The Borderlands of Race

"Jennifer Nájera has produced an outstanding historical ethnography of the practice of segregation in twentieth-century South Texas. Focusing on the town of La Feria, the book paints a vivid portrait of how Mexicans experienced and resisted segregation in churches, schools, and other spaces of everyday life. Especially illuminating is Nájera’s treatment of racializing processes, of how the ambiguous racial status of Mexicans—who were seen as not quite white, Indian, or black—fundamentally shaped the lived reality of segregation. As a whole, The Borderlands of Race wonderfully details what it was like for Mexicans to reside in a racially segregated community. It is a must read for scholars and students interested in the study of race, nation, borders, and citizenship." ~Jonathan Xavier Inda, Associate Professor of Latina/Latino Studies and Criticism and Intrepretive Theory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and author of Targeting Immigrants: Government. Technology, and Ethics

"The Borderlands of Race will be a valuable addition to the literature on Texas, the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, and Chicano/a studies. . . . The author offers a new means for understanding the uncertain and inconsistent policies of segregation through what she calls ‘accommodated segregation.’" ~Antony P. Mora, Associate Professor of American Culture and History, University of Michigan, and author of Border Dilemmas: Racial and National Uncertainties in New Mexico, 1848–1912

"A welcome addition to the literature on race in the US-Mexico borderlands." ~Great Plains Research