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Book Review
Mexicanos: A History of Mexicans in the United States. By Manuel G. Gonzales. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999. x + 322 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $29.95.)
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In this new synthesis, Gonzales offers a balanced account of Chicano or Mexican American history from its Indian roots to the present, with most of the material dealing with the post-1848 era. Gonzales is aware of the earlier traditions, particularly the Chicano or nationalist perspective that has been dominant since Rudolfo Acuña's first edition of Occupied America: The Chicano's Struggle toward Liberation (San Francisco, 1972), but he desires to strike a balance so that the history of the Chicanos is more than a story of their oppression by Anglos and of Mexicano resistance. Gonzales points out key elements and nuances of the Chicano experience, highlighting both the community's trials and tribulations and its achievements. This history demonstrates the complexity of a heterogeneous Mexicano community that continues to seek integration into American life while retaining a strong sense of its ethnicity. |
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