While visiting the Bob Bullock Museum, we were told to keep ideas of diversity in mind. Each level of the museum depicts a period of history relevant to the development and growth of Texas. Although Bump asked us to note the diversity in Texas history, we can see that there were also earlier instances of assimilation, racism, and white imperialism.
The first floor explores the original Native Americans who inhabited the Texas land. Spanish conquers infiltrated the land and imposed Western religion, practices, and laws on the indigenous people. It was difficult to find an instance of diversity on this level, because frankly, the Spaniards condemned any sense of diversity. Prior to their exploration, there were many tribal groups who cohabited the Texan plains. Although their coexistence was not necessarily harmonious, they managed to sustain life amongst the diverse Texas landscape.
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| Westerners established churches and missions in attempt to "civilize" the Native Americans. |
The second floor is dedicated to Texas as a republic and its development both economically and socially. The museum calls this floor “Building the Lonestar Identity”. Texas became an independent nation in 1836 as a result of the Texas Revolution. Once again, it is difficult to see diversity flourishing at this time. Although many immigrants traveled to Texas, most of them were given unequal opportunities. In fact, white men were the only people allowed to vote. African Americans, Native Americans, Tejanos, and all women were forced to abide by legislation imposed by white men. Many of these non-white citizens had little opportunities economically. Men were mostly sharecroppers to white landowners and received little compensation for their labor.
The third floor, called: “Creating Opportunity” explores modern Texas and its growth as a state of diverse populations. Although our history displays little opportunity for minorities, the past 50 years have yielded opportunities to all groups of society. This floor explained that new sectors like the oil industry brought success to Texas cities. As a result of this urbanization, many people sought social equality. In fact, members of NAACP in the 1940s began establishing rights for African American men and women in Texas cities like Dallas and San Antonio. A new culture arose of ‘Tex-Mex’, which mixed American heritage with Hispanic culture. Even the music industry brought upon diversity in society. T-Bone Walker became a famous Dallas-native who brought blues music to Texas. Walker incorporated Texan culture with his style as an African American artist.
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| T-Bone Walker: an example of the diverse culture in Texas |
As we can see, the modernization of Texas has sparked diversity and new appreciation of hybrid cultures. Although historically, Texas was not one to celebrate such diverse cultures, its development as a state has brought upon positive change.
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| A mosaic of all cultures in Texas |
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