The Latino Generation

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The Latino Generation

Author : Mario T. García
Publisher : UNC Press Books
ISBN 13 : 146961412X
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (696 download)

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Book Synopsis The Latino Generation by : Mario T. García

Download or read book The Latino Generation written by Mario T. García and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2014-05-12 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Latinos are already the largest minority group in the United States, and experts estimate that by 2050, one out of three Americans will identify as Latino. Though their population and influence are steadily rising, stereotypes and misconceptions about Latinos remain, from the assumption that they refuse to learn English to questions of just how "American" they actually are. By presenting thirteen riveting oral histories of young, first-generation college students, Mario T. Garcia counters those long-held stereotypes and expands our understanding of what he terms "the Latino Generation." By allowing these young people to share their stories and struggles, Garcia reveals that these students and children of immigrants will be critical players in the next chapter of our nation's history. Collected over several years, the testimonios follow the history of the speakers in thought-provoking ways, reminding us that members of the Latino Generation are not merely a demographic group but, rather, real individuals, as American in their aspirations and loyalty as the members of any other ethnic group in the country.

The Latino Generation

Author : Mario T. García
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781469615516
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (155 download)

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Book Synopsis The Latino Generation by : Mario T. García

Download or read book The Latino Generation written by Mario T. García and published by . This book was released on 2014-01-01 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Latinos are already the largest minority group in the United States, and experts estimate that by 2050, one out of three Americans will identify as Latino. Though their population and influence are steadily rising, stereotypes and misconceptions about Latinos remain, from the assumption that they refuse to learn English to questions of just how "American" they actually are. By presenting thirteen riveting oral histories of young, first-generation college students, Mario T. Garcia counters those long-held stereotypes and expands our understanding of what he terms "the Latino Generation." By allowing these young people to share their stories and struggles, Garcia reveals that these students and children of immigrants will be critical players in the next chapter of our nation's history. Collected over several years, the testimonios follow the history of the speakers in thought-provoking ways, reminding us that members of the Latino Generation are not merely a demographic group but rather real individuals, as American in their aspirations and loyalty as the members of any other ethnic group in the country. "--

Building the Latino Future

Author : Frank Carbajal
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0470293527
Total Pages : 191 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (72 download)

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Book Synopsis Building the Latino Future by : Frank Carbajal

Download or read book Building the Latino Future written by Frank Carbajal and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-07-21 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An inspiring collection of success stories from the country's most prominent Latinos, Building the Latino Future offers and inspiration and advice for Latinos in any industry who want to succeed spectacularly. The future is bright for America?s Latino community; this book lets you learn from the success of such luminaries as actor Edward James Olmos, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, former housing secretary Henry Cisneros, NPR correspondent Ray Suarez, and many more.

Inventing Latinos

Author : Laura E. Gómez
Publisher : The New Press
ISBN 13 : 1620977664
Total Pages : 137 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (29 download)

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Book Synopsis Inventing Latinos by : Laura E. Gómez

Download or read book Inventing Latinos written by Laura E. Gómez and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2022-09-06 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR An NPR Best Book of the Year, exploring the impact of Latinos’ new collective racial identity on the way Americans understand race, with a new afterword by the author Who are Latinos and where do they fit in America’s racial order? In this “timely and important examination of Latinx identity” (Ms.), Laura E. Gómez, a leading critical race scholar, 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 what Booklist calls “an incisive study of history, complex interrogation of racial construction, and sophisticated legal argument,” Gómez “packs a knockout punch” (Publishers Weekly), illuminating for readers the fascinating race-making, unmaking, and re-making processes that Latinos have undergone over time, indelibly changing the way race functions in this country. Building on the “insightful and well-researched” (Kirkus Reviews) material of the original, the paperback features a new afterword in which the author analyzes results of the 2020 Census, providing brilliant, timely insight about how Latinos have come to self-identify.

