Category: San Antonio News

A Thursday night out on patrol alone ended in tragedy for San Antonio patrolman Julius Alberson on Dec. 4, 1941.

Within minutes, the “well-liked” officer, who was responding to a disturbance at a dance hall in the 500 block of East Commerce Street downtown, was fatally shot with his own revolver.

“City Policeman Slain at Dance” spread across the front page of the San Antonio Express the following day. A revolver disappeared, 10 soldiers were detained and one mystery remained — who really pulled the trigger to kill Alberson, the local newspapers asked. The 29-year-old had only been on the force for nine months at the time of his death.

To this day, no one has been convicted of his murder.

The San Antonio Police Department honored Alberson on the 79th anniversary of his death on Dec. 4, 2020 in a Facebook post. SAPD said Alberson became the department’s first Black officer to be killed in action.

SAPD refused to provide more details about Alberson and appealed a request for the public records related to his employment to the Texas Attorney General in an effort to keep them private.

Dr. Carey Latimore, an associate professor of history at Trinity University, said there may have been one or more Black officers killed in the line of duty before or around the same time as Alberson’s tenure with the department.

An examination of public archives and an interview with the local historian reveals Alberson’s death was greater than a newspaper headline — it was a tragic, premature death of a promising young man who was becoming a community leader in San Antonio despite all the economic and racist challenges he faced.

A tragedy downtown

Long before high-rise hotels and the Shops at River Center became San Antonio icons, East Commerce bustled with business and nightlife among the city’s non-white populations who had been segregated from other parts of town.

“The street that never slept,” was filled with bars and hotels, as well as stables and a wagon yard, to become a gathering place for locals “excluded from the Anglo-American areas,” according to an archeology research paper from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

(Segregation was federally banned in 1954, more than a decade after Alberson’s death, in the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. Still, many Southern states, including Texas, fought against integration.)

But a regular night at the Avalon Grill, a club at 500 E. Commerce St., erupted into chaos on Dec. 4, 1941, when a bar patron started a disturbance.

Alberson, who was patrolling the area, responded to the call and ejected the man who allegedly caused the ruckus, according to newspaper archives obtained by KSAT from the San Antonio Evening News and San Antonio Light.

While Alberson walked the man out of the dancehall to a nearby patrol car, a struggle erupted and a shot was fired.

Alberson was shot in the head, police told the San Antonio Evening News. As a patrol officer went to lift up Alberson’s head, the bullet dropped to the sidewalk. The paper also reported that he was kicked during the scuffle.

Someone in the crowd had taken his pistol — and his life — as many of the patrons ran from the scene.

Alberson had served as a patrolman since April 10 after becoming a police cadet on Feb. 24, according to the San Antonio Evening News. He was brought onto the police force through a special training program and served alongside other Black officers who were recruited by the department.

The man and what he could have become

According to Census records reviewed by KSAT, Alberson was born in Bryan, Texas, and came to San Antonio with his family at a young age.

Living on the West Side, Alberson graduated from Douglass High School, an African-American high school, as the president of his class. He went on to college and graduated with a four-year degree from Wilberforce College in Ohio.

Latimore discussed Alberson and the circumstances around his slaying in an interview with KSAT.

Alberson eventually married and settled in San Antonio where he initially worked as a substitute teacher at Booker T. Washington School, Latimore said. He struggled to find consistent work as a Black man in the post-Depression South, even with a four-year degree, but eventually found his way into police work.

“He’s part of a training program and he’s the first African-American that comes in through that training program. I don’t believe that he’s the first Black police officer in the city, but he’s the first that comes to this new training program that was initiated,” Latimore said. “White police officers are going to patrol Black neighborhoods, but he is probably going to be primarily patrolling Black neighborhoods, as well.”

At the time of his death, Latimore says, Alberson stood 6 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighed about 175 pounds, which would make his frame just smaller than Joe Lewis, the heavyweight boxing champion of the era.

Larger than most men in the time period, Latimore said Alberson’s size was impressive and would leave an impression on people while in uniform. However, Alberson’s death left an even even bigger impression on the community that he left behind, as a man establishing himself as a community leader.

“The church communities and the fraternal organizations, they all kept things known. And so there were ways of the African-American community to know what was happening,” Latimore said. “And certainly a man like him entering into the police force would have been known and would have been a sense of pride. So, he’s a person that was well known and he would have had to have been well respected. His father is a poultry dealer, so, he comes from a good middle-class family. They owned their home. They did well. And so it would have been a sense of these are people that are moving up and a sense of pride to the community.”

Alberson was survived by one child and his wife, who is believed to have remarried years later.

An arrest, an indictment, alleged coercion and a hung jury

Ten soldiers and one woman were held at the city jail following the slaying. By Dec. 6, 1941, the police officers arrested one potential shooter.

The San Antonio Light reported that 24-year-old Melchoir Quitman, a Black soldier at Fort Sam Houston and superintendent of a Sunday school in Arkansas, made a statement that admitted to the killing.

Quitman said he had an argument with the officer after he was ejected from the club. While they struggled, he said a gun “exploded,” although he said he didn’t know if the officer was shot.

He said he returned to Fort Sam Houston that night, but left the weapon on the sidewalk. He was indicted on a murder charge later that month.

During the trial in January, the “heated legal battle” meant witnesses upon witnesses and cross-examinations, as “each side fought for every point,” according to the San Antonio Register.

Alberson’s widow, Grace, and her 8-month-old son attended the trial. Quitman’s mother, Mary, was also at every session and commuted from Arkansas, the report states.

Two witnesses said they saw Quitman deliberately point the gun at Alberson’s head. Other witnesses said that while they saw the scuffle, few didn’t actually see the shooting.

“They both began tussling… both falling to the ground. In a few minutes, a gun was fired, but I don’t know by whom,” one witness said.

The trial turned on its head when Quitman took the stand and said he confessed under duress. He said he was beaten by police officers and given nothing to eat for 24 hours, The Register reported.

He was among the witnesses who gave officers information immediately after the shooting.

Another soldier said he was “beaten by detectives because he was a northern Negro.’”

