Judas At The Jockey Club Summary

Mythli Veerasurla

HIST 213

Dr. Balloffet

10.09.2017

Judas at the Jockey Club: Porfirian Mexico Judas at the Jockey Club, written by William H. Beezley, is used as a tool for those observing Mexico’s history during the Porfirian Era. This supplemental text addresses the social and political issues that were prominent during the Porfirian Era under the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz; whose goal was to lead the modernization of Mexico. Porfirio Diaz was the president of Mexico in 1876; he made a false promise to resign in the Creelman interview in 1908 but did not officially resign until 1911. Beezley displays an analysis of the segregation between the common people and how they attempted to deal with an oppressive government. Judas at the Jockey Club is important to this Latin American course because of the extensive background Beezley provides to shed light on the tensions that allowed the socioeconomic gap to exist.

Beezley refers to technology, sports, and traditions to display the gap between la de arriba/upper and la de abajo/lower class that continued to grow. Beezley provides examples of how sports and leisure activities such as bicycling

The figures consisted a mulatto, an individual mixed with black and white (particularly one of each parent) covered with meats and coins, a butter vendor also covered with the meats and coins, a musician playing the guitar covered with coins, and a homeless beggar covered with coins, each figure represented something specific. The mulatto was considered a lucky symbol in Mexico but were considered a betrayal to the elites while the butter vendor symbolized the common, everyday way of life that the elite frowned upon. The coins and pesos resembled the businessmen of Mexico and carried a positive and negative connotation. Tossing them to children for good luck and then tossing them to the crowd to watch them scramble for the