Editor,
The open records request deadline passed and still no responses! What are they hiding? For as long as people can remember the Hays County Historical Commission (HCHC) has included persons interested in the county’s history, including families with deep roots in Hays County and Texas. This did not stop membership at the Hays County line. Now, after trying to tell Tejano and Indigenous history instead of allowing our history to be shared, the HCHC resorted to technicalities to try and quiet committee members. And what they did was they had discussions about changing the bylaws to make it harder for those who have been deeply committed to Hays County’s Tejano and Indigenous history to participate and share our stories. This is new and we know the reason why they decided to silence the Tejano Committee, effectively they removed them all and denied membership to qualified applicants including the director of a recognized Texas Native American tribe, the Miakan-Garza Band.
Thirty-five applications were received by the HCHC for the 2021-2022 term. The commission although operating with 29 members reduced membership to 25. The HCHC granted only five Hispanics, one African American and 19 Anglos to tell the history of the longest continually inhabited area of North America and the cradle of Indigenous People in central Texas. Ten Tejano and Indigenous People applied, and qualified applicants were denied membership. This was a missed opportunity to include highly credentialed Native American representation on the HCHC. More importantly, there was no attempt to increase the Tejano/Hispanic representation. According to the 2019 U.S. Census, the Hays County population represents 40% Hispanic, 1.2% American Indian, 4.6% African American and 52.5% White (not Hispanic). Even so, only five Tejanos (or 20%) and nineteen Anglos (76%) with one African American (4%) received membership to the HCHC. HCHC claims the Tejano History Committee is very important, yet it failed again to follow through with concrete action in its membership rolls. Instead eight new Anglo Applicants were granted membership, yet only three new Tejano Applicants were given a seat at the table.
