U.S. Latino Issues
2nd Edition
by Rodolfo F. Acuña
January 2017, 317pp, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
1 volume, Greenwood

Hardcover: 978-1-4408-5322-7
$74, £57, 65€, A102
Please contact your preferred distributor for pricing.
eBook Available: 978-1-4408-5323-4
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The Latino population reached 55.4 million in 2014 (17.4 percent of the U.S. population); about 35 million U.S. residents are of Mexican origin.

A revision of the popular previous edition published more than a decade earlier, this work examines today's U.S. Latino population—now arguably the most important 'minority group' in the country, with numbers well over 50 million strong in an increasingly diverse and integrated America.

Latinos are the largest minority in the United States, and as such, Latino Americans have a tremendous influence on the culture, workforce, economy, and politics of this country. This second edition of U.S. Latino Issues provides updated content, stats, and data for each topic, and it frames critical questions and multiple viewpoints on Latinos in the United States that will be useful to student researchers. The responses to the critical questions come from Latino experts and scholars and other well-known subject experts, providing readers with insights from various informed points of view—all in a single volume.

The book covers hundreds of topics regarding Latino Americans, such as gender, sexuality, indigenous culture, race and cultural identity, health and wellness, education, and interracial dating and marriage, and it offers in-depth comparisons of the Latino groups and shows how events in their native countries affect them. Readers will have access to concise and up-to-date information on controversial topics such as affirmative action, immigration reform, open borders policy versus border enforcement, changing relations between the United States and Cuba, and Puerto Rico’s contested status as a commonwealth versus a state.

Features

  • Uses the latest census data to document the demographic growth of this group and its importance in immigration, the U.S. workforce, and voting in America
  • Examines the misconception that the growth of the U.S. Latino population is solely based on immigration when in reality more babies are birthed by native mothers than by newly arrived immigrants
  • Provides an insightful discussion of minority status in the United States—Latino or otherwise—that challenges readers to reconsider their attitudes about immigration, the value of immigrants in American society, and ethnocentrism
Rodolfo F. Acuña, PhD, professor emeritus, received his doctorate from the University of Southern California in Latin American studies. A janitor and then a teacher in the Los Angeles City Schools from 1956–1965, he transferred to the community colleges, where he taught for three years. In 1969, Acuña was the founding chair of Chicano Studies at San Fernando Valley State (today California State University Northridge), which is home to the largest Chicano studies department in the United States with 30 tenured professors. Black Issues In Higher Education selected Acuña one of the "100 Most Influential Educators of the 20th Century"; three of his works have received the Gustavus Myers Award for Outstanding Book on Race Relations in North America. He has also received the Distinguished Scholar Award from National Association for Chicano Studies and numerous academic and community service awards, such as a homenaje from the University of Guadalajara Feria Internacional del Libro and the State of Guadalajara, Mexico for Outstanding Scholar of U.S.-Mexico Studies; the Emil Freed Award for Community Service from the Southern California Social Science Library; the Founder's Award for Community Service from the Liberty Hill Foundation; academic fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies Award; and the Rockefeller Humanities Scholar's Grant. Acuña was also a founder of the Latin American Civic Association Headstart program and a cofounder of the Labor Community Strategy Center. Acuña was under contract as a columnist for the Los Angeles Herald-Express/La Opinión and the Los Angeles Times from 1986 to 1992, and he has contributed to leading newspapers and magazines. He was featured in Counterpunch, a magazine founded by the late Alexander Cockburn. Among his best-known books are Latino Voices; Corridors of Migration: The Odyssey of Mexican Laborers, 1600–1933; U.S. Latino Issues; Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, Eighth Edition; Sometimes There Is No Other Side: Essays on Truth and Objectivity; Anything But Mexican: Chicanos in Contemporary Los Angeles; and The Making Of Chicana/o Studies: In the Trenches of Academe. Acuña has also written three children's books and has three other books in production.

Reviews

"Although the intended audience is advanced high school and beginning college students, the content and quality of the essays are such that it will be an important resource for general readers and teachers, and suitable for all public libraries and undergraduate collections. Summing Up: Highly recommended. High school through undergraduate students; general readers; professionals/practitioners."—Choice, January 1, 2018

"A very topical title, U.S. Latino Issues is well suited for high school and undergraduate students. Educators seeking ideas for student research and debate on immigration will also benefit from this recommended title."—ARBA, March 13, 2017
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