What’s been overlooked in New Mexico history?
In the book that I am working on now, which is based on my dissertation, I put forth the argument that slavery is foundational to the development of this entire landscape, but that has been obscured because slavery was illegal in New Mexico. Slavery was what [French social theorist Michel] Foucault would call a “tolerated illegality.” It seems to be the norm in Nuevomexicano culture to claim pure Spanish ancestry. If it’s not true, what supports its continuing popularity? Based on years of archival research, it is clear to me that mestizaje—generations of racial and cultural mixing—largely shaped the identities of people in New Mexico. Certainly, the elite class carried with them a sense of purity. Later, civic leaders and many people who moved to Santa Fe fashioned a myth that defined three cultures and cultivated a Spanish heritage fantasy. This was fueled by denial more than it was based on anything tangible. And what’s overlooked in Santa Fe history? Let me cite from Galeano: “Iden
