Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Latino Authors Sing Same Song?

Latinos and the Nation’s Future released January 26th by former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros is an effort to recognize the future and potential of the Hispanic community. In a review by Jose de la Isla, he argues that the book could have been better in its approach. He states that the 17 Latino advocates who write as contributors in the book need to be more positive and highlight Latino strengths, instead of focusing on the failures.

The forward of the book written by Janet Murguia, National Council of La Raza’s CEO, is full of generalizations. Murguia states that Latinos still lag behind others in educational achievement, in wage earnings, and “put our entire country’s future at risk.”

De la Isla argues that the book presumes the audience to be naïve. Many of the contributing essays have language full of daunting statistics and fail to discuss in depth all the assets Latinos have as possible business owners, culture trendsetters and are among those who can possibly reshape the politics of the Old South.

Scripps News