User:Priscilla023/Juan Crow

Mob Violence
Between the years 1848 to 1928, mob violence against people of Mexican descent totaled 547 lynchings. Texas holds the highest tally with 232 victims. Other Southwest states, which include California, Arizona, and New Mexico, range between 25 to 143 lynching murders.

Mexican-Americans were often victims of lynching by Anglo-American society, but there were also occurrences of Mexicans lynching Mexicans. In particular, Mexican-Americans with a higher class status participated in such acts. The culture's acceptance of lynching impacted Mexican standards during the 19th and 20th centuries. Mexican Americans were not only hung, but mob violence included other forms of brutality such as shooting, burning people alive, physical mutilation, and other deadly acts of persecution.

In the 1850s, after the Mexican-American war, Anglo-Americans were concerned about the potentiality of Mexican-Americans responding to Mexican newspapers that called for the Reconquista (reconquering). Consequently, Anglo-Americans advocated for the systemic inequity of Mexican-Americans through social exclusion and lynchings. The mistreatment persisted for several decades, with the Texas Rangers acting as enforcers and overseeing 232 Mexican-American men to violent attacks by mob violence between 1848 and 1928.

During the 1870s and 1880s, the use of the derogatory term “greaser” promoted the Texas Rangers to carry out a campaign against the Mexican populace of the Rio Grande Valley. They believed that by instilling fear, they could more effectively suppress the Mexican population.

In 1918, a group of Anglo ranchers and the Texas Rangers arrived at a village in Presidio County, Porvenir, where 140 refugees, including women, children, and men, resided. Despite no evidence of weapons or stolen goods, thirteen Mexican men and two teenage boys were killed on suspicion of banditry. The Porvenir massacre, as described by historian Miguel A. Levario, exposed the violence committed by the Rangers against Mexicans.

With a dual identity, the Texas Rangers are an emblem of Texan pride from an Anglo perspective. They enhanced the quality of life for colonists by actively confronting and defeating Indigenous peoples, outlaws, and Mexicans. However, for their Mexican victims, they are a source of terror and oppression.

Juan Crow in Education
The segregation of Mexican American students in academia is a convoluted topic with various perspectives. The state did not officially sanction their discrimination. However, some scholars argue it was de facto segregation from the local customs that intentionally separated Mexican American students. In contrast, others express it was de jure segregation as school officials enforced their policies. Although legally classified as "White," Mexican Americans were socially perceived as "colored" and subject to segregation in schools and communities. Despite the lack of state-sanctioned segregation laws, it was a prevalent trend in the American Southwest.

In modern times, the Latino population in elementary and secondary schools (K-12 grade) across the country is increasing. The U.S. Department of Education documented that Latino students represented 24% of K-12 classrooms in 2012. By 2024, Latino students expect to increase to 29% in nationwide classrooms. However, due to unequal access to resources in K-12 schools, Latino students often encounter challenges in achieving their educational outcomes. As a result, less than 62% of Latino students in the United States graduate from high school, and only 12% obtain a bachelor's degree.

In urban areas throughout the United States, schools predominately hosting Latino students have experienced a significant shift towards heightened security measures, such as the presence of law enforcement officers, surveillance cameras, metal detectors, and strict disciplinary policies. The rationale behind establishing a high-security school environment is to improve school safety by employing rigorous corrective measures and practices with a zero-tolerance policy. The increased presence of police officers in schools attributes to government grants influenced by a tough-on-crime standing. When studying schools in New York that have established partnerships between schools and law enforcement, researchers have discovered that these alliances create overcrowding in schools, have higher rates of student suspensions, lower student attendance rates, receive less funding from local sources, and overall host a higher percentage of marginalized students. The research indicates that when schools implement high-security measures, it can lead to harmful circumstances where students experience isolation and hopelessness from the inconsistent enforcement of rules and drastic punishments. These findings suggest that high-security atmospheres can compel students to disengage from school.