Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity

by David G. Gutiérrez

Book Overview

Covering more than one hundred years of American history, Walls and Mirrors examines the ways that continuous immigration from Mexico transformed--and continues to shape--the political, social, and cultural life of the American Southwest. Taking a fresh approach to one of the most divisive political issues of our time, David Guti rrez explores the ways that nearly a century of steady immigration from Mexico has shaped ethnic politics in California...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520202198
• ISBN13: 9780520202191
• Release Date: March 1995
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 321 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Well written, hugely informative

David Gutierrez' book is one of the most informative, thorough books available on the Chicano experince in the US Southwest. This book is not just for activists or chicano studies scholars. If you have ever wondered why immigration policy exists in its present form, or why racial tensions still persist within the southwest, read this book. It is very densly packed with valuable infomation and excellent sources, and it presents such information in a fairly unbiased manner. This is an impressive work of research that should be in the library of every house in America.

One of the most important books in Chicano history

This book truly marks a turning point in Chicano history by interrogating the similarities and differences between Mexican nationals and Mexican Americans in the U.S. The metaphor of Walls and Mirrors sums up the relationship between immigrants and longtime U.S. residents: they shared cultural, labor/class, and daily social ties, but political and civic goals divided them. This book, then, is a political history that examines the importance of both legal and cultural citizenship in Texas and California communities. It looks at the impact of the Cold War, agribusiness labor needs, and civil rights struggles on debates over immigration at both the local and national level.

Excellent book by David Gutiérrez

David Gutiérrez has written a unique and fantastic book on the Chicano experience in America. Fantastic read, and as a U-M Wolverine who has heard David Gutiérrez speak in person, I can say it is worthy of the praise it has received. The man knows his material!