The Tejano Monument on the state Capitol grounds faced many hurdles

From the Voces Oral History Center:

On March 29, 2012, hundreds celebrated the unveiling of a new monument at the Texas state Capitol. Then-Gov. Rick Perry commended those responsible.

It took over a decade for a small team of history-lovers to change laws, hire a sculptor and raise over $2 million to bring the Tejano Monument to life.

The sculpture was the brainchild of McAllen physician Cayetano Barrera. When Barrera visited the state capitol in 2000, he noticed something missing.

Barrera talked about the realization when he was interviewed for a documentary detailing their journey.

“It dawned on me that there was no… Any memorials or anything commemorating the Mexican American or the Mexican Spanish history of Texas, the first 300 years of Texas,” Barrera said in the interview.

Barrera called on friends and his nephew Richard Sanchez, who at that time, worked for State Rep. Kino Flores. They created a nonprofit for the project. But to build on the state grounds, the state Legislature must first appoint a committee to spearhead the work.

And in 2001, the legislation passed.

It looked like the Tejano Monument would happen – at a price tag of around a couple million dollars. Not a huge problem, with public funds. But then the organizers hit a major roadblock: They learned they couldn’t use public funds without a new state law allowing it.

It took five more years of lobbying before the Tejano Monument committee could change the law so that they could receive $1 million in public funds. But even after that, in 2006, they were still $2 million short.

Enter Renato Ramirez from Zapata, about 50 miles south of Laredo.  At the time, Ramirez was the president and CEO of IBC bank in Zapata. He knew how to be pushy.

“You’re at a critical point. You’re either going to go forward or not,” he said in a previous interview on the project. “And that’s when I ratcheted it up and started getting those $25, $30,000 contributions from a lot of people.”

The money started rolling in. And then, another roadblock.

The State preservation board, which oversees construction of the Capitol grounds, told the committee the monument would sit on the north side of the Capitol building. There was apparently a state law that prohibited new construction on the south lawn. Richard Sanchez said that was unacceptable.

“The historic south grounds of the Capitol, the front lawn is where we always thought we should be and deserve to be,” Sanchez said. “And I think at that moment, we all knew we were in for a longer fight.”

In 2010, after four more years of lobbying, the law got changed and they could put the monument in the main entrance of the Capitol.

But then, a new challenge. Renato Ramirez recalled hearing from the state preservation board.

“’Renato, you can’t start construction until you’re fully funded,’” he said. “And I said, ‘Well, how much we need?’ ‘$70,000.’ I said ‘I’ll have it for Monday.’”

That weekend, Ramirez buttonholed wealthy friends at a wedding and got one of his buddies to donate $25,000 and to get some of his friends to donate. By Monday, Ramirez had raised $130,000.

Sculptor Armando Hinojosa designed the monument. It sits on a massive granite base. Above that stand life-sized bronze figures that represent the Spanish and Mexican settlers in Texas, including a “vaquero” and a family.

Richard Sanchez said when he visits the state Capitol, loves to watch people taking their photos in front of the Tejano monument.

“We put up a beacon, you know, that tells people this was a part of Texas,” Sanchez said. “This is part of a big part of how the Texas plot was pioneered. And that’s important. We can’t leave that out of our state’s history.”

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