Tough treatment and good memories mix at newest national site dedicated to Latinos

In the second half of the 20th century, Mexican and Mexican-American children in Marfa, Texas, were educated in an adobe-style building in classrooms that alumni describe as barracks.

They received secondhand textbooks and were paddled for speaking Spanish instead of English in a school where Latino students were segregated from Anglos by law and practice, just as whites and Blacks were separated in the South. But the principal of the Blackwell School also created an interscholastic league specifically for “Mexican schools," and alumni remembered their friends, shared laughs, and kind teachers when they gathered in Marfa on Saturday, at the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, to celebrate the Blackwell School becoming the newest national park.

At a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newest national site dedicated to modern Latino history, former Blackwell students, neighbors, friends and politicians visited the original schoolhouse and a smaller building that served as the band hall. Inside, photographs, memorabilia and interpretive panels featuring quotes from former students and teachers show the imprint left by a school that once stood as an example of the racially divided education system that defined de-facto segregation in the country from 1889 to 1965.

At the ceremony, a mariachi band played exactly as the ribbon was cut. The 100 people in attendance also enjoyed a ballet folklórico performance and traditional border music of the Chihuahuan desert played by the band Primo y Beebe. Alumni also had the opportunity to write on a whiteboard what the Blackwell School meant to them.

“I am glad that it wasn't torn down,” Betty Nuñez Aguirre, a former alumni and director of the Blackwell School Alliance said. “It will show the next generation that it was not always easy for their parents or grandparents to get educated.”

Many alumni see Blackwell — first built in 1909 and closed 11 years after the landmark 1954 court decision, Brown v. Board of Education — as more than just a symbol of America's history of racial inequality. It's a symbol of Latinos triumphant over adversity.

In 2006, Joe Cabezuela, 80, was at a local restaurant celebrating the reunion of the 1960 Blackwell class. That's when he learned the Marfa Independent School District would demolish the Blackwell school. Cabezuela said he knew immediately that something had to be done to stop the demolitions, so he went straight to the superintendent’s office.

“That is not going to happen,” Cabezuela told the superintendent. “It’s part of Hispanic heritage, a history that we need to save.”

The superintendent then invited Cabezuela, founder and former president of the Blackwell School Alliance, to give a presentation to the school board on why the building needs to be preserved. Cabezuela and other alumni eventually allied and worked with a local artist on a sketch of what the preserved school should look like.

Soon after, the Marfa school board agreed to a century-long, $1 building lease to the Blackwell School Alliance, under the condition that the building would be demolished if the building's preservation stalled for more than 25 years.

Small fundraisers were started every year to pay the electricity bill, keep the water on and repair damages.

Authorized by the Blackwell School National Historic Site Act, which President Biden signed into law in October 2022, the school became an official part of the National Park system in July.

“This site is a powerful reminder of our nation’s diverse and often complex journey toward equality and justice. By honoring the legacy of Blackwell School, we recognize the resilience and contributions of the Latino community in our shared history,” Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in July, when the site was formally established.

Out of 429 National Park sites, only two recounted modern Latino history before Blackwell: the Cesar Chavez National Monument in California and the Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso.

Tony Cano, a member of the Blackwell School Alliance, attended the Blackwell School for three years starting in the fall of 1952. During his time there, he remembers the teachers making students write Spanish words on paper, place those papers in mini coffins out of hats or cigar boxes and bury “Mr. Spanish” in a symbolic funeral in front of the school’s flagpole.

“They were trying to get us to speak English only on campus and in the classroom,” Cano said. “A lot of kids rebelled. Once you rebelled they spanked you three times with the paddle.”

Cano said he remembers one girl who was spanked went home with bruises and did not come back to school for three days. Cano said that now that he is older he realizes, no matter what they did to them back then, “they can’t take my heritage away from me.”

From 1920 to 1947, Principal Jesse Blackwell, who is Anglo, transformed the school by creating an interscholastic league specifically for “Mexican schools,” where kids in the region could compete against each other, said historian Cristobal Lopez. For his contributions, the school first known as the Ward or Mexican School was named after Blackwell when he retired.

“He took the fundamentals and elevated that to the next level to ensure that the students, even though they were in a segregated school house, received the proper education that they needed,” said Lopez, who is a Texas field representative with the National Parks Conservation Association.

“Mexican schools, and when you look at segregated education, some of the things that stick out — the physical abuse, the emotional abuse — that did happen at Blackwell," Lopez said. "But the alumni really came together and changed the narrative and really made it into a story of resiliency, perseverance, success.”

Despite the negative associations with “Mexican schools” discouraging the Spanish language, alumni have held on to memories of teachers, their friends, small gestures and laughter.

“I think at Blackwell, they just cared so much for us,” Cano said, “even though some of us were tough to handle.”

In fifth grade, Cabezuela recalls, he and his classmates received new playground equipment when then-principal Henry Ward showed up with a duffel bag full of brand-new baseball bats. Cabezuela said it was one of his best memories while at the school.

Cabezuela said he is happy and proud that the school was able to be preserved but the best part of having the Blackwell school named a national park site is that those who walk through it are going to see their grandparents and learn more about their history.

Now, he said, “our grandkids, great-grandkids will go through that building. Even when I am gone, they’ll go there and they’ll probably see something about me and they’ll say look at granddaddy.”

