trong enough constituency to promote and elect their own politicians. It appears that over the course of several years, this political force will increase. In other areas inequities prevail. Economically, Mexican American family income is still only 73% of the median income for all United States families and Mexican American unemployment rates are much higher. Mexican Americans continue to be concentrated in blue-collar jobs and under represented in white-collar jobs. Educationally, only approximately two out of five Mexican Americans complete high school. Although there has been some progress in these areas, as indicated by the higher proportion represented in colleges, and universities, greater number in white-collar jobs, and increased incomes, the gains are only moderate. Intermarriage is often considered one major measure of integration, reflective of the degree of other assimilative process (Yinger 1995). Intermarriage in the context usually means marriage between a Mexican American and an Anglo American. Murguia (1992) has compiled one of the most extensive studies on Mexican American intermarriage. The findings indicate that among the three most populous southwestern states, the intermarriage rates range from 9-27% in New Mexico, and from 51-55% in California. Intermarriage rates are greatly influenced by the forces that influence integration. As educational levels increase, residential segregation decreases, and social-class mobility increases with decrease in discrimination, intermarriage should probably increase accordingly. As Mexican American socioeconomic profile moves closer to the socioeconomic profile of the population as a whole, the assimilation process should move accordingly.CHANGE and ADAPTIONToday’s Mexican American family is a unique culture in American society in that it is fully characterized by neither the Mexican culture nor the American culture, it maintains elements of both. The social an...
