Memories of a Hyphenated Man

Ramón Eduardo Ruiz would be the first to admit that he is not your typical Mexican American. But he has always known who he is. Historian, author, and intellectual, Ruiz has established himself through such books as Triumphs and Tragedy: A History of the Mexican People and Cuba: The Making of a Revolution, and in 1998 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Clinton. Now he turns his pen on his own life to offer a personal look at what it really means to be American by birth but Mexican by culture. Little has been written by or about persons of Mexican origin who have achieved the academic stature of Ruiz, and his memoir provides insights not found in the more common biographies of labor leaders and civil rights activists. His early life straddled the social worlds of his parents' Mexico and semi-rural America, where his father's success as an entrepreneur and property owner set his family's experiences apart from those of most other Mexicans at the time. His parents reinforced in their children an identity as mexicanos, and that connection with his ancestral roots was for Ruiz a lifejacket in the days of acute bigotry in America. In making an early, self-conscious commitment to a life of the mind, Ruiz became aware of his unique nature, and although not immune to prejudice, he was able to make a name for himself in several endeavors. As a student, he attended college when few Mexican Americans had the opportunity, and he was one of the first of his generation to earn a Ph.D. As an Army Air Force officer during World War II, he served as a pilot in the Pacific theater. And as an intellectual, he navigated the currents of the historical profession and charted new directions in Latin American research through his prolific writing.