Refusing to Forget
@refusing2forget.bsky.social
An award-winning public history project committed to sharing the history of state-sanctioned violence against Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Texas.
Refusing to Forget members are @ccarmona.bsky.social, Juan Carmona, John Morán González, Sonia Hernández, @benjaminhjohns1.bsky.social, @leahlao.bsky.social, Monica Muñoz Martínez and @alacranita.bsky.social, another co-founder is @gonzalest956.bsky.social. /20
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Refusing to Forget members are @ccarmona.bsky.social, Juan Carmona, John Morán González, Sonia Hernández, @benjaminhjohns1.bsky.social, @leahlao.bsky.social, Monica Muñoz Martínez and @alacranita.bsky.social, another co-founder is @gonzalest956.bsky.social. /20
This thread is a part of the #OTD in Ranger history campaign that refusing2forget.bsky.social is running this year. Follow this handle or refusingtoforget.org/ranger-bicentennial-project/ and visit our website refusingtoforget.org to learn more. /19
Refusing to Forget (@refusing2forget.bsky.social)
An award-winning public history project committed to sharing the history of state-sanctioned violence against Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Texas.
refusing2forget.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
This thread is a part of the #OTD in Ranger history campaign that refusing2forget.bsky.social is running this year. Follow this handle or refusingtoforget.org/ranger-bicentennial-project/ and visit our website refusingtoforget.org to learn more. /19
Despite Molina’s call to “learn more about the Rangers” and “their whole history,” Ranger defenders appear to have learned nothing from the dark side of their history, since they won’t even acknowledge egregious incidents like this one. /18 calendar.eji.org/about
About
Understanding our history of racial injustice America’s history of racial inequality continues to undermine fair treatment, equal justice, and opportunity for many Americans. The Equal Justice Initiat...
calendar.eji.org
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Despite Molina’s call to “learn more about the Rangers” and “their whole history,” Ranger defenders appear to have learned nothing from the dark side of their history, since they won’t even acknowledge egregious incidents like this one. /18 calendar.eji.org/about
In summer of 2023, the TX Ranger Museum inducted Garrison into its Hall of Fame. His entry makes no mention of his blackface performance, Banks' cooperation with mobs, or Allee's thuggery. /17 www.texasranger.org/Hall-of-Fame...
Homer Garrison, Jr.
Summary of service for this honored Texas Ranger
www.texasranger.org
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
In summer of 2023, the TX Ranger Museum inducted Garrison into its Hall of Fame. His entry makes no mention of his blackface performance, Banks' cooperation with mobs, or Allee's thuggery. /17 www.texasranger.org/Hall-of-Fame...
In 2020, Dallas authorities removed a statue modeled after Banks from Love Field. Molina, chair of the Ranger bicentennial commission, tells the press that he is seeking another location. /16 www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdo...
They didn’t like his book on the Texas Rangers, so they tried to smear his reputation
‘Texas Rangers operated a fable factory.’ So says the author of a critical book who got knocked down because he refused to play along. Here’s what happened to...
www.dallasnews.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
In 2020, Dallas authorities removed a statue modeled after Banks from Love Field. Molina, chair of the Ranger bicentennial commission, tells the press that he is seeking another location. /16 www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdo...
Ranger defenders ignore instances like Garrison’s performance. Russell Molina called for an honest exploration of Ranger history, absurdly stating that they “aggressively defended the civil and due-process rights of African Americans" during Jim Crow. /15 www.texasmonthly.com/opinion/exam...
Opinion: Examining the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Parts of Texas Rangers History
In marking the Rangers’ bicentennial, we should engage with critiques of the organization’s history and have more open, honest discussions.
www.texasmonthly.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Ranger defenders ignore instances like Garrison’s performance. Russell Molina called for an honest exploration of Ranger history, absurdly stating that they “aggressively defended the civil and due-process rights of African Americans" during Jim Crow. /15 www.texasmonthly.com/opinion/exam...
Not until 1988 would the modern Rangers, under extensive pressure from the NAACP, hire a Black officer. /14 refusingtoforget.org/lee-roy-youn...
Lee Roy Young becomes first Black Ranger - Refusing to Forget
#OTD in 1988, Lee Roy Young became the first African American man to be allowed to join the Texas Rangers.
refusingtoforget.org
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Not until 1988 would the modern Rangers, under extensive pressure from the NAACP, hire a Black officer. /14 refusingtoforget.org/lee-roy-youn...
In the 1960s, Ranger Captain A.Y. Allee brutalized numerous Mexican-American labor and civil rights leaders, including an 18 year old José Angel Gutiérrez. /13 bsky.app/profile/refu...
#OTD in 1963, Texas Gov. John Connally dispatched Ranger Captain Alfred Young "A. Y." Allee to Crystal City. Connally did so to "keep the peace" during the local election cycle for city and county offices. Instead Allee would go on to brutalize several Mexican Americans. /1
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
In the 1960s, Ranger Captain A.Y. Allee brutalized numerous Mexican-American labor and civil rights leaders, including an 18 year old José Angel Gutiérrez. /13 bsky.app/profile/refu...
Later that year, Texas attorney general John Ben Shepperd obtained a restraining order against the Texas NAACP , forcing branches to suspend operation, in what Thurgood Marshall called “the greatest crisis” in the organization’s history. /12 medium.com/timeline/two...
medium.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Later that year, Texas attorney general John Ben Shepperd obtained a restraining order against the Texas NAACP , forcing branches to suspend operation, in what Thurgood Marshall called “the greatest crisis” in the organization’s history. /12 medium.com/timeline/two...
Banks’ comment that white members of the mob “were just salt-of-the earth citizens who had been stirred up by agitators” was consistent with Garrison’s lampooning of the NAACP since that group was often blamed for being the proverbial outside agitator. /11 www.star-telegram.com/news/local/a...
60 years ago, 3 black teens tried to enroll in Mansfield High — ‘never’ was the reply
Mansfield school superintendent told first black applicants ‘never’
www.star-telegram.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Banks’ comment that white members of the mob “were just salt-of-the earth citizens who had been stirred up by agitators” was consistent with Garrison’s lampooning of the NAACP since that group was often blamed for being the proverbial outside agitator. /11 www.star-telegram.com/news/local/a...
In 1956, Ranger Jay Banks declined to protect Black students attempting to enroll in high school at Mansfield and junior college in Texarkana from white mobs. /10 refusingtoforget.org/mansfield-sc...
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
In 1956, Ranger Jay Banks declined to protect Black students attempting to enroll in high school at Mansfield and junior college in Texarkana from white mobs. /10 refusingtoforget.org/mansfield-sc...
Yet to Garrison and others in the TX DPS, the idea that Black people deserved the protection of the law was, literally, a joke. The laughter from the crowd shows that many in the DPS felt similarly. Worse, under his direction Rangers aided and abetted attacks on civil rights. /9
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Yet to Garrison and others in the TX DPS, the idea that Black people deserved the protection of the law was, literally, a joke. The laughter from the crowd shows that many in the DPS felt similarly. Worse, under his direction Rangers aided and abetted attacks on civil rights. /9
As Texas’ lead law enforcement officer, Garrison had an obligation to enforce the law equally. Eight years earlier, the Supreme Court had struck down segregated schools as a violation of the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause. /8 www.archives.gov/milestone-do...
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Opinion; May 17, 1954; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States; Record Group 267; National Archives. View All Pages in t...
www.archives.gov
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
As Texas’ lead law enforcement officer, Garrison had an obligation to enforce the law equally. Eight years earlier, the Supreme Court had struck down segregated schools as a violation of the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause. /8 www.archives.gov/milestone-do...
About three minutes in, Garrison begins signing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” in a heavy dialect. The crowd applauds when the song ends, and an emcee comes on stage and says “we hope that we don’t have them with us again.” /7
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
About three minutes in, Garrison begins signing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” in a heavy dialect. The crowd applauds when the song ends, and an emcee comes on stage and says “we hope that we don’t have them with us again.” /7
“We had a meetin’ last night,” Garrison continued, “we think we’re entitled to the same privileges as anybody else.” The crowd titters and a second, unidentified man in blackface joins him, and the two banter. /6
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
“We had a meetin’ last night,” Garrison continued, “we think we’re entitled to the same privileges as anybody else.” The crowd titters and a second, unidentified man in blackface joins him, and the two banter. /6
Garrison appeared early in the 1962 DPS talent show. He came onto the stage in blackface and said “I represent the DPS chapter of the NAACP,” leading the other man on stage to immediately start laughing. /5 texasarchive.org/2009_00902
DPS Talent Show (1962)
Watch an ever-growing archive of Texas film and videos through the decades. Discover the experience of Texans, explore education and preservation resources.
texasarchive.org
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Garrison appeared early in the 1962 DPS talent show. He came onto the stage in blackface and said “I represent the DPS chapter of the NAACP,” leading the other man on stage to immediately start laughing. /5 texasarchive.org/2009_00902
Garrison’s blackface minstrelsy drew on nearly a century of racist history in which whites blackened their faces with burnt cork or shoe polish and portrayed Black people as “lazy, ignorant, superstitious, hypersexual, and prone to thievery and cowardice.” /4 nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stor...
Blackface: The Birth of An American Stereotype
Learn the history behind common African American stereotypes. #ANationsStory
nmaahc.si.edu
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Garrison’s blackface minstrelsy drew on nearly a century of racist history in which whites blackened their faces with burnt cork or shoe polish and portrayed Black people as “lazy, ignorant, superstitious, hypersexual, and prone to thievery and cowardice.” /4 nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stor...
At its opening in 1968, the @txrangermuseum was initially named after him. One of the museum’s galleries today bears his name, and just this year he was enrolled in the Hall of Fame. /3 www.texasranger.org/Hall-of-Fame...
Homer Garrison, Jr.
Summary of service for this honored Texas Ranger
www.texasranger.org
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
At its opening in 1968, the @txrangermuseum was initially named after him. One of the museum’s galleries today bears his name, and just this year he was enrolled in the Hall of Fame. /3 www.texasranger.org/Hall-of-Fame...
Garrison’s importance to the Rangers is hard to overstate. He oversaw the Rangers transformation into a unit of the TX DPS, which he ran for 30 yrs. He approved a revised badge design –still worn by Rangers today- in 1962, the same year as his performance./2 www.texasranger.org/Pages/Resear...
Buyer Beware! Avoid Replicas, Fake, and Fantasy Badges
Advice and information about how to avoid buying false Texas Ranger badge relics.
www.texasranger.org
October 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Garrison’s importance to the Rangers is hard to overstate. He oversaw the Rangers transformation into a unit of the TX DPS, which he ran for 30 yrs. He approved a revised badge design –still worn by Rangers today- in 1962, the same year as his performance./2 www.texasranger.org/Pages/Resear...
Refusing to Forget members are @ccarmona.bsky.social, Juan Carmona, John Morán González, Sonia Hernández, @benjaminhjohns1.bsky.social, @leahlao.bsky.social, Monica Muñoz Martínez and @alacranita.bsky.social, another co-founder is @gonzalest956.bsky.social. /17
October 15, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Refusing to Forget members are @ccarmona.bsky.social, Juan Carmona, John Morán González, Sonia Hernández, @benjaminhjohns1.bsky.social, @leahlao.bsky.social, Monica Muñoz Martínez and @alacranita.bsky.social, another co-founder is @gonzalest956.bsky.social. /17
This thread is a part of the #OTD in Ranger history campaign that refusing2forget.bsky.social is running this year. Follow this handle or refusingtoforget.org/ranger-bicentennial-project/ and visit our website refusingtoforget.org to learn more. /16
Refusing to Forget (@refusing2forget.bsky.social)
An award-winning public history project committed to sharing the history of state-sanctioned violence against Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Texas.
refusing2forget.bsky.social
October 15, 2025 at 6:22 PM
This thread is a part of the #OTD in Ranger history campaign that refusing2forget.bsky.social is running this year. Follow this handle or refusingtoforget.org/ranger-bicentennial-project/ and visit our website refusingtoforget.org to learn more. /16
The key source for this thread is @historybrian.bsky.social’s uncpress.org/book/9781469.... /15
Borders of Violence and Justice
Brian Behnken offers a sweeping examination of the interactions between Mexican-origin people and law enforcement—both legally codified police agencies and...
uncpress.org
October 15, 2025 at 6:22 PM
The key source for this thread is @historybrian.bsky.social’s uncpress.org/book/9781469.... /15