The document outlines the curriculum for a Chicano Studies course focusing on the historical context, central themes, and structural forces shaping Chicana/o identity and experience. It examines events like the Mexican-American War and the legacies of colonization, including concepts of racial difference and the intersection of agency and structure in history. The course emphasizes understanding the distinct political identity of Chicana/os and key historical preoccupations that inform their narrative, while also critiquing imposed categorizations such as 'Hispanic' and 'Latina/o.'

1. Chicano Studies 168
Dr. Raúl Moreno Campos
UCSB
Student Learning Objectives (Weeks 1-2)
Readings Weeks 1: Almaguer (2018)
Readings Week 2: Ruiz (2009), introduction and chapter one.
I. Overview and central thematic preoccupations of Chicana/o
History.
Understanding of what history is (inquiry)
Understanding of the interplay between structure and agency in
the shaping of historical processes.
Understanding of the term “Chicana/o”, and the distinction to
“Hispanic” and Latina/o”
Central structural forces that have shaped Chicana/o history
Central themes in Chicana/o history

2. Student Learning Objectives (Weeks 1-2)
II. The Mexican American War of 1846-1848
Background of the Spanish Empire and the “first colonization”
Understand the centrality of racial difference to Spanish
colonial administration and society
Understand the concepts of limpieza de sangre, castas, and
mestizaje in the context of colonial Mexico
Background of U.S. imperialist expansion and the economic,
political, and ideological reasons behind the war of 1846-1848
with Mexico.
The “second colonization” and the origins of Chicano peoples.
Understand the concepts of race and racialization.
Student Learning Objectives (Weeks 1-2)
IIIII. The Legacies of the War
Economic, political, and social marginalization
The creation of early Chicana/o communities
Agenda
Chicano Studies and Chicano History: Central Thematic
Preoccupations
Racial Fault Lines: Conquest, Colonization, and the making of
Chicanos in the U.S. Southwest
The Legacies of 1848
I.
Basic Framing

3. History (Gr. historia “ a learning or knowing by inquiry”-
generally entailed an account of one’s inquiries, record,
narrative. Derived from historein “inquiry” )
Sense of narrative record and relation of past events.
Entails
1) Process of examination into past events and the narrative of a
record
“The archive”- vast array of documents, artifacts, oral
narratives, etc. that comprise a record
2) Understanding of change and continuity over time
I.
3) Structure and Agency
“[Human beings] make their own history, but they do not make
it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances
chosen by themselves, but under circumstances existing already,
given and transmitted form the past.” – Karl Marx
Agency- volition and the power to think and act independently
and freely in order to shape experience and life history
Structure- set of existing complex of social relations, forces,
and institutions that synergistically shape (or limit, constraint)
thought, behavior, choices, and overall life histories of people
I.
The central task of narration, as storytelling, is a principal
component of how we make sense of the world around us.
Implies relations of power and interests involved in the creation
of disciplines as ordered bodies of knowledge
Eminently political
At the outset, therefore, we must ask: if we are concerned with
Chicano history, what then is the task at hand?
1) Who are the Chicana/o peoples?- the definition of a
collectivity is a historical process in itself, and it is not self-
evident.

4. 2) What forces have shaped the individual and collective life
trajectories and everyday lives of Chicana/os, and what is the
change and continuity in these processes?
3) Given the above, what are the central thematic
preoccupations of Chicana/o history, and what is their political
praxis, in particular in reclaiming and reframing the histories
that have been erased by the colonial enterprise?
I.
A word about words…
1) Who are Chicana/os?
Chicana/o is, preeminently, a nation (group of people) and a
political identity defined by:
A) The self-awareness of Chicanos people’s rich Pre-Columbian
history/culture, and a shared history of struggle against
European and U.S. colonialism.
Entailed exploitation, impoverishment, and marginality.
B) An emancipatory praxis for the self-determination of the
native peoples of the Americas, particularly Mexican-
descendant populations in the U.S. Southwest.
Chicana/os- and by extension Mexican and Mexican-descendant
populations, are native to the U.S. Southwest.
II.
Mesoamerica
Trade networks (Pueblo people imported macaws and other
precious items from Central America; Mexica Empire and CA)
Linguistic evidence: Uteo-Aztecan family

