George I. Sánchez was a reformer, activist, and intellectual, and one of the most influential members of the "Mexican American Generation" (1930–1960). A professor of education at the University of Texas from the beginning of World War II until the early 1970s, Sánchez was an outspoken proponent of integration and assimilation. He spent his life combating racial prejudice while working with such organizations as the ACLU and LULAC in the fight to improve educational and political opportunities for Mexican Americans. Yet his fervor was not always appreciated by those for whom he advocated, and some of his more unpopular stands made him a polarizing figure within the Latino community. Carlos Blanton has published the first biography of this complex man of notable contradictions. The author honors Sánchez’s efforts, hitherto mostly unrecognized, in the struggle for equal opportunity, while not shying away from his subject’s personal faults and foibles. The result is a long-overdue portrait of a towering figure in mid-twentieth-century America and the all-important cause to which he dedicated his life: Mexican American integration.

George I. Sánchez was a reformer, activist, and intellectual, and one of the most influential members of the "Mexican American Generation" (1930–1960). A professor of education at the University of Texas from the beginning of World War II until the early 1970s, Sánchez was an outspoken proponent of integration and assimilation. He spent his life combating racial prejudice while working with such organizations as the ACLU and LULAC in the fight to improve educational and political opportunities for Mexican Americans. Yet his fervor was not always appreciated by those for whom he advocated, and some of his more unpopular stands made him a polarizing figure within the Latino community. Carlos Blanton has published the first biography of this complex man of notable contradictions. The author honors Sánchez’s efforts, hitherto mostly unrecognized, in the struggle for equal opportunity, while not shying away from his subject’s personal faults and foibles. The result is a long-overdue portrait of a towering figure in mid-twentieth-century America and the all-important cause to which he dedicated his life: Mexican American integration.

" ... An interpretative study of the social and economic conditions faced by that sector of the population of New Mexico that is of Spanish extraction ... Taos County has been chosen as an area which typifies the situation faced by New Mexicans generally and the study revolves around the people and the conditions of that area."--Preface

Twentieth century Los Angeles has been the focus of one of the most profound and complex interactions between distinct cultures in U.S. history. In this pioneering study, Sanchez explores how Mexican immigrants "Americanized" themselves in order to fit in, thereby losing part of their own culture.

It might seem that African Americans and Mexican Americans would have common cause in matters of civil rights. This volume, which considers relations between blacks and browns during the civil rights era, carefully examines the complex and multifaceted realities that complicate such assumptions—and that revise our view of both the civil rights struggle and black-brown relations in recent history. Unique in its focus, innovative in its methods, and broad in its approach to various locales and time periods, the book provides key perspectives to understanding the development of America’s ethnic and sociopolitical landscape. These essays focus chiefly on the Southwest, where Mexican Americans and African Americans have had a long history of civil rights activism. Among the cases the authors take up are the unification of black and Chicano civil rights and labor groups in California; divisions between Mexican Americans and African Americans generated by the War on Poverty; and cultural connections established by black and Chicano musicians during the period. Together these cases present the first truly nuanced picture of the conflict and cooperation, goodwill and animosity, unity and disunity that played a critical role in the history of both black-brown relations and the battle for civil rights. Their insights are especially timely, as black-brown relations occupy an increasingly important role in the nation’s public life.

Neil Foley examines the complex interplay among regional, national, and international politics that plagued the efforts of Mexican Americans and African Americans to find common ground in ending employment discrimination and school segregation.