Date of Award

2016-01-01

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Sociology

Advisor(s)

Aurelia L. Murga

Abstract

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, as of 2013, there are an estimated 33.7 million persons of Mexican-origin (native and foreign-bon) currently residing in the United States. Mexican-origin persons currently occupy 17% of the total population of the country (Stepler and Brown 2015). While Mexican-origin persons occupy the largest ethnic group within the Latino/a pan-ethnic group research on intra-ethnic group relations (Mexicans and Mexican-Americans) is limited (for exceptions see Gutierrez 2000; Ochoa 2004; Knoll 2012; Morales, Murga, and Sanchez 2013; Dowling 2014; Alba et al. 2014). This research has examined the relationships and perceptions that Mexican-Americans have towards Mexican immigrants and Mexican transnationals in a setting in which the two groups reside in close proximity to one another. Using 15 qualitative, in-depth, semi-structured interviews, with Mexican-Americans living El Paso, Texas, this research has found that living in a region where the people living on both sides of the border share common ancestry, does not protect them from internalizing white racism, xenophobia and inclinations to discriminate. That is, Mexican-Americans living on the border with Mexico does not protect them from this discourse. Whether subtle or overt Mexican-Americans conceptualize Mexican immigrants and Mexican nationals as the other despite living in close proximity to each other and in spite of sharing an ancestral lineage.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

72 pages

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Angela Jacqueline Silva

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Sociology Commons

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