Friday Night Rights: South Texas High-school Football and the Struggle for Equality

Abstract

American football has been a staple of cultural life in Texas since the early twentieth century. While major university and professional squads have received the bulk of media attention and have emerged as global ‘brands’, the bulk of participation and spectatorship occurs in small towns at the upper-secondary or ‘high-school’ level. South Texas, a vast area with a large Mexican-American population, has one of the most vibrant scenes. This article gives a short history of high-school football, public culture and race relations in the region. It begins with a discussion of the role of the University Interscholastic League (UIL) and its director Roy Bedicheck in shaping the ethos and ethno-racial dynamics of interscholastic competition in Texas. The article then discusses how within the context of inferior and segregated schooling and extreme prejudice towards Mexican-Americans, Everardo ‘E.C.’ Lerma broke through ethno-racial barriers and opened the game to all.