5. New political emancipatory project recognizing historical and
political commonalities
I.
“Chicanismo draws its faith and strength from two main
sources: from the just struggle of our people, and from an
objective analysis of our community’s strategic needs. We
recognize that without the strategic use of education, and
education that places value on what we value, we will not
realize our destiny…For these reasons, Chicano studies
represent the total conceptualization of the Chicano
community’s aspirations that involve higher education.”
-Plan de Santa Barbara (Drafted here at UCSB in 1969;
blueprint for the development of Chicano Studies across the
nation)
I.
“At this moment, we do not come to work for the university, but
to demand that the university work for our people” – Jose
Vasconcelos
In addition, Chicanismo has a broad conception of the Chicano
nation, the bronze People of the Sun. As El Plan de Aztlán
remarks:
“We are free and sovereign to determine those tasks which are
justly called for by our house, our land, the sweat of our brows,
and by our hearts. Aztlán belongs to those who plant the seeds,
water the fields, and gather the crops, not to the foreign
Europeans. We do not recognize capricious frontiers in the
bronze continent.” Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, 1969, Denver,
Colorado

6. I.
How does this contrast with other terms used to define
collectivities of Latin American descent within the U.S.?
Hispanic (Lt. hispania – Roman name for the Iberian peninsula):
Term derived during the Nixon administration that was intended
to homogenize Spanish-speaking populations in the U.S.
Hegemonic- previous use “Spanish origin”
Problematic- homogenizing, imposed by U.S. Gov and
semantically tied to Spain
I.
Latina/o: derived from the French l’Amerique Latine, coined
from the 18th to 19th centuries, particularly reign of Napoleon
III, to denote the peoples of the Americas united by a common
use of romance languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese).
French political project of cultural contestation vis-à-vis British
Empire
Regions of the former Spanish colonial world adopted the name
as part of national identity in 19th and 20th centuries an
cultural distancing from Spain.
Latina/o is now used to define populations of Latin American
descent in the U.S. (includes Mexicanos)
All these terms have political implications
I.
2) What forces have shaped the individual and collective
everyday lives and historical trajectories of Chicanos?
While there is a wide array of forces and elements that have
shaped the dimensions of Chicana/o history, there a few our that
are particularly relevant
A) The “double conquest” and colonization
As noted Political Theorist Ray Rocco (2014) remarks “ the
reality of conquest and colonization defined not only the

7. political relations between Mexicans and the U.S. state
apparatus, but also the pattern of social relations between
Mexicans and the newly arrived but expanding population of
Anglos, particularly after the Mexican-American War of 1848.”
(Rocco 2014, 74).
I.
We cannot understand the quotidian reality of Chicanos without
understanding these processes and their legacies
Indeed, as noted Chicana law Professor and critical race scholar
Laura Gomez has pointed out, the region and peoples that now
comprise the U.S. Southwest underwent two colonizations:
Spain (e. 1500s-1821)
U.S. (1848- Present)
I.
B) “Manifest Destiny” and political and economic imperatives
of U.S. westward expansion
Heavily driven by the expansion of slave plantation economy
Ideologically buttressed by the vision of the U.S. as a “white
nation” in a “civilizational mission”
(Ex. Immigration and Naturalization Act 1790- restricted
citizenship to “free white persons”, effectively baring Native
Americans, Black folk (despite some states laws granting
suffrage to free Black folk), and later Asians)
Basis for the imposition of white supremacy on non-white
populations
I.
White supremacy: not just merely “color prejudice”, but the
unnamed political system that has made the modern world what
it is today (Charles Mills).
“…A social and political order of dominatio n and subordination

8. that systematically generates and upholds inequalities of wealth,
power, and prestige by privileging racialized whiteness over and
above all categories of racial identity.” Nicholas De Genova,
2007
I.
C) US Capitalist Development and attendant regimes of labor
and population controls
Development of U.S. productive forces- agriculture and industry
Relegation of Mexicanos to menial and expendable labor force
Development of “immigration enforcement” and citizenship
regimes to manage racialzied labor markets
Creation of “guest worker” programs to supply cheap labor
since the early 20th century
Ex. Bracero Program (1942-1964)
“Revolving-door” nature of U.S. immigration law
I.
D) US racial regimes
Jim Crow segregation
Marginalization and exclusion
Definitions of belonging as normative basis for all rights claims
and politics
I.

