Racial Fault Lines

"Almaguer's book on the historical development of racism in California in the second half of the 19th century has been long awaited." * American Journal of Sociology *
"This book is the first attempt to put various racialized groups, which must be analyzed on their own terms, in a comparative context so that differences and similarities are brought sharply into focus. Almaguer has demonstrated throughout that 'race' served as the central organizing principle of group life in California during the second half of the nineteenth century." * American Historical Review *
"Almaguer's approach to this history is unconventional, yet insightful, informative, and thought provoking. He has provided Chicano history with a nuanced and sophisticated rendering of racial formation in nineteenth-century California based on the latest theories of race and racialization. . . . Readers will be enlightened by this history, and angry that it occurred. They will understand, though, how racial formation operates today and why race is still the primary organizing principle in California and the United States in general." * Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos *
"Almaguer shows in rich detail how white supremacy shaped class formation in California; in so doing he underscores once more the fundamental, indeed foundational importance of race and racism in the United States." * Contemporary Sociology *