History does not always announce itself with a plaque or a monument. Sometimes, it\u00a0must\u00a0be unearthed from\u00a080\u00a0boxes of city archives or reclaimed through the fading memories\u00a0of\u00a0neighborhood\u2019s\u00a0elders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On\u00a0Feb. 18\u00a0the community gathered at the\u00a0University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)\u00a0Centennial Museum for a book signing and conversation featuring two of the region\u2019s prominent academic voices:\u00a0Miguel Ju\u00e1rez and\u00a0Roberto Villarreal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The event focused on their respective works, \u201cFrontera Freeways\u201d and \u201cYo\u00a0Soy.\u201d While the books approach the Borderlands from different angles, both authors share a singular mission: giving a permanent voice to a history that many in power have\u00a0sought\u00a0to overlook.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ju\u00e1rez opened the discussion by detailing his\u00a014-year\u00a0fight to save Lincoln Park\u00a0High\u00a0School, a segregated Mexican school that served as a cultural hub long before the city\u2019s official Mexican American Cultural Center existed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He recalled the dismissive attitudes of city officials who claimed \u201cno one of any prominence\u201d had ever attended the school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, well, how did you know this\u00a0history? You\u00a0have to\u00a0research that history\u00a0[to know],\u201d Ju\u00e1rez said. \u201cIt\u2019s just not going\u00a0pop up in a flag because in our multicultural communities, we don\u2019t have historic markers sometimes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
To\u00a0find out\u00a0the truth, Ju\u00e1rez spent years digging through over 80 boxes of city planning records in\u00a0UTEP\u2019s\u00a0Special Collections\u00a0Department. His research uncovered a pattern of systemic displacement that targeted not only the Latino community but also\u00a0the\u00a0African American residents in South Central El Paso.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe African American community lived in South Central El Paso, and they [the city] passed a series of funding issues too, for, for [slum] flight, for takeoff [of] life, early renewals, and [guess] who they targeted as urban renewal sites, the black community,\u201d Ju\u00e1rez said.\u00a0\u201cSo,\u00a0the black community [there], they\u2019re [their homes] those are large apartment complex [they] and owned, they were just torn down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ju\u00e1rez noted that local narratives often sanitize the city\u2019s past, creating a disconnect between academic findings and public\u00a0perception.\u00a0He\u00a0argued\u00a0that the lack of public documentation has led many to believe such hardships never occurred.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople say displacement that happened in El Paso? Where? We\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0see it. Why? Because we never report it, right? Have you ever heard, the news media today say, these people were displaced? No,\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0not going\u00a0to\u00a0say\u00a0it. We have the ideal community here,\u201d\u00a0Ju\u00e1rez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Ju\u00e1rez examines the external forces of urban development,\u00a0Villarreal\u2019s \u201cYo\u00a0Soy\u201d focuses on the internal journey.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n