Digital Commons Network^™

Contested Education, Continuity, And Change In Arizona And New Mexico, 1945-2010, Stephen D. Mandrgoc

History ETDs

Sibling states split from the original New Mexico Territory, Arizona and New Mexico are neighbors geographically but very different otherwise: in how they were founded, in their ethnic makeup, in their sociocultural values, and in the forms of structural racism that are part of this history of both states. Mexican American residents who found themselves suddenly American citizens struggled in response to discrimination aimed at “Mexicans” by their Anglo American neighbors fueled by racist stereotypes built on the Spanish Black Legend and the mythology of the Alamo in Texas. Above all, Mexican Americans contested Anglo Americans for the right for …