A New Approach for the Latino Community - Annotated Bibliography Example

THE "LATINO" COMMUNITY A New Approach For The "Latino" Community The "Latino" community means all those people who have migrated to the United States of America and are now collectively referred to as a group. In a way, this is good as, by being referred to as a collective unit, they are getting the advantages associated of being a community. They can hold gatherings, sit together, and have common interests on the basis of the one region they all belong to. But, as the world moves at a fast pace, cultures merge, people migrate and acculturation takes place, we can be sure that this community advantage ultimately poses as a disadvantage because the "Latinos" are losing their individual identity. It was the identity that was given to them by their country, whether it was Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador or Haiti. Their cultures (sports, food, arts, film, and architecture) differ, their languages diversify slightly, their religions may not be the same – and then why should they not be called an Argentinean or a Colombian rather than a Latino?? There should be a new approach for the "Latino" community where their differences should be studied, and then highlighted in various ways so as to communicate them to the world and especially United States of America so that any sort of biases and stereotyping can be avoided against them. INTRODUCTION TO "LATINOS" "Latino" is a term used for the people who belong to Latin America. This region consists of each country, each with their unique language, culture and identity. But their immigration to other countries of the world like United States of America have crushed their individual identity and made them popular as a collective unit, yet considered a minority and treated with biases and prejudice. This discrimination and highlight of a community aspect of Latinos has been mostly brought forward by the Spanish media, whether it is the television, newspapers, radio or the likes. Such media propagation by any country gives further impetus to different countries to form stereotypes and biases for these people. An Argentinean has a totally different culture than the Bolivian who lives in U.S., a Brazilian has different beliefs than a Colombian who works in U.S. and Ecuadorian will have different thought processes than a person from Panama who study together in U.S. Such differences need to be highlighted. Latin America's rich and diverse culture needs to be brought in front of the world but what media does is only show a cross-section of population from Latin America, collectively labels them as Latinos and ignores the diversity available in the region. This is an important topic to address as it wants to achieve a basis for the vast differences between the 20 countries and their residents, who are part of Latin America. What is happening to the residents of Latin America is unfair. It needs to be looked into. Other topics would just have been an addition to the database of various papers who talk about Latinos. But talking about their differences and the situation of being referred to as "Latinos" puts them in an advantageous position as a community and at a disadvantage when it comes to their individuality. This ambiguous situation is difficult to weigh and talked about rarely. The Latinos know what they go through but I, being a student, subjected to the study of Latino culture, want to unravel their range of cultures and individuality as written and argued by prominent authors. Many authors have written on the subject of Latino identity in U.S. and propagation by the Spanish Media. Let us analyze several books and what went in the writing of each: LATIN AMERICA AND ITS PEOPLE, VOLUME I This book has been skillfully composed in unity by Martin C. and Wasserman, M. They have talked about Latin America till the 1830s. The writers have emphasized on the relationship that Latin America had with Spain. It got a kick start when Latin America got most of Spain's colonies, only with the exception of Cuba and Peurto Rico. This was the harvesting of the seeds of enmity in the heart of Spain. They had lost all their colonies to Latin America and therefore, from them onwards till date, they have used their media as a powerful tool against the Latinos. They are clever enough not to declare open wars against them, but are satisfied by what little damage they can create throught their media. The author has focused on all sides of Latin America, be it be social, political, environmental and cultural history. It does not focus on Latin America country by country, rather takes an all-region approach. But nonetheless, it does not ignore the diversity of the people living in different parts of the region. The significance of this writing is that it brings to notice the assortment of people that are present in Latin America. Significance to the non-Latino audience is that they can be enlightened of the fact that Latin America's population should not be collectively referred to as Latinos as they are different from each other. The Latino readers can be proud of their rich diversification and be sure that it has been brought to the database of a classic book. Moreover, on a lighter note, the book emphasizes on the various cultures dominant in different parts of the region. At this point in time, the authors of the book are responding to the "Latino" concept and the fact that Latin America residents are thought of as one. The author has written mostly about all cultures but he emphasizes more on two of them that is Colombia and Ecuador. The authors choose to write about this because they themselves belong to Colombia and Ecuador. If only seen the comparison between Colombia and Ecuador, the conclusion can be reached that a wide range of diversity lies in Latin America. The culture of sports is almost non-existent in Colombia whereas it is a very important part of the Ecuador culture. 