Sunday, October 6, 2024

In Uvalde, the Latinx Community is Bonded Over Shared Grief

Last week, Uvalde, a predominantly Hispanic city in Texas, felt a profound sense of mourning after a shooting at their local Elementary School. The cover of the local newspaper, Uvalde Leader-News, highlighted the shooting at Robb Elementary that killed 19 children and two teachers. The cover was completely blacked out, with the only written words being the date on which the shooting occurred without mentioning the victims’ names.

May 24th, 2022 will forever mark the lives of the 16,000 residents of Uvalde, where everybody knows one another, and many are extended family. Uvalde is known to be home to ranchers and farmers and has a legacy that remains recognizable in a region that hosts rodeos. The city’s Hispanic and Mexican American heritage dates to the 1800’s and like many of the Southwest region, Uvalde’s Hispanic and Mexican history is entwined with the city. Prior to this tragedy, Uvalde had taken pride in being the “honey capital of the world.”

That sense of pride and community has been given away to shared grief. “I hope that we could support each other in this very tough time and see what we can do to rise up as a community, and be there for each other, because these families need it,” expressed Ybarra, a father of three children who attended Robb Elementary School.

NBC News