The Anti-Miscegenation History of the American Southwest, 1837 To 1970

Transforming Racial Ideology into Law

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4851404
AutoresM Menchaca (0000-0001-5569-9961, The University of Texas at Austin, autor correspondente)
Ano2008
Volume20
Fascículo3
Páginas279-318
Data de publicação2008-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCultural Dynamics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0921-3740 • E-ISSN: 1461-7048
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0921374008096312
OpenAlexW2036391491
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas30

This article proposes that a historical analysis of court cases and state statutes can be used to illustrate how racist ideologies were transformed into practice and used to legalize racism. To exemplify this argument, marriage prohibition laws in the United States Southwest from 1837 to 1970 are examined. This analysis demonstrates that African Americans and Anglo Americans were not the only groups affected by anti-miscegenation legislation. Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans were also profoundly affected and their respective histories contribute to a more indepth understanding of the policies and practices used by state governments and the courts to discriminate against people of color. This article also reveals that most legal cases reaching state supreme courts in the Southwest involved Mexican Americans because their mixed racial heritage placed them in a legally ambiguous position

Ideology · Legislation · Political science · Politics · Racism · Sociology · Statute · Supreme court · Asian American and Pacific Histories · Gender Studies · Latin American and Latino Studies · Law · Medicine · Race, History, and American Society