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History of African Americans in Texas

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History of African Americans in Texas
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African American Texans or Black Texans are residents of the state of Texas who are of African ancestry and people that have origins as African-American slaves. African Americans formed a unique ethnic identity in Texas while facing the problems of societal and institutional discrimination as well as colorism for many years. The first person of African heritage to arrive in Texas was Estevanico, who came to Texas in 1528.[4]

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An African American museum located in Bryan, Texas

The earliest black residents in Texas were Afro-Mexican slaves brought by the Spanish.[5]

A large majority of Black Texans live in the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan areas.[6]

The 2020 U.S. Census identified the Black population alone, non-Hispanic population at 3,444,712,[1] making Texas' Black population the largest of all states and territories in the United States.[7]

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History

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Main articles: History of slavery in Texas and Slavery in colonial Spanish America
See also: History of Texas
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The Texas Black Liberation Flag
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Slave hunting dogs advertisement in Texas

In 1529, a Moroccan Muslim man named Estevanico became the first African to come to Texas. He was from Morocco, and was sold into slavery to a Spanish explorer. Arriving in the New World, Estevanico and the rest of his party (including Cabeza de Vaca) were shipwrecked near Galveston Island, captured by a group of Coahuiltecan Native Americans, escaped, and trekked across what is now Texas and northern Mexico. He was killed later while traveling to the state of New Mexico.[8]

The first Africans that lived in Texas were Afro-Mexicans when Texas was still a part of Mexico before the Mexican–American War. Enslaved Africans arrived in 1528 in Spanish Texas.[9] In 1792, there were 34 blacks and 414 mulattos in Spanish Texas.[10] Anglo white immigration into Mexican Texas in the 1820s brought an increased numbers of enslaved people.[11]

Most slaves in Texas were brought by white families from the south. Some enslaved blacks came through the domestic slave trade, which was centered in the city of New Orleans. Most enslaved blacks in Texas were forced into unskilled labor as field hands in the production of cotton, corn, and sugar. Some other enslaved blacks lived and worked on large plantations and in urban areas where they engaged in more skilled forms of labor such as cooks, blacksmiths, and carpenters.[12]

Their proportion of the population has declined since the early 20th century after many left the state in the Great Migration. Blacks of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin made up 11.5 percent of the population in 2015; blacks of non-Hispanic origin formed 11.3 percent of the populace. African Americans of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin numbered roughly 2.7 million individuals, increasing in 2018 to 3,908,287.[13] The majority of the Black and African American population of Texas lives in the Greater Houston, Dallas and San Antonio metropolitan areas.[2]

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Population

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Many African Americans in Texas remained in slavery until after the U.S. Civil War ended. There was scarce Union Army activity in Texas, preventing them from joining the Northern Army. Some escaped over the borders to areas where the Union Army was operating. The announcement of emancipation was delayed until June 19, 1865, when officials announced that slavery had been formally abolished. It was celebrated first in Texas as Juneteenth. Juneteenth was celebrated in many African American Communities throughout the United States, it was not until 156 years later in 2021, it became a Federally Nationally recognized Holiday. African Americans left Texas by the tens of thousands during the Great Migration in the first half of the 20th century, seeking work and political opportunities elsewhere. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, African Americans were 11.8% of the state's population which mirrors the national average of 12.1%. The long-term effects of slavery can be seen to be present in the state's demographics. The eastern quarter of the state, where cotton production depended on thousands of slaves, is the westernmost extension of the Deep South and contains a very significant number of Texas' African-American population.[4]

Texas has the largest African-American population in the country.[14] African Americans are concentrated in eastern, east-central and northern Texas, as well as the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio metropolitan areas.[15] African Americans form 24 percent of both the cities of Dallas and Houston, 19% of Fort Worth, 8.1 percent of Austin, and 7.5 percent of San Antonio.[2] The African American population in Texas is increasing due to the New Great Migration.[14][15]

A 2014 University of Texas at Austin study observed that the state's capital city of Austin was the only U.S. city with a high growth rate that was nevertheless losing African Americans, due to suburbanization and gentrification.[16]

In 2018, African-Americans had the second highest net growth in population in Texas compared to 2010. Harris County accounted for the largest percentage of that growth.[17] Harris County's largest city Houston is now known as a center of African-American political power, education, economic prosperity, and culture, often called the next black mecca.[18]

There is a black Louisiana Creole community in Texas.[19]

There is also a Black Seminole presence in the state.[20]

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Historically black colleges and universities in Texas

There are nine historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in Texas. Texas Southern University (largest) and Prairie View A&M University (second largest) are the two most notable HBCUs in Texas and annually produce a significant portion of college degreed African-American in the state. The schools are also major SWAC sports rivals.[21][22] St. Philip's College is a public community college located in San Antonio, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It is the westernmost HBCU in the United States.

