Historically, Mexican-Americans have generally been considered “white” in Texas; they served in white units of the segregated military, including the National Guard, and were allowed, during the Jim Crow years, to marry white (but not black) partners. In the early ’40s, the Texas Legislature even passed a “Caucasian Race Resolution,” which affirmed their status as [...]
[7 May 2010]
Every time immigration debates pop up, I think about how we’ve treated previous waves of immigrants. Each successive wave of newcomers was first viewed with suspicion and hostility. That suspicion and hostility eventually gives way to some degree of assimilation into whiteness. ‘The Beige and the Black’: Segregation in Marriage Twelve years ago, the New [...]
[1 May 2010]
All true, but mean-spirited small-mindedness is part of our tradition, which brings us to Benjamin Franklin. In 1753, he called the German immigrants flocking to Pennsylvania “generally the most stupid sort of their own nation” and warned: “They will soon outnumber us (and we) will not, in my opinion, be able to preserve our language, [...]
[1 May 2010]
The reality is that America has a long history of welcoming immigrants who will never be able to check that white box on the census, and unfortunately that means America also has a long history of discrimination against those people regardless of their status in the country. So says Christian Lander, white Canadian American and [...]
[30 Apr 2010]
“Are Lebanese white people?” we asked the 71-year-old gentleman who considered himself white. “Yes,” he said, “although they’re real dark.” How about Italian Catholics; are they white? Sure. And Jews? Yes. What about the Chinese? “Yes,” he said, “they go to the white schools.” And Mexicans? “They’re becoming more white,” he said. “More of them [...]
[29 Dec 2009]