Segregation from another perspective — that of Mexican Americans — will be the topic of the next Chican@ History Lecture on Wednesday, April 20, at Cal State San Bernardino.
“The Borderlands of Race,” featuring University of California, Riverside professor Jennifer R. Nájera, is scheduled for noon-2 p.m. in CSUSB’s John. M. Pfau Library.
Presented by the CSUSB'S History Club/Phi Alpha Theta, the lecture is free and open to the public; parking on campus is $6.
Nájera’s talk will explore the culture of Mexican segregation in South Texas during the 1940s, a pivotal era for the Mexican origin population of the United States. Because Mexican people in the United States experienced increased economic stability during this period, Mexican segregation was no longer manifested as a simple phenomenon of racial exclusion, as experienced in the Jim Crow South by African Americans.
This talk pays special attention to those Mexicans who were “exceptional” to the rule of segregation, who had gained limited access to Anglo (white) spheres of influence. It critically examines the limits of racial inclusion and indicates the ways that structures of segregation were to persist for decades to come.
Nájera is an associate professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Riverside. Originally from Bakersfield, Calif., she earned her bachelor’s and doctorate degrees in anthropology at Stanford University and at the University of Texas at Austin, respectively.
Nájera is an anthropologist with interdisciplinary training whose research interests include race, immigration, and education in the Mexican/Mexican American community.
Her first book, “The Borderlands of Race” (University of Texas Press, 2015), examines the shifting culture of racial segregation in a South Texas community through the course of the 20th century. Her current research examines undocumented student activism and the politics of education.
The Chican@ History Lecture Series was conceived and organized by the students of the CSUSB History Club and Phi Alpha Theta history honors society, led by Rocio Gomez, Maria Figueroa, Brian Ayala, and Jasmyn Murrell. The l series began in fall 2015 and included programs featuring National Humanities Medal recipient and UC Irvine history professor Vicki Ruiz, historian Tomás Summers Sandoval of Pomona College and political scientist Armando Navarro of UC Riverside, is made possible with help from the CSUSB Department of History, the University Diversity Committee, the Teaching Resource Center, and the CSUSB John M. Pfau Library.
For more information contact Brian Ayala at ayalb306@coyote.csusb.edu.
Set in the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, CSUSB is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in inland Southern California. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, CSUSB serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually.
For more information about Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu