湘北紀要　第26号　2005

White Category and Mexican American Experience:
Fluid Race Notion in the United States

Etsuko MARUYAMA　　　

　　This article illustrates historical experience of Mexican Americans focusing on the ambiguous racial categories assigned to them.　Mexican American experience sheds a new light on race notion in the United States, showing a different perspective of race relations from that in a traditional racial paradigm of white versus black.　The white status suggested in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo did not guarantee all of the Mexican population their full-fledged civil rights.　In spite of their alleged white status, Mexican Americans have undergone treatments different from that of Anglo white population.　The author illustrates statements in lawsuits, state government's records, and U.S. censuses and shows how racial status of Mexican Americans was subject to change according to the policies embraced by the administrators.　The examination of Mexican American experience reveals fluid and arbitrary nature of race construction in U.S. society.