Let's Talk About It
People Who Know Their History Are Harder to Erase
By Yvette Tello · Jun 25, 2026
Read in the original edition on IssuuWhen we remember, we reclaim our power. When we know our roots, we know the truth. When we become aware, we protect ourselves.
Before Texas was Texas, this land was Indigenous land. Before it became part of the United States, it was Mexico. Many Mexican Americans did not come from somewhere else. Many of our families were already here. The border moved. Our roots did not. For generations, our history has been divided, softened, or left out completely. We were not always taught about Indigenous nations, women leaders, healers, organizers, land protectors, and community builders who shaped this land long before borders were drawn.
We were not always taught that women had power, that our ancestors had systems, culture, language, medicine, faith, and knowledge. Instead, WE were handed labels. Black. White. Hispanic. Latino, Asian. In the United States, we are often asked to fit into boxes that do not fully explain who we are. If you are from France, you are French. If you are from Mexico, you are Mexican. If you are from Nigeria or Kenya, you are Nigerian or Kenyan.
But here, so many of us are divided by race before we even understand our history, land, culture, language, or ancestry. That division is not an accident. A divided people are easier to confuse, easier to control, and easier to make feel small. This is why knowing our history matters. Not to create hate. Not to separate ourselves from others. But to understand who we are and why so much of our story was hidden from us.
When we know that this land carried Indigenous women, Mexican families, Tejano communities, and generations of people who survived erasure, we begin to see ourselves differently. We stop accepting the idea that we are less than. We stop fighting each other over labels that were handed to us. We start asking better questions. Do you know the roots of your history and where you come from? Were you taught that Texas was once Mexico?
Were you taught about the Indigenous women of this land? Were you taught that many of us come from people who were here before the border? And if we were not taught these things, we have to ask why; Because people who know their history are harder to divide, harder to convince and harder to erase.
Let's talk about it: what our community said
Printed replies from readers on our page-2 conversation.
“Once you discover the flim flam that you were taught to believe, your whole perspective will change in a heartbeat. You’ll question almost everything that was a lie .”
David Cooper
“Learn your history”
Barbara E. Flowers
“Hosea 4:6 (KJV). ‘My People perish for lack of knowledge.’ “”
Frank Harris
“Dr. King spoke about people feeling like exiles in their own land. For many Mexican Americans and Indigenous people of this land, that statement hits deep. Before Texas was Texas, this was Indigenous land. Before it became part of the United States, it was Mexico. Many of them did not cross the border. The border crossed them. If Mexican Americans continue to study only the last chapter of history, we will continue to be divided by labels that do not tell the whole truth of who we are. We are told to choose boxes, Black, White, Hispanic, Latino, Native, other, when our roots are older and deeper than those categories. We come from Indigenous people, Mexican people, women leaders, healers, land protectors, workers, warriors, mothers, and grandmothers who carried power long before this system named us. We must ask why we were not taught more about the Indigenous women of this land. Why were their roles as leaders, healers, teachers, and decision makers left out? Why were we taught to see ourselves through someone else’s agenda instead of through our own history? When people do not know their history, they are easier to divide. When women do not know their power, they are easier to silence. When Indigenous and Mexican descendants forget their roots, they are easier to erase. Memory is power. Roots are truth. Awareness is protection.”
David Ellis
“Exactly. Just like when people have not read the Bible for themselves, they can fall under the influence of a “pimp in the pulpit,” someone who uses faith to control people instead of guiding them toward truth.”
Destiny Bara
“I agree, ... But it depends what history we are talking about?”
Pyry Meskanen
“Mindset determines attitude. When you know who you are, you do not need outside verification. History is verification. Freedom is knowing you are not bound to a system of numbers, documents, and chains.”
Mario Gonzalez
“The only thing that can unite America is our History. Remembering our people.”
Francess Mendoza
“Indeed. Factual and TRUTHFUL! Couldn't Be Written Any Better”
Ben Villarreal