Remember The Alamo Analysis

Outside of Texas, the only history ever taught is “Remember the Alamo”. This phrase has come to define Texas history, even within the state. Shockingly enough, the Alamo as a symbol of Texas is a more recent construct than one might think. The Alamo is not about Texas independence or American spirit; it is about social class and racial identity. Richard Flores, the author of Remembering the Alamo, argues, “the symbolic work accomplished through ‘remembering the Alamo’—consists of signifying a radical difference between ‘Anglo’ and ‘Mexicans’ so as to cognize and codify the social relations circulating at the beginning of the twentieth century” (Flores xvi). Flores utilizes a vast array of evidence to prove his argument including giving the actual history of the Alamo, comparing the two women who helped create the Alamo—Clara Driscoll and Adina De Zavala, and analyzing the representations of the Alamo in film. The way that Flores structures his argument is interesting; he starts by presenting a social theory to explain why and how the Alamo represents a class and racial control then moves onto a chronological layout of the history of the Alamo. Flores concludes with a

He focuses on two movies—Martyrs of the Alamo (1915) and John Wayne’s The Alamo (1960). Flores focuses on the differences between the films. Martyrs of the Alamo is the oldest film and is closest to the creation of the Alamo as a symbol. It has a very negative portrayal of Tejanos, describing them as “ill mannered, slovenly, drunken, and lusting after women” (Flores 99). The Alamo, made much later is more subtle in its negative portrayal but as Flores points out, still portrays Tejanos as “other” which is especially obvious in the portrayal of Juan Seguin (Flores 126). Both films prove Flores’s argument that the Alamo is a symbol that enforces class and racial controls—especially in the role of making Tejanos an