LA RAZA: The Mexican Americans

by Stan Steiner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 14, 1969

Like the author's earlier The New Indians, this is a well-researched, popularized, partisan portrait of a minority newly discovering its power--the ""Holy Race"" of, Mexican-Americans. Moving from New Mexico's rural villages, where farmers have united to demand the return of their stolen lands, to the Southwest's urban barrios, site of the ""Brown Power"" movement, to the California vineyards, where la Huelga is in full cry, Steiner depicts the human variety of the chicano community and the range of its protest. Often, he lets his subjects speak for themselves, and they make a good case for the justice of their cause. Steiner's treatment of the land-grant movement of Reies Lopez Tijerina is particularly convincing, ably countering (in the Anglo media) contemptuous dismissal of el Tigre and his followers. Less effective is his chapter on Chavez, which suffers from the repetition and disorganization which marks this overlong book. An advocate rather than an analyst, Steiner fails to question even La Raza's most chauvinistic myths. He sentimentalizes the ""simple, earthy"" qualities of the chicano in a quasi-Hemingway style that is bound to turn some people off. Readers may complain, too, of a lack of statistical information about the Mexican-American community. Still, given the disgraceful paucity of research on this topic, Steiner has produced a Worthwhile book, whose value is much increased by a splendid annotated bibliography.

Pub Date: Jan. 14, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION