Kirjahaku

Once neglected, racial minorities are now the focus of intense interest among historians of the American West, who have come to recognise the roles of African American, Chinese, and Mexican people in shaping the frontier. Racial Frontiers is both a highly original work, particularly in its emphasis on racial minority women, and a masterful synthesis of the literature in this young field. De Leon depicts a US West populated by settlers anticipating opportunities for upward mobility, jockeying for position as they adapted to new surroundings, and adjusting to new political and economic systems. Minority groups discarded unworkable political traditions that had followed them from their homelands and sought to participate in a democracy that they trusted would see to their well-being. Many embraced capitalism in preference to the economic systems they had left behind but refused to give up their cultural traditions. The result was a US West of many colours. Known as a skilled writer, De Leon tells countless stories of the lives of men and women to guide the readers through his narrative. Personal histories and revealing quotations illustrate the struggles and victories of the newcomers, enriching our understanding of the settlement of the trans-Mississippi West since the middle of the nineteenth century.

Most writing about Mexican Americans deals only with the twentieth century. This book provides the much-needed historical perspective that is essential for a full understanding of the present. Dozens of selections from firsthand accounts, introduced by David J Weber's essays, capture the essence of the Mexican-American experience in the Southwest from the time the first pioneers came north from Mexico. PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION: The first edition was selected as a Choice 'Outstanding Academic Book of the Year' and received the following accolades: ""An excellent job of illuminating the early historical experience of Mexicans living in the United States..."" - Western Historical Quarterly. ""Weber...has done more than compile a first-rate anthology...he has done much to put the selected accounts into a meaningful historical framework. This coupled with excellent documentary choices and extensive notes makes it the single best volume for understanding the Mexican American experience in the nineteenth-century Southwest..."" - Choice.

The 3rd edition of this ground-breaking publication, the first survey of Tejanos, has been completely updated to present a concise political, cultural, and social history of Mexican Americans in Texas from the Spanish colonial era to the present day, a time when people of Mexican descent are poised to become the demographic majority in the Lone Star. Writing specifically for the college-level student and careful to include a consensus of the latest literature in this strong and continually growing field, Professor De Leon portrays Tejanos as active subjects, not merely objects, in the ongoing Texas story. Complemented by a stunning photographic essay and a helpful glossary, and featuring new biographical vignettes that now introduce and set the context for each chapter, this third edition of our well-loved text is certain to be even more engaging and relevant to readers of all levels. While the book targets a wide reading audience, it is ideally fit for classroom use. Professors teaching courses in Texas, western, and borderlands history will find it an ideal complement to their class lectures and other outside reading assignments. Of particular interest to students will be discussions describing the survival techniques Tejanos developed to withstand poverty and disadvantage, the process of assimilation over many generations, the changes engendered by the Chicano Movement of the 1960s, the role of political figures such as Jose Antonio Navarro, J T Canales, Alonso Perales, Hector P Garcia, or Irma Rangel, or the impact of court cases like which Hernandez v. Texas or Plyler v. Doe that changed the direction of Mexican American history.

A century after the first wave of Hispanic settlement in Houston, the city has come to be known as the ""Hispanic mecca of Texas."" Arnoldo De Leon's classic study of Hispanic Houston, now updated to cover recent developments and encompass a decade of additional scholarship, showcases the urban experience for Sunbelt Mexican Americans. De Leon focuses on the development of the barrios in Texas' largest city from the 1920s to the present. Following the generational model, he explores issues of acculturation and identity formation across political and social eras. This contribution to community studies, urban history, and ethnic studies was originally published in 1989 by the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston. With the Center's cooperation, it is now available again for a new generation of scholars.