9. 3) Central thematic preoccupations Chicana/o Studies and
Chicana/o History:
Mesoamerican Prehispanic origins and civilizations
European colonialism (legacies of Spanish conquest- colonial
subjects and post-colonial societies)
Mestizaje (hybridity, liminality, nepantla; but also mestizo
nationalism and indigenismo)
U.S. Colonialism and Imperialism
I.
Central thematic preoccupations Chicana/o Studies and
Chicana/o History:
Racialization, otherness, and marginality
Popular political organization and resistance (e.g. El
Movimiento and CA popular organizations).
Migration and transnationalism
II. Racial Fault Lines
Historical Antecedents: “The Empire on Which the Sun Never
Sets”
The territories that comprise the Southwestern U.S. were first
colonized by the Spaniards in the early 16th century.
Dawning in 1492, the Spanish Empire was the most powerful in
the globe by the mid 16th c., stretching from Madrid to Manila.
Perhaps the most egregious case of genocide in the history of
mankind (70 million+ indigenous people decimated by the
conquest; Ex. Aztec empire at time of conquest in 1521 approx.
5-6 million; by end of 16th c. less than 1 million )
Indigenous population of the Americas had dropped by 80% at
the end of the 16th century
II. Racial Fault Lines

10. II. Racial Fault Lines
Spain/s early imperial ambitions driven by two primary
objectives: spices and specie
From 12th to 17th century, spices constituted the most
profitable and dynamic element of European trade
Why?
A) Culinary uses- delight, social fashion and prestige)
B) luxury commodity- Spices were expensive ex. In 15th
century England, it took nearly 5 days of a master carpenter’s
wage to buy a lb. of cloves, nearly 3 days to buy a lb. of pepper.
32
II. Racial Fault Lines
Specie (gold and silver)
Why? Desire for precious metals as money (precious metals
universal medium for payment in all commercial dealings in the
early modern period)
Ex. Spanish silver utilized as form of payment in the entire
Spanish colonial world, North American British colonies,
Western Europe, South Pacific and trade ports to China and Far
East.
Unfathomable wealth extracted from what is today Latin
America- between 1503 and 1660 alone, 185,000 kg. of gold
and 16,000,000 kg. of silver (3x greater than entire European
reserves; does not count contraband to China, the Philippines,
and Spain)
Todays dollars $8.3 billion in gold and $7.8 billion in silver

11. 33
II. Racial Fault Lines
34
II. Racial Fault Lines
However, land and human labor became just as important- and
perhaps even more profitable.
Production of a whole range of commodities, food, and raw
materials that sustained Europe and led to European population
growth and expansion.
Result: establishment of forced and tributary systems of labor
(Ex. Economienda system, hacienda system, racial slavery)
Required a logic for their justification: Civilizational discourse
steeped in religion
35
II. Racial Fault Lines
Indeed, as the conquest progressed, Christianization under the
Catholic faith became the main justification for empire.
Tied to the legacies of Spanish unification under Fernando II de
Aragón and Isabel I de Castilla.
Reconquista and expulsion of the “Moors” and Jews from Spain
(1492)
Limpieza de Sangre and beginning of modern period: racial
state.

12. 36
II. Racial Fault Lines
Limpieza de sangre (Portuguese: Limpeza de Sangue) “purity of
blood”: was a concept developed in early modern Spain and
Portugal (15th c.) that was closely linked to the development of
ideologies of national unification after the reconquista. These
ideologies centered not only on ideas about cultural authenticity
(religion and customs) but also ancestral lineage as a way to
authenticate members of these nascent nation-states and write
their historical narrative and myth of founding
Reconquista and the expulsion/conversion of Jews and Muslims
from the Iberian peninsula.
Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions focused not only on
religious practice but also on lineage, “purity of blood”
Lineage used to determine ability to become part of various
powerful civil and political organizations (public and
ecclesiastical office)
Concerned with religious matters, but also saturated by
discourses of virtue and chastity.
37
II. Racial Fault Lines
The central logic behind limpieza de sangre is reflected in the
development of the sistema de castas in the Spnaish colonies
during the 16th century
Management of the colonies’ social order on the basis of
categories of descent.
How and why did a concept dealing manifestly with religion
shape racial thinking in the Americas?
Not solely an Iberian preoccupation: interrelated nature of

