Recovering history, constructing race : the Indian, black, and white roots of Mexican Americans /

Menchaca (anthropology, Univ. of Texas) makes an important contribution to the study of the Mexican American experience in this illumination of a subject that has been ignored for too long. At the beginning of the book, a poignant description of Menchaca's mother's refusal to accept the African roots of her family illustrates Mexican Americans' ambivalence toward their own racial history. The indigenous roots of Mexican Americans have always been known and embraced, but few have understood or accepted the African influences. Menchaca does a superb job of providing historical evidence not only for her description of African influences, but also for her discussion of race itself in colonial Mexico and the early racial issues that Mexican Americans had with Anglo Americans. History often gives a false impression that the American Southwest was colonized only by Spanish immigrants from Spain. This work dispels that myth by showing the contribution of mixed-race people in the process of colonization. Anyone who is interested in the early history of the Mexican American people will find this book fascinating. All levels and collections. R. S. Guerra University of Texas--Pan American

This volume is an examination of the history of Mexicans in the territory of the present-day United States, emphasizing the role of legal systems in restricting racial groups and establishing a second-class political, economic, and social level for the Mexican American minority population. Using the theoretical framework developed by Michael Omi and Howard Winant in Racial Formation in the United States, Menchaca (anthropology, Univ. of Texas, Austin) suggests that the dominant white populations in colonial Spanish America, independent Mexico, and the United States have used the rule of law to discriminate against those descended from African and Indian populations. One significant contribution of the book is an attempt to examine the mostly forgotten role of Mexicans of African descent in the Mexican American population of the United States. The author's focus on this population is important if overemphasized. This volume will be of interest to academic libraries and public libraries with Latino collections. Mark L. Grover, Brigham Young Univ. Lib., Provo, UT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.