Every so often, a program comes along that reminds me of why public television is so important to me.
Case in point: tonight's "The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández" – the story of an innocent Mexican-American high school student who was caught in the crossfire of the war on drugs at the Texas-Mexico border. Before I tuned in, I knew that the producers of P.O.V. would deliver an intensely personal story about one family's loss. I also trusted them to provide the depth and context I needed to think critically about the issues presented in the film.
What I didn't expect was that my previously held perceptions of the U.S. border would be so deeply challenged. That the borderline on a U.S. map – so clear and straight in my mind's eye – is, in practice, many things to many people.
To a border patrol agent in a place like Tijuana, it might mean a sea of paperwork. To a politician, it might be an opportunity to make a patriotic statement.
To Esequiel Hernández and the people of Redford, Texas, the Rio Grande was a meandering stream, more important as a source of irrigation water than as a dividing line. In days past, members of the same family lived on both sides, trading supplies and sharing lives. To Esequiel Hernández, the border wasn't a political issue: It was his home.
To the four Marines who were sent to Redford in 1997 to watch for drug smugglers, it was the site of a mission, the front line in the war on drugs. They were told that 75% of the population of Redford was engaged in the illegal trade – an entirely made-up statistic.
What happens when their paths crossed with Esequiel's is the subject of this documentary. What meaning does the border have to you? And to what extent – and at what cost – should it be guarded?
Watch "The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández" tonight at 10 and help me grapple with these issues.
-Elizabeth Mayer, RMPBS
