The History of Anti-Mexican Lynching and Violence

In May 2016 the podcast Latino USA explored the history of anti-Mexican lynching and violence in the late 19th and early 20th century with Bill Carrigan, a history professor at Rowan University in New Jersey. You can listen to the story below.

Reflection Questions

1. How does Carrigan explain the excuses used by perpetrators of anti-Mexican lynching in the U.S.?
2. Why does Carrigan believe that this history is not better known?
3. Carrigan describes a turning point in which public anti-Mexican violence was no longer acceptable. He explains, “It’s not that violence against Mexicans ended, it continued, but it now had to take a different kind of form, it couldn’t be the same public execution of Mexicans. It had to be secret, cover-of-night. It was a transformative moment.” How does he explain the transformation?
4. What is the significance of uncovering stories like this one? Is it empowering? Disempowering?
5. How should knowledge of this history inform the way we think and act in the present and future?