Within a year after their arrival in San Jose, California, his father abandoned the family and Klor de Alva and his older brother began to work in the fields of the agricultural community.

[4] Having taught himself Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Aztecs, his doctoral thesis, under the direction of Miguel León-Portilla, examined native resistance to Christianity in 16th century Mexico.

His first academic position was at San Jose State University as Assistant and Associate Professor of Philosophy/Humanities/Mexican American Graduate Studies, (1971–82).

[6] From 1994 to 1998 he held the Class of 1940 Endowed Chair at the University of California, Berkeley[7] His scholarly research has been on contemporary and early modern interethnic/interracial relations, education policy and curriculum reform, and cultural and social trends, primarily in North America, Europe, and Africa.

He has published over eighty scholarly articles, is co-author of nine textbooks, and has written or edited another fifteen books on related subjects.