Racial fault lines : the historical origins of white supremacy in California

Racial Fault Lines unravels the ethnic history of California since the late-nineteenth-century Anglo-American institutionalization of "white supremacy" in the state. Assessing the struggles for control of resources, status, and political legitimacy between the European American and the Native American, Mexican/African American, Chinese, and Japanese populations, Almaguer draws from an array of primary and secondary sources as he weaves a detailed, disturbing portrait of ethnic, racial, and class relationships during this tumultuous time. "Racial Fault Lines is an excellent summary and interpretation of race relations in nineteenthcentury California. Empirically rich and theoretically sophisticated, it is the last and best word on the historical origins of the racial hierarchy that contemporary multiculturalists are struggling to overcome." — George Fredrickson "Sometime soon in the 21st century, all of California's peoples will belong to minorities, and Almaguer's pathbreaking comparative history is indispensable for understanding how and why this society became so racially diverse. His study expands the borders of multicultural scholarship." — Ronald Takaki "Evocatively written and theoretically compellinq, Racial Fault Lines represents a benchmark in the writing of U.S. history. Almaguer blends sociological paradigms with rich historical narratives in his perspicacious examination of racial and class formation among nineteenth-century Californians. Meticulously researched, this fascinating work will be discussed and debated for decades to come." — Vicki L. Ruiz "Racial Fault Lines is a stunning example of what a multicultural historical and sociological analysis should be. In a dramatic break from the dominant mode of biracial theorizing, Almaguer details the racialization of several groups, and illustrates how they are envisioned, constructed, and positioned in relation to one another. In doing so, he advances a powerful conception of race, one in which race is mutually determined by structural and ideological factors, and is shaped by, and in turns shapes, class and gender relations. A superb account!" — Michael Omi This book unravels the ethnic history of California since the late nineteenth-century Anglo-American conquest and institutionalization of "white supremacy" in the state. Almaguer comparatively assesses the struggles for control of resources, status, and political legitimacy between the European American and the Native American, Mexican, African-American, Chinese, and Japanese populations. Drawing from an array of primary and secondary sources, he weaves a detailed, disturbing portrait of ethnic, racial, and class relationships during this tumultuous time. The U.S. annexation of California in 1848 and the simultaneous discovery of gold sparked rapid and diverse waves of immigration westward, displacing the already established pastoral Mexican society. Almaguer shows how the confrontation between white immigrants and the Mexican ranchero and working class populations was also a contestation over racial status in which racialization influenced and was in turn influenced by class position in the changing economic order. Partly because of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which granted U.S. citizenship and other rights, parts of the Mexican population were integrated into the emerging Anglo society more easily than other racialized groups. A case study of Ventura County highlights declining political and economic fortunes of the Mexican elite while showing how Mexican, Japanese, Chinese, and Indian populations were permanently relegated to the bottom of the class structure as unskilled manual workers. The fate of the Native American population provides perhaps the most extreme example of white supremacy during the period. Popular conceptions of Native Americans as "uncivilized and "heathen," justified the killing of more than 8,000 men, women, and children between 1848 and 1870. Many survivors were incorporated at the periphery of Anglo society, often as indentured laborers and virtual slaves. Underpinning the institutional structuring of white supremacy were notions such as "manifest destiny," the inherent good of the capitalist wage-system, and the superiority of Christianity and Euro-American culture, all of which helped to marginalize non white groups in California and justify Anglo-American class dominance. As other racialized groups assumed new roles, Almaguer assesses the complex interplay between economic forces and racial attitudes that simultaneously structured and allocated "group position" in the new social hierarchy. California remains a contested racial frontier, as political struggles over the rights and opportunities of different groups continue to reverberate along racial lines. Racial Fault Lines is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of ethnicity and class in America, and the social construction of "race" in the Far West. We Desire Only A White Population In California : The Transformation Of Mexican California In Historical-sociological Perspective -- Racial Ambiguities, Class Realities, And Half Civilized Mexicans In Anglo California: The True Significance Of The Word 'white' ; The Ravages Of Time And The Intrusion Of Modern American Civilization -- White Civilization's Crusade Against The Devils Of The Forest: Before The March Of Civilization He Must Give Way ; Unfit And Incapable Of Being Associated With Whites On Any Terms Of Equality -- Racialized Class Conflict And Asian Immigrants In Anglo California: They Can Be Hired In Masses; They Can Be Managed And Controlled Like Unthinking Slaves ; In The Hands Of People Whose Experience Has Been Only To Obey A Master Rather Than Think And Manage For Themselves -- Epilogue. Tomás Almaguer. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 259-274) And Index. In his comparative study White Supremacy, historian George Fredrickson astutely observes that "race relations are not so much a fixed pattern as a changing set of relationships that can only be understood with a broader historical context that is itself constantly evolving and thus altering the terms under which whites and nonwhites interact." Features the ethnic history of California since the late nineteenth-century Anglo-American conquest and institutionalization of 'white supremacy' in the state. This book offers a disturbing portrait of ethnic, racial, and class relationships during this time. It attempts to contribute to our understanding of ethnicity and class in America.