This dissertation is a qualitative study of racially ambiguous people and their life experiences. Racially ambiguous people are individuals who are frequently misidentified racially by others because they do not resemble the phenotype associated with the racial group to which they belong or because they belong to racial/ethnic groups originating in different parts of the world that resemble each other. the racial/ethnic population of the United States is constantly changing because of variations in the birth rates among the racial/ethnic groups that comprise those populations and immigration from around the world. Although much research has been done that documents the existence of racial/ethnic mixing in the history of the United States and the world, this multiracial history is seldom acknowledged in the social, work, and other spheres of interaction among people in the U.S., instead a racialized system based on the perception of individuals as mono-racial thus easily identified through (skin tone, hair texture, facial features, etc.). This is research was done using life experience interviews with 24 racially ambiguous individuals to determine how race/ethnicity has affected their lives and how they negotiate the minefield of race.

I miss the smell of orange blossoms, which used to flood the countryside. But as a city grows, the land surrounding it dies. You cannot roll down your windows anymore and smell the sweet scent dancing off the buds. You will however find impressive theme parks, factory-style chain stores and restaurants. If you look close enough, you'll also see disgruntled souls of a once naturally spectacular culture of people. Laid back like the sands of Florida's coast. But now there are bills, traffic, and IKEA. This collection of essays is an attempt to escape such an experience. To explain such an existence, and to explore an eschewal from the inevitable, retail therapy. Xanthomonas axonopodis, often known as citrus cankers, is a bacterial disease affecting most citrus species. Dead tissue forms, then slowly grows, and consumes, then kills the fruits of labor. Grapefruits are the most susceptible to the disease. There was an outbreak from 1910, to 1931. Another from 1986 to 1994, and rumors sprang less than a year later stating the canker was back. To solve most outbreaks, famers and officials just burn the trees to complete, and utter ash. In 2006, the USDA stated eradication of the disease was impossible. If this sounds like cancer, the trust me, you’re not crazy. Florida is known for its beaches, hospitality, and it’s citrus.

L’hispanité des musulmans d’Espagne est au centre d’un débat récurrent sur l’identité collective des Espagnols. En faisant de la présence politique des musulmans une parenthèse historique de huit siècles, le romancero les exclut non seulement de l’espace péninsulaire mais aussi de l’hispanité elle-même, il annonce ainsi l’expulsion définitive des Morisques de 1609. Un autre discours est pourtant développé durant le siècle qui suit 1492 ; les littératures hispano-arabe et aljamiada mais aussi parfois castillane en témoignent. Le roman hispano-mauresque français, un siècle plus tard, reprend le personnage du musulman d’Espagne qui devient le support d’une hispanité fantasmée qui se définit par les contacts avec le monde arabo-musulman via la Méditerranée. Le Maure de Grenade est alors un modèle littéraire qui fournit à l’Europe une représentation positive du monde arabo-musulman. Idéalisé, tolérant et généreux, le Moro n’est plus simplement un Espagnol, il est le support d’une réflexion sur la mixité religieuse et sur l’attachement collectif au lieu. / The Hispanic identity of Spanish Muslims is at the center of a recurring debate on the collective identity of Spaniards. By treating the political presence of the Muslims as a simple historical parenthesis which lasted for eight centuries, the Romancero excludes Spanish Muslims not only from the peninsula but also from Hispanic identity itself and heralds the final expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609. A different attitude was developed during the hundred years following 1492, as witnessed by the Hispano-Arabic and Aljamiada, but also sometimes the Castilian literature. The French Spanish-Moorish novel, a century later, redefines the character of the Spanish Muslim, which then becomes the basis for a fantasized Hispanic identity characterised by its contact with the Arab-Muslim world via the Mediterranean. The Moor of Granada becomes a literary model that provides Europe with a positive image of the Arab-Muslim world. Idealized, tolerant and generous, the Moro is no longer simply a Spaniard, but a pretext for reflecting on religious diversity and the link between a people and a place.

Depuis plus d’une dizaine d’année, l’on assiste à une résurgence de la mémoire historique en Espagne. Qu’il s’agisse des contemporains ou de leurs héritiers, la mémoire des vaincus de la Guerre Civile, autrefois passée sous silence, est devenue incontournable aussi bien sur le plan historiographique que culturel et même politique (loi dite de « mémoire historique »). Les nombreux succès éditoriaux et cinématographiques relatifs à cette période douloureuse ont contribué à la diffusion d’épisodes méconnus et à la réappropriation d’un passé qui n’avait pas toujours été transmis aux générations successives. Toutefois, l’activisme des uns ne fait pas l’unanimité. Entre ceux qui ne souhaitent pas rouvrir les blessures du passé au nom d’une concorde nationale difficilement obtenue, et ceux qui se sentent mis en accusation par un « triomphe des vaincus » qui tend à ne présenter le conflit civil que sous l’angle de la lutte des « bons » contre les « méchants », l’on a pu observer une crispation partisane des débats au détriment de la science historique. La question mémorielle a atteint de telles proportions que certains commentateurs se sont demandés si la Guerre Civile était ou non terminée. Quoique l’évolution de l’historiographie soit indéniable depuis 1931, elle ne saurait s’expliquer entièrement par la lutte partisane des héritiers des deux camps. En effet, il nous faut nous intéresser également à des causes plus profondes qui en sont à l’origine. Si le cas espagnol s’inscrit dans un contexte européen d’irruption de la mémoire dans l’histoire, il s’explique aussi par des raisons propres qui touchent bien d’autres domaines. / Over the past decade, the question of Spanish historical memory has been debated a lot. Whereas the memory of the Spanish Civil War’s defeated had been kept silenced for years, nowadays, the story of direct witnesses – often told by themselves or their heirs – has become inevitable from a historical, cultural and political point of view (see the “historical memory” Act). Many best-selling books and box-office hit films dealing with this painful historical period have contributed to generalise some neglected events which had not always been properly transmitted to the younger generations. However, the memorial activism of various individuals is not unanimously accepted. Indeed, some people consider that such a revival of a painful past might pose a threat to a national harmony which was not easy to obtain. Others, belonging to the national fraction, feel directly accused by the late “triumph” of yesterday’s defeated. The frequent parallel drawn between the Civil War and a would-be fight of the “goods” against the “evils”, has fuelled a partisan debate at the expense of historical truth. The debate on historical memory has become so serious that some analysts do wonder if the Civil War is over or not. The evolution of historiography since 1931 is real, but it should not be explained exclusively by the biased opposition of the heirs of both camps. In fact, we have to take into account deeper reasons at the roots of the problem. The Spanish case cannot be dissociated from a European context, even if it has to be explained by its own particular reasons which affect many other knowledge domains.