Inventing Latinos

A New Story of American Racism

De: Laura E. Gómez

Narrado por: Joana Garcia

Latinos have long influenced everything from electoral politics to popular culture‚ yet many people instinctively regard them as recent immigrants rather than a longstanding racial group. In Inventing Latinos‚ Laura Gomez illuminates the fascinating race-making‚ unmaking‚ and remaking of Latino identity that has spanned centuries‚ leaving a permanent imprint on how race operates in the United States today.

Pulling back the lens as the country approaches an unprecedented demographic shift (Latinos will comprise a third of the American population in a matter of decades)‚ Gomez also reveals the nefarious roles the United States has played in Latin America - from military interventions and economic exploitation to political interference - that‚ taken together‚ have destabilized national economies to send migrants northward over the course of more than a century. It's no coincidence that the vast majority of Latinos migrate from the places most impacted by this nation's dirty deeds‚ leading Gomez to a bold call for reparations.

In this audacious effort to reframe the often-confused and misrepresented discourse over the Latinx generation‚ Gomez provides essential context for today's most pressing political and public debates, giving all of us a brilliant framework to engage cultural controversies‚ elections‚ current events‚ and more.

©2020 Laura E. Gómez (P)2020 Tantor

Perfect Timing

This book was presented as a must read. I whole heartily agree with my elder and trusted advisor. I learned a great deal from this book. Thank You!

History I wish I knew sooner

I loved learning about all the history of Latinos throughout the U.S. as a 3rd generation Mexican in Texas it made so much sense why my family carries their political and racial ideas.

Extremely useful and educational

Everyone in America should read this book to properly understand the struggles of minorities, their historical oppression, and the crimes unleashed by racist ideology. This is a must-read for any critical scholar.

Beautiful. Informative. Inspirational.

A must read for anyone seeking to redefine what it means to be latinx!

Important examination of our past and present

This is a well written and researched book. The narrator struggled with spanish words, yikes!

A MUST READ for those of Latinx/e descent/community

Loved all the information given in this book and the way it was presented. The reading did leave something to be desired, but if you can get past it please listen to this! It’s so important to realize as “Latinos” where we come from and how we came to be this group. Reading this book has given me so much useful background knowledge for understanding the struggles we’re facing as a community in the U.S. today.
There’s so much discussed here about the Latinx fight in the Civil Rights Movement that I never knew. They don’t teach this to us in school. And so much of that history is necessary knowledge for moving forward more inclusively and righteously than we did in the past!

inventing latinos

I was educated and horrified simultaneously.I had no idea that white racism is institutional and embedded into all factor of our lives.

Decent Study

This was a decent study of the understanding of Latino as an identity. Several issues were addressed by the author, but other historical issues were not discussed such as the relationship of enslaved people brought into Mexico by the Spanish, and Indigenous people who were oppressed by the Spanish.

It provides interesting information to add to one’s study and understanding, but is not a comprehensive work.

The narrator mispronounced several words from the Spanish language and it became a source of irritation. When reading a work that addresses many Spanish speaking people and their socio-political impact in the US, it is important that the words from that language are pronounced properly.

This is the fault of the producer, the publisher, the director, as much as it is the narrator. As Latinos, we are a market and political force. Do better.

mixed reaction

Easy to listen to, though I do not agree with the whole book. I don't think we should make one color of folks the enemy and that is the feeling I got on occasion, with this listening.

Dry and convoluted but with some important history.

I picked this book for a discussion group I lead, so I had to wade through it. I also followed along with the hard cover book because the writing is too dense and statistic-heavy for listening. I was very disturbed to find that the narrator made some huge errors reading “decades” in place of the word “centuries” and some similar type mistakes which completely misstated what the author was saying. There were some assumptions and conclusions that I found very questionable. For example, the census did not provide a classification for “Hispanic” (or similar) until 1980, and Latinos were considered “white” first by census enumerators. It makes senses that many Latinos continued to count themselves as “white” once a “Hispanic” category was included. Certainly in my Mexican-American mother’s family this was done. Overall, I found the book poorly written, incompletely reasoned, achingly dry. However, the first chapter had a good summary of exploitation by colonizers and by the United States. There were other interesting parts hidden occasionally as well. Several people in my group could not stick with reading though, and I’m not sure I would have if I could have opted out.