13. discourses of purity of blood in Iberia with racial discourses in
the American colonies
Mediated by religion and linked to ideas of lineage, legitimate
birth, and honor
Legacies shaped Latin America’s notions of race, regional and
national identities, and a long-standing cultural preoccupation
and obsession with lineage/bloodlines.
See: Martínez, María E. 2008. Genealogical Fictions: Limpieza
de Sangre, Religion, and Gender in Colonial Mexico. Stanford:
Stanford University Press.
38
II. Racial Fault Lines
Historically, the sistema de castas was developed as a way to
account for the colonies’ racial diversity.
Used to manage labor systems and structure the hierarchies of
the Spanish colonial world.
It was primarily a porous system of racial classification based
on a person’s proportion of Spanish blood.
Three important components: Christian bloodlines, Spanish
ancestry, skin color
Secularization and dynamic interaction with class
Spain posited as having a single caste (race): Homogeneity
(sameness) constructed as a defining feature of colonial centers.
Heterogeneity (diversity) externalized as a characteristic of the
colonies. Race mixture, and by extension racial “Otherness”,
posited as a defining feature of the colonial condition.
39

14. II. Racial Fault Lines
Categories used in baptismal registries
Castas paintings were didactic/instructive documents
Ambiguities and paradoxes
Processes of resistance and negotiation beyond the colonial
system’s imposed racial categorization.
Some categories based on skin color are still used today in state
documents, even if they are no longer used in official census
records (Ex. Salvadoran birth certificates used skin color
despite the fact that racial/color categories no longer used in
national censuses).
40
II. Racial Fault Lines
41
II. Racial Fault Lines
42
II. Racial Fault Lines

15. 43
II. Racial Fault Lines
44
II. Racial Fault Lines
45
II. Racial Fault Lines
46
II. Racial Fault Lines
47
II. Racial Fault Lines
The social, economic, and political legacies of this conquest had
a profound effect in the future development of these territories.
Change and continuity in social relations, economic production,
and organization of former colonial societies.

16. The Spanish empire crumbled in the first decades of the 19th
century.
By 1821, the colonies in the Americas had declared their
independence, led in particular by powerful criollos, mestizos,
and in some cases mulatos.
For instance, Vicente Guerrero, a leading General during
Mexico’s War for Independence, and the first Black president of
the Mexican Republic. You can see his picture in the next slide.
48
II. Racial Fault Lines
49
II. Racial Fault Lines
By the eve of Mexican independence (1821), the Spanish crown
had developed a complex society in the northern frontier of New
Spain
Premised on a system of missions, pueblos, and haciendas.
These territories, part of the areas known as Alta California,
Nuevo Mexico, and Texas would now grapple with a new
colonization- from the U.S.
50
II. Racial Fault Lines

17. The War of 1848 and colonization of the southwest
Aggressive U.S. territorial expansion between 1800-1819; ex.
Louisiana Purchase 1803; 1819 aggression in Florida and
“annexation”
1819- Adams-Onis Treaty- after U.S. invasion, Spain cedes
Florida, in exchange U.S. renounced any claim to Texas.
However, Euro-American settlers continued to attempt to
colonize Texas since the 1810s.
51
II. Racial Fault Lines
Motives for War of 1848
1) Colonization of new lands ripe for the expansion of
plantation slavery (land and labor).
2) Profiteering by a few at the expense of others who were
violated in the process (denied their lands, language, culture-
various forms of cultural expression and modes became no
longer acceptable and illegitimate)
3)Economic refuge from panic of 1819- new economic
opportunities opened by westward expansion.
Violence, appropriation, expropriation
52

18. II. Racial Fault Lines
The Spanish crown gave Moses Austin permission to settle in
Texas in 1819.
After independence in 1821, the Mexican government gave his
son Stephen Austin permission to settle.
Led to the settlement of over 20,000 colonists (who did not
have permission to cross into Mexico), many of whom were
fleeing from the Great Depression of 1819.
Brought 2,000 slaves, and did not intend to follow Mexican
laws that interfered with their property rights (Mexico had
outlawed slavery in 1829)
Dawn of populism and Jacksonian era.
54
II. Racial Fault Lines
Did not follow Mexican law over the abolition of slavery,
despite being permitted to stay.
Did not honor agreement to covert to Catholicism.
Jackson and his populist rhetoric of westward expansion
exacerbated tensions.
Mexico prevented further Euro-American immigration after
1830.
By 1835, the native Mexican population of Texas was 5,000,
compared to nearly 30,000 Euro-American colonists.
Austin declared war and independence for the Republic of
Texas
Many in the U.S. saw the war as a despicable affair promoted by

19. slaveholders and land speculators.
55
II. Racial Fault Lines
1835-36- hostilities erupt as Mexican troops march to Texas to
defend Mexican territory against the aggressions of S. Austin,
who had declared war.
Mexican troops triumph, but battles became a rallying cry for
U.S. intervention in favor for the colonists.
1845- Mexico and U.S. plunged into war over disputed
territories.
U.S. pop 17 million = 3 million slaves in 1840s- compared to
Mexico’s 7 million total pop.- unbalanced war.
56
II. Racial Fault Lines
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (came into force July 4, 1848).
Article IX : made for the provision of full rights of citizenship
for native Mexicans remaining in the conquered territories;
protection of property rights, language and cultural rights.
Eventually not honored (by the 1870s)
Imposition of a new racial order, that had to be adopted to the
legacies of the old Spanish colonial order

20. 57
II. Racial Fault Lines
Displacement of once powerful Mexicanos (Californios), who
were initially given honorary white status, and later placed in a
subordinate position.
Mexicans social displacement and subsequent subordinate racial
status- reinforced by migrations of the late 19th and early 20th
century.
Contestation of Mexican’s meaningful and full access to rights
of citizenship continues to this day- struggle over belonging
58
II. Racial Fault Lines
Why was 1848 important?
As almaguer states: “The conquest of Western America through
the U.S.-Mexico War of 1846-1848 forged a new pattern of
racialized relationships between conquerors, conquered, and the
numerous immigrants that settled in the newly acquired
territory” (1)
Aside from the economic imperatives, colonial enterprise
ideologically driven by:
1) White Supremacy (Cf. De Genova definition earlier in the
lectures)
2) Manifest Destiny: widely held 19th century belief that it was
the providential (God defined) destiny of the U.S. and Anglo-
Americans to colonize North America from coast to coast.
3) White Man’s Burden: A hemispheric (continental) expansion
of the ideology of Manifest Destiny used to justify imperial
conquest as a “civilizational” mission to be carried out by the
U.S.
(Cf. Almaguer, pg. 13)

21. 59
II. Racial Fault Lines
Broadly, three main groups (in the case of CA and the former
Northwestern Mexican territory):
Native American nations indigenous to these territories.
Native Mexicanos (who were descendants of both Spaniards-
who initially conquered the Southwest in the early 1500s
through the 1700s- and indigenous groups).
Immigrants (Chinese, Japanese, Black folk)
60
II. Racial Fault Lines
What is racialization? How is it different from race?
Race: initially developed as a concept for the purposes of
human classification in the context of European colonial
expansion from the 17th to the 18th centuries, and was based on
alleged physical characteristics/traits of different groups of
mankind. Race, however, does not have any basis on biology.
Rather, is a preeminently ideological construct which indicates
a socially conferred status defined by prevailing power relations
in a specific historical and social context. (Cf. Almaguer, pg. 9)
61
II. Racial Fault Lines
Racialization: an historically specific, ideological process that

22. involves the extension of racial meaning to a previously racially
unclassified relationship, social practice, or group (Cf.
Almaguer 3)
“[Racialization] constitutes a configuration of social, culture,
and political processes by which specific perceived visible
differences are imbued with racial significance and meaning
than then are incorporated in a racial hierarchy both within the
macro-level of economic, state, and cultural institutional
structures, and within…[everyday] experience and relations that
take place…in civil society” (Rocco 2014, 71).
62
II. Racial Fault Lines
Racialization thus involves:
Categorization- creation of new category or relationship based
on alleged or perceived physical (even cultural) characteristics.
Creation of social/political meaning for new
category/relationship
Culture constitutive of this process- not merely reflexive (think
of how popular culture shapes our knowledge of race, class,
gender, sexuality- in sum, the politics of difference)
Extension of that meaning to the category, thus creating
meaningful patterns in social relationships and politics.
63
II. Racial Fault Lines
Why was 1848 important? (continued)
By the end of the 19th century/early 20th century, the ultimate
racialization of Mexicanos as “non-white,” racially inferior, and
thus unfit for formal political and social inclusion (citizenship)

23. into the U.S., and their resultant marginalization and relegation
to the status of menial laborers is one of the primary legacies of
1848.
Racialization of Mexicanos aa “mongrel race” and as perpetual
foreigners-
Tied to exigencies of colonizer’s material interests and
ideology.
Contestation (struggle) for emancipation, self-determination,
and recognition (inclusion) rages to this day.
64
II. Racial Fault Lines
Aftermath of 1848- Southwest (Centers CA, AZ, TX, NM)
Dynamic interplay between economic, political, and social
forces.
1) Economic (material) interests shaped:
Central imperatives for conquest
Social-property relations afterward- landed/wealthy agro-
industrial and commercial elite vs. dispossessed wage earners
2) Political forces (domination- force)
Legislatures, courts, coercive apparatuses function to create the
hierarchies necessary for social control
Racialization process a key feature of domination
65
II. Racial Fault Lines

