Charros: How Mexican Cowboys Are Remapping Race and American Identity by Laura R. Barraclough (review)

Laura R. Barraclough's work, Charros, begins with a recounting of an incident that took place at an NBA contest in June 2013. On the eleventh of that month, prior to a San Antonio Spurs' game, an eleven-year-old boy, Sebastien de la Cruz (also known as "El Charro de Oro"), sang the national anthem to the loud applause of the home crowd. The locals, in support of one of their own, as well as the home team, cheered loudly, appreciating the talent of the young man as well as being familiar with the significance of the charro outfit to the history and society of the Alamo City.

The internet, populated by persons not necessarily familiar with what a charro is and what the costume signifies, had a decidedly different reaction. Some of the most dismaying commenters wondered, "who was the dressed up 'beaner' and why was he singing 'our' national anthem." It is not surprising to see such a reaction. After all, for some, those who fit within the group of "our" people is defined in a way that excludes people whose skin is brown and whose surname ends with a "z."

This is not the first time this reviewer has encountered such stories, as in my own research I have written about the reaction to Mark Sanchez, then quarterbacking the USC Trojans against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (and wearing a "tricolor" mouthpiece), who earned a similar reaction from offended xenophobic denizens of the blogosphere. The question in both of these circumstances is simply this: does a "typical" American dress a certain way? Can there be an outfit, such as the traje de charro, which allows a person to both demonstrate pride in their ethnic (and even racial) background while simultaneously integrating themselves into important social, governmental, and business sectors of American life? The historical answer, Barraclough demonstrates, is "yes," though there are limits.

Barraclough provides readers with a succinct introduction to the history and meaning of the charro, and how this particular character came to be perceived as a cultural icon, a personification (in both a positive and negative way) of Mexican masculinity, as well as a mechanism for resistance against Anglo economic and social oppression. In particular, this persona was an effective way of demonstrating that Mexico and persons of Mexican descent had played a critical (perhaps even a predominant) role in the development of the cattle/rodeo industry. As Barraclough argues, there was never a monopoly over the meaning and political utility of the charro. Rather, persons of Mexican background, but of different classes, viewed the charro's significance in various ways. Likewise, the "Americanos" used the charreada in multiple ways: for example, as a mechanism to draw tourists to see the sights in San Antonio.

The key element in Barraclough's work is that she proceeds to demonstrate this plethora of uses in various locales and at different times. We see how the charro was utilized as a way to gain acceptance by, of all entities, the historically racist and oppressive police elements in Los Angeles County. In the years after World War II, upwardly mobile Mexican American men utilized the costume and the charreada to demonstrate their middle-class "worthiness" to the rest of the area. These were men who demonstrated pride in their background and used it as a way to gain inclusion into important elements of Los Angeles's governmental structures. Likewise, we see a similar utilization of the traditions and regalia in San Antonio during the 1950s and into the 1960s by the members of the Mexican Chamber of Commerce. If the city, which realized it was too dependent on the military and other governmental entities after World War II, hoped to develop a tourism industry, then the charro groups, and the associations the city developed with business leaders on both sides of the border, helped...