Burying “Mr. Spanish”: The Blackwell School and the Implications of Language Discrimination

In 2021, the Brookings Institution reported that English Learners (EL’s) represented the fastest-growing student demographic across the United States, with an “overrepresentation in high-poverty schools” resulting from segregation (Quintero & Hansen, 2021). This phenomenon is not new, and EL’s have historically faced educational barriers tied to race, language, and citizenship. This paper explores the impacts of language discrimination through a case study of Blackwell School in Marfa, Texas, which operated from 1909-1965. Established as a segregated “Mexican School,” Blackwell’s students of Mexican descent were discouraged, even physically punished, for speaking Spanish. School officials aimed to assimilate students into U.S. society, resulting in the cultural loss and trauma within the community.

Blackwell School operated during a period of change across West Texas. Railroad expansion in the late nineteenth century attracted American laborers to this new economic frontier, and the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) attracted refugees to seemingly safer territory. These changes amplified racial tensions, which often played out in public school systems. Archival sources and oral histories reveal how public officials used Blackwell School to suppress the career prospects and cultural identities of its students. Yet, the story of Blackwell School is also one of resilience; alumni formed the Blackwell School Alliance, which became instrumental in the school’s designation as a National Historic Site in 2022.

I argue that Blackwell School offers important historical context for the current challenges faced by English Learners. Limited funding, pressures to assimilate, and discrimination continue to hinder educational attainment for EL’s. The issues impacting Marfa at the turn of the twentieth century–rapid, and sometimes destabilizing, economic and demographic changes–are evident in areas with growing immigrant populations. Incorporating Blackwell School into broader studies of bilingual education will deepen our understanding of the intersections between race, language, and citizenship.