24. Social/Cultural forces (creation of “common sense” and
“consent”)
Socialization according to the imposition of a new social order,
world view, value system, etc. (think of what was acceptable to
learn and what not to learn, how to talk, what language to use,
how to dress, how to worship, etc)
Intellectual justification
Cultural buttressing- prevailing values, norms, etc…(important
role that culture plays in the racialization process)
Naturalization of imposed order and hierarchies
66
II. Racial Fault Lines
Thus, racialized categories and identities served to protect
economic interests of new Anglo elite and established social
order.
But it is not to say that race “mapped” neatly onto class.
Rather, as Almaguer states there was an “Affinity between
material interests of whites at different class levels and racial
ideologies that simultaneously structured the new Anglo-
dominated society in California.” (3)
Simultaneous interaction of structural (material factors) and
ideology that shaped the new hierarchies and social order of
CA.
67
II. Racial Fault Lines

25. Privileged social status of conquerors (Euro-Americans/whites)
Result of struggles with Mexicans, Native Americans, others
over:
1) Land ownership
2) Labor-market positions
Struggles over these two things- direct consequence to the
development of CA white-supremacist discourses.
68
II. Racial Fault Lines
Comparative racialization and class: the case of the Mexican
rancheros in CA.
Mexicans- initially granted white status under U.S. regime as a
consequence of previous Spanish colonization (Christianity,
social status and skin color of elite- sistema de castas)
Particularly true of the rachero landed elite
Ranchero gentry given land grants by the Spanish crown (and
later Mexican governments) in Alta California (now CA)
beginning roughly in the late 18th century to 1821, Mexican
period- 1821-1846.
About 588 grants totaling over 8.85 million acres of land during
this period
69
II. Racial Fault Lines
Devoted to cattle raising, not agro production.
Rancheros came from relatively humble origins- Spanish
soldiers or administrative officials- “new money”- flaunted their

26. wealth as a reminder of their social status. (Cf. Almaguer,
chapter 2, esp. pgs. 52-53)
Seen as unproductive, thriftless spend drifts by protestant Euro-
American colonizers in the mid 19th century.
After 1848- squatting on Mexican ranchos by Euro-American
colonizers led to multiple tensions and court battles over land
claims
Land claims frequently rejected by CA courts under U.S. rule-
rancheros lost their lands, mainly in costly legal battles.
70
II. Racial Fault Lines
However, throughout the southwest another strategy of
cementing U.S. colonial rule was employed- Euro-American
settlers marrying into the powerful Mexican families (similar
strategy employed during Spanish colonial period)
Led to cementing of influence, access to land and weal th from
old rancheros.
By the 1870s to late 1890s- most rancheros had lost their lands.
White status declined, particularly with Mexican immigration in
the late 19th century.
Even more so for working classes that depended on wage labor
Rancho system’s land use patterns still recognizable in CA,
lending their name to its main cities (along with the missions)
71
II. Racial Fault Lines
How did other groups fare?
Indians- considered fundamentally “savage” and “unchristian”-
decimated through a variety of policies- relegated to the bottom

27. of racial hierarchy.
Asians- seen as fundamentally non-white- used as laborers, later
banned (Chinese Exclusion Act)- seen as “half civilized”
Blacks- seen as “half civilized” but racially inferior (legacies of
racial slavery)
Long historical trajectory- economic and political advantage of
some groups over others as a result of the dynamic interplay
72
II. Racial Fault Lines
Complicated “white-black binary” of U.S. race relations.
Case Study: Ventura County.
After 1848- military occupation and disposession
Only 12 of the original 20 land grants for racheros in Ventura
County upheld in CA courts 1950s-1970s.
Anglo settlers used legal intimidation to make Mexican elite
part with estates in the 1860s and 1870s (Thomas A. Scott-
former Assistant Secretary of War under A. Lincoln).
Acquired Rancho Ojai, Rancho Simi, Rancho Las Posas, and
several others- eventually owned 230,000 acres of best farmland
in Ventura County by the late 1870s.
Economic and political erosion of Rancheros in Ventura County
73
II. Racial Fault Lines
Growth of agro-industry
Citrus (Santa Paula) and sugar beets (Oxnard)
The development of agro-industry did not mean new
opportunities
Racial status played an important role in the economic

