gilda_elise

A groundbreaking examination of how Latinos' new collective racial identity upends the way Americans understand race In an unprecedented demographic shift, Latinos will comprise a third of the American population in just a matter of decades. While their influence shapes everything from electoral politics to popular culture, many Americans still struggle with two basic questions: Who are Latinos, and where do they fit in America's racial order? Laura E. Gómez, a leading expert on race in America, argues that it is only recently that Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, Central Americans, and others are seeing themselves (and being seen by others) under the banner of a cohesive racial identity. And the catalyst for this emergent identity, she argues, has been the ferocity of anti-Latino racism.

In a bold effort to reframe our often-confused discussions over the Latinx generation, Gómez argues that everything from Trump's toxic rhetoric and anti-immigrant laws like Arizona's SB1070 to DACA and sanctuary cities have indelibly changed the way race functions in this country.

Part history, part guide for the future, Inventing Latinos argues that all Americans must grapple with Latinos' dynamic identity--an identity that is impacting everything we think we know about race in America.

I’d often wondered why, when demographics were displayed on the news, for crime, or for voting, or even just to show population size, the Hispanic population was either downplayed, or overlooked entirely. This book goes a long way to answering that question.

Part of the problem appears to have been in the defining of who, exactly, is Latino, or Chicano, or Hispanic? What does it mean to be Latino? And how does the mix of, say, white and indigenous change someone’s race? The history of Spanish and American imperialism when it comes to the Hispanic population only adds the problems of racism and the apprehension surrounding immigration.

That history is well covered, as is the history of the different nationalities that make up the Latino population in the U.S.. A book well worth reading.