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 | | Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez ISBN-10: 9780140255393 ISBN-10: 0-14-025539-7 ISBN-13: 9780140255393 ISBN-13: 978-0-14-025539-3 Paperback 2001-01-01 Penguin (Non-Classics) Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Amazon.com Readers familiar with immigration history as told in books like Roger Daniels's Coming to America will experience a sense of déjà vu with Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez. The immigrant experience is a constant in American life; although the tides ebb and flow, it seems that there always has been an immigrant presence in the United States. What's different today, of course, is where the immigrants are coming from: half are Latin American. Gonzalez, a columnist for the New York Daily News, studies these latest arrivals in a book that combines history and journalism. He has a keen understanding of Hispanic diversity, focusing not just on "Hispanics" as a monolithic category but as a variety of people from many nations. The politics in Harvest of Empire are often tendentious: Gonzalez unfavorably compares U.S. border control efforts to building the Great Wall in China, demands an end to Puerto Rico's "colonial status," insists that Spanish become an official language actively encouraged in the public schools, and so on. His agenda will no doubt appeal to a certain kind of reader, but at the cost of alienating many others, including, probably, a majority of Hispanics living in the United States. For those looking for a left-leaning account of Hispanic immigration, however, this book succeeds as an ambitious survey. --John J. Miller | ||
Book Description Within the next decade, Hispanics will become the largest minority group in the United States. The new immigrants have ignited a vibrant Latin explosion in popular culture and deeply affected American society. Spanning 500 years-from the first New World colonies to our nation's nineteenth-century westward expansion, from the days of gunboat diplomacy to the turn of the millennium-Harvest of Empire features family portraits of real-life immigrants along with sketches of the political events and social conditions that compelled them to leave their homeland. In addition, it gives a fascinating look at how these Latino pioneers have transformed the cultural landscape of the United States. | ||
Reviews | ||
THE BOOK IS GREAT... I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO READ THE HISTORY WHICH IS HIDEN. THE BOOK IS A GREAT TOOL FOR LATINOS WHO WANT TO KNOW MORE OF WHY THE COUNTRY'S OF THEIR FATHERS ARE IN THE STATE THEY ARE TODAY. I HAVE ENJOYED THIS BOOK A GREAT DEAL AND WILL PASS IT ALONG TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY. | ||
It is cool.. I have to read this book because of my class. However I really enjoyed to read this book. It was pretty interesting and making me to think about Latinos. | ||
Addressing the matter of empire It's so ironic to hear US citizens talk about an "invasion" of immigrants, while ignoring the way in which the US has been invading other countries for generations - either militarily or economically. It's great to see Juan Gonzalez analyze this elephant in the empire's living room. With all of our technology, one would hope that people in the US would learn that there are other people in the world that are being harmed by the tax dollars they invest in militarism - a system of force that includes over 700 military installations in 132 countries, the funding and training of proxy armies, harmful behavior by CIA agents and "economic hit men" and other policies that create misery and refugees. As Christians, or simply moral human beings, US citizens should welcome our Latino brothers and sisters, and maybe even offer an apology for the policies of this country's masters of war and corporate crime. Thankfully, countries like Venezuela and Bolivia are starting to resist the dictates of the World Bank and other institutions of neoliberalism. For those who appreciate the views of Juan Gonzalez, you can hear him every day as the co-host of the award-winning "Democracy Now!" radio program. I would also recommend the DVDs "When the Mountains Tremble" and Eugene Jarecki's "Why We Fight" for an understanding of our militarism and the way it causes suffering in Latin America. "There is at the head of this great continent a very powerful country, very rich, very war-like, and capable of anything. . . The United States seems destined to plague and torment the continent in the name of freedom." -Simon Bolivar | ||
Review of Harvest of Empire Harvest of Empire, a book by Juan Gonzalez, gives a history of Latinos in the United States. The book is divided into three sections entitled "Roots," "Branches," and "Harvest." The first section contains three chapters that provide a brief history of the relationship between Latin America and the United States. The second section is composed of six chapters, each one devoted to one of the major groups of Latinos living in the United States. Each of the following groups are described in this section: Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans, Dominicans, Central Americans, and Columbians and Panamanians share a chapter. Within the six chapters, Gonzalez writes about individuals or families in order to reflect the general migration story of the larger groups. Thus, these individual portrayals serve as representations of the larger collection of immigrants. In the third section Gonzalez discusses several topics relating to Hispanics living in the United States. The topics include politics, immigration, language and culture, free trade, and the state of Puerto Rico. This book has several strengths. In the first section, Juan Gonzalez provides an informative summary of the history of colonization and expansion in the Americas. The summary is well-researched and easy to read. The main strength of section one is Gonzalez's explanation for why different societies exist today in the United States and Latin America. His theory is that different societies exist as a result of the historical antecedents to our modern society. In section two, the immigrant descriptions help to personalize each of the different groups and allow the reader to identify with their stories. Also, Gonzalez stresses the important differences between each of the various Latino immigrant groups in the United States. Gonzalez combines much historical research with personal interviews he has conducted of various immigrant families. In section three, Gonzalez raises several issues concerning Hispanics living in the United States that are timely. He also asserts six changes he believes are essential to ensure Latino prosperity and assimilation in the United States. The six changes he suggests are thought provoking and stimulating. Although the book has many strengths, it also has limitations. The most obvious limitation of the first section is its brevity. Gonzalez attempts to summarize more than 500 years of history in less than eighty pages. As a result, much of the history described is generalized and collapsed into short, summary statements. Also, Gonzalez could have better organized sources for further reading and study. He does provide an extensive bibliography, but it is not organized according to subject matter. A better organization of the bibliography would have been more helpful. For example, a list of further readings at the end of each chapter would have been beneficial. This book is well suited for those wishing to learn more about Hispanics in the United States. It would be ideal for use in a class on Hispanic culture. Also, it would be beneficial for those wishing to learn more about Hispanic immigration to the United States. | ||
A different perspective I am the Americanized Puerto Rican born in Brooklyn whose parents traded cultural awareness by restricting use of the Spanish language at home for assimilation and greater opportunity educationally. The trade off worked, I earned my BS in Management from Pepperdine University. The trade off didn't work, it is difficult for me to associate in any meaningful manner with fellow Puerto Ricans or Latin Americans in general. My African-American friends consider me white, my Anglo-American friends consider me black, and I am quickly shunned at times by Puerto Ricans just because I don't speak Spanish. Juan Gonzalez with great research and detail identified my subtle undefined (at the time) schizophrenic social engagements. Therapeutically, through historical narrative of US policy towards Puerto Rico, cause and affect of PR vs NYC migratory action from the 1940's through today, viewing the current environment of Puerto Ricans in the South Bronx or East Harlem, I've come to know myself better, appreciate those of my race with greater gravity, and understand that none of these actions are by chance. Macroeconomically, the environmental and immigration impact of US policy regarding the Caribean Basin Initiative or NAFTA that are extensively noted and bibliographed, quite simply created a different perspective on my training in business and foreign investment. Mr. Gonzalez does not stop there. He tackles bilingualism, revisits and reexamines American History in a manner not expressed to me in any classroom...ever...then through citings of other works, backs it up. It is the most refreshing book I've read since the Autobiography of Malcolm X with Alex Haley, due to it's clarity and insight for the human quest for internal and external truths. | ||