Leaders of the Mexican American Generation

Author : Anthony Quiroz
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
ISBN 13 : 1457195879
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (571 download)

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Book Synopsis Leaders of the Mexican American Generation by : Anthony Quiroz

Download or read book Leaders of the Mexican American Generation written by Anthony Quiroz and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2015-05-02 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leaders of the Mexican American Generation explores the lives of a wide range of influential members of the US Mexican American community between 1920 and 1965 who paved the way for major changes in their social, political, and economic status within the United States. Including feminist Alice Dickerson Montemayor, San Antonio attorney Gus García, civil rights activist and scholar Ernesto Galarza, the subjects of these biographies include some of the most prominent idealists and actors of the time. Whether debating in a court of law, writing for a major newspaper, producing reports for governmental agencies, organizing workers, holding public office, or otherwise shaping space for the Mexican American identity in the United States, these subjects embody the core values and diversity of their generation. More than a chronicle of personalities who left their mark on Mexican American history, Leaders of the Mexican American Generation cements this community as a major player in the history of activism and civil rights in the United States. It is a rich collection of historical biographies that will enlighten and enliven our understanding of Mexican American history.

Mestizo in America

Author : Thomas Macias
Publisher : University of Arizona Press
ISBN 13 : 0816544700
Total Pages : 194 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (165 download)

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Book Synopsis Mestizo in America by : Thomas Macias

Download or read book Mestizo in America written by Thomas Macias and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2006-09-14 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How much does ethnicity matter to Mexican Americans today, when many marry outside their culture and some can’t even stomach menudo? This book addresses that question through a unique blend of quantitative data and firsthand interviews with third-plus-generation Mexican Americans. Latinos are being woven into the fabric of American life, to be sure, but in a way quite distinct from ethnic groups that have come from other parts of the world. By focusing on individuals’ feelings regarding acculturation, work experience, and ethnic identity—and incorporating Mexican-Anglo intermarriage statistics—Thomas Macias compares the successes and hardships of Mexican immigrants with those of previous European arrivals. He describes how continual immigration, the growth of the Latino population, and the Chicano Movement have been important factors in shaping the experience of Mexican Americans, and he argues that Mexican American identity is often not merely an “ethnic option” but a necessary response to stereotyping and interactions with Anglo society.Talking with fifty third-plus generation Mexican Americans from Phoenix and San Jose—representative of the seven million nationally with at least one immigrant grandparent—he shows how people utilize such cultural resources as religion, spoken Spanish, and cross-national encounters to reinforce Mexican ethnicity in their daily lives. He then demonstrates that, although social integration for Mexican Americans shares many elements with that of European Americans, forces related to ethnic concentration, social inequality, and identity politics combine to make ethnicity for Mexican Americans more fixed across generations. Enhancing research already available on first- and second-generation Mexican Americans, Macias’s study also complements research done on other third-plus-generation ethnic groups and provides the empirical data needed to understand the commonalities and differences between them. His work plumbs the changing meaning of mestizaje in the Americas over five centuries and has much to teach us about the long-term assimilation and prospects of Mexican-origin people in the United States.

Mexican Americans Across Generations

Author : Jessica M. Vasquez
Publisher : NYU Press
ISBN 13 : 081478836X
Total Pages : 316 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (147 download)

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Book Synopsis Mexican Americans Across Generations by : Jessica M. Vasquez

Download or read book Mexican Americans Across Generations written by Jessica M. Vasquez and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2011-04-18 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While newly arrived immigrants are often the focus of public concern and debate, many Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans have resided in the United States for generations. Latinos are the largest and fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States, and their racial identities change with each generation. While the attainment of education and middle class occupations signals a decline in cultural attachment for some, socioeconomic mobility is not a cultural death-knell, as others are highly ethnically identified. There are a variety of ways that middle class Mexican Americans relate to their ethnic heritage, and racialization despite assimilation among a segment of the second and third generations reveals the continuing role of race even among the U.S.-born. Mexican Americans Across Generations investigates racial identity and assimilation in three-generation Mexican American families living in California. Through rich interviews with three generations of middle class Mexican American families, Vasquez focuses on the family as a key site for racial and gender identity formation, knowledge transmission, and incorporation processes, exploring how the racial identities of Mexican Americans both change and persist generationally in families. She illustrates how gender, physical appearance, parental teaching, historical era and discrimination influence Mexican Americans’ racial identity and incorporation patterns, ultimately arguing that neither racial identity nor assimilation are straightforward progressions but, instead, develop unevenly and are influenced by family, society, and historical social movements.

