Sonia Sotomayor 's Book About Her Life And Her Climb From The Streets Of New York

The presence of Latino leaders in all levels of government is necessary in order to have advocates who will represent the needs of the Latino community. Although the Latino population is on the rise and quickly becoming one of the largest ethnic minorities in the United States, the ethnic and racial backgrounds of leaders in government positions are not reflective of our nation’s diversity. Leadership can be developed within the Latino community by individuals who are active participants, have strong roots in their community, and

In an enchanting excerpt by Sonia Sanchez christened, “Norma”, Sonia concludes the anecdote by turning away and never agreeing again. Sonia has disagreed to many things, but not to a drug-riddled woman predicting her kids would make it against all odds. However, if one looks deeper into the text, it is clear the gesture displays the author’s opinion on the blatantly rigged system.

Unfair laboring and immigration in the United States has affected Latinas/os lives for decades. In the United States millions of Latina/o citizens, emigrants, and immigrants have dealt with bias, racially segregated, and limited positions in regards to labor. They have been limited to blue collar jobs with low wages, no benefits, and hardly any raises. In the article, “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy”, Andrea Smith argues, “This framework does not assume that racism and white supremacy is enacted in a singular fashion; rather, white supremacy is constituted by separate and distinct, but still interrelated, logics.” (Smith 67). I believe that Andrea Smith’s two of the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Genocide/Colonialism and Orientalism/War fits with Latina/o labor and immigration. I also believe that her first pillar of Slavery/Capitalism could be displayed slightly differently to be more suitable with Latina/o labor and immigration. In this paper I will argue how the two out of the three pillars fit with Latina/o labor and immigration. I will also argue and propose a new pillar to represent Latinas/os labor and immigration. I will also argue how sexuality, power, and gender play a role in these three pillars.

Ernesto Quinonez 's novel is very influential and gives insight into the harsh reality of being a minority in America. Quinonez also speaks on the history of the Latino culture and the life experiences. The fabricated stories based on true events, affected Latinos as well as other nationalities. This book has served its purpose and is speaking to families, friends, wives, husbands, and children on being aware and conscious of the reality that surrounds them. This novel amazed me with the political and historical content surrounding the Latino community, and it is extremely powerful as it shows independence in its own culture. The novel uses its content to bring awareness of Latino ethnic identity, their way of life, and defines social factors from within. (Barajas 2014)

The following discussion and statements are done so such that they incorporate the ideas and struggles of the Latino races regarding certain subjects down upon chapter 3 “Latinos in the united states” and chapter 4 “borders, immigration and citizenship”. This discussion is about the oppression that people Latinos and Native Americans and other ethnic groups have gone through. Some points in the discussion are oppression towards Mexican American and Native Americans, how they were treated and the impact they had.

For thousands of years’ immigration to the United States has been considered one of the biggest problems and has been one of the topics most talked about, especially in this year, being one of the favorite topics to talk about in the presidential debates. Yet, due to speeches given by President Donald Trump little is known and talked about the problems immigrants, especially Latinos face day by day, socially and economically. By being a minority in the United States it has been very difficult for immigrant farm workers’ to get where they are now and have more opportunities than before the 1970s. Fortunately, there have been organizations and leaders that have helped immigrants through the years, one of these being Dolores Huerta.

Over the past fifty or so years great strides have been made on the subject of Mexican-American civil rights, but the first pivotal moment for these civil rights barely gets any recognition in the annals of American civil rights, in which it rightly deserves. This victory, which has been labeled “The Longoria Affair”, would cause a momentum within Latino civil rights movement that was previously unseen and would lead the way for political opportunities for Latinos.

Gary Soto attempts to make it understandable, in his short story “Like Mexicans,” that a person’s race is not what defines them completely. Soto married Carolyn, a Japanese woman, after having claimed that he would only marry a woman of Mexican descent. Soto’s best friend Scott highly disagreed with Soto’s decision in being with Carolyn. He felt Carolyn was too good for Soto, and therefore this false assumption brought Soto down and distorted his thoughts on race and economic status. The essay by Gary Soto was well-written because it can be highly relatable to one’s life, especially to someone who is of Hispanic descent.

