Farai Chideya (Host): In a country that long defined itself in black and white, this past decade marked a watershed moment. Latinos surpassed African-Americans to become the largest ethnic group in America; Mexican immigration was just one driving force behind the change. According to cultural critic Gregory Rodriguez Mexican immigration will transform the way Americans view race. It's the premise of his new book, "Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans and Vagabonds." And Gregory joins me now. ... So you kick off your book in 1519 with Hernan Cortes. It sounds like you think a lot of people need a long background on history. Tell us why you started there.

Mr. RODRIGUEZ: I think in order to find out how Mexicans will affect the American future, it's important to understand the Mexican past. And I needed to start at the beginning ...

CHIDEYA: Now some people say - some Mexican-American say we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us. What do you make of that sentiment and how it relates to you as history?

Mr. RODRIGUEZ: Well, it is true that the first Mexican-Americans were people who became Americans by virtue of conquest and annexation. But those were about 75 to a hundred thousand people. And the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 extended the right to citizenship. If people within the conquest territory who stayed within a year, if - and didn't go back to Mexico. But for the most part, the - those people who call themselves Mexican-Americans today are largely from 20th century emigrations - the first one being the wave during the revolution - Mexican revolution in the teens and then, of course, the big wave from the mid- 70s to now.

CHIDEYA: So why do you think Mexican immigration specifically - and you're not dealing broadly with Latinos, and you're not just dealing with Mexicans who are already in the U.S although we'll get to that in a second - but why is Mexican immigration now so important?

Mr. RODRIGUEZ: Well, I'm dealing with Mexican immigration because the other factoid, I think, that makes it so important is that in the last three or four years, Mexican surpassed Germans as the largest immigrant group in the history of United States. They're not only the most - biggest contemporary immigrant group, they're also the immigrant group with the deepest roots. And it's ongoing and it's really - it's - I think they're very important, and we've sort of forgotten them. We use the generic term Latino or Hispanic, and we've forgotten the importance of desegregating and understanding the importance of each individual national origin group - Puerto Ricans, Columbians, Dominicans, et cetera. ...

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