The Latino Generation: Voices of the New America is a book written by Mario T. Garcia. This book tells the individual life stories of individual Latino Americans all attending the same class at University of California, Santa Barbra. The book discloses stories and events told by 13 students each who narrate from first person and give us a brief description of their life. The book is composed of 13 sections with an additional introduction and conclusion (Garcia, Kindle). Within this reflection I will describe the key points within this book and compare the stories within this book not only to each other, but also to additional stories of Latino Americans and how Garcia’s book rids the general public of misconception of Latinos. The key points …show more content…
Race was never an issue, but when looking at class sometimes rumors or stereotypes would be given. One of the largest intersection between Latinos is race or identity. For example, Amilcar Ramirez was Latino but looked black. Many Latino children have skin ranging from white to black and all dealt with these problems. Ramirez however faced opposition form Hispanics and African Americans because both would say he is not ‘their kind’ (Garcia, Kindle). Identity is still a large thing for Latino’s because many today are not just purely one heritage. This is still a problem when describing that someone is Mexican and Puerto Rican. There is no one thing to put down and that can be challenging to a lot of Latinos …show more content…
This book is so great at that because instead of just giving examples about how farmers would bring an immigration agent to their farm just so they wouldn’t have to pay workers, it actually gives you the details about how it was done. (Garcia, kindle) This book helps the reader understand how frightened this mother was when she thought her husband would not be coming home that day. The book gives you a front row view of the narrator learning that any day a parent may be gone anywhere form several days to several months because of their citizenship status. This book puts you in the narrator’s
Harvest of the Empire is a valuable tool to gaining a better understanding of Latinos. This book helps people understand how varied Latino’s in the United States are. The author also helped give insight as to how Americans reacts to differences within itself. It does this by giving a description of the struggles that every Latino immigrant faced entering the United States. These points of emphasis of the book were explained thoroughly in the identification of the key points, the explanation of the intersection of race, ethnicity, and class, in addition to the overall evaluation of the book.
This book was published in 1981 with an immense elaboration of media hype. This is a story of a young Mexican American who felt disgusted of being pointed out as a minority and was unhappy with affirmative action programs although he had gained advantages from them. He acknowledged the gap that was created between him and his parents as the penalty immigrants ought to pay to develop and grow into American culture. And he confessed that he got bewildered to see other Hispanic teachers and students determined to preserve their ethnicity and traditions by asking for such issues to be dealt with as departments of Chicano studies and minority literature classes. A lot of critics criticized him as a defector of his heritage, but there are a few who believed him to be a sober vote in opposition to the political intemperance of the 1960s and 1970s.
In Lives in Limbo, Roberto G. Gonzales dissects the disastrous effects of US immigration policy on young Latina/os struggling in the often untouched, unnoticed, uncared for, American underbelly. Through a striking ethnography, Gonzalez examines 150 illuminating case-studies of young undocumented Latina/os, shedding light on their shared experience in the struggle for legitimacy in the United States - their lives, effectively, in limbo. He develops two major groups with which to classify the struggling youth: the college-goers, like Cesar, who received strong marks in high school and was able to land himself a spot within the UC system, and the early-exiters, like Silvia, who was unable to attend college, resigned to a paranoid life plagued
There is a large Latino population in the United States. “By mid-century, one in every four "Americans" will be able to trace their heritage to a Latin American country”(Cauce & Domenech-Rodriguez, 2000, pg.4). By the year 2050, the United States population will be 30% Hispanic. Spanish speaking Latinos are the most prominent minority in our society, and because of this it is important that people put forth effort to understand their culture, language and any drawbacks that might come with living in the larger culture. Because of the large population of Hispanics in this area, it was easy to find a family to interview. The family’s country of origin is Mexico. A large portion of the Hispanic population in the United States is from Mexico. In fact, 60% of the Hispanic population in the United States has origins in Mexico (Saracho & Spodek 2008,
Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire a History of Latinos in America. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc, 2000.
A question that every high school student is faced with is: “What extracurricular activities so you participate in?” Some can answer confidently while others are slapped with a moment of sudden realization. These people are just floating along with the crowd, with no driving force or motivation. What I believe differentiates me from my peers and gives me a sense of uniqueness, is what I do outside of my academia. Out of the deluge of activities that are available, Latinos In Action is the one that I feel the most passionate about and shapes my persona the most.
