Mexican-Americans in the Southwest

By Ernesto Galarza, Herman Gallegos, Julian Samora

THE AUTHORS

Ernesto Galarza, Herman Gallegos, and Julian Samora are widely recognized authorities in Mexican-American affairs. They have served as consultants to government and private institutions and are active in Mexican-American community organizations.

Ernesto Galarza is a teacher, editor, university lecturer, and labor organizer. He holds a Ph.D. degree from Columbia University, and is the author of several books and reports dealing with Latin-American affairs. His book, Merchants of Labor: The Mexican Bracero Story is currently being used in colleges and universities as a required text in sociology, economics, history, and Mexican-American Studies courses.

Herman Gallegos is executive director of the Southwest Council of La Raza. He ahs an M.A. degree in social work, and is active in the Mission district of his home city of San Francisco, where he has been instrumental in forming a coalition of minority groups for political and social action.

Julian Samora is a professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame. He took his Ph.D. degree in sociology and anthropology, and has done extensive research on subjects concerning the Spanish-speaking people of the United States. His work has been widely published in scholarly books and journals.

The result of a two-year study, this book surveys the effects of farm mechanization, urban redevelopment, population squeeze, and other root causes of upheaval on Mexican-American communities in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Tracing the immigration movement from its origins in rural Mexico, the authors assess the current economic, political, cultural, and educational status of the Spanish-speaking people of the southwest and project the form and direction of growth of the nation's second-largest minority.