Racial mixture posed a distinct threat to European American
perceptions of the nation and state in the late nineteenth century,
says Lauren Basson, as it exposed and disrupted the racial
categories that organized political and social life in the United
States. Offering a provocative conceptual approach to the study of
citizenship, nationhood, and race, Basson explores how racial
mixture challenged and sometimes changed the boundaries that
defined what it meant to be American.
Drawing on government documents, press coverage, and firsthand
accounts, Basson presents four fascinating case studies concerning
indigenous people of "mixed" descent. She reveals how the ambiguous
status of racially mixed people underscored the problematic nature
of policies and practices based on clearly defined racial
boundaries. Contributing to timely discussions about race,
ethnicity, citizenship, and nationhood, Basson demonstrates how the
challenges to the American political and legal systems posed by
racial mixture helped lead to a new definition of what it meant to
be American--one that relied on institutions of private property
and white supremacy.