Writing New Mexico White: A Critical Analysis of Early Representations of New Mexico in Technical Writing    

In this article, the authors analyze early technical documents produced by the New Mexico Bureau of Immigration (NMBI), including 'The Legend of Montezuma' and 'Illustrated New Mexico.' The purpose of these documents are clear: to increase the number of white Americans to create a clear white majority when New Mexico became a state and thereby prevent the Mexicans from gaining power. In analyzing these documents, the authors use theoretical frameworks from studies in the history of business and technical writing (SHBTW) and critical whiteness theory to show how early textual representations of New Mexico reproduce racist constructions of native New Mexicans and represent whiteness as the norm.

Johnson, Jennifer Ramirez, Octavio Pimentel and Charise Pimentel. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Ethnicity