Three Roads to Magdalena by David Wallace Adams

Author:David Wallace Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 2016-04-22T00:00:00+00:00

On the Brighter Side

But it would be wrong to characterize interethnic school relations in a purely negative light. In fact, one of the more intriguing aspects of older residents’ recollections is the differing light in which they characterize social relations between the two groups. One Anglo rancher’s son who attended school in Magdalena early in the century observes, “I don’t remember that any of the kids had any particular grievances against the Mexicans.” To be sure there was some fighting—something he attributes to ignorance on both sides of the ethnic divide—“but ordinarily they got along good.” Esther Peralta, who attended Magdalena High School in the 1930s, claims she experienced no discrimination whatsoever. Peralta admits that some of the poorer Hispanics may have suffered from prejudice, but for the most part she has little patience for their complaints. “I don’t care what anybody tells you. THEY felt it, THEY had a problem.” As for herself, she found high school a glorious experience. “The whole town came to plays—stage plays. I know because I had main parts.”82

May Day celebration at Roosevelt Elementary School, Magdalena, New Mexico, early 1940s. (Courtesy of Magdalena Public Library.)

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