JE #4

Ringside Seat to a Revolution by David Romo exemplifies how the city of El Paso has manage to keep divisions between the Juarez border. He captures time frames in which there where Anglos, Mexicans , Black , Japanese and Chinese people living in El Paso during the Mexican revolution. Shortly after Texas became a part of the United States an influx of Anglos began to populate the area, commencing an Anglo dominating culture. Anglos quickly became the superior race and in order to protect this dichotomy they supported acts such as Chinese Exclusion Act, which   Lubheid mentions in her book. It was time when the Chinese community in El Paso had to go underground. The Mexican Revolution served as resistance against Anglos and their colonization, The Bath House riot is a perfect example of this resistance. Carmelita Torres initiated the riots because of the inhumanly tasks border control would put them through. They revolted against being sprayed with toxic chemicals by breaking out of Border control. This demonstrated the identity crisis El Paso was going through, as there was a clear division between Anglos and people of color.

            The photo that most shocked me in this section of the book was on page 204. The picture demonstrates the relationship that Black people and Mexicans had, and how often times they were categorized in the same social level. The second picture that I saw and was shocked about was on page 216, in the reading it quotes “the removal of the ancient adobe with all their bad associations means a new life for El Paso” (Romo 216). In the picture it is clear that the establishments looked a bit run down under Mexican procession, due to architecture and building material. The most shocking thing about this picture, I believe is the phrase that went a long with it. It demonstrated the persecution that people of color went through in cities, due to prejudice from Anglos.