Citizens But Not Americans

Author : Nilda Flores-González
Publisher : NYU Press
ISBN 13 : 1479825522
Total Pages : 187 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (798 download)

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Book Synopsis Citizens But Not Americans by : Nilda Flores-González

Download or read book Citizens But Not Americans written by Nilda Flores-González and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2017-10-03 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Race and Belonging Among Latino Millennials -- Latinos and the Racial Politics of Place and Space -- Latinos as an Ethnorace -- Latinos as a Racial Middle -- Latinos as "Real" Americans -- Rethinking Race and Belonging among Latino Millennials

The Mario Garcia Omnibus E-book

Author : Mario T. García
Publisher : UNC Press Books
ISBN 13 : 1469615746
Total Pages : 672 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (696 download)

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Book Synopsis The Mario Garcia Omnibus E-book by : Mario T. García

Download or read book The Mario Garcia Omnibus E-book written by Mario T. García and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2014-06-01 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Omnibus E-Book brings together Mario Garcia's landmark books on Latino Studies. The Latino Generation: Voices of the New America Latinos are already the largest minority group in the United States, and experts estimate that by 2050, one out of three Americans will identify themselves as Latino. Though their population and influence are steadily rising, stereotypes and misconceptions about Latinos remain, from the assumption that they refuse to learn English to questions of just how "American" they actually are. By presenting thirteen riveting oral histories of young, first-generation college students, Mario T. Garcia counters those long-held stereotypes and expands our understanding of what he terms "the Latino Generation." Blowout!: Sal Castro and the Chicano Struggle for Educational Justice This fascinating oral history transcribed and presented in Castro's voice by historian Mario T. Garcia, is a compelling, highly readable narrative of Castro, a young boy growing up in Los Angeles who made history by his leadership in the blowouts and in his career as a dedicated and committed teacher.

Generations of Exclusion

Author : Edward M. Telles
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610445287
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Generations of Exclusion by : Edward M. Telles

Download or read book Generations of Exclusion written by Edward M. Telles and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2008-03-21 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foreword by Joan W. Moore When boxes of original files from a 1965 survey of Mexican Americans were discovered behind a dusty bookshelf at UCLA, sociologists Edward Telles and Vilma Ortiz recognized a unique opportunity to examine how the Mexican American experience has evolved over the past four decades. Telles and Ortiz located and re-interviewed most of the original respondents and many of their children. Then, they combined the findings of both studies to construct a thirty-five year analysis of Mexican American integration into American society. Generations of Exclusion is the result of this extraordinary project. Generations of Exclusion measures Mexican American integration across a wide number of dimensions: education, English and Spanish language use, socioeconomic status, intermarriage, residential segregation, ethnic identity, and political participation. The study contains some encouraging findings, but many more that are troubling. Linguistically, Mexican Americans assimilate into mainstream America quite well—by the second generation, nearly all Mexican Americans achieve English proficiency. In many domains, however, the Mexican American story doesn't fit with traditional models of assimilation. The majority of fourth generation Mexican Americans continue to live in Hispanic neighborhoods, marry other Hispanics, and think of themselves as Mexican. And while Mexican Americans make financial strides from the first to the second generation, economic progress halts at the second generation, and poverty rates remain high for later generations. Similarly, educational attainment peaks among second generation children of immigrants, but declines for the third and fourth generations. Telles and Ortiz identify institutional barriers as a major source of Mexican American disadvantage. Chronic under-funding in school systems predominately serving Mexican Americans severely restrains progress. Persistent discrimination, punitive immigration policies, and reliance on cheap Mexican labor in the southwestern states all make integration more difficult. The authors call for providing Mexican American children with the educational opportunities that European immigrants in previous generations enjoyed. The Mexican American trajectory is distinct—but so is the extent to which this group has been excluded from the American mainstream. Most immigration literature today focuses either on the immediate impact of immigration or what is happening to the children of newcomers to this country. Generations of Exclusion shows what has happened to Mexican Americans over four decades. In opening this window onto the past and linking it to recent outcomes, Telles and Ortiz provide a troubling glimpse of what other new immigrant groups may experience in the future.

