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Mixed-Bloods, Mestizas, and Pintos: Race, Gender, and Claims to Whiteness in Helen Hunt Jackson’s Ramona and María Amparo Ruiz de Burton’s Who Would Have Thought It?
- Western American Literature
- The Western Literature Association
- Volume 36, Number 3, Fall 2001
- pp. 212-232
- 10.1353/wal.2001.0048
- Article
- Additional Information
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M l X E D - B L O O D S , M E S T I Z A S , A N D P I N T O S : R a c e , G e n d e r , a n d C l a i m s t o W h i t e n e s s i n H e l e n H u n t J a c k s o n ’s R a m o n a a n d M a r í a A m p a r o R u i z d e B u r t o n ’s Wh o Wo u l d H a v e T h o u g h t I t ? M A R G A R E T D . J A C O B S Sin c e t h e 1 9 8 0 s, a gr o w in g n u m b e r o f sc h o la r s in w id ely d iffe r e n t fie ld s h a v e d isc r e d it e d r ac e as a se lf- e v id e n t c a t e go r y o f h u m a n so c ia l r e la t io n s. A lo n g sid e t h e w o r k o f sc ie n t ist s w h o h a v e fo u n d n o g e n e t ic o r b io lo g ic a l b asis fo r r a c ia l c at e go r iz a t io n , c r it ic a l r ac e t h e o r ist s h a v e lo o k e d t o c h a n g e s in le gal d e fin it io n s o f r ac e a n d c it iz e n sh ip t o co n e lu d e t h a t r ac e is so c ia lly a n d c u lt u r ally c o n st r u c t e d . H ist o r ia n s h a v e c o n t r ib u t e d t o t h e field b y an aly zin g t h e h ist o r y o f W h it e n e ss a n d t h e so - c a lle d W h it e r ac e . M a n y gr o u p s c o n sid e r e d “W h it e ” t o d a y w er e o n c e d e e m e d n o n - W h it e ; it w as o n ly t h r o u g h r e n o u n c in g c o m m o n c a u se w it h o t h e r sim ila r ly st ig m a t iz e d “r a c e s” t h a t c e r t a in A m e r ic a n s su c h as Ir ish a n d Je w ish im m igr a n t s w er e ab le t o a t t a in W h it e st at u s a n d p r iv ile g e .1 O f co u r se , “c h o o sin g ” t o b e c o m e W h it e h a s n o t b e e n a n o p t io n fo r so m e A m e r ic a n s w h o se sk...