The Register reported that witnesses were brought in to testify that Quitman was beaten, while others were used to say that there was no violence.

Fire and Police Commissioner P.L. Anderson denied any of his officers coerced or beat anyone, saying that an officer caught assaulting an inmate or potential suspect would be fired.

Jurors were unable to reach a verdict after debating overnight from Jan. 21-22. By the time The Register was printed on Jan. 23, Quitman was released from jail.

Overshadowed by a ‘date which will live in infamy’

It’s nearly impossible to ignore the historical context of when Alberson was shot and killed. Just three days after his death, on Dec. 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu.

Latimore said the attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent war played a pivotal role in the acquittal of Alberson’s murderer and accomplices.

“It’s hard for us to imagine the scope of Pearl Harbor and how people are going to link with soldiers because they’re protecting our freedoms. And so on one hand, you have this and on the other hand, you have a cop who theoretically is protecting us as well,” Latimore said. “And so I think you have these two competing things happening at the same time you have a jury that probably doesn’t have an association to Alberson or to the person who was accused of killing him and I think in that case the decision was made that the soldier, at that point in time, was who they were going to side with.”

Latimore said while it is impossible to prove his theory in the court’s decision, the racial divide and sympathy for the war effort is clear.

“I think race has an impact here, but the military also has an impact and the war is… creating a foundation for all of this,” Latimore said. “And so it’s interesting because Mr. Alberson is a hero in the line of duty, and yet, he wasn’t treated by the judicial system in that way.”

Latimore said the backdrop of race relations and World War II remains foundational in both the trial and the action taken by the city and department after.

“I believe as the trial went forward on, Alberson kind of becomes distant in people’s memory to the larger issues of this war,” Latimore said.

Latimore said he believes the reason for the court’s quick acquittal of Quitman is linked directly to him being a soldier, a fact that the prosecuting attorney in Alberson’s case begged jurors to not take into account.

“The prosecuting attorney said right before to the jury, ‘please do not take into account the fact that these men are soldiers,’ because he even knew that event might cloud their thinking,” Latimore said. “He wanted them to focus on the cop that was killed. But apparently, his pleads to the jury were not listened to. And, so, then he’s acquitted.”

“One of the things that we have to remember is that you’re not going to have African-American jurors on the trial,” Latimore said. “So, this is going to be a jury of white men adjudicating this situation in the time period of war. You want to think that the sympathies would be for the cop in this situation, but knowing that these people are getting ready to be sent off to war, the sympathies may actually be with the soldiers.”

The San Antonio Register reported that the pistol used in the shooting was discovered in February 1948.

By that time, Quitman was already dead. He was shipped to war shortly after the trial and died overseas.

Before the trial, according to a report by The San Antonio Register dated Jan. 2, 1942, Alberson’s wife and son were both awarded $37.50 per month by the city’s Fire and Police Pension Board.

Latimore said about 1,000 people attended the funeral ceremony for Alberson, including the mayor, police chief, other Black members of the police force and law enforcement personnel from across the state.

“It was a huge event in which the community comes together. But then we wonder what happens in the aftermath as they left,” Latimore said. “Was that the last time they thought about Julius Alberson and his wife? Was that the last time that San Antonio thought about him? Is that the last time that the police force stood up for him at that funeral? These are questions that we have.”

Read more like this on our Black History page.

Stories of former San Antonio slaves live on in Library of Congress collectionKSAT Explains: San Antonio’s hidden Black history16 books about Black history you can read for free from the San Antonio Public LibraryWhat is Confederate Heroes Day and why do Texans still celebrate it today?South Texas Negro League baseball featured local talent who created legacy on East SideTour through local cemetery highlights trailblazing African Americans in San AntonioFormer MLB player from San Antonio credits career to late Hank Aaron

William Branch was 11 when Union soldiers arrived to the Virginia plantation he was living in to tell him he was now free. James Green, who was kidnapped and sold back into slavery after he was emancipated, only learned his age when he was freed again at age 25. Martin Jackson was fighting the Union with his master when he realized the South would soon surrender.

The histories of these former San Antonio residents were among the thousands that were captured by the federal government in a collection of former slave narratives in the 1930s. The collection sheds light on a generation of Black Americans that are heavily overlooked in American history. Though some aspects of the narratives are problematic — almost every recorder was a white man, for example — the vast information still holds historical significance for the perspectives it chronicled.

In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the Federal Writers’ Project, a government-funded program that hired unemployed writers during the Great Depression. A year later, writers in Southern states began interviewing Black Americans who were born into servitude about slavery, which was ostensibly dismantled by 1865.

“(The narrative project began) roughly 70 years after the end of slavery, so I think people recognized that many of the former slaves are dying or dead so we should collect these things and learn more about them,” said Dr. Carey Latimore, an associate professor of history at Trinity University.

In two years, the writers amassed more than 2,000 interviews spanning 17 states, taking photographs and a few audio-recorded interviews along the way.

Previous slave narratives typically focused on those who made history, like Frederick Douglass and Henry Box Brown. But this collection was more unique, focusing on people who lived more average lives, covering Black history that might otherwise have been obscured.

“It’s valuable because these are people that would never have been interviewed for anything before,” Latimore said.

The inclusion of those voices was rare in its time, but historians agree the collection had built-in biases, as the interviews were primarily conducted by white men.

At the time, slavery was perceived in a gentler light, Latimore said, like an institution in which slaves and masters “had responsibilities to the other side.” Some of these writers descended from slave masters and Black people may have feared being honest to them.

“You can kind of get African-Americans struggling with that relationship throughout the interview and you can kind of feel how scared they may have been,” Latimore said.

As writers possessed varying amounts of talents, so did the narratives they produced. Some included more vivid details, while others were short and jumped from topic to topic.

Though writers were given a questionnaire to follow, the questionnaires were often ignored by the interviewers, according to the Library of Congress.

The majority of former slaves interviewed were also children when they were freed, which made their experience different and often less severe than adults who lived through it.

Despite those issues, “you have to recognize that this (collection) is so invaluable,” Latimore said.

“There’s no other opportunity to really glean that life and experience for average African-Americans,” he said. “And so even if it has issues, even if people are thinking about memories 70 years ago, you have to pay attention, you have to listen.”

The collection has been archived in the Library of Congress.

Read more on our Black history page:

KSAT Explains: San Antonio’s hidden Black history16 books about Black history you can read for free from the San Antonio Public LibraryWhat is Confederate Heroes Day and why do Texans still celebrate it today?Black History in San Antonio: the man behind the city’s MLK marchKSAT Q&A: History of Juneteenth in the U.S.

Editor’s Note: This story was first published in 2021.

For Andrea Sanderson, or “Vocab” as she’s known in the creative community, words have been a form of healing.

“The first time I read a poem in public was for a memorial service for a friend of mine that was murdered. And that experience really impacted me, seeing how people responded, seeing how poetry can be very healing and therapeutic kept me involved,” Sanderson explained.

Shortly after Sanderson started getting more involved in music and hip-hop, performing slam poetry and songs at open mics and poetry events. Born and raised in San Antonio, Sanderson began putting on events herself for her school and community.

“I threw a concert at my school gym, like hundreds of kids showed up. It was an amazing experience. And I realized how music in hip hop and poetry and all the rhythm and the rhyme and the cadence could really affect people even further,” she said. “And I just fell in love with it.”

Sanderson’s connections in the artist community eventually encouraged her to apply to be the city of San Antonio’s Poet Laureate, a role she sums up as “the ambassador for literacy and poetry in our local community.”

You can find Sanderson performing or promoting all things creative writing or performance at places like the Carver Community Center, Carver Branch Library and more. She is currently being featured in an exhibit titled, “The Glorious Way She Moves” at the Carver Community Center, which can be explored both virtually and in-person.

RELATED: Black community leaders in San Antonio behind evolution of Carver Community Center

First responders were not the only ones with a busy weekend due to wintry weather conditions. Workers in the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) industry had their hands full with several calls related to complications and concerns about home air conditioning and heating units.

One typical call during this type of weather deals with heat pump units frosting over.

“The ice will develop because of pressures,” said Manny Mallen, owner of Air Today Heating and Air. “Once your pressures start going down, that is when you will start having that frost buildup. It is typically normal when it does that, but if your unit has never frozen over before, you could have a potential problem. It could be low on refrigerant and could cause it to freeze over, like what happens in the summertime. When your AC unit freezes over, it is low on refrigerant. Vice versa in the winter — your outdoor unit can freeze over because it is low on refrigerant.”

Mallen said an easy fix would be to turn your thermostat on to emergency heat.

“It is better. Sometimes the thermostats do it on its own, but if your thermostat has the inability to put it on emergency heat, if the homeowner just put it on emergency heat, you should be fine,” Mallen said. “If it doesn’t have an emergency heat option, you can raise the thermostat up to three or four degrees, and usually, it will activate your accelerate heat.”

Mallen said another common question he gets asked deals with whether or not to get a carbon monoxide detector.

“Get a good quality carbon monoxide detector if you have a gas unit,” Mallen said. “The lower the detection, the better, because some of them start detecting at a higher level. And sometimes, once they start detecting, you are already experiencing symptoms of fatigue, dizziness, headaches and stuff like that, and you don’t even realize you are getting carbon monoxide poisoning.”

Mallen said another obstacle to consider is road conditions during winter weather when you are calling your HVAC service provider.

“A lot of service providers right now can’t drive in these conditions,” Mallen said. “It is hard to maneuver these big vehicles on ice. My guys couldn’t go to a home today. There was just a whole bunch of ice. We couldn’t even get to his home. We called him, and the owner was like, let me see outside, and he couldn’t even get out of his driveway, so we had to reschedule for another day.”

Like several other businesses, Mallen said his company is also adjusting its hours to operate safely.

He said to avoid spending $200-$500 for service calls at the last emergency minute, be sure to have your units checked twice a year. Call someone to come out once in the fall and again in the spring.

“We could potentially avoid problems like this,” Mallen said. “This is one of the biggest things where people do call their HVAC provider during bad weather conditions and say, ‘Can you come and make sure my unit is fine?’ A lot of this can be solved way ahead of time.”

Also on KSAT:

Go here for more winter weather stories.Go to the KSAT traffic page for the latest traffic conditions.Upload your weather pictures here.

Editor’s note: The Nov. 30 KSAT Explains livestream features portions of a previously aired episode. You can watch it live at 7 p.m. in the video player above. After Tuesday night’s livestream, you will be able to watch the original version on demand.

An increase in political polarization. Mistrust in institutions. A huge megaphone provided by the internet. All of these factors have created an environment for conspiracies to run rampant.

Far flung and false ideas are no longer hidden in the far corners of the Internet. They are now discussed in mainstream media because belief in them has become so widespread.

SMART. IN-DEPTH. LOCAL: Click here for more episodes of KSAT Explains

In this episode of KSAT Explains, we took a closer look at this phenomenon underway across the United States and the recent surge of conspiracy theories. (Watch the full episode in the video player above.)

QAnon becomes mainstream

QAnon started with a simple post on an anonymous 4chan message board in 2017. It now has supporters from across the country.

“4chan is kind of a place where everyone’s anonymous. It’s like one of these free speech zones that just tolerates all sorts of hate speech and horrible kind of dirty memes and that kind of thing,” said Drew Harwell, Washington Post tech reporter. “At the time, back in 2017, it was sort of promising. It had this secret intelligence about Hillary Clinton being arrested for a lot of the same totally bogus claims that you had seen with Pizzagate and some of these other conspiracy theories.”

Those theories gained a national following that grew into what QAnon is today.

“QAnon on is a big bundle of sprawling conspiracy theories that are totally extreme and totally devoid of evidence, but what they say is that there’s this secret holy war being played out behind the scenes where there’s this cabal of satan worshiping, child trafficking, bad guys who also control the U.S. government, control the deep state, control the media, control the world,” said Harwell.

The sprawling conspiracy is now widespread. It’s being discussed on major social media platforms and in every day life.

“A lot of people who imagined a conspiracy theory think these are a bunch of lowlifes living in the basement, no social interaction, no job, that kind of thing. It’s a really easy stereotype to go to. It doesn’t seem to be true in this case. I’ve talked to men, women, college graduates, not college graduates, rural, urban. QAnon crosses all of those boundaries,” said Harwell.

In the video below, we look at QAnon’s impact on the presidential election, how tech companies were slow to react to its appeal and its growth out of the shadows of social media.

Rise in extremism culminates in U.S. Capitol attack

The U.S. Capitol siege in January shocked many people, but it was not a surprise to those who have been closely monitoring groups like QAnon for years.

QAnon is far from the only conspiracy theory surging. There’s been a growing trend towards extremism for years now.

“Extremism in U.S. politics and in our culture has been there for a long time,” said Peter Montgomery, senior fellow at People for the American Way. “What’s really different in the last several years has been the explosive power of social media to enable promoters of extremist ideology to find new recruits and to create communities of believers.”

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a report warning that radical right wing extremism was on the rise in the country and it could lead to violence.

“There was a flourishing of new right wing coalitions that happened right after President Obama’s election,” said Montgomery. “People were willing to partner with folks that they might otherwise have kept their distance from because they saw him as such a threat to their conservative ideals about how the government should run or about who should be running the government.”

Over the past decade, it’s become increasingly difficult for authorities to pinpoint where the real threats online are coming from.

“Conversations that occur online that include a threat of violence obviously far outweigh the actual use of violence,” said Sam Lichtenstein, a global security analyst for Stratfor, a Rane Company. “It’s the proverbial needle in a haystack problem where you have all of these very loud signals that are constantly going on, but to actually find a signal amidst that noise is much harder.”

In the wake of a rise in extremist activity and consequences from the past year, many people are wondering what causes someone to become radicalized.

“Whether it’s deindustrialisation of people losing jobs or it’s the increasing ethnic, racial and religious diversity in the country that some people find very threatening because they have a view that the real America is white, Christian America,” said Montgomery. “Any of those kind of things that change people’s sense of comfort or safety can be exploited by people who want to promote ideologies of certain kinds.”

“They are searching for something in their social life and that sense of belonging, that sense of meaning,” said Lichtenstein. “And they find that in a world of other people that can help explain a very complex society in seemingly simplistic ways and basically say you are on the right side, you’re fighting against the evil side and kind of break down what are otherwise incredibly complex phenomenon.”

In the video below, we examine the rise of extremist groups online, how they have recruited more followers and the fallout of these ideologies that led to violent attacks like the El Paso shooting to the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Social media censorship

Social media platforms have taken some action most notably after the riots at the Capitol.

They deleted certain accounts linked to false information, but it didn’t take long for people to argue the move was a violation of freedom of speech.

Most recently, a number of social media platforms banned former president Donald Trump’s and some of his allies after the insurrection at the Capitol.

The Pew Research Center said those media companies cited the belief that Trump’s posts violated their terms of use and that his rhetoric could possibly incite more violence.

As a liberal, I may have been relieved when they took away President Trump’s Twitter account at that particular moment,” said Aaron Delwiche, professor in the Dept. of Communication at Trinity University. “But Twitter could just as easily have been silencing somebody I agree with, so I really am uncomfortable with that precedent.”

Republican leaders like Florida gov. Ron Desantis said Silicon Valley tech companies are limiting the freedom of speech of conservative Americans. The Associated Press reported that some Florida lawmakers are now taking action against big tech.

These proposals range from forcing social media platforms to give users a months notice before their accounts are suspended or disabled to allowing consumers to sue if they feel they have been treated unfairly.

“On the one hand, you stop the spread of the information. That’s a good thing if it’s dangerous lies, but it also reinforces the narrative and the people who believe it. They say, ‘look, we’re onto the truth. It shows there’s a cabal out there that’s trying to silence us because they took away our Twitter accounts.’ It makes them martyrs and it kind of intensifies their feelings,” said Delwiche.

In the video below, we examine the debate over social media censorship and why purging the internet of bad information is not so straightforward.

How to battle misinformation

Bad information isn’t new, but many experts have noticed a growing trend in false claims being made that have become more widespread.

It’s usually centered around a major news event. As headlines about one topic or news event spread online, it is only a matter of time before that information is twisted into disinformation.

Battling that disinformation requires people to practice media literacy, which is being able to assess which news clips and stories we consume are trustworthy because it’s easier than ever for unreliable news stories to make their way into our social media feeds.

“You have to sort of feel the sense of responsibility that the information that you share could lead somebody to make a decision that could have really big consequences for their life,” said Tom Trewinnard, co-founder of FATHM, a company that KSAT partnered with in 2020 to create the Trust Index.

“Previously, you kind of had to search this stuff out,” said Mark Gifford, professor in the Writing Dept. at University of Texas at San Antonio. “If you wanted to find some weird stuff, you had to go on weird websites. You had to go on something awful dot com, you had to go in to kind of like the bowels of 4chan boards. Now this stuff that used to be on the periphery of the Internet has made its way into the largest social sites.”

Social media algorithms have also created what’s known as an echo chamber.

“If you’ve ever been to somebody’s house and you watch Netflix, you notice their Netflix looks nothing like yours. It’s a completely different set of choices that are presented,” said Renee Hobbs, director of the media education lab at the University of Rhode Island. “Being sensitive to that can really help us start to realize how our own choices are narrowing or shaping, creating those filter bubbles.”

In the video below, we examine what strategies can be used to battle disinformation, how to seek out trusted news sources and why this can be a polarizing topic among friends and family.

UPDATE: Texas will gain two congressional seats due to results from the 2020 census. This means for the next decade Texas will have 38 members (and votes) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Redistricting, the process of redrawing political boundaries for congressional and state legislative seats, is on the to-do list when the Texas Legislature convenes for a special session later this year.

Original story:

Redistricting is a complicated process that helps define the political landscape. The once-a-decade process is happening again this year.

The Texas Legislature will take up the task of redrawing the lines on our state’s congressional and legislative maps when they receive the results from the 2020 census.

SMART. IN-DEPTH. LOCAL: Click here for more episodes of KSAT Explains

These maps have repeatedly been challenged over the decades because of allegations of giving unfair advantages to certain political parties or voting groups.

