LatinoLand : a portrait of America's largest and least understood minority

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Arana, Marie (Writer)

Edition:

First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.

Physical Description:

xv, 554 pages ; 24 cm.

Summary:

LatinoLand is an exceptional, all-encompassing overview of Hispanic America based on personal interviews, deep research, and Marie Arana's life experience as a Latina. At present, Latinos comprise 20 percent of the US population, a number that is growing. By 2050, census reports project that one in every three Americans will claim Latino heritage. But Latinos are not a monolith. They do not represent a single group. The largest numbers are Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, and Cubans. Each has a different cultural and political background. Puerto Ricans, for example, are US citizens, whereas some Mexican Americans never immigrated because the US-Mexico border shifted after the US invasion of 1848, incorporating what is now the entire southwest of the United States. Cubans came in two great waves: those escaping communism in the early years of Castro, many of whom were professionals and wealthy, and those permitted to leave in the Mariel boat lift twenty years later, representing some of the poorest Cubans, including prisoners. As LatinoLand shows, Latinos were some of the earliest immigrants to what is now the US--some of them arriving in the 1500s. They are racially diverse--a random fusion of White, Black, Indigenous, and Asian. Once overwhelmingly Catholic, they are becoming increasingly Protestant and Evangelical. They range from domestic workers and day laborers to successful artists, corporate CEOs, and US senators. Formerly solidly Democratic, they now vote Republican in growing numbers. They are as varied culturally as any immigrants from Europe or Asia.

Subject Term:

Hispanic Americans

Hispanic Americans -- History

Assimilation (Sociology) -- United States -- History.

Publication Info:

New York : Simon & Schuster, 2024.

Subject:

Hispanic Americans

Hispanic Americans -- History

Assimilation (Sociology) -- United States -- History.

United States -- Race relations -- History

Hispanic Americans -- United States

Hispanics (United States)

Latino Americans

Latinos (United States)

Latinxs

Spanish Americans in the United States

Spanish-speaking people (United States)

Spanish-surnamed people (United States)

Cultural assimilation

SAILS ISBN:

9781982184896

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Mattapoisett Free Public Library	973.0468 ARA 2024	NEW NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Bridgewater Public Library	973.046 ARANA 2024	NEW NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fiske Public Library	973.046 ARARA 2024	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library	973.0468 ARANA	NEW NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mansfield Public Library	973.0468 ARAN	NEW NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Pembroke Public Library	973.046 ARA	NEW NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Rehoboth - Blanding Free PL	973.046 ARA	NEW NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Seekonk Public Library	973.0468 ARANA	NEW NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Swansea Public Library	973.04 ARA	NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Taunton Public Library	973.0468 AR14L	LOBBY	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A sweeping yet personal overview of the Latino population of America, drawn from hundreds of interviews and prodigious research that emphasizes the diversity and little-known history of our largest and fastest-growing minority.

LatinoLand is an exceptional, all-encompassing overview of Hispanic America based on personal interviews, deep research, and Marie Arana's life experience as a Latina. At present, Latinos comprise 20 percent of the US population, a number that is growing. By 2050, census reports project that one in every three Americans will claim Latino heritage.

But Latinos are not a monolith. They do not represent a single group. The largest numbers are Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, and Cubans. Each has a different cultural and political background. Puerto Ricans, for example, are US citizens, whereas some Mexican Americans never immigrated because the US-Mexico border shifted after the US invasion of 1848, incorporating what is now the entire southwest of the United States. Cubans came in two great waves: those escaping communism in the early years of Castro, many of whom were professionals and wealthy, and those permitted to leave in the Mariel boat lift twenty years later, representing some of the poorest Cubans, including prisoners.

As LatinoLand shows, Latinos were some of the earliest immigrants to what is now the US--some of them arriving in the 1500s. They are racially diverse--a random fusion of White, Black, Indigenous, and Asian. Once overwhelmingly Catholic, they are becoming increasingly Protestant and Evangelical. They range from domestic workers and day laborers to successful artists, corporate CEOs, and US senators. Formerly solidly Democratic, they now vote Republican in growing numbers. They are as varied culturally as any immigrants from Europe or Asia.

Marie Arana draws on her own experience as the daughter of an American mother and Peruvian father who came to the US at age nine, straddling two worlds, as many Latinos do. LatinoLand unabashedly celebrates Latino resilience and character and shows us why we must understand the fastest-growing minority in America.

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

An impressively wide-ranging overview of the turbulent history of Latine people in America. Arana, the inaugural literary director of the Library of Congress, has always been ambitious in her work, from American Chica to Bolivar to Lima Nights. In her latest book, which ably blends historical research with insightful anecdotes, she sets out to tell the story of the people who have come from the Spanish-speaking countries of Central and South America to the U.S., a project that she, as a person of half American, half Peruvian background, is well placed to undertake. The author admits that this vast history is too much for a single book, so she breaks it into a series of illustrative vignettes and interviews. "The U.S. Bureau of the Census predicts that, by 2060, Americans of Hispanic descent will total 111.2 million--almost 30 percent of the people in this country," writes Arana. "The great majority of us are American born, speak English as well as any native, are employed, obey the law, work hard." People from Latin America are a melting pot of nationalities, ethnicities, and skin tones, with strains of European, African, and Asian DNA. There is a dark history of racism against the Latinx population, but it seems to be weakening, with many Latine Americans moving up the economic ladder. In fact, Arana wonders whether it's still possible to speak of Latine culture in the United States at all. She eventually gives a resounding affirmation, concluding that "the business of identity may be complicated, the political affiliation shifty, but, as contradictory as it sounds, Latino unity is surprisingly hale and strong." Though the author may not answer all the questions she asks, this book is a significant, engaging read. Arana has a fascinating, complex, and deeply personal story to tell, and she narrates it with abundant verve and intelligence. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

The celebrated Arana (Silver, Sword, and Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story, 2019) unpacks one of the most contentious demographic categories in the U.S. by examining race, religion, politics, and professions among Latinos. Beginning with her own story of migration, which took her from her birthplace of Peru to New Jersey, Arana widens the aperture and dials back time, all the way to the first Latino to set foot on Manhattan in 1613, a Dominican named Juan Rodriguez. Arana's keen grasp of history and incisive writing bring each chapter to life, whether she's calling out the CIA for its role in seeding coups across Latin America or connecting the casta paintings of colonial Mexico to the frustrating inadequacy of contemporary census forms. Arana also zooms in on everyday individuals who embody the contradictions of Latino identity, such as Isabella Do-Orozco, an undergraduate student at MIT, who identifies as an Asian Latina and doesn't feel completely at home in either culture. Other examples include celebrities, among them Anna Taylor-Joy, a blonde, light-skinned actress of Argentine heritage. In her sympathetic snapshots and deeply researched reporting, Arana tells a compelling story of Latinos as "mutable, uncertain creatures, protean in our very selves--the bewildered offspring of centuries of cross-fertilization and chance."

Author's Note: We of No Name	xi
Part I Origin Stories	1
1 Arrivals	3
2 The Price of Admission	29
3 Forerunners	56
Part II Turf and Skin	81
4 Why They Left, Where They Went	83
5 Shades of Belonging	113
6 The Color Line	146
Part III Souls	171
7 The God of Conquest	173
8 The Gods of Choice	203
Part IV How We Think, How We Work	237
9 Mind-sets	239
10 Muscle	274
Part V How We Shine	317
11 Changemakers	319
12 Limelight	358
Epilogue: Unity	391
Acknowledgments	401
Notes	405
Index	525

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

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