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A Mariachi band performs during the ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate Blackwell School as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

The playground of Blackwell School is pictured during its inauguration as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

A folkloric dance group performs during the inauguration of Blackwell School as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

Alumni Lionel Salgado walks the Blackwell school grounds with help from his grand daughter Sarah Madero during its inauguration as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, right, congratulates alumni Betty Nuñez Aguirre, center, and Tony Cano during the inauguration of Blackwell School as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

A display with photos of the 1957 class of the Blackwell School decorates the classroom during the inauguration day of the school as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

An old book rests on a desk of the Blackwell School classroom pictured during the school inauguration as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

The Blackwell School classroom is pictured during the school inauguration as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

From left, alumni Betty Nuñez Aguirre, musician Remigio "Primo" Carrasco, alumni Ismael Vasquez, his wife Elisa Vasquez and Gretel Enck, former president of the Blackwell School Alliance, sit at the school entrance during its inauguration as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, center left, Blackwell School alumni Joe Cabezuela, center right, National Park Service Director Chuck Sams, second from left, and NPS Intermountain Regional Director Kate Hammond, second from right, react after cutting the ribbon to inaugurate Blackwell School as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

A Border Patrol color guard conducts the presentation of colors during the inauguration of Blackwell School as the newest National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday criticized Republican Donald Trump 's promise to deport millions of people who are in the United States illegally, questioning whether he would rely on massive raids and detention camps to carry it out.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual leadership conference that the nation can find both a pathway to citizenship for those who want to come and at the same time secure the border.

“We can do both, and we must do both,” she said.

Trump, for his part, held a rally in Uniondale on New York's Long Island as both candidates took a break Wednesday from campaigning in the toss-up states that will likely decide the Nov. 5 election.

Before heading out to the suburbs, Trump stopped at a Bitcoin cafe in New York City. Trump has recently embraced cryptocurrency and on Monday night helped launch his family's new cryptocurrency venture.

Harris harked back to the Trump administration's immigration policies as she bid for Hispanic support.

“While we fight to move our nation forward to a brighter future, Donald Trump and his extremist allies will keep trying to pull us backward,” Harris said. “We all remember what they did to tear families apart, and now they have pledged to carry out the largest deportation, a mass deportation, in American history.”

“Imagine what that would look like and what that would be? How’s that going to happen? Massive raids? Massive detention camps? What are they talking about?” she said.

Former president Trump has promised to carry out “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country” if he's elected in November. He has offered no details on how such an operation would work.

Trump, who has leaned into immigration as a top campaign issue, has an advantage over Harris in opinion polling on whom voters trust to better handle the issue.

Meanwhile, the Teamsters labor union declined to endorse either Harris or Trump, saying neither had sufficient support from its 1.3 million members.

Harris had met on Monday with a panel of Teamsters, having long courted organized labor and made support for the middle class her central policy goal. Trump met earlier in the year with a panel of Teamsters, and its president, Sean O’Brien, spoke at his invitation at the Republican National Convention.

Trump's rally Wednesday night was in Uniondale, an area that could be key to Republicans maintaining control of the House. His party is trying to protect 18 Republicans in Democratic-heavy congressional districts that Joe Biden carried in 2020, particularly in coastal New York and California, and going on offense to challenge Democrats elsewhere.

Long Island in particular features one of the most closely watched races, between first-term Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito and Democrat Laura Gillen. D’Esposito is a former New York Police detective who won in 2022 in a district that Biden won by about 15 percentage points in 2020.

Trump posted Tuesday on his Truth Social platform that the GOP has “a real chance of winning” New York “for the first time in many decades." In that same post, Trump also pledged that he would “get SALT back,” suggesting he would eliminate a cap on state and local tax deductions that were part of tax cut legislation he signed into law in 2017.

The so-called SALT cap has led to bigger tax bills for many residents of New York, New Jersey, California and other high-cost, high-tax states, and is an important campaign issue in those states, particularly among those New York Republicans serving in districts Biden won.

Harris' speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute marked the second day in a row that she has tended to constituencies considered key to the Democratic Party.

On Tuesday, she sat for an interview in Philadelphia with members of the National Association of Black Journalists. She decried Trump’s rhetoric and said voters should make sure he “can’t have that microphone again.” She has trips planned later in the week to Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin.

Trump is attempting to return to his campaign cadence after Sunday's apparent assassination attempt as he golfed in Florida. On Tuesday, he traveled to Flint, Michigan, and has not appeared to alter plans for upcoming trips to the nation's capital and North Carolina later in the week.

His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, held an event in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

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Kinnard reported from Houston and Colvin reported from Uniondale, New York. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump makes a campaign stop at Pubkey Bar and Media House, Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waves to the crowd as she leaves at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Leadership Conference, at Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Leadership Conference, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Leadership Conference, at Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) leadership conference, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump makes a campaign stop at Pubkey Bar and Media House, Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Leadership Conference, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris Vice is interviewed by National Association of Black Journalists members Tonya Mosley, and Gerren Keith Gaynor, with moderator Eugene Daniels, at the WHYY studio in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris boarding Air Force Two, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, near Philadelphia International Airport, in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on stage with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)