Originally published in the tumult of 1996, in an era of new nativism and panic about the Latinization of America, Anything But Mexican solidified Rodolfo Acuña's place as "the W.E.B. Du Bois of Chicano Studies." A stirring, insightful chronicle of Los Angeles's working class chicanos, this new edition brings their story and struggles up to present day.
Rodolfo F. Acuña is the founding chair of the Chicana/o Studies department at California State University at Northridge - the largest Chicana/o Studies Department in the United States. He has authored twenty-two books, including three children's books, and Voices of the U.S. Latino Experience; Corridors of Migration: Odyssey of Mexican Laborers, 1600-1933; and Occupied America: A History of Chicanos.
"Anything But Mexican challenges neoliberal interpretations of the history of Los Angeles which blame Mexicans and other immigrants of color for the decline of the city. Acuna's provocative work confronts these historical myths, signalling that Latinos will not be dismissed." Deena Gonzalez, Pomona College "Required reading on Chicanos in the Southwest. This book will stand amongst the classics in Chicano Studies." Teresa Cordova, University of New Mexico