Mexican Americans

What will be the impact of the burgeoning numbers of Mexican immigrants on American society? The answer, argues Peter Skerry, lies not so much with the social and economic progress of Mexican Americans as with the political institutions within which they define their interests--institutions radically changed from what greeted America's last great influx of newcomers. Comparing the divergent cases of San Antonio and Los Angeles, Skerry concludes that the critical question is not whether Mexican Americans will join the American mainstream, but how--as a traditional immigrant ethnic group or as an aggrieved minority.