Gringo Justice

Description

Gringo Justice is a comprehensive analysis and interpretation of the experiences of the Chicano people with the legal and judicial system in the United States. Beginning in 1848 and working to the present, a theory of Gringo justice is developed and applied to specific areas—displacement from the land, vigilantes and social bandits, the border, the police, gangs, and prisons. A basic issue addressed is how the image of Chicanos as bandits or criminals has persisted in various forms.

Author Bio

Alfredo Mirandé is professor of sociology and chair of ethnic studies at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of The Stanford Law Chronicles: Doin’ Time on the Farm (2005) and Chicano Experience: An Alternative Perspective (1985), both published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

Reviews

“Mirandé examines the relationship of the legal system to Chicanos, emphasizing its role in the mobilization of bias against Chicanos as well as the expropriation of their land. Extensive attention is given to the development of the ‘bandito’ and gang images and the use, in changing forms, of these stereotypes to mobilize anti-Chicano relations. The book is detailed and highly instructive in the specific legal means used to deprive Chicanos of their Mexican land grants following the U.S. conquest of Mexican territory. . . . More than 325 references provide an excellent overview of materials on Chicano history and Anglo-Chicano relations, and are drawn from a wide variety of academic, historical, and popular writings on these topics.” —Choice

“Gringo Justice should become part of the required reading list in Chicano Studies classes.” —Aztlan

“[This is a] seminal work that will, no doubt, prompt further discussion and investigation. . . . Mirande’s . . . treatment of the technique of mobilization of bias and the role of the gangs in Chicano society and his ideas concerning theoretical perspectives for studying the Chicano are both provocative and compelling.” —Journal of American Ethnic History