The city is making some half-hearted, too-little-too-late attempt to save Lincoln Center.
I’m not surprised. Those nefarious powers that be have long been trying to downplay El Paso’s Mexnicity. No doubt some potential relocator once delivered a racial slur, and our economic development specialist took it as the last word.
Let me say, again, that for El Paso to deny our ethnic heritage is tantamount to lying. And lying is the surest way to lose your credibility as a brand.
El Paso should be celebrating our uniqueness, our singularity as the most Mexican city in the United States. We shouldn’t be trying to sweep our history, and our heritage, under the bridge.
Likewise, the Lincoln Center supporters shouldn’t be trying to turn this into a race issue. Most El Pasoans recognize that we are ni de aquí y ni de allá. Those hoisting the flag of the UFW are romanticizing a past that was never El Paso’s. El Paso had more vocal protests about high school hair codes than it did grapes. By making Lincoln Center a race issue, the advocates are alienating a lot of people who might support a more conciliatory approach.
Also, what about the soul brothers? Wasn’t the Lincoln Center a school for Mexicans and Blacks? Come on, Lincoln didn’t free the Mexicans. The Chicano activists have completely excluded advocates of El Paso’s black heritage. Before they put the freeway through, that neighborhood was El Paso’s black neighborhood, and the bars on Alameda near there were El Paso’s black bars.