Dual Loyalities Exploring the Roles of Identity, Acculturation and Discrimination in Mexican-American Patriotism

Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hernandez, Sarah

Keywords

Mexican-American, Mexican-American Patriotism, Identity, Discrimination, Acculturation

Area of Concentration

Sociology

Abstract

This study examines conceptions of patriotism among Mexican-American individuals who grew up in the United States. Though some studies have explored the patriotism of ethnic minorities, they have done so only quantitatively, comparing levels of minority patriotism to those of non-Hispanic whites. Instead, I draw on ten in-depth interviews to explore the relationship between ethnicity and patriotism, focusing on the roles of identity, acculturation, and discrimination. The results of this study suggest that Mexican-Americans are both highly patriotic towards the United States and have a great deal of pride in their Mexican heritage; half of the respondents conceived of this cultural pride as patriotism. Their patriotism towards the U.S. was grounded in a strong belief in the ideal of multicultural America. A new variable, related to both identity and acculturation that I have termed low-salience American identity emerged as the strongest factor explaining the lower levels of American patriotism of two of the respondents. Discrimination, alternatively, was found to be unrelated to patriotism.

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