Molina - How race is made in America immigration, citizenship, and the historical power of racial scripts

HOW RACE IS MADE IN AMERICA

AMERICAN CROSSROADS

Edited by Earl Lewis, George Lipsitz, George Snchez, Dana Takagi, Laura Briggs, and Nikhil Pal Singh

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

George Lipsitz once told me that scholarship is done in solitude but not in isolation. I have found this observation to be as insightful as it is concise. In preparing these acknowledgments, I felt both overwhelmed and humbled recalling how many people generously shared their time and expertise with me.

First, I want to thank American Crossroads series editors George Lipsitz and George Snchez for their tremendous support. As when I worked with them on my first book, I am very grateful for their ability to suggest new ways for me to think about various aspects of my work. They drew my attention to deeper possibilities in sections of text that I had thought were ready for publication, showing me where more layers could be exposed and additional interpretations teased out. George Lipsitz helped at two critical stages: the first occurred when, after taking the first draft as far as I could, I asked for his help. He provided substantive feedback (and a long reading list) that strengthened the manuscript. After I completed another round of revisions, he read the manuscript again, and I also shared my new draft with George Snchez. They jointly suggested further revisions in key sections. This book is all the better for their insight, suggestions, and support.

I also acknowledge with gratitude the many invitations I received to present parts of the in-progress manuscript, including those from the Newberry Library Seminar in Borderlands and Latino Studies; the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago; the Department of Languages and Literatures, University of Bologna; the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado, Denver; the Department of Chicano-Latino Studies at the University of California, Irvine; the Latino/a Studies Program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; the 2010 University of California International Migration Conference, hosted by UC San Diego; the American Studies Department at the University of Notre Dame; Universit Paris Diderot; the Latino Studies Department at Williams College; the Center for Race and Ethnicity at Rutgers; and the conference Transnationalism and International Migration in Historical Perspective at the University of California, Los Angeles. Through these presentations, I was able to test ideas, field thought-provoking questions, and receive valuable feedbackall of which helped me move past pressure points in the manuscript and see the work from different perspectives. I also appreciate the responses I received at scholarly conferences, including those sponsored by the Organization of American Historians, the Western Historical Association, and the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association.

As grateful as I am for the valuable feedback provided at formal talks, I would have had nothing to present had it not been for the help of my generous friends and colleagues who listened, brainstormed, encouraged, and commented on the kind of early draft that is shared only with trusted individuals. In Bird by Bird , writer Anne Lamott recalls E. L. Doctorows observation, Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. Conversations with friends and colleagues via email, at conferences and invited talks, and over shared meals and coffee served to light my way. Thank you to Meg Wesling, Nancy Postero, Pablo Mitchell, Jose Alamillo, Laura Briggs, Scott Kurashige, David Serlin, Angela Garcia, John McKiernan-Gonzalez, Alex Stern, Gerry Cadava, John Alba Cutler, Anne Fabian, Mia Bay, Roger Waldinger, Nancy Green, Jason Ruiz, Mrida Ra, Ondine Chavoya, Ana Rosas, and Faye Caronan. I would especially like to thank Ernesto Chvez, who, during an informal conversation at a conference, suggested the term racial scripts to name what I was describing. I am indebted as well to Vicki Ruiz, Miroslava Chvez-Garcia, and Kelly Lytle-Hernandez. They are not only remarkable historians but are also noble colleagues who share their knowledge without hesitation and with deep generosity. Last, I would like to thank the members of the best running group, In Motion Fit. At times I thought of calling this book What I Talk about When I Run to acknowledge how often I shared my ideas and progress with my Saturday morning runningbuddies. Those conversations forced me to make my arguments clear and compelling to a nonacademic audience.