Activists Claim Phil Collins' Battle of the Alamo Memorabilia Props Up White Leaders over Latino, Black Battlers

There is a new Battle for the Alamo as a debate rages over the presentation of the pivotal event in the Texas Revolution ahead of the opening of a museum in its honor. One activist is lashing out at English singer Phil Collins, claiming the museum could turn into “an expensive palace glorifying the Alamo myth” focused on only white leaders of the battle.

In 2014, Genesis front man Phil Collins — who has been a Battle for the Alamo aficionado for years — donated hundreds of Alamo-related artifacts to Texas, under the condition that the Lone Stat State open a museum by 2021, where the artifacts will be displayed.

Texas agreed, and in August, the state started to break ground on a $20 million exhibition hall and collections building.

But Texans are now debating on whether the museum will end up focusing on celebrating a group of white leaders, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Local activists like George Cisneros and Ramon Vasquez say the Alamo museum should explore more of the contributions of Texans with Mexican descent — the Tejanos — as well as Native Americans and black indentured and enslaved people, the report adds.

Cisneros told the newspaper that he wants the fort’s narrative to be re-examined, adding that he worries the museum will keep the white fighters at the center, ignoring the Tejanos who fought alongside them.

The state’s Republican lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, says he is open to broadening the museum, as long as the focus remains on the battle itself, and its leaders, like Davy Crockett, reports the Wall Street Journal.

But local activist do not appear satisfied, with Cisneros reportedly telling the Alamo Citizens Advisory Committee — which is consulting on the museum’s presentation — that he fears the museum will be “an expensive palace glorifying the Alamo myth.”

The nonprofit Alamo Trust’s executive director Kate Rogers, however, told the Wall Street Journal that Collins’ collection — which includes everything from excavated musket balls to documents signed by Davy Crockett — is a catalyst to “tell a more robust story” about the Alamo.

Rogers added that the Alamo Trust plans on telling a story that will even stretch long before and after the battle itself. The museum will also highlight others connected to the site, including the Tejanos, indigenous people, and Franciscan friars, she said.

Meanwhile, the Alamo’s historians say they’ll need to hire independent provenance researchers to carefully study the ownership histories of Collins’ pieces in order to filter out possible forgeries or misattributions.

Rogers says that if telling a straightforward story about the Alamo requires debunking legends — such as the story of fort commander Lt. Col. William Barret Travis using his sword to draw a line in the sand when seeking volunteers to fight to the death at the Alamo — then so be it.

If the “evidence shows it didn’t happen, we’ll address how the story became part of popular culture — we’ll unpack it,” Rogers said.

Collins has reportedly been obsessed with the Battle of the Alamo since childhood, and in 2006, a psychic told the musician that he is the reincarnation of Alamo soldier John W Smith, who avoided the battle and went on to become the first mayor of San Antonio, according to a report by the Times.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.