MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES: Their Linked Destinies

by E. B. Fincher ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1983

Introduced by the author as an attempt ""to write a book on Mexican-American relations that would be accepted as a fair statement on both sides of the Rio Grande,"" this deals with the increasing problem (for the US) of illegal immigration (for Mexico, it's a ""safety valve""); the poverty, agricultural policy, and population growth that drives Mexicans north; our self-serving treatment of Mexican workers (invited when cheap labor is needed, kept out in bad times, denied benefits at all times); the disadvantaged status and growing political activity of Chicanos; and a history that begins with both views of the Alamo, surveys the policies of Mexican leaders since then in terms of land distribution and commitment to people or privilege, considers the influence of American corporations and the new bargaining advantage of Mexican oil. Fincher never quite makes the analytic connections that the conditions and policies suggest (he doesn't seem to have quite brought it all into perspective himself); but his descriptions, surveys, and capsules are true to his stated attempt to see both sides. That in itself makes the book a respectable introduction.

Pub Date: April 1, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crower

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1983

Categories: NONFICTION