Introduction to Latina and Latino History
- John David Marquez - 847 491 5122 - 1860 Campus Dr Crowe 5-135
- Harris Hall 107 - TuTh 5:00PM - 6:20PM
- Latinos now comprise a little over 20% of the total U.S. population and
there are now more Spanish speaking people in the U.S. than there are in
the entire country of Spain. If one adds the 15 or so million
undocumented immigrants living and working in the U.S. to that equation,
then the Latino population numbers somewhere around 60 million total
persons. By comparison, whites number around 198 million total, Blacks
around 41 million total, Asian American-Pacific Islanders around 14
million total, and Native Americans around 2 million. At the current
growth rate, Latinos would number over 100 million by the year 2050 and
the U.S. would then look and sound much more like the majority of the
Americas does today. Latinos also represent one of the most
incarcerated, most under-employed, most poverty stricken, most
under-educated, most politically under-represented, most environmentally
sickened, and most police brutalized ethnic minority groups in the U.S.
Such conditions, however, have a tendency to not get critically
scrutinized in debates about racial politics in the U.S. This is due to
a tendency to only discuss the social salience of race as it pertains to
relationships between African Americans and whites. It is also the
result of a popular tendency to view Latinos as a recent newcomer to the
U.S. polity, as an ethnic group comprised of persons who are in the U.S.
illegally, and our tendency to ignore the fact that Latinos are a
population whose historical roots predate the very idea of the U.S. as a
nation state in addition to the evolution of ethnic categories such as
white or African American. This course is an attempt to contest that
influence and to shed a light on the long and dynamic history of Latinos
in the U.S. and beyond. As an introductory course, it will examine and
discuss the foundational themes, moments, conditions, and persons who
have been central to the U.S. Latino population and do across various
mediums and disciplinary influences. Film, literature, grass roots
activism, historiography, music, and social theory regarding Latinos
will all be examined and special attention will be paid to the unique
history of Latinos in the Chicagoland area. The course is equally
divided between lecture and discussion. - Laura E. Gómez, Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race NYU Press
Lorena Oropeza. ¡Raza Sí! ¡Guerra No! Chicano Protest and Patriotism during the Viet Nam War Era U. California Press. - Historical Studies Distro Area
Interdisciplinary Distro - See Rules
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area
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Current as of 05/03/13 01:05:41 PM