Abstract
The authors represented in Twenty-first Century Dynamics of Multiculturalism seek to complicate what they see as the binarization of analysis in the area of U.S. multiculturalism, specifically within a black-white model. Largely through the inclusion of Mexican American histories and experiences, and without confining themselves to narrow areas of these histories, they wish to challenge this model and go (as editor Marin Guevara Urbina puts it) “to a universal level of equality, justice, respect, and human dignity—eventually moving beyond post-racial America” (p. 15). The volume presents 12 chapters from a number of notable scholars in Chican@/Mexican American Studies, who speak to a range of issues that are critical to people of Mexican descent as well as Latin@s and people of color more broadly. These issues include ethnic identity formation, “gringo justice,” as well as more strictly cultural issues such as advertising and multiculturalism in the context of globalization (among others).
The task undertaken by these authors in so few pages is ambitious, but certain of the chapters, which I will highlight here, nonetheless manage to do their work with particular efficacy. For example, Daniel Justino Delgado and Joe Feagin’s essay draws strong connections between historical and contemporary effects as well as political and cultural manifestations of colonization. In keeping with the binary-breaking mission of the volume, Delgado and Feagin also ask provocative questions about prevailing notions of mestizaje as a construct that involves only European and Indigenous ancestry.
Marcos Pizarro’s chapter considers the real-world effects of racism in the present day after providing some historical context and consideration of dominant white racial ideology. This is done with particular emphasis on Latino experience, putting forward a thoroughly effective explanation of the experience of microaggressions. Pizarro’s work seems especially effective as a teaching piece, particularly with its emphasis on the educational context.
Mary Sengstock and Brenda Gill’s piece is perhaps the volume’s strongest effort in the direction of tying Mexican-American/Chicano experiences to those of other ethnic and racial groups. Despite the focus of their analysis being in a contemporary period, Sengstock and Gill provide effective ties to immigration history (albeit in broad strokes) in an effort to emphasize the diversity of the territory that has become the United States from the time of its colonization. Their chapter provides some connections between this volume’s focus in Chican@/Mexican American Studies and whiteness studies, which could make for interesting discussion in a classroom setting. Sengstock and Gill’s work does suffer from some minor factual oversimplifications regarding the migration history of Cubans and Puerto Ricans (p. 219). These far from fatal errors suggest the need for the volume as a whole to speak more directly to these histories and to draw more thoroughgoing connections to other ethnic communities: a task Sengstock and Gill do admirable work in beginning.
It is clear that the notion of a “post-racial” society is central to the framing of these essays. I would provide a limited critique, however, in that the term is not defined explicitly within the text, nor is the relationship of the essays to the concept uniformly clear. For example, both the title and the text at various places suggest that Urbina wishes that scholarship should move “beyond” post-racial America. However, in his concluding chapter, he states that the nation must respond to challenges facing the disenfranchised, including people of color, in a way that provides “equal opportunities, justices, respect, and human dignity for all people—if it is going to be truly reflective of a post-racial society” (p. 275, italics added). Further clarity could and should be provided around this question.
This issue aside, the chapters that have been assembled in this volume are well chosen. As a whole, they provide a good starting point for conversation and analysis around issues of multiculturalism and the silences that it contains. As the authors suggest, acceptance of ethnic difference in the United States today has been limited, and it has been a political choice. Further, the popular discourse of race (though not necessarily the academic discourse) of race has operated to a certain extent under a black-white binary, which will need to be complicated in order to constructively discuss difference in the coming years. Accordingly, this work is a timely contribution in several respects.
Twenty-first Century Dynamics of Multiculturalism serves as an interesting and useful collection of essays to begin a consideration of current issues in multiculturalism and race for the Mexican American/Chican@ community. Accordingly, it is well suited as a reader for upper-level undergraduate and perhaps some introductory graduate courses focused on Latin@ Studies. In more broadly focused classrooms interested in questions of race and ethnicity, it might be utilized alongside other materials that would provide further perspectives in order to build connections to the histories and experiences of other groups and consider the totality of “American” experiences.