In this episode of KSAT Explains, we examine how this process has become so contentious and dive into why this year’s process is expected to be different. (Watch the full episode in the video player above.)

What is redistricting

Redistricting is done every 10 years after new U.S. census figures are released. The entire process relies heavily on a state’s population and is vital to our representation in Washington, D.C.

“Redistricting has to do with the boundaries that are drawn for our election districts, so anything that we elect by district. It could be state representative, state senate, Congress, school board, city council,” said Nina Perales, VP of Litigation at Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “All of those districts get redrawn every 10 years after the census to make sure that there are roughly the same number of people from district to district.”

The census also determines how many congressional seats each state receives. It’s no surprise that Texas is expected to gain more seats as the population booms in the state.

“Some states that are not growing as fast as others are going to lose congressional seats and Texas is going to be the largest gainer,” said UTSA Assoc. Professor of political science Walter Wilson, Ph.D. “We’re going to get three new congressional seats by most projections, going from 36 to 39.”

Census numbers need to be finalized before maps can be redrawn and the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed those figures significantly, but the U.S. Census Bureau estimates Texas added more than 4 million more residents over the past decade, more than any other state.

We explain more of the redistricting process in the video below.

History of gerrymandering and how it works

Newly drawn maps can go through years of lawsuits and legal challenges.

One of the primary reasons the map-making process has become so contentious is because of a controversial tactic called gerrymandering.

For decades, political parties in power have drawn district lines to favor their parties. The same can be expected when Texas state legislators draw the next set of maps. It’s why these maps are often designed in different shapes and sizes.

With more demographic information available, the line-drawing has become more methodical.

“Gerrymandering is a term that people came up with to describe when district lines are drawn in a way that somebody considers to be unfair,” said Perales.

The term historically comes from Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry, an 18th and 19th century politician and diplomat.

Gerry was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the fifth vice president of the United States. But he is perhaps best known for signing an infamous redistricting bill.

Gerry belonged to the Democratic Republicans, the party that controlled Massachusetts’ state legislature at the time. Lawmakers drew the state’s senate districts to benefit the party.

During that time period, districts followed county boundaries to draw the lines, according to the Smithsonian.

This new senate map was filled with random shapes and it drew opposition from the Federalist Party, but Gerry signed the redistricting bill in February of 1812.

A satirical cartoon featured in the Boston Gazette depicted the districts into a mystical-looking animal which was dubbed “The Gerrymander” and the term stuck over centuries.

How exactly is a district drawn unfairly and how does gerrymandering work? We demonstrate the process using Tetris in the video below.

Preclearance protections lost

For nearly five decades after the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, Texas was one of a handful of states that was covered by what’s called preclearance.

“Preclearance is a very powerful piece of legislation that said that states like Texas and other states that have histories of racial discrimination basically have to get the permission of the federal government before any changes can be made to election laws,” said Scott Braddock, Editor of QuorumReport.com.

Texas has has a deep history of voter suppression through the redistricting process. With preclearance in place, there were safeguards against lawmakers drawing maps that would suppress or disenfranchise Latino and Black voters across the state, and yet, it did not stop lawmakers from trying.

Texas has not made it through a single decade — since preclearance has been required — without a federal court ruling saying it violated federal laws.

That was the case again in 2011. Those maps were immediately challenged by voting rights groups who claimed several districts with Latino and Black voters were racially gerrymandered. What followed was a decade-long legal battle.

Civil rights experts say one reason Texas lawmakers have racially gerrymandered is to dilute the impact of the booming Latino population in Texas.

“Since Texas started redistricting in the 1970s, in every single round, the courts or the Justice Department have found that Texas discriminated against Latino voters,” said Perales. “That’s primarily because in Texas, Latino voters have been a growing population and Texas has had some hesitancy about creating districts to reflect that growth fairly. But it could also be another racial group that experiences discrimination and redistricting like African-Americans or Asian-Americans, which we had examples of discrimination there in the last redistricting round, as well as Latinos.”

The landscape of Texas redistricting is expected to shift dramatically this year because of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2013 that struck down preclearance protections.

This means that for the first time since 1965, Texas lawmakers will not have to get federal approval to draw the boundaries. It’s already setting up to be another years-long fight in the courts.

“To not have those protections on the front end means that those Democrats in the legislature and those representing minority communities in the legislature, which, of course will be disproportionately Democrats, they have to do their due diligence on the front end in the legislative process,” said Braddock. “They can’t depend on Washington anymore on the front end of this.”

The video below breaks down more of what’s expected after the loss of preclearance protections and another court decision that is expected to have a significant impact on Texas redistricting.

For more information on how you can participate in the state’s public input sessions, click here.

San Antonio is a city steeped in history. From the Missions to the Majestic Theater, Samuel Maverick to Henry Cisneros, there are countless stories of people, places and events that have helped bring us to where we are today.

SMART. IN-DEPTH. LOCAL: Click here for more episodes of KSAT Explains

But for decades, much of our city’s Black history has not been told. In this episode of KSAT Explains, we look at why those elements of our city’s past are so important — no matter your background — and how it could influence the future.

(Watch the full episode in the video player above. Check out our podcast on why we chose to expand on this topic below.)

Hidden in plain sight

It’s no secret that for decades, the success of the city’s Black leaders and historical figures have not been taught properly in schools.

We are all familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and the basics of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, but there is a treasure trove of little known Black history in San Antonio.

“If you’re not teaching the importance of African-American contributions, Hispanic contributions, women contributions to the general audience of public school students and university students, then you’re not giving them a range of dignity that should be afforded to all of humanity,” said Mario Marcel Salas, local historian and former UTSA political science professor and city councilman.

From the arrival of the Canary Islanders in what is now San Antonio, to the woman who helped establish a historically Black college on the East Side, the success stories are hidden in plain sight.

We take a closer look at these stories and how the Black community consistently played crucial roles in local and state history.

Representation matters

There are efforts being made statewide to unearth more of the Black history that helped shape Texas and the Alamo City.

Tuesdae Knight, President and CEO of San Antonio for Growth on the East Side or SAGE, points to the importance of having representation when discussing Black history.

“A lot of the mainstream media, a lot of movies, art, no matter what it can be, you often don’t see yourself portrayed in those,” Knight said.

The San Antonio African-American Community Archive and Museum, or SAACAM, is working to change that in our city.

“We have to be mindful of the fact that this country is made up of many different ethnicities. And the country is great because of the contributions of so many different types of people,” said Kenneth Stewart, SAACAM archivist.

We look at why this effort is not just for Black San Antonians, but important for our entire community.

How East Side became home to San Antonio’s Black community

The East Side’s history dates back centuries. Historians say that in the 1700s, nearly a third of the first Spanish settlers from the Canary Islands were Black. But they were not treated as equals in the eyes of the Spaniards, and they were separated by racial lineage.

“The San Antonio River was the first line of segregation in the history of San Antonio,” said Salas. “If you are dark-skinned, you are Native American, you are dark-skinned Mexican, you had to live on the eastern side of the river.”

During Reconstruction in the 1860s, segregation forced many Black San Antonians to create their own communities. Many historic East Side churches also became safe havens as racial tensions in the south were high.

“After slavery is over and you look for leaders it’s the church that becomes that space that can bring people together,” said Dr. Carey Latimore, Assoc. Professor of History at Trinity University. “And so many of the leaders, the first political leaders were were ministers or deacons because these are people that have the ability to read, people who had the ability to write. They were literate. They were in a position where they had the authority to speak.”

The 1920s to the 1960s was a pivotal era in the evolution of the East Side, from the founding of San Antonio’s NAACP chapter, to the birth of many leaders in the Black community. We examine this time period and it’s place in San Antonio’s history.

The Black Lives Matter movement in context of history

When it comes to Black history, we are living in a moment right now that history will likely remember.

The Black Lives Matter movement has been around for years, but a nationwide spotlight was placed on the push for equality last summer after George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and a series of incidents in which Black people were killed by law enforcement.

There have been marches and protests, but when we look back at this moment years from now, what role will could it play in the larger civil rights story?

Editor’s note: The Dec. 14 KSAT Explains livestream features portions of a previously aired episode. You can watch it live at 7 p.m. in the video player above. After Tuesday night’s livestream, you will be able to watch the original version on demand.

When you think of San Antonio sports, you no doubt think of the Spurs. With five NBA championships and decades of competitive basketball, the Spurs have had success many other NBA cities envy.

But for years city leaders have tried to attract another successful major professional sports team to San Antonio with little to no luck.

SMART. IN-DEPTH. LOCAL: Click here for more episodes of KSAT Explains

San Antonio is the seventh most populous city in the U.S. and growing every year, so why can’t the city attract another major franchise?

That is the topic of this week’s episode of KSAT Explains. We dive into San Antonio’s history with professional sports, its future and the debate over using public funding to build new stadiums or arenas for pro sports franchises.

(Watch the full episode in the video player above. Check out our podcast taking you behind the scenes of this episode below.)

San Antonio’s pro sports history

Every few years, there is talk about the possibility of getting another major professional sports team to come to San Antonio. But whether it’s the NFL, Major League Soccer or Major League Baseball, our city has simply struck out.

Our city is filled with dashed hopes and near misses, including nearly a dozen failed football franchises in San Antonio’s history.

In the mid 1980s, the Gunslingers offered some hope, but the USFL folded.

“They had the right approach. They had a cap on salaries. They had a TV contract with ESPN, which was a startup company back then,” said KSAT Sports Director Greg Simmons. “What could possibly go wrong? Then Donald Trump paid Herschel Walker a $5 million dollar personal services contract to get around the cap. And soon after that, the Los Angeles Express paid Steve Young a $41 million contract and the league’s wheels just started to wobble and eventually fell off.”

In the mid 2000s, the city showcased itself to the NFL when the New Orleans Saints were forced to relocate after Hurricane Katrina.

Despite near sellout crowds, an NFL team never relocated to San Antonio and the city has been used as a pawn or leverage ever since to get stadiums built in other cities.

“When the Saints were here, they were playing as a New Orleans Saints, but it was San Antonio fans packing the Alamodome and you could feel it,” said Simmons. “It was like a college atmosphere. That’s how much they wanted it here.”

Mayor Ron Nirenberg still feels San Antonio is positioned to get an NFL franchise in the future.

“I said last year or the year before, I think San Antonio was an NFL city within 10 years and I still stand by that,” said Nirenberg. “That is because of the evolution that’s happening within the National Football League, the fact that it too is becoming an international league, particularly with its sights on Latin America.”

The latest misstep with pro football was the San Antonio Commanders. The Alliance of American Football folded in less than a season, but fans supported the team.

“I think we’re sold short, not by anybody here. The people that run this city, that are the movers and shakers so to speak, they know the potential this city has,” said Simmons. “But there is still that part out there that say the Alamo is covered by dust roads around it and that sort of thing. And they don’t realize what a modern city this has become.”

We take a closer look at San Antonio’s pro sports history below.

Future of pro sports in San Antonio

How well positioned is San Antonio to get another professional sports team? There are several factors at play. It’s much more than whether there are enough fans to go to the games.

It’s the companies located here, the kinds of jobs in San Antonio and income levels. Then there is the question of the pro teams that already exist in Texas and whether they stand in San Antonio’s way.

Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert believes more needs to be done to help existing local businesses thrive.

“We don’t do enough to help our mid-sized businesses go from a million dollars to $10 million in revenue or a $10 million company to a $100 million company,” Calvert said. “Those are the folks who buy the corporate box seats. That’s really the gravy.”

Nirenberg and Calvert both feel San Antonio’s work force needs to be improved.

“One of the reasons why I’m very optimistic about the pro sports future for San Antonio is that we are doing it the right way. We are investing in the people of San Antonio and access to economic mobility,” said Nirenberg.

“We can’t just focus our our efforts just on the youth,” said Calvert. “We have to do something about where adults are in their literacy level and bring it up, and have them make higher wages after getting them reading and into job training programs.”

Watch more on the future of pro sports in the video below.