In the novel Enrique’s Journey, Sonia Nazario demonstrates the onerous journey of illegal immigrants. Sonia Nazario aims for the readers to make them understand what most of the immigrants go through during their journey to the United States. By appealing to ethos and pathos throughout the book, Sonia Nazario portrays the path that Enrique undergoes to reunite with his mother.

Overall, the chapter, which focuses on “Hispanicity”, impacted me because I began to formulate ideas which opposed those that had been hammered into my mind all my life. For so long I had heard that minorities were victims to oppression by whites and for that reason minorities should strive to do more than what is expected from them. In reading Rodriguez’s claim, questions that had never been explored in my development arose in my mind such as “Are Hispanics really the victims?”, “Do Hispanics truly strive to their fullest to accomplish things that have never been done?”, and lastly, “Are Hispanics committing acts of hypocrisy?”. If a Hispanic

A diverse minority group of Latino and Spanish-speaking peoples has played an important part of what it means to be American and what it means to be a citizen in the United States today. Moving into the future, in order to analyze the trajectory that this group is in, we must first understand the group’s history in the United States and in territories that would become the United States. In addition, we must look at the origins of the most recent wave of Latino immigration in order to understand their current effect on American society and the intersection between both minority and majority groups. Finally, we get to the apex of this investigation: what lies in the future for Latino Americans in the United States? Although Latino

Tienda, Marta, and Faith Mitchell. Preface. Hispanics and the Future of America. Washington, D.C.: National Academies, 2006. 191. Hispanics and the Future of America. Web.

When one visualizes Latino culture, the prevalent images are often bright colors, dancing, and celebrations. This imagery paints a false portrait of the life of many Latino’s, especially those that are forced to leave their home countries. Latinos often face intense poverty and oppression, whether in a Latin country, or a foreign country, such is true in Pam Ryan’s novel Esperanza Rising. Ryan chronicles the issues that many Latino immigrants face. The first is the pressure from the home country. Many of the countries face turmoil, and many are forced to leave their homes and culture. Once in a foreign place, people often struggle with standing by their own culture or assimilating to the new culture. Latino authors frequently use young adult literature as a platform to discuss the issues they face, as young adults are coming of age they struggle with their identities, personifying the struggle of old culture against the new culture.

The Latinos in my class differed in the way that they were proud to say they were Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Dominican. Thus, I pursued a relationship with these classmates and I began to feel differently about Latinos. I realized that I was taking part in the prejudice thoughts my previous classmates had toward Latinos by concealing my identity. I also recognized that Latinos were struggling to pursue a better life and that we are looked down upon. As a result of discrimination, it is difficult for us to accomplish our goals in life. Presently, every opportunity I get, I talk about my culture. I discuss the hardships Latinos face and I describe my experience growing up Puerto Rican. Although I am Puerto Rican, I don't know as much about my culture as I should. Reading Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez has brought new insights to my knowledge of Puerto Ricans and Latinos in general. Gonzalez focuses on language and writes that speaking Spanish is treated as a handicap instead of as an asset.

Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop relates, "The business of business should not be about money. It should be about responsibility. It should be about public good, not private greed” (Selko, 2015). Very often when one thinks of the image and mantra of today’s corporate culture in American, one may visualize the character, Gordon Gekko, a fictional character in the 1987 film Wall Street who espoused the belief that, “Greed was good” and “The new law of evolution in corporate America seems to be survival of the unfittest. Well, in my book you either do it right or you get eliminated” (American Rhetoric, 2016). Well, it has been theorized that the evolutionist, Charles Darwin believed opposite of Gekko’s statement. Human goodness and acts of compassion is a hardwired survival tactic shown in many animal classifications such as dogs, primates, and humans. In fact, acts witnessed by this author through National Geographic videos demonstrate monkeys and dogs ignoring humans who did not help another human or share resources. It is in the interest of individuals as well as global companies to commit a sustainable compassionate culture beyond just social responsibility.