Latino Lives in America: Making It Home

224 Pages·2010·1.37 MB·English

by  Luis Fraga, John A. Garcia, Gary M. Segura, Michael Jones-Correa, Rodney Hero, Valerie Martinez-Ebers

Latino Lives in America
■ ■
■ ■ Latino Lives
in America
Making It Home
Luis Ricardo Fraga
John A. Garcia
Rodney E. Hero
Michael Jones-Correa
Valerie Martinez-Ebers
Gary M. Segura
Temple UniversiTy press
philadelphia
Temple University press
1601 north Broad street
philadelphia, pennsylvania 19122
www.temple.edu/tempress
Copyright © 2010 by Temple University
All rights reserved
published 2010
library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication Data
latino lives in America : making it home / luis ricardo Fraga . . . [et al.].
p. cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-1-4399-0048-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) — isBn 978-1-4399-0049-9
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Hispanic Americans—economic conditions—21st century. 2. Hispanic
Americans—social conditions—21st century. 3. Hispanic Americans—politics
and government—21st century. 4. United states— ethnic relations. i. Fraga, luis
ricardo.
e184.s75l36233 2010
973'.0468—dc22
2009038138
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the
American national standard for information sciences—permanence of paper
for printed library materials, Ansi Z39.48-1992
printed in the United states of America
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
■ ■
■ ■ Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 The Growing Presence of Latinos in the United States 1
2 Trying for the Americano Dream:
Barriers to Making the United States “Home” 28
3 Education: Latinos’ Great Hope, America’s Harsh Reality 53
4 Exploring Discrimination, Intergroup Relations,
and Intragroup Relations among Latinos 69
5 New Homes in New Communities:
Living in Rural America 96
6 Transnationalism and the Language of Belonging 119
7 The Evolving Latino Community and Pan-ethnicity:
Explorations into the Confuence of Interactions,
Networks, and Identity 145
8 Conclusions: Paradoxes along the Way
to Making America Home 177
Notes 195
References 197
Index 209
■ ■
■ ■ Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the funders who made our research pos-
sible. Gil Cardenas, Director of the institute of latino studies at the
University of notre Dame and a board member of the Anney e. Casey
Foundation, gave us the opportunity to frst meet to develop our ini-
tial project prospectus. paul Brest at the Hewlett Foundation provided
our one-year planning grant. Jacqueline Berrien at the Ford Founda-
tion gave us our foundational grant upon which we were able to build.
We gratefully acknowledge the additional fnancial support provided
by Geri manion, Carnegie Corporation; Aixa Cintrón, russell sage
Foundation; lande Ajose and Amy Dominguez-Arms, irvine Foun-
dation; Ken meier, program in equity, representation, and Gover-
nance, Texas A&m University; edward murguia, mexican American
and latino research Center, Texas A&m University; the Joyce Foun-
dation; the Kellogg Foundation; the national science Foundation; and
the University of iowa.
Our national Advisory Board provided crucial guidance in devel-
oping the survey. The members of our Board were larry Bobo, Har-
vard University; Bruce Cain, University of California, Berkeley; robert
Huckfeldt, University of California, Davis; pei-te lien, University of
California, santa Barbara; Ken meier, Texas A&m University; vilma
viii  b  Acknowledgments
Ortiz, University of California, los Angeles; lisandro pérez, Flor-
ida international University; Kenneth prewitt, Columbia University;
ricardo ramírez, University of southern California; Denise segura,
University of California, santa Barbara; Christine sierra, University
of new mexico; and Carlos vargas ramos, Hunter College of the City
University of new york.
A magnifcent team of research assistants was critical to our being
able to complete our work. The members of our team included Fran-
cisco pedraza, Helena rodrigues, seth Greenfest, Jenny Founds, Ann
Frost, sarah sponaugle, Jeanette Tejada, salvador peralta, Gabriel
sánchez, marcela García-Castañón, Carmen Arozco-Acosta, renee
reyna, and Ali valenzuela.
several individuals provided support at various stages of our work.
They include luis Arteaga, latino issue Forum; lisa Krisher, Georgia
legal services; Dario moreno, Center for metropolitan studies, Flor-
ida international University; luis nogales; rebeca rangel; and profes-
sor maria velez, University of new mexico.
We would also like to gratefully acknowledge our spouses, part-
ners, and children. We are fully aware that it is your support that gives
us the time to pursue our research. Thank you from the bottom of our
hearts. We love you.
Latino Lives in America