It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most severely affected groups because the current immigration system disproportionally affects Latino/as. Recognizing how the experience of Latino/a immigrants have been both similar and different in the past from other immigrant groups and dispelling common misconceptions about Latino/as today brings awareness of how Latino/as are affected.
The Latino community is considered the largest demographic minority in the United States and is expect to increase by approximately 15% in 2050 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2002). The Latino population is comprised of many subgroups from many different regions that have developed unique beliefs, norms, and sociopolitical experiences. Although the term Latino is used throughout this paper, it is important to underscore the great diversity found within the Latino community to avoid the development and perpetuation of stereotypes. In clinical practice, it is important to evaluate the individual in terms of their racial identity, acculturation, and socioeconomic status among other factors to create a more individualized and effective treatment
Above all else the ten Latino boys Richard Mora observes over this time, have a want for control. Mostly control of their social identity; however, due to various social inequalities and differences that come attached to being working or poor class Latino children in urban areas, the boys are forced to overcompensate and exaggerate the one favorable aspect and privilege they have: Male privilege. The socialization of this happens early on and in certain cases has to if the boys even expect to survive contently in their social environment or even get half of the recognition their white male peers receive.
I have to introduce you to three individuals, not random individuals, but siblings - two brothers and a sister. They may seem just like any other people, but they have a secret that isn’t easily realized unless you know them. They belong here in the sense that they were born here, but their hearts belong to another land. They are the children of immigrants; the first generation to be born in America. It is a unique experience that to others may seem odd or exotic, but for these three is just as normal as learning to ride a bike.
Another struggle for identity with Latinos is their struggle with the Spanish and English languages. While some Latinos may speak Spanish in their homes, the language may not be conversationally used in their schools. Some Lat...
Latinos have struggled to discover their place inside of a white America for too many years. Past stereotypes and across racism they have fought to belong. Still America is unwilling to open her arms to them. Instead she demands assimilation. With her pot full of stew she asks, "What flavor will you add to this brew?" Some question, some rebel, and others climb in. I argue that it is not the Latino who willingly agreed to partake in this stew. It is America who forced her ideals upon them through mass media and stale history. However her effort has failed, for they have refused to melt.
Today, the Hispanic population has grown tremendously over the years. We have watched the Hispanics community growth rate grow faster than any other racial and ethnic group in the nation. The Hispanic culture and community has populated all around the United States, introducing new traditions and customs. I was traveling to different to city in the States, I notice the wide spread growth of Hispanic communities, For Instance in Miami the Cuban and El Salvadoran culture is heavy populate in the area. In New York the Puerto Rican culture is dominating through out the several boroughs. I have come around town and Hispanics are known for their good food, which tends to have more diverse people try new cultural customs. Hispanic or Latino Americans are a group of people made up of distinct characteristics. Hispanics or Latinos are defined as a people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish speaking cultures.
There are many stereotypes set from race to race. Personally when it comes to Mexican immigrants, I feel like they have it rough as far as being called worthless basically implying that they have no intelligence. According to Murillo and Villenas the New Latino Diapora are “areas without traditional Latino presence to which Latinos have increasing moved over the past 15 years (Wortham, 3).” For a better understanding there are areas that are not set to a specific race or ethnicity. According to the reading it is normally located in Pennsylvania and other parts of the world. Many people these days believe that all Mexicans are the “same” in terms on who they are and what they do . This is where racialization comes into play. The dynamics of the different populations over the past years have implemented that there is a difference between the new Latina/o immigrants and other people who have been in the same space. In the Worthham article it stated that Meixcan-Americans African Americans do not work as hard as Mexican Immigrants. This actually makes sense to me because immigrants ha...
In conclusion, we can see how the inflow of immigrant population has shaped America as a nation. This shows that the power to vote and the ability to stand for elections and seek seats in the congress has empowered the immigrants to make decisions about the future of America’s political scene. Nevertheless the Latinos are a dominant future workforce of the US economy. A lot of the Hispanics have joined the Military. Lastly, it is projected that the business community, military, political system, and the education institutions of the United States will be reliant on the Latinos in the near future.