Drinking difference: Race, consumption, and alcohol prohibition in Mexico and the United States

Abstract

This article examines how racialized meanings were attributed to alcoholic products (tequila, pulque, and beer) in the United States and in Mexico in the early part of the 20th century. Researchers in both countries provide a wealth of information about the politics, establishment, and enforcement of alcohol prohibition. Yet, few projects consider the effects of these measures from a transnational perspective. Drawing on newspaper articles and primary and secondary sources from the United States and Mexico, this work illustrates how, amid changing ideas regarding alcohol regulation, various actors projected racial and class meanings onto commodities and their consumption.