“We Got Another Mexican—but He’s Dead”: How the Portrayal of the Texas Rangers in Print Media Minimised Their Racial Violence towards Mexicans, 1910–1919

Abstract

Scholars of racially motivated violence in the United States have focused largely on acts against African Americans, neglecting the incidents faced by Mexicans, particularly those at the hands of the Texas Rangers. This paper explores the group’s brutal acts and their justification in Texas newspapers, glorification in East Coast publications and total omission from a New York magazine claiming to be a “record of the darker races.” It argues that the racial violence against Mexicans was minimised as a result of its coverage in US print media from 1910 to 1919.