A Mexican American is defined as a person of Mexican cultural background born in the USA and Mexicans living legally and more or less permanently there. The 2000 census revealed that there were some 22 million persons of Mexican cultural ancestry in the US population; by 2010 it is estimated they will be the largest minority group in the USA. Little more need be said to justify a book on this ethnic group.
“The authors aim to present as complete coverage as possible of the Mexican American historical experience. In general, the subjects, whether persons, events, or concepts, have played a significant role in the experience beyond the local or immediate region” (Preface). Some 800 entries are presented in alphabetical order, varying in length from a concise paragraph (e.g. Barrio (an area), Cuento (folktale) and Inter‐Agency Committee on Mexican American Affairs), to entries of a page or so (e.g. tennis player Pancho Gonzales, El Paso (Texas), and Immigration). Most entries are followed by a list of further reading. There is an index and a sprinkling of photographs.
The encyclopedia is prefaced by a grouping of the entries into 35 broad subject areas. These range from Administration, Agriculture, Bilingualism, and Border, to Social Activism, Sports, and Terminology. The largest groups are: Organizations (83 entries), Politics/Government (65), Social Activism (64), Civil Rights (55), Labor (51), and Terminology (48). From Abelardo (poet‐activist and community organizer), Oscar Zeta Acosta (author, lawyer, activist), and Rodolfo Acuña (activist, historian, educator), through Affirmative Action, Agabachado (a derisive epithet), Agriculture, The Alamo, Albuquergue Walkout, and such topics as Brown Power, the Lettuce Strike, the Sleepy Lagoon murder case, the Salt War, Texas Rangers, to Wetback and Zoot‐Suiter, this book provides a well‐produced, fascinating and serious resource on the Mexican American experience.
