SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST: The Mexican American and His Heritage

by John & Ramon Ruiz Tebbel ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 28, 1969

This is a nadir for Zenith--an incoherent text that hardly treats of its stated topic. Only in the first two chapters do the Mexican Americans figure, and then cursorily and confusingly. The great bulk of Mexicans came between 1900 and 1930, yet the authors repeatedly refer to their resentment because they ""were here first,"" a confusion between early settlement and later migration in search of jobs (but they ignore entirely the issue that would be relevant, the land grant revolt). Barely alluded to is the long-standing dispute over the teaching of the Spanish language in schools; another sore point, the treatment of migrants (as opposed to permanently domiciled immigrants) is obscured in generalities while the ""wetback"" issue is disposed of by defining the term. There is nothing specifically positive either, no mention of notable Mexican Americans for instance. The book's contribution: there has been an interchange of culture, there has been discrimination, now ""life is better."" The remaining three-quarters of the book is a summary history of Mexico that is particularly poor on culture and a brief account of relations between Mexico and the U.S. For a close-up of 20th century Mexican emigration see Eleanor Tripp's acute To America (252, J-98); for Mexican history there are many sources. As to Mexican American life in the Southwest today, it still remains to be examined.

Pub Date: March 28, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION