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Ronald E. McNair Scholar | University of Southern California

Monica Valencia became a Ronald E. McNair Scholar in 2012 at the University of Southern California (USC), only one semester after transferring to USC from Oxnard College. For her undergraduate research project, she was mentored by Dr. C. Brady Potts and Dr. Jody Agius Vallejo, from the Department of Sociology at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences. Her research is titled: "Ethnic Supremacy: The Effects of Transnational Prejudice on Incorporation and Identity Formation of Oaxacans in the U.S."

ABSTRACT:

This research examines the Oaxacan immigrant experience in the United States by exploring processes of transnational prejudice experienced by Oaxacans in Mexico and in the United States, tracing how this prejudice shapes their pathways of incorporation and racial identity in the United States in both social and labor sectors. The methodology for this study includes interviews of Oaxacan and non-Oaxacan Mexican immigrant field laborers in Southern California, as well as participant-observation of their interaction with each other while working as low-wage agricultural workers and while working as street vendors. I find that indigenous Oaxacan communities in the United States face double the discrimination and marginalization than Mexican immigrants - more so by their Mexican counterparts, than by Americans. This research fills a gap in current immigration literature by providing a greater understanding of the heterogeneous complexity of Mexican immigrants to the United States.

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