Racism on Trial: The Chicano Fight for Justice

Rating:
Summary: Important but Requires Originality
Review: An important addition to the growing body of literature on the Chicano/a movement, Racism on Trial, however, is in need of original sources. Haney-Lopez's footnotes suggest a rather liberal use of unpublished scholarship. An interesting synthesis on the politics of race, though.

Rating:
Summary: A powerful rethinking of race and racism
Review: Racism on Trial offers a powerful rethinking of race and racism.
The author looks at how Mexican Americans went from thinking of themselves as white in the 1930s to the 1960s (who knew?), to brown in the context of the Chicano movement (a self-conception that seems alive and well today). This rapid change provides Lopez with an opportunity to further develop the idea that race really comes down to ideas and practices, rather than biological differences. Of course, it's also true that race is not something the Mexican American community had full control over, as they were responding to a legacy of colonialism and conquest that treated them as if they were non-white.

To get at this legacy, the author looks at the way the police and the courts mistreated Mexican Americans, and offers a theory of what he calls "common sense racism." This theory really helps explain how racism is tied into to taken-for-granted ideas as well as the way our world has been structured by centuries of racism. Lopez may overclaim when he says most racism is now of the common sense variety, but he certainly contributes an important way of thinking about how racism continues even when there is no individual racist.

On the whole, this is a great book. It tells an amazing story about Chicano activism. It gives a concise history about how Mexicans have been treated as a race in this country, and about how they have responded. And it offers a sophisticated way of thinking about how race operates as social knowledge, both in the hands of racists and those opposed to racism. I would definitely recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: This book rocks! It's a very well written history of Mexicans in Los Angeles that not only tells their story, but also offers a way to understand why some Mexican Americans say their White, and others that they are Brown. A must read for persons trying to understand race and Latinos.