Notable Black Texans

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Beyoncé

Here are some prominent singers, actresses and other celebrities with separate articles.[23]

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Racial laws regarding African Americans

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The Reconstruction era government by Republicans, 1865 to 1874, worked to help the freed slaves despite fierce resistance from Democrats.[24]

1865: Juneteenth [Constitution] The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.[25] During the Reconstruction era before 1875, laws were passed to benefit he freed slaves.

1866: Education [Constitution] All taxes paid by African Americans go to maintaining African schools. Duty of the legislature to "encourage colored schools."

1866: Railroads [Statute] All railroad companies shall attach one passenger car for the special accommodation of freedmen.

1871: Barred segregation on public carriers [Statute] Public carriers prohibited from making any distinctions in the carrying of passengers. Penalty: Misdemeanor punishable by a fine from $100 to $500, or imprisonment from 30 to 90 days, or both.

1874: Jim Crow practices were begun informally after the overthrow of Republican control in 1874.[26] However by the 1890-1910 era they were often codified and enforced by statewide laws with criminal penalties.[27] [28][29]

1879: Miscegenation [Statute] Confirmed intermarriage law passed in 1858. Penalty applied equally to both parties.

1889: Railroads [Statute] Railroad companies required to maintain separate coaches for white and colored passengers, equal in comfort. Penalty: Passengers refusing to sit where assigned were guilty of a misdemeanor, and could be fined between $5 and $20.[30]

1891: Railroads [Statute] Separate coach laws strengthened. Separate coaches for white and Negro passengers to be equal in all points of comfort and convenience. Designed by signage posted in a conspicuous place in each compartment. Trains allowed to carry chair cars or sleeping cars for the exclusive use of either race. Law did not apply to streetcars. Penalty: Conductors who failed to enforce law faced misdemeanor charge punish able by a fine from $5 to $25. The railroad company could be fined from $100 to $1,000 for each trip. Passengers who refused to sit in designated areas faced fines from $5 to $25.

1902: Poll tax [Amendment to state constitution] Required electors to pay poll tax. People who did not vote did not have to pay the tax, so many poor people stayed home.[31]

1907: Streetcars [Statute] Required all streetcars to comply with the separate coach law passed in 1889. Penalty: Streetcar companies could be fined from $100 to $1,000 for failing to enact law. A passenger wrongfully riding in an improper coach was guilty of a misdemeanor, and faced fines from $5 to $25.[32]

1909: Railroads [Statute] Depot buildings required to provide separate waiting areas for the use of white and Negro passengers.

1914: Railroads [Statute] Negro porters shall not sleep in sleeping car berths nor use bedding intended for white passengers.

1915: Miscegenation [State Code] The penalty for intermarriage is imprisonment in the penitentiary from two to five years.

1919: Public accommodations [Statute] Ordered that Negroes were to use separate branches of county free libraries.[33]

1922: Voting Rights [Statute] "...in no event shall a Negro be eligible to participate in a Democratic party primary election held in the State of Texas. " Overturned in 1927 by U.S. Supreme Court in Nixon v. Herndon.

1925: Education [Statute] Required racially segregated schools.[34]

1925: Public accommodations [Statute] Separate branches for Negroes to be administered by a Negro custodian in all county libraries.

1925: Miscegenation [Penal Code] Miscegenation declared a felony. Nullified interracial marriages if parties went to another jurisdiction where such marriages were legal.

1926: Public carriers [Statute] Public carriers to be segregated.

1935: Health Care [Statute] Established a state tuberculosis sanitarium for blacks.

1935: Public carriers [State Code] Directed that separate coaches for whites and blacks on all common carriers.

1943: Public carriers [State Code] Ordered separate seating on all buses.

1949: Employment [Statute] Coal mines required to have separate washrooms.

1950: Public accommodations [Statute] Separate facilities required for white and black citizens in state parks.

1951: Voting rights [Constitution] Required electors to pay poll tax.

1951: Miscegenation [Statute] Unlawful for person of Caucasian blood to marry person of African blood. Penalty: Two to five years' imprisonment.

1952: Health Care [Statute] Establishment of TB hospitals for blacks.

1953: Public carriers [Penal Code] Public carriers to be segregated.

1956: Public accommodations [Municipal Ordinance] Abolished previously required segregation in the city of San Antonio's swimming pools and other recreational facilities.

1958: Education [Statute] No child compelled to attend schools that are racially mixed. No desegregation unless approved by election. Governor may close schools where troops used on federal authority.

1960: Miscegenation [State Code] Strictly Prohibited marriage or living together as man and wife between racially mixed persons. Penalty: One to ten years imprisonment in county jail, or fine

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References

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