Making a non-White America : Californians coloring outside ethnic lines, 1925-1955 / Allison Varzally.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Varzally, Allison, 1972-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Minorities--California--History.

Minorities.

Human geography.

Race discrimination.

Community life.

History.

Social conditions.

Ethnic relations.

California--Race relations.

California.

Race relations.

California--Ethnic relations.

California--Social conditions--20th century.

Community life--California--History--20th century.

Race discrimination--California.

Human geography--California.

Physical Description:

xiii, 305 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2008]

Summary:

What happens to ethnic groups in a society so diverse that no one ethnicity can call itself the majority? By looking closely at multiethnic neighborhoods in California during formative years of the twentieth century, Allison Varzally explores this question, which has profound relevance for the nation as a whole. In a lively account, woven throughout with vivid voices and experiences drawn from interviews, ethnic newspapers, and memoirs, Varzally examines everyday interactions among the Asian, Mexican, African, Native, and Jewish Americans and others who lived side by side. What she finds is that in shared spaces throughout California, these diverse groups mixed and mingled. People of all ages expanded and reconfigured ethnic and racial categories in new ways. Crossing cultural lines not only became the norm but also fostered a multiethnic civil rights activism that would help bring an end to many forms of racial discrimination in California later in the century.

Contents:

1 California Crossroads 15

2 Young Travelers 46

3 Guess Who's Joining Us for Dinner? 80

4 Banding Together in Crisis 118

5 Minority Brothers in Arms 158

6 Panethnic Politics Arising from the Everyday 183.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-287) and index.

ISBN:

9780520253445

0520253442

9780520253452

0520253450

OCLC:

165957261