Do new stadiums spur economic development?

This has been an ongoing debate for cities across the country. Construction for the SBC Center, now the AT&T Center, was completed in 2002.

The new arena brought promise of new development on the East Side, but that has largely not been done.

“For decades, it has been assumed that if you plop a an arena down in the middle of an area, the area will blossom. And that’s simply not true unless you have the corresponding investments,” said Nirenberg.

A review by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that most economists still oppose public subsidies for stadiums.

Here at home, Bexar County tax payers covered most of the $193 million in total construction costs for the AT&T Center while Spurs Sports and Entertainment covered $46.5 million, according to reporting by the San Antonio Express-News.

In 2014, Bexar County Commissioners Court approved $101.5 million to renovate the county-owned arena. The renovations included new seating, an expanded concession area and a new high-definition scoreboard.

The project was again largely funded by taxpayers. SSE contributed $16.5 million and agreed to cover any additional costs. The remaining $85 million was covered by the Bexar County Visitors Tax. The arena is also home to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and hosts concerts.

“You’re seeing a significant push back and the use of public resources for the building of stadiums, and that’s something that is on the minds of a lot of league owners,” said Nirenberg.

“Even if you take a completely depressed area where there’s virtually nothing going on at that part of town and you build this massive, beautiful stadium and then you build businesses around it or restaurants. There better be something other than the sports franchise bringing people to that area,” said UTSA economics professor Les Doss.

Nirenberg said San Antonio did not prioritize investments around the AT&T Center for years, but says in the past decade, the city has turned around on this.

“That’s where the Spurs have been very beneficial. We just launched an initiative last year with with Spurs give that is investing in park infrastructure, particularly around the East Side,” said Nirenberg.

But one major plan to invest on the East Side, the River East Project, has been slow going.

“Things like the museum and the missionaries, they took a decade of development and still try and get Congress deals to pay off the bills,” said Calvert.

And while Doss and many other economists say there aren’t financial benefits from publicly funding stadiums, it doesn’t mean it’s always a bad idea because it helps sell a city.

“You travel around the world and you say you’re from San Antonio. They only ask you two questions. Have you been to Alamodome and are you a Spurs fan,” Doss said.

We break down more of the pros and cons of stadium development below.

Future of the Spurs in San Antonio

The Spurs are part of the fabric of San Antonio and many fans have silver and black in their DNA.

But there have been some business decisions in recent years that have raised some concern about the franchise’s future in the Alamo City and the East Side.

Spurs Sports and Entertainment sold its WNBA franchise and then minor league hockey franchise, the Rampage.

In April, SSE also reportedly sold a minority stake in the franchise, but owner Peter J. Holt has continually said they are committed to San Antonio.

We break down the Spurs future in San Antonio and whether they would ever move out of the East Side to an arena further north.

Editor’s Note: This story was first published in 2021.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s tenacious fight for equality and civil rights forever changed our nation.

To celebrate and commemorate his life, we asked local leaders to share their reflections on Dr. King’s legacy and how it helped transform their lives.

Barbara Gervin-Hawkins

State Representative, District 120 (San Antonio)

“Dr. King’s memory serves as the conscious of America. Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day is both a reflection of the dark past perpetrated on African Americans as well as hope for the future.

Dr. King’s dream of a fair and just society establishes the blueprint for America as we seek equity and justice for all. Dr. King’s legacy is epitomized by his power to keep the dream alive, understanding the value of peaceful protesting, artfully articulating the message, as well as his ability to promenade through the hearts of our society while keeping the faith for a better tomorrow.

My life has been directly impacted by Dr. King’s plight. As a living testament and direct receipt of his work, I was able to live where I wanted, sit and eat in a restaurant, go to college, obtain better jobs and serve as a State Legislator. Without Dr. King’s hard work and human sacrifice, my life would have been immensely different.

In this moment I’m also reminded of the many others who sacrificed and put their lives on the line during the Civil Rights Movement from the freedom riders, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, John Lewis and many, many more.

Let us also remember the journey is still ongoing, and the justice we seek will only be achieved through the same principles and diligence as Dr. King. Let us emulate his greatness and take action in our own lives by staying civically and politically engaged with all levels of government. Personally, I plan on using my platform in the Texas Legislature to promote equality for all Texans in any manner available to me.”

Ron Nirenberg

Mayor of San Antonio

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been a great inspiration to many people across the world, and I am one of them.

Dr. King’s vision was that every person has a role in achieving a society that is equal and more just and that ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends bent toward justice.’

Let us all be people who through words and deeds strive to bend the arc toward justice. His vision and legacy are strongly embraced by our community as demonstrated by the size our annual MLK March, and his dream looms over the city’s work on equity, affordable housing and so much more.”

Dr. Carey H. Latimore IV

Associate Professor and Chair, Department of History @at Trinity University

“MLK’s legacy has impacted my life tremendously. As a professor, I appreciate his commitment to learning. He was a student of the world who believed that leadership requires study and engagement with the world.

King’s devotion to non-violence was not something that he just adopted. It was deeper than just a feeling. He came to it through rigorous study, analysis and contemplation.

As I think about my life, particularly as a person of faith, MLK’s embrace of the beloved community continues to inspire me. My faith informs me to ‘love my neighbor as myself.’ For me, that is the beloved community King spoke about. King’s life demonstrates the ways faith can be a powerful voice for reconciliation. Faith should also encourage us to speak on behalf of those who have little or no voice.

In a world so terribly divided, MLK’s life calls all of us, particularly people of faith, to be less judgmental and hateful. His life confirms the benefits of being more tolerant and considerate. MLK’s optimism shows us that if we work together we can help to heal the deep-seated wounds in our nation and world.”

Demonte Alexander

Director of External Affairs & Special Projects at Bexar Facts

“When I think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, I cannot help but think of the fear, anger, loneliness, and pain he must have felt during his fight for civil rights and social justice. Under immense pressure and threats on his life, he stood firm in his faith and remained determined and focused on his purpose in advocating for social justice and equality.

