The Mexican Outsiders: A Community History of Marginalization and Discrimination in California

by Martha Menchaca

Book Overview

People of Mexican descent and Anglo Americans have lived together in the U.S. Southwest for over a hundred years, yet relations between them remain strained, as shown by recent controversies over social services for undocumented aliens in California. In this study, covering the Spanish colonial period to the present day, Martha Menchaca delves deeply into interethnic relations in Santa Paula, California, to document how the residential, social,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0292751745
• ISBN13: 9780292751743
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Length: 270 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Menchaca as college text

I recently read The Mexican Outsiders for a class @ Portland State University and found it to be a real eye-opener for this suburban white-boy. Menchaca uses legal records, historical documents, newspapers and interviews to paint a picture of Santa Paula, California that spans more than a century of abuse and exploitation. I found myself outraged at the human capacity for selfishness. This book is well written with a relatively linear chronology that clearly introduces Menchaca's theories and ties them up neatly in the end, all the while telling a story that I discovered was imortant to me. My only criticism: At times it seems that Menchaca's shared history with Santa Paula gets mixed with her research to the point that she appears biased. It is understandable, but it makes this study feel less academic. Required reading for folks that think they understand Mexican immigration in the U.S.