Being Latino in Christ

Author : Orlando Crespo
Publisher : InterVarsity Press
ISBN 13 : 083087450X
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (38 download)

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Book Synopsis Being Latino in Christ by : Orlando Crespo

Download or read book Being Latino in Christ written by Orlando Crespo and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2009-08-20 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life as a Latino in America is complicated. Living between the two worlds of being Latino and American can generate great uncertainty. And the strange mixture of ethnic pride and racial prejudice creates another sort of confusion. Who are you as a Latino? Who are you as an American? What has Christ to say about your dilemma? How can you accept who you are in Christ with joy and confidence? Orlando Crespo has taken his own journey from Puerto Rico to an immigrant neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts, and back again to his Latino roots. In this books he helps you to reflect on your own voyage of self-understanding and on what it means to have a mixed heritage from the days of the original Spanish Conquest to the present. His straightforward approach also takes him to what the Bible says about ethnic identity--about a people who were often oppressed by more powerful cultures. He helps you to see how Jesus' own humanity unfolded in the context of a people who were considered to be inferior. Thus Crespo finds both realism and hope in the good news of Jesus. There is more, however, than merely coming to terms with who you are. Crespo also shows how Latinos are called to step out positively in ministry to the world. You can make a positive impact in on the world in racial reconciliation, in bicultural ministry and more because of who God has uniquely made you to be. Here is a book for all Latinos who want to live confidently in Christ.

Beyond the Latino World War II Hero

Author : Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez
Publisher : University of Texas Press
ISBN 13 : 0292721153
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (927 download)

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Book Synopsis Beyond the Latino World War II Hero by : Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez

Download or read book Beyond the Latino World War II Hero written by Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2009-12-07 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez 's edited volume Mexican Americans & World War II brought pivotal stories from the shadows, contributing to the growing acknowledgment of Mexican American patriotism as a meaningful force within the Greatest Generation. In this latest anthology, Rivas-Rodríguez and historian Emilio Zamora team up with scholars from various disciplines to add new insights. Beyond the Latino World War II Hero focuses on home-front issues and government relations, delving into new arenas of research and incorporating stirring oral histories. These recollections highlight realities such as post-traumatic stress disorder and its effects on veterans' families, as well as Mexican American women of this era, whose fighting spirit inspired their daughters to participate in Chicana/o activism of the 1960s and 1970s. Other topics include the importance of radio as a powerful medium during the war and postwar periods, the participation of Mexican nationals in World War II, and intergovernmental negotiations involving Mexico and Puerto Rico. Addressing the complexity of the Latino war experience, such as the tandem between the frontline and the disruption of the agricultural migrant stream on the home front, the authors and contributors unite diverse perspectives to harness the rich resources of an invaluable oral history.

Latino Churches

Author : Ken R. Crane
Publisher : LFB Scholarly Publishing
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.A/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Latino Churches by : Ken R. Crane

Download or read book Latino Churches written by Ken R. Crane and published by LFB Scholarly Publishing. This book was released on 2003 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation Crane (affiliation not cited) presents the results of an ethnographic study on the social and religious experiences of second-generation Latino youth within their faith communities. In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with members of three Latino congregations (Catholic, Adventist, and Assembly of God) in Michigan and Indiana. Broader societal and regional trends shaping the emergence of Latino religious congregations also are discussed. Crane holds a Ph. D. in sociology from Michigan State University. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Blowout!

Author : Mario T. García
Publisher : Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN 13 : 0807877913
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (78 download)

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Book Synopsis Blowout! by : Mario T. García

Download or read book Blowout! written by Mario T. García and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2011-03-21 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In March 1968, thousands of Chicano students walked out of their East Los Angeles high schools and middle schools to protest decades of inferior and discriminatory education in the so-called "Mexican Schools." During these historic walkouts, or "blowouts," the students were led by Sal Castro, a courageous and charismatic Mexican American teacher who encouraged the students to make their grievances public after school administrators and school board members failed to listen to them. The resulting blowouts sparked the beginning of the urban Chicano Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the largest and most widespread civil rights protests by Mexican Americans in U.S. history. This fascinating testimonio, or oral history, transcribed and presented in Castro's voice by historian Mario T. Garcia, is a compelling, highly readable narrative of a young boy growing up in Los Angeles who made history by his leadership in the blowouts and in his career as a dedicated and committed teacher. Blowout! fills a major void in the history of the civil rights and Chicano movements of the 1960s, particularly the struggle for educational justice.