Today, our nation is just as divided and ideologically polarized as it was in the 1960s. We live in a time where falsehoods have replaced facts and cravings for power, and unchecked privileges overshadow our communities’ needs. Like King, we must continue to organize our communities and stay focused and firm in our resolve. We must continue to find purpose in our work and demand justice, equity and equality for all unapologetically.”

Jessie Degollado

KSAT12 reporter

“Growing up in Laredo in the 60s, although Latinos were the majority, I realized not all Mexican-Americans were treated fairly — having been an avid follower of the news, even as a teenager, and through accounts I’d heard from my parents.

I believed Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for equality was for African Americans, certainly, but also, all minorities.

He opened my eyes to what was possible for me and so many others who were thought of as ‘lesser than’ because of the color of our skin.

Sadly, during my youth, there were three assassinations: John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, all heroes of mine.

Yet it was Martin Luther King Jr. who inspired me the most. He gave me hope times were indeed changing for the better. Segregation would not stand, although the struggle to protect our civil rights goes on.”

Kathryn Brown

Bexar County Precinct 4 Constable

“Dr. Martin Luther King’s movement for racial equality created a platform for my race to be judged by the content of our character versus the pigmentation of our skin.

His crusade for justice enabled our very first, Bexar County African American Constable, Matthew Nite Marshall, to showcase his leadership capabilities.

My heart carries a profound appreciation for the sacrifice that Dr. King withstood for minorities and with great honor, I am the first elected African American Female Constable here in precinct 4.”

Read more like this on our Voices Of A Nation page.

Front pages show the evolution of the MLK March in San AntonioWhat to know about San Antonio’s 2021 virtual Martin Luther King Jr. MarchBernal Middle School student wins citywide MLK art contest; art to be used in 2021 virtual march

A lot of us were happy to leave the year 2020 behind, but a brand new year doesn’t mean a clean slate when it comes to COVID-19.

The pandemic that plagued us last year has followed us into the new one and the stress has left very few people unscathed.

SMART. IN-DEPTH. LOCAL: Click here for more episodes of KSAT Explains

In this week’s episode of KSAT Explains, we examine how new challenges over the past year to our daily lives are taking a toll on our mental well being.

We also explore ways to take care of your physical and mental health as stress continues to mount and existing challenges become even more difficult. (You can watch the complete episode in the video player above.)

“Toxic stress” and the mental health crisis

Staying away from friends and family. Wearing a mask when in public. Virtual learning for kids.

These are all things we’ve had to do to physically stay safe during the pandemic. While these actions are necessary for the greater good, they have had a significant impact on our mental health.

The Kaiser Family Foundation reported that in July, 53 percent of adults had been negatively impacted by worry and stress over the coronavirus. That was up from 32 percent in March.

The National Alliance of Mental Illness has seen a 65 percent increase in calls and emails since the pandemic started.

“We’re all experiencing stress to the point of toxic stress. That’s chronic stress that doesn’t let up,” said Terri Mabrito, Executive Dir. of NAMI San Antonio.

And for many people who had existing mental health issues, the pandemic has been more taxing. Prior to the pandemic, nearly one in five U.S. adults reported having a mental illness in the past year.

“Precisely the thing that protects us from a pandemic, which is isolating yourself. That is precisely the thing that is not helpful and healthy for a person that is struggling with a mental health condition. It’s that perfect storm that’s happening right now,” said Mabrito.

In the video below, we look at how people with chronic mental conditions have lost their outlets to cope with stress and why many experts believe those feelings of isolation and being overwhelmed will be hard to overcome.

“There’s going to be this wave we think for increased mental health problems. And sadly, very likely increased deaths by suicide. So we have a long way to go,” said Mabrito.

Identifying warning signs

There are several warning signs when it comes to mental health problems and burnout. Some of the signs are the simplest things: not eating right, not getting exercise or fresh air and not getting enough sleep which is critical to your mental well being.

Another key warning sign is self-isolation and cutting off communication with family and friends.

The CDC provides several options and healthy ways to cope with stress including:

Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including those on social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting.Take care of your body. Take deep breaths and stretch daily.Try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, exercise regularly and get plenty of sleep.Connect with your community or faith-based organizations. While social distancing measures are in place, consider connecting online, through social media, or by phone or mail.

For help in the San Antonio area, you can visit nami-sat.org or call the 24-hour Adult Crisis Care Clinic Outreach team at 210-223-7233, or text NAMI to 741-741. If you or someone you know needs help now, call 911.

COVID patients with PTSD

Many COVID survivors are dealing with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The fear of contracting the virus again. The fear that loved ones will get sick. The isolation they experienced when they were in the hospital are all factors contributing to their PTSD.

KSAT Explains shares how a local man is tackling the disorder by trying to help others.

Impact of COVID on mental health of children

For parents and caregivers, perhaps the next biggest question is how is this affecting children and what are the long term effects?

Children have been taken from their social circles, normal routines and missed out on milestone celebrations like a birthday party. But there are things you can do with your child now to help them weather this storm. One of those options includes a term known as “nurture science.”

It is a unique research program from Columbia University that is rooted in a new, evidence-based understanding of the critical role emotional connection plays in healthy child development. We take a closer look in the video below.

Coping without substances

The anxiety children and adults are feeling is understandable, but how people choose to deal with that is key. There is concern about what happens if people try to manage these feelings in unhealthy ways.

San Antonio Rise Recovery helps teens, young adults and families overcome the effects of drugs and alcohol. Rise Recovery CEO Evita Morin says she’s seen some troubling trends over the past several months.

“What we’ve seen is similar to what the education field has seen, which is that kids are very disconnected,” said Morin. “As a result of that, we see a lot of increases in depression and anxiety. We’re seeing a lot of struggling with sobriety and a lot of relapse.”

While data is still being gathered, a report released over the summer by the CDC shows 13 percent of U.S. adults had started or increased substance use. We also take a closer look how to cope with COVID pandemic without substances.

For substance-related help in the San Antonio area call 210-927-4644. Or you can visit alphahome.org or riserecovery.org.

Silver Linings

Despite the bad, there have been some positive things to come out of the pandemic whether it’s reconnecting with loved ones in a different way or possibly opening new lines of communication with family. We wanted to share a few of those stories in the video below.