Customer Reviews

Neither Enemies nor Friends: Latinos, Blacks, Afro-Latinos

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Legal scholar Rachel Moran once wrote that U.S. Latinos often travel back and forth from the States to Latin America. Thus, she says the difference between U.S. Latinos and Latin Americans can be porous. This book follows that same idea by having chapters on both groups, and including their interactions with each other.

The book's chapters are quite representative of this hemisphere. I never left the text wondering, "Why isn't there a chapter about country X?!" The book actually works against dichotomous thinking, as the title suggests.

Within the chapters, there are many surprises. One scholar says the tensions between African Americans and Latinos is overstated and the two groups agree on a large number of issues. In the United States, I'd say that indigenous people are stereotyped as peaceful and Blacks are stereotyped in the opposite way. In this book, a scholar discusses race in one Central American country and says the views on the two groups are reversed over there.

Let me admit something: I took a class with Dr. Anani and I met Dr. Oboler at Brown University. Honestly, I still wish Dr. Oboler was still there because she was a mentor to many. So I do approach this book with an automatic appreciation for it. Still, there are some things I can criticize. The cover is boring. If this had a photo of P. Diddy and J. Lo together or had some cool painting combining black and brown, then this would catch the attention of potential readers better. Also the title is incorrect: the book shows that dynamics are ever-changing and multi-faceted. A boring title like "Neither Enemies Nor Friends" doesn't accurately portray what is covered in the chapters. These are not two groups "betwixt the two shall never meet." They interact often and surprisingly.