Racism is kind of like a secret club. If you don’t belong, you might not know it exists.
In 1927, El Paso decided to open a second high school to alleviate the overcrowding at El Paso High. The school was located in Segundo Barrio, an exclusively Mexican neighborhood. The city named it after a hero of the Alamo.
To drive home the point, the elementary feeder school for Bowie was Alamo Elementary.
Sure, what’s in a name? Those names reflect our heritage. Our tradition. Our history.
But names can also be subtle, or not so subtle, symbols of oppression.
We need to confront the prejudices of the past, and fix what we can.