El Paso's African American community can trace its origins back to the 16th century, when the black Moor known as Esteban roamed the southwest and, more significantly, those Africans in the party of conquistador Juan de OƱate crossed the Rio Grande in 1598. The modern El Paso African American community began to take shape in the 1880s, as the railroad industry, military establishment, and agricultural community all had black Americans in their ranks. Black leaders and their followers established a school and founded several significant black churches. Texas's first state branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is recorded to have been formed in El Paso; the first major court cases that challenged the all-white Democratic primary came from this city; the Texas Western College basketball team won the NCAA championship in 1966 with five starting black players; and today, the city is inhabited by black military retirees, entrepreneurs, educators, and other professionals (each with vibrant and socially conscious organizations), making it a progressive model of community development.
Copyright:
2014
Book Details
Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9781439647448
Related ISBNs:
9781467131773
Publisher:
Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Date of Addition:
01/28/17
Copyrighted By:
Maceo Crenshaw Dailey Jr., Kathryn Smith-McGlynn, and Cecilia Gutierrez Venable