Stagnant Dreamers

Author : Maria G. Rendon
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 0871547082
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (715 download)

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Book Synopsis Stagnant Dreamers by : Maria G. Rendon

Download or read book Stagnant Dreamers written by Maria G. Rendon and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2019-12-31 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2020 Robert E. Park Award for Best Book from the Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association Winner of the 2020 Distinguished Contribution to Research Award from the Latino/a Section of the American Sociological Association Honorable Mention for the 2020 Thomas and Znaniecki Award from the International Migration Section of the American Sociological Association A quarter of young adults in the U.S. today are the children of immigrants, and Latinos are the largest minority group. In Stagnant Dreamers, sociologist and social policy expert María Rendón follows 42 young men from two high-poverty Los Angeles neighborhoods as they transition into adulthood. Based on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations with them and their immigrant parents, Stagnant Dreamers describes the challenges they face coming of age in the inner city and accessing higher education and good jobs, and demonstrates how family-based social ties and community institutions can serve as buffers against neighborhood violence, chronic poverty, incarceration, and other negative outcomes. Neighborhoods in East and South Central Los Angeles were sites of acute gang violence that peaked in the 1990s, shattering any romantic notions of American life held by the immigrant parents. Yet, Rendón finds that their children are generally optimistic about their life chances and determined to make good on their parents’ sacrifices. Most are strongly oriented towards work. But despite high rates of employment, most earn modest wages and rely on kinship networks for labor market connections. Those who made social connections outside of their family and neighborhood contexts, more often found higher quality jobs. However, a middle-class lifestyle remains elusive for most, even for college graduates. Rendón debunks fears of downward assimilation among second-generation Latinos, noting that most of her subjects were employed and many had gone on to college. She questions the ability of institutions of higher education to fully integrate low-income students of color. She shares the story of one Ivy League college graduate who finds himself working in the same low-wage jobs as his parents and peers who did not attend college. Ironically, students who leave their neighborhoods to pursue higher education are often the most exposed to racism, discrimination, and classism. Rendón demonstrates the importance of social supports in helping second-generation immigrant youth succeed. To further the integration of second-generation Latinos, she suggests investing in community organizations, combating criminalization of Latino youth, and fully integrating them into higher education institutions. Stagnant Dreamers presents a realistic yet hopeful account of how the Latino second generation is attempting to realize its vision of the American dream.

Mi Voz, Mi Vida

Author : Andrew C. Garrod
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 0801463793
Total Pages : 279 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Mi Voz, Mi Vida by : Andrew C. Garrod

Download or read book Mi Voz, Mi Vida written by Andrew C. Garrod and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2012-12-17 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amid the flurry of debates about immigration, poverty, and education in the United States, the stories in Mi Voz, Mi Vida allow us to reflect on how young people who might be most affected by the results of these debates actually navigate through American society. The fifteen Latino college students who tell their stories in this book come from a variety of socioeconomic, regional, and family backgrounds—they are young men and women of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central American, and South American descent. Their insights are both balanced and frank, blending personal, anecdotal, political, and cultural viewpoints. Their engaging stories detail the students' personal struggles with issues such as identity and biculturalism, family dynamics, religion, poverty, stereotypes, and the value of education. Throughout, they provide insights into issues of racial identity in contemporary America among a minority population that is very much in the news. This book gives educators, students, and their families a clear view of the experience of Latino students adapting to a challenging educational environment and a cultural context—Dartmouth College—often very different from their childhood ones.

Hispanics and the Future of America

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309164818
Total Pages : 502 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Hispanics and the Future of America by : National Research Council

Download or read book Hispanics and the Future of America written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-02-23 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hispanics and the Future of America presents details of the complex story of a population that varies in many dimensions, including national origin, immigration status, and generation. The papers in this volume draw on a wide variety of data sources to describe the contours of this population, from the perspectives of history, demography, geography, education, family, employment, economic well-being, health, and political engagement. They provide a rich source of information for researchers, policy makers, and others who want to better understand the fast-growing and diverse population that we call "Hispanic." The current period is a critical one for getting a better understanding of how Hispanics are being shaped by the U.S. experience. This will, in turn, affect the United States and the contours of the Hispanic future remain uncertain. The uncertainties include such issues as whether Hispanics, especially immigrants, improve their educational attainment and fluency in English and thereby improve their economic position; whether growing numbers of foreign-born Hispanics become citizens and achieve empowerment at the ballot box and through elected office; whether impending health problems are successfully averted; and whether Hispanics' geographic dispersal accelerates their spatial and social integration. The papers in this volume provide invaluable information to explore these issues.