has been added to Alamo Plaza. But as the renovation seeks to embrace a more complete history, other statues are being added, as well, including one of Hendrick Arnold, a Black man who served as a scout for the Texian forces.

Equally important, a new museum scheduled to open in 2027 will provide "a historically accurate narrative" rather than the incomplete tale of brave (white) settlers seeking liberty. I would happily accompany my daughter to that museum. It sounds like a tribute to the exceptional American story.

Cynthia Tucker? Contributing Columnist. Cynthia Tucker is a Pulitzer-winning opinion journalist and former editorial page editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She currently serves as Journalist-in-Residence at the University of South Alabama.

Johnny Bear said:

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Realitybites said:

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Clearly, Cynthia has never heard of Juan Seguin. There were people of all backgrounds fighting the Mexican Army. But in our politically correct world, all history has to take a knee to black history.

Besides, celebrating people who take up arms to fight tyranny makes ruling juntas nervous.

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Correct. A significant percentage of the Alamo defenders who died were "Tejanos" or Hispanic Mexican Texans who were just as opposed to Santa Anna's tyranny as the Anglo defenders were. And the Mexican dictator's motivation in putting down the Texas Revolution had nothing to do with stopping the spread of US slavery.

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my ancestors weep as their deeds are being forgotten as woke historians rewrite history.. a part of my family has been in the Tejas state since 1806. They came north, not west..

wow

Johnny Bear said:

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Realitybites said:

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Clearly, Cynthia has never heard of Juan Seguin. There were people of all backgrounds fighting the Mexican Army. But in our politically correct world, all history has to take a knee to black history.

Besides, celebrating people who take up arms to fight tyranny makes ruling juntas nervous.

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Correct. A significant percentage of the Alamo defenders who died were "Tejanos" or Hispanic Texians who were just as opposed to Santa Anna's tyranny as the Anglo defenders were. And the Mexican dictator's motivation in putting down the Texas Revolution had nothing to do with stopping the spread of US slavery.

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Well our own so-called Civil War had nothing to do with ending slavery (Lincoln was no abolitionist) but you have seen how easy it is to change the mind of a population if a lie is repeated often enough.

I have no doubt that within 30 years the lie that the Texans were launching a violent insurrection and rebellion to "spread slavery" will be the preferred narrative of the media, academia, and the progressive left

Realitybites said:

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Clearly, Cynthia has never heard of Juan Seguin. There were people of all backgrounds fighting the Mexican Army. But in our politically correct world, all history has to take a knee to black history.

Besides, celebrating people who take up arms to fight tyranny makes ruling juntas nervous.

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FWIW during the Mexican- American war there were also deserters form the US army who chose to fight for the Mexicans.

Irish Cathloics mostly.

And if ever captured they were immediately hung.

KaiBear said:

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Realitybites said:

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Clearly, Cynthia has never heard of Juan Seguin. There were people of all backgrounds fighting the Mexican Army. But in our politically correct world, all history has to take a knee to black history.

Besides, celebrating people who take up arms to fight tyranny makes ruling juntas nervous.

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FWIW during the Mexican- American war there were also deserters form the US army who chose to fight for the Mexicans.

Irish Cathloics mostly.

And if ever captured they were immediately hung.

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Yep….St Patrick's battalion


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Battalion

Redbrickbear said:

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Johnny Bear said:

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Realitybites said:

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Clearly, Cynthia has never heard of Juan Seguin. There were people of all backgrounds fighting the Mexican Army. But in our politically correct world, all history has to take a knee to black history.

Besides, celebrating people who take up arms to fight tyranny makes ruling juntas nervous.

---

Correct. A significant percentage of the Alamo defenders who died were "Tejanos" or Hispanic Texians who were just as opposed to Santa Anna's tyranny as the Anglo defenders were. And the Mexican dictator's motivation in putting down the Texas Revolution had nothing to do with stopping the spread of US slavery.

---

Well our own so-called Civil War had nothing to do with ending slavery (Lincoln was no abolitionist) but you have seen how easy it is to change the mind of a population if a lie is repeated often enough.

I have no doubt that within 30 years the lie that the Texans were launching a violent insurrection and rebellion to "spread slavery" will be the preferred narrative of the media, academia, and the progressive left

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15 years if the succession movement starts getting traction.

Redbrickbear said:

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Johnny Bear said:

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Realitybites said:

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Clearly, Cynthia has never heard of Juan Seguin. There were people of all backgrounds fighting the Mexican Army. But in our politically correct world, all history has to take a knee to black history.

Besides, celebrating people who take up arms to fight tyranny makes ruling juntas nervous.

---

Correct. A significant percentage of the Alamo defenders who died were "Tejanos" or Hispanic Texians who were just as opposed to Santa Anna's tyranny as the Anglo defenders were. And the Mexican dictator's motivation in putting down the Texas Revolution had nothing to do with stopping the spread of US slavery.

---

Well our own so-called Civil War had nothing to do with ending slavery (Lincoln was no abolitionist) but you have seen how easy it is to change the mind of a population if a lie is repeated often enough.

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Partially correct as the more aptly termed "War Between the States" didn't start as some crusade to abolish slavery and it's also true that Lincoln didn't campaign for POTUS in 1860 as an abolitionist. During the war, however, Lincoln did make ending slavery a secondary war objective by issuing the "Emancipation Proclamation" on Jan. 1, 1863 (well over 1 1/2 years into the fighting). So, abolishing slavery became a part of what the north was trying to do, but it was still secondary to the over arching goal of re-unifying the country through force.

I do get the point, however, that the war is popularly mischaracterized as some start to finish grand crusade to abolish slavery - which it wasn't.

On this day in 1836 Sam Houston's Scots Irish land pirates secured the sovereignty of Texas at the Battle of San Jacinto. pic.twitter.com/0YN9gfO8ZQ

— C. Sandbatch (@CSandbatch) April 21, 2024