Mexican illegality, black citizenship, and white power: immigrant perceptions of the U.S. socioracial hierarchy

ABSTRACT

While some scholars contend that immigrant integration is predicated on a strategic distancing from Blacks and closeness to Whites, others argue that highly racialised immigrants share more commonality with Black Americans than Whites. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Mexican immigrant newcomers to Los Angeles, California, this article examines how immigrants make sense of their position in U.S. socioracial hierarchy vis-à-vis other racialised groups. I show that as immigrants navigate U.S. social, racial, and political landscapes, they come to view ‘American-ness’ and the citizenship status inherent in it as a key marker of distinction between themselves and those they deem ‘American’. Immigrants thus view their group status as an inferior one relative not only to the dominant White group, but also to Black Americans, albeit for qualitatively different reasons. Findings highlight how the vulnerability of ‘illegality’ not only reinforces existing social boundaries with Whites, but also shapes the nature of socioracial boundaries with Black Americans that can hinder the potential for racial solidarity and has broader implications for the U.S. socioracial hierarchy.

KEYWORDS:

• Racialisation
• Mexican immigrants
• Black-Latino relations
• illegality
• relationality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Anglo Whiteness specifically is regarded as the embodiment of ‘true’ American-ness.

2. Whites and Asians each make up less than 1% of South Los Angeles residents.

3. As of 2015, Latinos comprise 62% of the population, while Blacks are less than 37%.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Institute of American Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles; John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation; University of California Center for New Racial Studies; University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States.