Whiteness in Context: Racial Identification of the Mexican-Origin Population in California and Texas

• In Event: 065 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Paper Session. Latinidades: Intersectional Identities in the 21st Century

Abstract

Using data from the 2008-2012 American Community Survey, we compare the racial identification responses of the Mexican-origin population residing in California to their counterparts in Texas, the two states with the largest and most established Mexican-origin populations in the nation. We draw on existing theory and research in order to derive a theoretical account of state-level mechanisms that are likely to lead to varying patterns of racial identification within the two states and a set of hypotheses predicting the nature of this variation. Results indicate that the Mexican-origin population in Texas is substantially more likely to claim white racial identification, than their counterparts in California, even after accounting for factors related to racial identity formation. Among immigrants, state differences in reporting whiteness are smallest among the most recent arrival cohort, and increase among earlier arriving cohorts, suggesting that state contextual mechanisms shape racial reporting to some extent, though results are also supportive of the notion that state differences are the result of differential selection into state-specific migration flows. We also find that U.S.-born persons of Mexican-origin are significantly more likely than their immigrant peers to select white as their race, and that differences in racial reporting between California and Texas are larger among Mexican-Americans, than among immigrants. We conclude by discussing the implications of the findings and suggesting avenues for future related research.

Authors

• Jorge Ballinas, Temple University

• James Dean Bachmeier, Temple University