Racial Uncertainties: Mexican Americans, School Desegregation, and the Making of Race in Post–Civil Rights America

by Danielle R. Olden

Mexican American racial uncertainty has long been a defining feature of US racial understanding. Were Mexican Americans white or nonwhite? In the post–civil rights period, this racial uncertainty took on new meaning as the courts, the federal bureaucracy, local school officials, parents, and community activists sought to turn Mexican American racial identity to their own benefit. This is the first book that examines the pivotal 1973 Keyes v. Denver School District No. 1 Supreme Court ruling, and how debates over Mexican Americans' racial position helped reinforce the emerging tropes of colorblind racial ideology.

In the post–civil rights era, when overt racism was no longer socially acceptable, anti-integration voices utilized the indeterminacy of Mexican American racial identity to frame their opposition to school desegregation. That some Mexican Americans adopted these tropes only reinforced the strength of colorblindness in battles against civil rights in the 1970s. 

Genres: History

297 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2022

Reviews

[Kylie Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating discussion about the complexities of race and racial identity, especially as it pertains to Mexican Americans. I feel like Olden did a great job clearly explaining these nuances. My main complaint is the fact that she did not organize the book chronologically but rather thematically. This made it feel like it was jumping back and forth and also repeated a lot of concepts throughout.