The Story
This book offers a sweeping history of Mexican American interactions with law enforcement and the criminal justice system in the US Southwest. Looking primarily at Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, Brown and Blue tells a complex story: Violent, often racist acts committed by police against Mexican American people sparked protests demanding reform, and criminal justice authorities sometimes responded positively to these protests with measures such as recruiting Mexican Americans into local police forces and altering training procedures at police academies.
Brian D. Behnken demonstrates the central role that the struggle for police reform played in the twentieth-century Chicano movement, and the ways its relevance continues to the present. By linking social activism and law enforcement, Behnken illuminates how the policing issues of today developed and what reform remains to be done.
Author: Brian D. Behnken
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 12/02/2025
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.09lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.79d
ISBN: 9781469690704
About the Author
Brian D. Behnken is professor of history at Iowa State University.
Description
This book offers a sweeping history of Mexican American interactions with law enforcement and the criminal justice system in the US Southwest. Looking primarily at Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, Brown and Blue tells a complex story: Violent, often racist acts committed by police against Mexican American people sparked protests demanding reform, and criminal justice authorities sometimes responded positively to these protests with measures such as recruiting Mexican Americans into local police forces and altering training procedures at police academies.
Brian D. Behnken demonstrates the central role that the struggle for police reform played in the twentieth-century Chicano movement, and the ways its relevance continues to the present. By linking social activism and law enforcement, Behnken illuminates how the policing issues of today developed and what reform remains to be done.
Author: Brian D. Behnken
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 12/02/2025
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.09lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.79d
ISBN: 9781469690704
About the Author
Brian D. Behnken is professor of history at Iowa State University.