Review of The Contested Homeland: A Chicano History of New Mexico, by Erlinda Gonzales-Berry and David R. Maciel (original) (raw)
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The paper reviews "The Contested Homeland: A Chicano History of New Mexico," edited by Erlinda Gonzales-Berry and David R. Maciel, which analyzes the historical experiences of Nuevomexicanos from the 1846-1848 U.S.-Mexico War through the twentieth century. The collection of essays explores themes of self-determination, resistance, and the cultural maintenance of New Mexicans, highlighting their struggle against cultural domination while emphasizing the limitations of the existing scholarship, particularly the disproportionate focus on the twentieth century. Despite its shortcomings, the book is recognized as a significant contribution to Chicano history.
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2000
The goal of this anthology, consisting of ten essays on the history of the Nuevomexicano experience from the short Mexican period to the post-Chicano movement era of the 1960s and 1970s, is to present a Chicano perspective on the Nuevomexicano historical experience. Divided into two parts, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the collection\u27s essays deal primarily with twentieth-century themes, a reasonable approach given the brevity of the Mexican era and the much longer period after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which initiated the era of United States rule. The dominant theme affirms that Nuevomexicanos have always contested their rights to equal citizenship in New Mexico, sometimes faring well, at others suffering the burden of being a racial or ethnic minority. Amidst this cultural conflict, much adaptation has characterized Nuevomexicano society in its interaction with the dominant forces since the coming of Anglo Americans
Little has been written about the education of ethnic Mexicans in the U.S. during the 19th century. The historical studies that exist tend to focus on the 20th century in general and on a few select cities or states in particular. These studies are further limited by their focus on public education. This study is different in that it emphasizes 19th century developments, looks at the entire U.S. southwest as a region and it examines the variety of public and private schools that emerged in this region as the society transitioned from Mexican to American rule. More specifically, it explores the origins of formal education in the Southwest during the period of Anglo rule in the 19th century and its relationship to the Mexican community's identity and its changing social status. The years to be considered are from the signing of the peace treaty ending the war between the US and Mexico in 1848 through 1912, the year in which the last of the southwestern states achieved statehood.
Whither the Nuevomexicanos: The career of a southwestern intellectual discourse, 1907–2004
The Social Science Journal, 2006
Since the end of the Mexican American War in 1848, the Hispanic natives of New Mexico have been part of the greater Mexican American category, but at the turn of the 20th century, many of them began denying their Mexican heritage, ideologically claiming to be "Hispanos," or "Spanish Americans," instead. This renaming movement precipitated a debate among academics and social researchers over the true ethnic heritage of the Nuevomexicanos. This article reviews the major statements in this "discourse of intellectuals" since it began in 1907, noting the moments when ideas reflected the temper of their times, and highlighting the different conceptual standpoints that were taken in the aim of defining Nuevomexicano heritage. It concludes by cautioning about theory which would presume to define essential ethnicity.
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