Hispanics and Latinos in Texas

Origins The first European to see Texas was Alonso Álvarez de Pineda, who led an expedition for the governor of Jamaica, Francisco de Garay, in 1520. While searching for a passage between the Gulf of Mexico and Asia, Álvarez de Pineda created the first map of the northern Gulf Coast, which solidified Spain's claim over this territory. This map is the earliest recorded document of Texas history. Years later on June 1527, an expedition led by Pánfilo de Narváez and Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca with the purpose of reaching Florida in order to build a city, resulted in a failed mission due to harsh weather and disease. Instead, the Spanish explorers were left shipwrecked off the coast of Texas where the Spanish lived for around six years. Learning about this, the Spanish set out due north in 1539 with the purpose of discovering riches in places yet to be explored. One of the primary motives for the excursions was for the discovery of gold. On July 7, 1540, Coronado's army reached the outskirts of the rumored city of much gold, Cibola, near upper Rio Grande where the Spanish encountered massive resistance from Puebloans. Soon after this, the Spanish decided to remain away from the north or the present day southwest region of the United States for approximately 150 years, though expeditions led by Spaniards and not authorized by Spain did take place within those years. Around 1688, the Spanish learned about French interventions occurring in the area of Texas, land that had already been claimed by Spain. This led to the actions taken by Spaniard Alonso de León, the then governor of Coahuila, to march into Texas towards Fort St. Louis. The construction of this church was a major stepping stone for Spain as Spanish Texas was headed to become an area of greater importance for Spain. After San Francisco de los Tejas was established, the construction of many more missions followed, such as Mision Nuestra Senora del Rosario and Nuestra Senora del Refugio. Because of Mexico's independence from Spain, Texas became the property of Mexico. In addition, under Mexican law, Texas was available for anyone to move to and also offered land grants to empresarios. During this time, the population of Texas grew quickly. The population was not only Mexican but also included United States citizens, Native Americans and enslaved people. When people residing in Texas did not agree with Mexican law and did not follow the law, Mexico ended all immigration into Texas. Moreover, Hispanics and Latinos already living in the territory that became of the United States, were given the opportunity to stay and obtain United States citizenship. Mexicans reached a low of 4% in Texas in 1887, however the share started to rise again in the 1890s and 1900s. In recent studies it is shown that Hispanic immigrants in recent years are more educated than those in the past. From the years 2022-2024 58% of Hispanic immigrants have at least an associates degree which is 20% more than the amount in the prior ten years. ==Demographics==

Hispanics (of any race) were 7.1% of the state population in 1910. As of 2010, 45% of Texas residents had Hispanic ancestry; these include recent immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and South America, as well as Tejanos, whose ancestors have lived in Texas as early as the 1700s. Tejanos are the largest ancestry group in southern Duval County and among the largest in and around Bexar County, including San Antonio, where over one million Hispanics live. The state has the second largest Hispanic population in the United States, behind California. Across southern, south-central, and western Texas as well as major urban centers like Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Hispanics make up a significant share of the population. Because their birth rates have been higher than those of non-Hispanic whites since the early 1990s, Texas has maintained a younger population than the U.S. overall. As of 2007, more than half of all births in the state were to Hispanic parents(50.2%), while non-Hispanic white births made up only about 34%. Steve Murdock, a demographer with the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas at Rice University and a former director of the U.S. Census Bureau, predicted that, between 2000 and 2040 (assuming that the net migration rate will equal half that of 1990–2000), Hispanic public school enrollment will increase by 213 percent, while non-Hispanic white enrollment will decrease by 15 percent. As of 2010, 29.21% (6,543,702) of Texas residents age 5 and older spoke Spanish at home as a primary language. Ancestries ==Spanish language in Texas==

in Austin, Texas In Texas, English is the state's de facto official language (though it lacks de jure status) and is used in government. However, the continual influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants increased the import of Spanish in Texas. Texas's counties bordering Mexico are mostly Hispanic, and consequently, Spanish is commonly spoken in the region. The Government of Texas, through Section 2054.116 of the Government Code, mandates that state agencies provide information on their websites in Spanish to assist residents who have limited English proficiency. ==Ethnic conflicts==

