It takes a brave Texan to question the Alamo legend, but maybe the authors of Forget the Alamo are counting on strength in numbers. The three Texans write with humor and a sense of history’s fraught meanings as they state plain facts: the “heroes” of the Alamo were slave traders and swindlers whose main reason for fighting was to defend slavery against the “tyrannical” Mexican government, bent on abolishing that heinous institution. The narratives get interesting in the present day with Texas’ ultra-reactionary GOP politicians mandating that school children be taught only the “heroic” version of Lone Star history. As Texas shifts from an Anglo to a Hispanic majority, will the Alamo finally be forgotten?
