ETHNICITY, IDENTITY, AND NATIONALISM IN MÉXICO DE AFUERA

Race, Police, and the Making of a Political Identity:. Mexican Americans and the Los Angeles Police Department, 1900–1945. By Edward J. Escobar. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. xiv + 358 pp. Tables, notes, bibliography, and index. $45.00 (cloth); $17.95 (paper).

Rebirth: Mexican Los Angeles from the Great Migration to the Great Depression. By Douglas Monroy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. ix + 322 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, glossary and index. $17.95

Mexican Consuls and Labor Organizing: Imperial Politics in the American Southwest. By Gilbert G. Gonzšlez. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999. xii + 277 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index. $40.00 (cloth); $19.95 (paper).

Don M. Coerver
Texas Christian University

The oil discoveries of the 1970s, the apparently endless economic crises of the 1980s and 1990s, the continuing debate over immigration policy, and the movement toward more-democratic government have all focused greater attention in the United States on what is taking place in Mexico. These developments have also encouraged a closer look at what is taking place in México de Afuera, "Outer Mexico" or "Mexico Outside of Mexico." The connection between Mexico and México de afuera was never more evident than in the July 2000 elections in Mexico, which saw presidential candidates campaigning in the United States and three expatriates running the Mexican congress while residing in the United States. The triangular relationship of Mexico, the United States, and people of Mexican origin or descent has often been a misunderstood and troubled one. "Anglo" perceptions of Mexicans and Mexican Americans often reflected convenience and profit while Mexicans often attempted to recreate as much of their culture as possible in what was a foreign land but a region which had longstanding and numerous connections with Mexico. Edward J. Escobar, Douglas Monroy, and Gilbert González examine different aspects of the development of México de afuera.