28. opportunities for Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans, Native
Americans, and Europeans in Ventura Co.
Upper class structure overrepresented by Europeans from 1860-
1900 (pattern continues to this day)- Anglo immigrants
monopolized farming, professional, low white-collar, and
skilled job strata (Almaguer 100)
As of the early 1870s forward, “the overwhelming majority of
Mexican, Native American, and Chinese men were employed as
“day laborers” and the lowest stratums of the unskilled working
classes.
74
II. Racial Fault Lines
By 1880, nearly 60% of the Mexicans in Ventura County held
unskilled jobs, another 10.9 % listed as farm laborers
“In sum, more than two thirds of Mexicans remained
concentrated at the bottom of the capitalist –dominated [and
racialized] class structure” (Almaguer 102)
This only increased by 1900: 47.6 % of Mexicans became farm
laborers, 29.7% unskilled laborers, 77.35 at the lowest strata of
the working classes by 1900.
In the meantime, white supremacy would only intensify- by the
1920sm Santa Paula, seat of citrus growing in Ventura Co. had
become one of the national hubs of the KKK.
75
II. Racial Fault Lines

29. 76
III. Legacies
Economic
Loss of nearly 50% of Mexican territory
Loss of immense oil reserves eventually found in Texas and CA.
Loss of some of the most fertile and arable land on earth (CA).
Relegation of Native Americans and Native Mexicanos to the
lowest economic strata
Socio-political
Racialization of Mexicanos as perpetual foreigners- exclusion
from formal belonging
Political domination and marginalization
Relegation to menial farm hands and day laborers.
To the legacies of these processes, and the making of Chicanos,
we turn to next…
77
Overview
Your active participation in the discussions is essential to your
overall success this term. Discussion questions will help you
make meaningful connections between the course content and
the larger concepts of the course. Conducted over a time period,
these discussions give you a chance to express your thoughts,
ask questions, and gain insight from your peers and
instructor.Assignment Details:
For each discussion, you must follow up with at least two
response posts.
For your response posts, do the following:
· Reply to at least two classmates outside of your own initial
post thread.

30. · When responding to at least two of your peers’ postings, your
responses should show that you have given thought to what the
original post said. They should also push the conversation
forward, offering insights or asking clarifying questions if
necessary.
Consider the following questions:
· Does your response push the conversation forward?
· Does your response offer your perspective?
· What about your peers’ stories can you relate to?
· What can you learn from your peers’ stories?
· Are your responses clear?
· Have you considered the viewpoints or insights of the original
posts?
Review the posts by your peers and provide your feedback by
answering the following questions:
· Do you agree or disagree with your peers’ initial posts about
the relationships between organizational culture, capabilities,
and performance? Explain.
· What is different about their perspectives, and how do you
think it will affect the overall performance evaluation of these
companies?
RESPOND TO EACH PEERS POSTING MINIMUM 2
PARAGRAPHS.
PEER ONE:
I can definitely agree with Bititci’s statement of successful
companies worrying less about performance. While
performance is of course important, that success is more easily
found when things are running smoothly internally and
employees feel valued. I believe it all comes down to proper
treatment of employees. I personally, having worked for both
an inspiring manager and a difficult one, am definitely more

31. motivated to perform my best when I feel valued and
appreciated.
Organizational culture plays a huge part in
performance. When companies are more concerned with things
such as financial results over the well-being of their employees,
that is when the unethical decisions tend to be made. Many
businesses talk about establishing relationships with their
customers but the truth is, valuing employees and building a
great relationship with them is of the same absolute importance.
If companies or businesses manage good relationships with their
employees, all other important metrics will show tremendous
improvements (Keay, 2018).
When it comes to Companies A and B, based off their
interview note memos, there are definitely some red flags that
can be addressed about their current cultures. For example, the
COO of Company A was quick to mention how outdated their
processes are. However, he never noted any plans in place to
make a change. These outdated procedures can be making the
employee’s jobs more difficult and unnecessarily time-
consuming. Therefore, addressing them could help improve
performance and efficiency. Another issue in Company A
comes from the HR Director. She herself pointed out she was
concerned they were losing top talent, and even she appeared to
be burned out. This could be because there is too much
workload placed on employees. According to a report from
Harvard Business Review, “When you have a workload that
matches your capacity, you can effectively get your work done,
have opportunities for rest and recovery, and find time for
professional growth and development. When you chronically
feel overloaded, these opportunities to restore balance don’t
exist.” (Saunders, 2019). Therefore, increased workload
pressures on employees can actually cause poor performance.
Company B has its organizational culture concerns as
well. The sales team appears to be highly unmotivated, and
perhaps an investigation into the cause of this can improve seat
sales. There is also a concern with the turnover of the

