Customer Reviews

Latino Politics in America: Community, Culture, and Interests (Spectrum Series: Race and Ethnicity in National and Global Politics)

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Garcia offers a lengthy and detailed analysis of the recent history and current status of Latino politics. The emphasis is on the last 20 years. The book only gives a cursory look at earlier times; you should consult other texts for that. Several chapters draw on and analyse extensive surveys, where the respondents were mostly Latinos, self-identified.

Unsurprisingly, immigration is a major topic. A trend is shown of increasing Latino immigrants being involved in the US political process. First as non-residents, often even out of status ('illegal'). Then as residents or naturalised citizens. Garcia looks at several states with increasing percentages of all 3, but especially of the last category. The reason of course is participation in voting. California and Texas figure prominently in this.

But the book goes beyond a simplistic focus on immigration, vital though that may be to many. It delves into the various Latino subgroups. The reader gets to appreciate that the term Latino can be often a US construct. That many Latinos identify more with their separate cultural and national origins than with that overarching term. Of the subgroups, Cubans offer a useful and unique contrast. The exile community in south Florida dominates the local politics. Which can be seen as a harbinger of demographic trends elsewhere. But this community is strongly anti-communist and has consistently returned Republican candidates to office. The Cubans have benefited from generous residency requirements; where essentially now being able to get to US soil qualifies the Cuban automatically. Other Latino groups lack such good fortune.

The book studies events up to 2010 and is quite timely.