Origins From 1915 to 1919, during the Mexican Revolution, Mexicans and Tejanos in South Texas faced increased violence from Texan Rangers. Due to tensions caused by changes in both governments and the border, people of Latino descent were hanged, shot, burnt, decapitated, and tortured. Texas Legislative Investigation ended this period of violence by finding the Texas Rangers guilty. More recently, the Texas government has acknowledged this period of history with the "Life and Death on the Border, 1910 to 1920" exhibit. Anti-Latino attitudes spiked during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Latinos, among other foreigners, were accused of stealing jobs from Americans and contributing to the decline of the economy. In response to the growing, Anglo-American, frustration, the United States government forcibly removed 2 million Latinos with the majority of them being American citizens. During these repatriations, local governments denied aid to those of Mexican descent, offered train fares to Mexico and raided Latino communities. Hospitals removed Latinos with disabilities and illness while employers laid off Latino workers. To avoid raids and discrimination, many Latinos returned to Mexico voluntarily. By 1936, approximately one third of Texas's Latino population had been repatriated. These sentiments heightened in the 1840s with the end of the Mexican-American War and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The increased population of Latinos were met with further illegal deportations, violence, racism, and segregation. From the late 19th century, the Gold Rush era, to the early 20th century, mob violence against Spanish-speaking individuals became a common occurrence and the number of victims reached well over thousands. During this period, Texas Rangers carried out lynchings of Hispanic men, women, and children for accusations that included cattle theft, murder, witchcraft, and even refusal to play the fiddle. Some case studies included the burning of Refugio Ramírez and his family for the alleged bewitching of neighbors in 1880 by a mob in Collin County, North Texas. Another event included the Porvenir Massacre of 1918, which involved the seizure and assassination of 15 men and boys from the village of Porvenir in Presidio County, Texas. Although Texas Rangers justified the murders by accusing the people of being "thieves, spies and murderers", the United States Army's and the State Department's investigations found that the denizens of Porvenir were unarmed and innocent. As a result, Texas state government began investigation of the Texas Rangers. Environmental racism With a high number of chemical industries and facilities, various neighborhoods within Houston are susceptible to toxic air pollution. The communities closest to these environmentally hazardous spaces are communities of low-income, people of color. Located in East Houston, Harrisburg/Manchester and Galena Park are the two communities with the closest proximity to Risk Management Plan (RMP) facilities or facilities that use certain hazardous substances. Both Harrisburg/Manchester and Galena Park are largely made up of impoverished, Latino communities with average household incomes of $49,732 and $45,431. Due to the close proximity to RMP facilities, the people of these neighborhoods are at a 24 to 36 percent higher risk of getting cancer when compared to the predominantly white neighborhoods of Houston. Harrisburg/Manchester is geographically centered in the middle of "21 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting facilities, 11 large quantity generators of hazardous waste, 4 facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste, 9 major dischargers of air pollutants, and 8 major stormwater discharging facilities". An average of 484,000 pounds of toxic chemicals are released into the Harrisburg/Manchester air while none are released in communities with average household incomes of $226,333 and poverty rate of 3 percent. School segregation Spanning from the 1890s to the 1980s, 122 school districts throughout 59 counties established segregated schools for Mexican-Americans. These poorly developed schools lacked the adequate schooling environment. Teachers possessed no credentials or experience while the classrooms lacked the necessary equipment. School administrators often placed Tejano students into 'low-track' classes. By assessing Tejano students on biased rubrics that evaluated mental, emotional, and language abilities, school officials classified Tejano students as inferior and underdeveloped. Beginning with elementary schools, administrators assigned Tejano children to low-level and nonacademic courses, aimed to lead the students to vocational or general-education courses. Due to unequal educational platforms, disregard for Tejano culture, and linguistic intolerance, Hispanic students had higher withdrawal rates and lower academic performances. ==Historic Hispanic/Latino population==

Colonial and Mexican era Total population of Spanish Texas, East of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico and North of Nuevo Santander prior to admission to U.S. statehood. These three regions formed today's Texas. Independent and American Texas ==See also==