Today’s guest is UNM law and American studies Professor Laura Gomez. In her new book, Manifest Destinies, Gomez writes that Mexican-Americans have consistently occupied an ambiguous, “off-white” status in the US since the end of the Mexican American war in 1848.
We will explore what this means for Mexican-Americans both today and in the past. We will then take a hard look at two aspects of New Mexico history highlighted in her book that remain very controversial: (1) Is it a “myth” that New Mexicans can now, or were ever able, trace their ancestry back to Spain, and (2) Were Indian slaves kept by elites in New Mexico, including Mexican-Americans, and what have we recently learned about this dark period of New Mexico history. Please join host Stephen Spitz, and special guest Dr. Laura Gomez to learn much more about her provocative research into New Mexico history.
Produced with the assistance of Sam Irons.
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