Take a wide sweeping look in and around Tucson. Itβs filled with reminders of the Viejo Puebloβs Mexican history and culture, past and present.
There are street names in Spanish.
There are festivals where Mexican music is heard. And of course there are countless restaurants serving up various plates of Mexican food.
But look closer and beyond street names, restaurants and music to find a place in the city and the region that reflects Tucsonβs wide-ranging Mexican-American presence.
Where is the effort to preserve and celebrate Tucsonβs and Southern Arizonaβs Mexican-American culture and history in a deeper and meaningful way? Other than a few structures or public places, there are no major public spaces or significant centers to honor our regionβs deep-rooted Mexican-American history.
El Tiradito, the semi-religious shrine on South Main Avenue, you say? Nope.
Then how about the Sosa-Carrillo-FrΓ©mont Museum, an outpost of the Arizona Historical Society, and the Samaniego house, a shuttered restaurant, both at the Tucson Convention Center? Hardly.
Thereβs the kiosk in La Placita, overshadowed by the nearly abandoned downtown commercial center at Broadway and Church. Weβre lucky it is still standing.
The Pancho Villa statue at the Veinte de Agosto Park downtown? Gimme a break.
Tucson is about 30 percent Latino (overwhelmingly Mexican-American), is one of the oldest communities in the country and is a source of Mexican-American culture that has spread beyond our ring of mountains, yet Mexican-American culture and history seem to be afterthoughts in the citywide conversation about Tucson.
βI really believe itβs a struggle to get people to recognize the significance of our culture,β said Betty Villegas, a native Tucsonan. βItβs not just about bricks and mortar.β
Itβs about expanding the conversation and seeking inclusion in other preservation efforts, she said.
Villegas and several other activists and academics will hold a talk Thursday at the University of Arizona to focus on Mexican-American participation in βlocal heritage conservation and public landscape projects.β
The nascent group is calling itself Mexican American Heritage and Preservation in Southern Arizona.
It will hold a panel discussion at 6:30 p.m. in the Catalina Room at the University of Arizonaβs Student Union.
The panelists include Villegas, a member of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, author Patricia Preciado Martin, librarian Amanda Castillo and Lydia R. Otero, UA professor in the Mexican-American studies department, which is sponsoring Thursdayβs event. Pima County Supervisor Richard ElΓas will moderate the panel.
Otero said Southern Arizonaβs Mexican-American community has something to say, but that voice isnβt heard without a collective organization.
As a result, βWeβre letting others speak for us,β said Otero, a Tucson native and author of βLa Calleβ on UA Press, a critical look at how Tucson government and civic leaders 50 years ago endorsed plans to demolish 80 acres of Tucsonβs Mexican-American downtown barrio.
Still today, the eradication of the heart of Tucsonβs historic Mexican-American neighborhood resonates negatively with longtime residents.
And still many Tucsonans do not understand the lingering hurt and anger, and some even applaud the erasing of a significant aspect of Tucsonβs past in the name of progress and tourist promotion.
The narrative then β and decades back when the Sunshine Club promoted Tucson β has been how to dress up Tucson to attract tourists. Lost in that narrative: How should Tucson be developed and promoted for its residents?
Villegas said there are a lot of places in Tucson and the surrounding area that are not recognized as significant to Mexican-American history, yet βothers are telling our story.β
She added that Tucsonβs Mexican-American community needs to be more involved and take charge in relating and promoting its history.
After Thursday, the participants hope to launch a new narrative, Villegas added.
βIβm passionate about Tucson, about my roots, and proud of who I am and who we are as a people.β
