Racializing American Authenticity: Mexican Americans’ Perceptions of the Foreign Other

• In Event: 4412 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 04. Latina/o/xs, Racism, and Colorism

Abstract

Anti-Mexican sentiment in the United States has long plagued the lives of people of Mexican origin. Since their incorporation into the United States Mexican Americans have experienced processes of racialization and have been treated as second-class citizens. The current anti-immigrant climate in the United States continues to affect the lived experiences of Mexican Americans resulting in their use of a white racial frame to distance themselves from foreign-ness. In this paper we draw on 15 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with self-identified Mexican Americans along the U.S.-Mexico border, we find that the divisions between the two countries and their peoples have become embedded in the lived experiences of those residing in the region. The common themes raised in our study illustrate the ways in which Mexican Americans use notions of illegality, national belonging, and the dangerous other to differentiate themselves from foreign-born Mexicans and the ways in which they address immigration. We argue that Mexican Americans living in a transnational border space navigate their everyday lives as racialized beings as a result they search for ways to situate themselves apart from the foreign other. In addition, we argue that the larger implications for understanding how Mexican Americans use the white racial framework are significant because their embedded ideas and beliefs are founded upon racist nativist differences that are used in the creation and support of policies and laws attacking the racialized other.

Authors

• Angela J. Silva, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Aurelia Lorena Murga, University of Texas-El Paso