Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Lure of Whiteness and the Politics of "Otherness": Mexican American Racial Identity

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

This dissertation takes a constructed ethnicity approach, examining the ways in which Mexican Americans label themselves both historically and currently. Within this framework, racial or ethnic identity is viewed as a process whereby identity is negotiated both through external forces and more social psychological factors. A complex set of factors influence the construction of ethnic or racial identities and how groups choose to call on shared history and culture. Because of the complexity of the racial/ethnic identification process, I rely on multiple methodologies including historical analysis of archival resources, census data analysis, and in-depth interviews to help garner a more thorough understanding of the racial identification of Mexican Americans. I examine historical documents pertaining to the 1930 Census and the development of the Mexican racial classification, as well as Mexican American lobbying efforts against this racialized identity in favor of political recognition as "White." I then explore contemporary Mexican American identity as reflected in current racial self-reporting on the U.S. Census and in the reporting patterns for children in households with Mexican-Anglo intermarriages. Finally, I conduct sixty in-depth interviews with a strategic sample of Mexican Americans in five Texas cities, investigating how such factors as socioeconomic status, racial composition of neighborhood, proximity to the US-Mexico border, social networks, nativity/migration history, Spanish language fluency, physical appearance, and political attitudes affect their own racial and ethnic identifications and their labeling choices for their children. This project contributes to scholarship on Latino identity, as well as addresses broader issues of the importance of multiple variables in the development and salience of racial and ethnic identities not only in the US Census, but in the broader US society.