32. maintenance and operations teams. There is a risk that now that
many of them are at retirement age, there may be a loss of
knowledge transfer. This shows the need for more investment
into the training and development of employees. A recent
article from Indeed, details the benefits of a thorough training
process, including employee satisfaction, more innovation,
higher productivity and efficiency, and improved reputation
(Team, 2021). There is a glimmer of hope to be found for
Company B in the form of the new President, as she has strong
values in empowering employees and innovations. While her
ideas may sometimes be overboard, she has strong potential to
improve the overall culture of the company if hard but
necessary changes are made.
References:
Keay, R. M. (2018, July 2). 4 Reasons Why Valuing Employees
is as Important as Valuing your Clients. Retrieved from
Mapovate: https://www.mapovate.com/4-reasons-why-valuing-
employees-is-as-important-as-valuing-your-clients/
Saunders, E. G. (2019, July 5). 6 Causes of Burnout, and How
to Avoid Them. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review:
https://hbr.org/2019/07/6-causes-of-burnout-and-how-to-avoid-
them
Team, I. E. (2021, March 24). 7 Ways To Effectively Train
Employees. Retrieved from Indeed:
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-
development/train-employees
PEER TWO:
Q.1) Do you agree with the statement above? Why or why not?
I do agree with the above statement. Organizational capabilities
and performance go hand-in-hand. When an organization can

33. improve their capabilities, their performance will be improved.
Capabilities are otherwise known as the employee skills and
abilities that they obtain and bring to the organization.
Employee skills and abilities are assets to the organization.
(Hawkins, 2016). Thus, the skills and abilities that the
employees bring to the organization can encourage high
organizational performance.
Q.2) How does organizational culture affect capability and
performance? For example, an active, participative culture is
essential for encouraging organizational learning.
Employees bring capabilities and performance to the
organization. Also, it is the employees and their traits and
behaviors that also contribute to the organizational culture. In
addition, when employees are motivated to succeed through the
support from their leadership. When leadership offers support to
their team, it can provide a more improved employee
experience. (Leonard, 2019). This can increase employee
performance and capabilities as employees will be more
motivated to succeed. Thus, organiza tional culture can be
affected capability and performance of the organization and its
employees.
Q.3) What do you think about the organizational culture and
capabilities of Companies A and B and their role in the two
companies’ performance?
Referencing company, A, their customer experience and
performance is exceptional. Customers are frequent fliers of
company A and are also loyal to the organization. Their
customers appreciate their offered product and services, such as
first checked-bag free. First-class is also a popular commodity
for their customer base. For the employees, it appears that the
organizational culture is poor. Approximately 15 percent of
their employees have voluntarily separated from the company
within the last year and has been a trend experienced throughout
the last three years. Thus, this can affect the organizational
culture. Also, the company is not making the most of their
organizational capabilities and performance, as they do not

34. make the most of their employee skills and abilities. They do
not invest in training and development of their employees. The
organization is not prompting effective performance. Employees
including leaders (Human Resource Director) is believed to be
experiencing a potential burn-out and may also be soon to
voluntarily separate themselves from the company. Thus, there
is not an effective organizational culture or performance present
within company A.
Referencing company B, their sales are poor. This could
indicate that their customers are not satisfied or showing an
interest within the products and services offered. For the
employees, it appears that there is not enough corroboration on
employee performance and satisfaction to further draw -up a
conclusion on this topic. However, the employees have invested
in a union. In addition, they are also undergoing extensive
hiring. The organizational culture and performance of company
B should be improving following the increase within their work
force. Their capabilities and performance should also improve
from this hiring initiative.
References:
Hawkins. (2016). What are your Organization Capabilities?:
Summit Leadership
Partners. https://www.summitleadership.com/what-are-your-
organization-capabilities/
Leonard. (2019). Organizational Culture & Employee
Performance:
Chron. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/organizational-culture-
employee-performance-25216.html