They Tried to Erase Our History, Now Even Mexican-American Studies Is Disappearing in One of America’s Most Mexican Cities

In a city where Mexican heritage shapes nearly every street, neighborhood, and family story, something unexpected is happening inside El Paso’s schools: the classes that teach that very history are quietly disappearing.

El Paso is one of the most heavily Mexican-American cities in the United States. Yet Mexican American Studies courses, classes designed to teach students about their own community’s history, culture, and contributions, are now offered at only a handful of high school campuses across the city’s largest school districts.

For many students, that means the story of their own people may never appear in the classroom.

The Irony of the Border

El Paso sits on the U.S., Mexico border, a place where cultures have blended for centuries. Mexican Americans have shaped the region’s politics, economy, music, language, and traditions.

But despite that reality, the history taught in many classrooms often mirrors a broader national narrative that centers on other groups.

Mexican American Studies was created to correct that gap. The academic field itself grew out of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, when students demanded that schools recognize the role Mexican Americans played in shaping the United States.

These courses explore everything from the Chicano movement and border history to labor activism, cultural identity, and political representation.

For students who take them, the experience can be transformative.

Why These Classes Matter

For many Mexican-American students, these courses are often the first time they see themselves in history.

They learn about community struggles that rarely appear in textbooks. They study local stories from the borderlands. They connect their family experiences to larger national events.

And perhaps most importantly, they begin to understand that their heritage is not a footnote, it is part of the American story.

But access to these classes is shrinking.

A Quiet Disappearance

Across El Paso’s school districts, fewer campuses now offer Mexican American Studies classes than in previous years. In some schools, the courses have disappeared entirely.

This has left only a small number of high schools where students can enroll in them.

The reasons vary: scheduling constraints, staffing issues, enrollment numbers, and shifting educational priorities.

Yet the outcome is the same.

Students in one of America’s most Mexican-American cities may graduate without ever formally learning about the history of their own community.

A Larger National Debate

What’s happening in El Paso reflects a broader national debate about how history should be taught in schools.

Across the United States—and particularly in states like Texas, curriculum decisions about race, identity, and cultural history have become increasingly politicized.

Supporters argue ethnic studies courses help students understand the full complexity of American history. Critics worry they can introduce political perspectives into the classroom.

Caught in the middle are students simply trying to understand where they come from.

The Question for the Next Generation

History shapes identity.

And when certain histories disappear from classrooms, entire communities risk becoming invisible in the stories a country tells about itself.

In El Paso, a city built by generations of Mexican-American families, the question is simple:

If students don’t learn their history in school…

where will they learn it?