Mexican American Protest, Ethnic Resiliency and Social Capital: The Mobilization Benefits of Cross-Cutting Ties

Abstract

Using terms like free spaces and havens, conventional wisdom views social ties by subordinate groups to dominant group members as hindering protest participation. In contrast, we draw on ethnic resiliency and social capital perspectives and argue that there are mobilization benefits to having dominant group members as friends. We offer a unique statistical test by examining the effect of white social ties on Mexican American participation in cultural and political protest. Using survey data, bivariate and multivariate results demonstrate that social connections to whites promote Mexican American activism. We conclude with a discussion of how our findings can be reconciled with previous scholarship.