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(Collective) Memory of Racial Violence and the Social Construction of the Hispanic Category among Houston Hispanics

Sat, August 22, 8:30 to 10:10am, TBA

Abstract

Prior research examining the collective remembrance of racially-charged events has focused on the black-white binary in US society. This research has largely bypassed collective memory of racially-charged events among US Hispanics. In this paper, I ask how a group of Hispanics in an historic Houston barrio remember two racially-charged events. Additionally, race and collective memory research has often highlighted the role of collective memory in shaping race relations. I argue that collective memory can also be an 'institution,' structuring macro- and micro-level representations of race. Thus, I also ask whether and how respondents' memories shape the social construction of the Hispanic category. I find strong memory convergence with respect to one event—the case of Jose Campos Torres—and divergence in three directions with respect to the Moody Park riot. The former corresponds to a collective understanding of what Hispanic meant in the past ('not white' or 'less than white') while the latter corresponds to a fractured understanding of what Hispanic means in the present. I also explore how respondents' racial self-perceptions coincide with their various interpretations of the riot. Overall, I theorize that a fractured collective memory of a racially-charged event suggests a fractured collective identity and contributes to an ambiguous Hispanic category. I conclude by discussing suggestions for future research.

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