Just finished a phone interview with the director of the Star of the Republic Museum for my Passport to Texas radio series, which I produce and host for Texas Parks and Wildlife. Beginning February 1 theyre going to have a yearlong exhibit called Enduring Spirit: African Americans in 19th Century Texas. During our conversation, the director told me many Blacks came to Texas when it was under Mexican rule to obtain land grants like the Anglos. As Mexico did not recognize slavery, these Blacks were free people. It was not until Texas won its independence from Mexico and became a Republic that Blacks lost their free status. A law was passed stating free Blacks had one year to either re-enter servitude or leave the Republic! Apparently many ended up going down to Mexico where they were free. Id never heard these stories before, and the director says it was a little surprising to their researchers, too. Is this familiar to anyone else? Michael W. Twitty -- are you familiar with any of this? Toni Tipton Martin -- has any of this reached your radar? I apologize for being so ignorant about this topic, and I hope I am not being offensive. This is something I had never heard before, and while I am not necessarily surprised, I am curious about what happened to the folks who made their way to Mexico. Anyone?
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 20:41:48 +0000