Gerald Horne - Black and brown: African Americans and the Mexican Revolution, 1910–1920

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Black and Brown
African Americans and the Mexican Revolution, 19101920
Gerald Horne

African Americans and the
Mexican Revolution, 19101920

GERALD HORNE

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org

2005 by New York University
All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Horne, Gerald.
Black and brown : African Americans and the
Mexican Revolution, 19101920 / Gerald Horne.
p. cm.(American history and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0814736734 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 081473667X (cloth : alk. paper)
1. African AmericansMexicanAmerican Border RegionHistory20th century.
2. MexicoHistoryRevolution, 19101920Participation, African American.
3. MexicanAmerican Border RegionHistory20th century.
I. Title. II. American history and culture (New York University Press)
E185.923.H67 2004
972.0816dc22 2004018356

New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.

Manufactured in the United States of America

c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This is not a book about Mexicans of African descent, a subject certainly worth writing about; it concerns African Americansthat is, those of African descent who resided north of Mexicoand their encounter with the Revolution. Indeed, this book is primarily and overwhelmingly about African Americans, other topics being in service of this goal. It proceeds both chronologically and topically. Thus readers may want to turn to particular chapters to sample particular issues:

concerns the early involvement between U.S. Negroes and Mexico. U.S. slavery and Mexican abolitionism made for a contentious relationship and contributed to Mexicos loss of Texas and the war of 1846, and the loss of California. After the U.S. Civil War Negroes made a number of organized efforts to settle south of the border in an attempt to escape persecution and seize opportunity.

expands upon the respective roles of Jack Johnson and Henry O. Flipper. Johnsons bold alliance with Mexican revolutionaries was a precursor to Paul Robesons alliance with the Soviet Union, the Nation of Islams ties to Japan, and Martin Luther Kings inspiration from India. Flipper, on the other hand, was firmly in the tradition of the Negro who stays true to the United States, no matter the provocation or the insult.

concerns the experience of African Americans scattered along the two-thousand-mile border between the United States and Mexico stretching from southern California to southern Texas. As a minority among minorities, African Americans certainly faced discrimination but the bigotry was absorbed also by those of Mexican descent, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. This created an opportunity for some Negroes, leading scholars to conclude that they were constructed as white in pockets of this borderland. In addition, though the influence of socialism on U.S. Negroes has been adequately sketched, less attention has been paid to the impact of the other powerful ideology of that era: anarchism. Spurred by the impetus created by the Revolution and World War I, the NAACP enjoyed tremendous growth during this era. One of their key leadersJohn Shilladywas a product of the anarchist movement, which had deep roots in Mexico.

deals with the shocking level of violence in the borderlands, especially Texas, notably antiblack depredations. A striking and telling point was the murderous beating of NAACP leader John Shillady in Austin, and ever more gruesome lynchings throughout the state. Complicating this picture was the presence of armed Negro troopersuncommon in the South as a wholewho were supposedly tasked to deter attacks from Mexico and still restive Native Americans; however, they were not unwilling to enforce equality at gunpoint.

deals with the Negroes who were a battering ram against Native American sovereignty in helping to win the Westthe Buffalo Soldiers. In 1916 they invaded Mexico in search of Pancho Villa after his raid in Columbus, New Mexicoand were soundly defeated at Carrizal in what W. E. B. Du Bois termed a fools errand. This was occurring as the United States geared up to enter World War I, thus stretching to the limits the nations military capacity, and ultimately leaving the United States in the unsustainable position of being heavily dependent on blacks to defend a land of white supremacy.

Simultaneously, as Mexican roots (a nation that was not indifferent to their situation) they were a different kind of minority than the Negro.

expands upon the travails of the Buffalo Soldiers, notably their invasion of Mexico in 1916 in the aforementioned futile hunt for Villa. A number were killed, while others were taken prisoner as the invaders left Mexico empty-handed. However, their marauding was celebrated in the United States, and their display of belligerence seemed to bring Negroes ever closer to first-class citizenship. This chapter also examines the defection of a number of African Americans who chose to fight on behalf of Mexico, and the duplicitous activities of some whom I term ironically African American, namely, whites from South Africa, with no evident racial sensitivity, who found themselves sharing a trench with U.S. Negroes unfaithful to Washington.

is about the Plan of San Diego and related efforts by Mexico, together with Germany and Japan, to cultivate African Americans as allies within the United States. This created an enormous national security problem for Washington and ultimately eroded white supremacy as the United States sought to insure that Negroes would not be attracted to the nations antagonists. Further, the existence of militant race-based movements among U.S. Negroes and Mexicans, assisted by foreign powers, created powerful momentum for the formation of militant class-based movements (e.g., the Communist Party) among Euro-Americans to whom they seemed a reasonable alternative and foil.

The epilogue brings this story full circle, from the period since the Revolution to the present, tracing the momentous relationship between those of African and Mexican descent. Mexico has continued to be a site of exile for African Americans, as the presence there of one of this nations greatest artistsElizabeth Catlettwell attests. Simultaneously, the continued migration of Mexican workers to the United States provides new challenges and opportunities for the nation and African Americans alike.