New Book: Texas-Style Exclusion: Mexican Americans and the Legacy of Limited Opportunity
In Texas-Style Exclusion, Population Research Institute Director Jennifer Van Hook (Pennsylvania State University) and sociologist James D. Bachmeier (Temple University) compare how Americans have responded to different groups of immigrants over time.
Drawing on census and archival data on public schooling, Van Hook and Bachmeier find that Industrial Era European immigrants, primarily located in the Northeast, benefitted from programs and policies championed by the Americanization and Progressive movements that facilitated their integration and intergenerational mobility. But Mexican immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s, most residing in Texas, had radically different experiences from their European counterparts. Mexicans in Texas were subjected to racism, segregation, labor exploitation, and intentional school failures, contributing to generational disadvantages that persist today.
Mexicans from this cohort who left Texas for states with strong Americanization and Progressive movements experienced improved educational outcomes and integration into society. Those who immigrated after the Civil Rights Movement saw significantly greater intergenerational mobility and educational attainment than earlier cohorts due to the protections provided by civil rights laws. Van Hook and Bachmeier conclude that whether one is optimistic or pessimistic about the integration of Mexican Americans depends on when and where one looks.
Texas-Style Exclusion examines policies and practices that have been neglected that promoted mobility and integration for certain immigrant groups and impeded them for others.