Data from a national Chicano survey with nearly 1000 respondents were examined to test the hypothesis that because of internal (intragroup) and external (intergroup) discrimination, both past and present, Mexican Americans with a European physical appearance will have more enhanced life chances as measured by higher socioeconomic status than Mexican Americans with an indigenous Native American physical appearance. Two variables, skin color and physical features, were combined into a composite variable of observed phenotype. When observed phenotype was correlated with indicators of socioeconomic status, the hypothesis was largely confirmed.
BarreraM. (1979). Race and class in the Southwest: A theory of racial inequality.Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
3.
DuncanO. D. (1961). A socioeconomic index for all occupations. In ReissA. J.Jr. (Ed.), Occupations and social status (pp. 109–138). New York: Free Press.
4.
FeaginJ. R. (1978). Racial and ethnic relations.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
5.
FeathermanD. L.StevensG. (1982). A revised socioeconomic index of occupational status: Application in analysis of sex differences in attainment. In HauserR. M.MechanicD.HallerA. O.HauserT. S. (Eds.), Social structure and behavior; Essays in honor of William H. Sewell (pp. 141–181). New York: Academic Press.
6.
McWilliamsC. (1948/1968). North from Mexico.New York: Greenwood Press.
7.
MullinsE. I.SitesP. (1984). The origins of contemporary eminent black Americans: A three-generation analysis of social origin. American Sociological Review, 49, 672–685.
8.
RansfordH. E. (1970). Skin color, life chances, and anti-white attitude. Social Problems, 18, 164–178.
9.
RelethfordJ. H.SternM. P.GaskillS. P.HazudaH. P. (1983). Social class, admixture, and skin color variation in Mexican-Americans and Anglo-Americans living in San Antonio, Texas. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 61, 97–102.
10.
TiendaM.GuhlemanP. A. (1985). The occupational position of employed Hispanic women. In BorjasG. J.TiendaM. (Eds.), Hispanics in the U. S. economy (pp. 243–273). New York: Academic Press.
11.
TidrickK. (1983). Skin shade and need for achievement in a multiracial society: Jamaica, West Indies. Journal of Social Psychology, 89, 25–33.
12.
van den BerheP. L. (1967). Race and racism: A comparative perspective.New York: John Wiley.
13.
WarnerW. L.SroleL. (1945). The social systems of American ethnic groups.New Haven: Yale University Press.
