멕시코계 미국인과 인종적 정체성, 그리고 딜레마 = Mexican Americans, Racial Identification, and Dilemma

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Since the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had been made, a sizable number of Mexicans living in the Southwest America(Northern Mexico) were granted the American citizenship in the era during which only the whites were able to get the citizenship. This practice had created the seed of the controversy related to the Mexican’s racial status in the U.S. ever since. The Supreme Court decision in 1896 on the case of Rodriguez’s naturalization petition officially declared the official white status of the Mexicans. However, anti-immigration, especially anti-Mexican sentiment in the early 20th century, gave rise to the challenge to the Mexican’s official white status. In response to this, Mexican Americans made all the efforts to maintain their white status. In doing this, they tried to separate themselves from blacks and erase their Indian and African backgrounds. Thus this study intends to trace the ways in which racial identification of Mexican Americans was made and to figure out the dilemma that they faced with.