389 The most commonly played sport in Ecuador is football, which is popularly known as "futbol". This is something which is part of the Ecuador culture but has no roots in the Colombian culture. Imagine an Ecuadorian and a Colombian migrating to United States together and then being collectively referred to as "Latino". The collective identity that they carry portrays that they like and are aware of the sport football but in reality, only the Eucadorian knows how to play it. The Colombian is absolutely unaware of its rules and method of playing. Such is their diversity that if we pick only a single aspect of culture, we can see wide differences. They are separate countries in a big region. The differences are bound to exist. The main themes that the book touches lie around the varying cultures of all the countries belonging to this region and that they can never be amalgamated into one culture. Naming a single Latin America culture would be a tedious task to do as some culture components exist in one country, while they do not exist in the other. The importance of this book's material is immense for my book as it highlights the vast variations among Latin American people. A new approach to Latino community is needed in which these differences need to be conveyed. The book covers aspects of Latin America like "The First People of the Americas", "Americans and Iberians on the Eve of Contact", "The European Conquest of America", "The Iberians' New World", "The Amerindians Changing World", "A New People and Their World" and "The New Nations of Latin America". Out of these major themes, only the last two were relevant to my topic as they discussed the emerging contemporary cultures of Latin Americans. It talks about the cultures that exist in every country. The authors of this book are thorough experts in his field and know his arguments. They have very well laid out their opinions and point of views so as to reach out to the reader's thought processes. The book has been extremely useful for my research as it provided me evidence of the diversity needed to justify this new approach that the "Latinos" deserved. LATIN AMERICA AND ITS PEOPLE, VOLUME II This book is also a collective effort of Cheryl Martin and Mark Wasserman. It is the 2nd volume of the book Latin America and its People and it continues the strenuous effort to unveil the dissimilar characteristics of Latin America residents. It covers the time period of 1830s to present. They have analyzed the foreign relations that Latin America has and seen that Spain has special identification with the region in terms of language, commerce, culture and history. They are bonded by the same components as many colonies of Spain are now part of Latin America. Many leaders of Spain have made successful visits to Latin America and have brought transitions from dictatorship to democracy. The importance of this writing is that it exposes the fluctuating relationship between Latin America and Spain. The writings of the author focus on Spain because of the vital role that the Spanish media plays in portraying Latin American migrants as a single community abroad. These media propagated images are receiving a lot of attention from the United States of America and are the reason for any sort of stereotyping done by them. The authors of this book endeavour to highlight the possible reasons of their wrong portrayal of inhabitants of Latin America. I, in my research paper, want to highlight a new approach for which there is a dire need. And Martin and Wasserman give me a reason to further emphasize on this need for change. The audience can relate to this writing very well. It can enhance their knowledge of the past situations and events that shaped this relationship. The authors belonged to Latin America and have used methodologies like participant observation and interviews to get an inside picture to their varying culture and past of the region. As mentioned before in the description for "Latin America and its People, Volume I", the cultures of Ecuador and Colombia have been explained thoroughly. I continue to compare and contrast their cultures so as to get a wider idea of where their differences lie. Another variation lies in the culture prevalent in the area of films. Ecuador gives special importance to films. They try to portray the real culture through their films, its storylines and through the characters. The protagonists depict what goes through the minds of an Ecuadorian. They not just focus on the urban areas, but also on the rural areas. Whereas the Colombian entertainment culture tilts more towards the TV show area. People of Colombia are more interested in staying home and watching TV shows rather than watching films. This does not mean that cinemas do not exist in the country. There are cinemas but films are not considered a fuel to let out their emotions and different story lines that are part of reality in the country. The authors of the book are still responding to the differences among Latin American people. They want to present this difference in a truly authentic and researched way. The main themes in this book centre around "Regionalism, War and Reconstruction: Politics and Economics", "Everyday Life in an Uncertain Age", "Economic Modernization, Society and Politics", "Between Revolutions: The New Politics of Class and the Economics of Import Substitution Industrialization"," People and Progress", "Revolution, Reaction, Democracy, and the New Global Economy" and "Everyday Life, 1959 to the Present". These major themes cover many different perspectives of Latin America, from traditional to contemporary, from past to future. They focus on people from all corners of Latin America. The themes that were really vital for my research were "Everyday Life in an Uncertain Age", "People and Progress" as well as "Everyday Life, 1959 to the Present". These themes which have been beautifully presented bring to us that these differences have existed since time immemorial. Since Latin America has existed, it has catered to the differences of all the people who live in it. Their politics differ, their economy's differ, the rate at which they are progressing differ; therefore, how can they be collectively be called and coined the name of "Latinos". This will be immense injustice to their individuality. A new approach needs to be engraved among the new generation and those of the old ones too so as to ensure the identity labeling that each Latin American deserves. The relationship that this work has with mine is that it also sees the need for this change that should occur soon. A new direction and zeal needs to be given to migrants of Latin America who have lost their identity in the community spirit while living in United States of America. CROSSING CURRENTS This book is a masterpiece by the two brothers Michael Whiteford and Scott Whiteford. They focus on the wave of continuity and change in Latin American culture. They take an anthropological perspective and explore the culture. They give the readers an impetus to think and to be creative in their own imagination, something which is especially needed for this course. Designed to expose the diversified and wealthy culture of the region, the book provides an overload of information, which in itself is the proof that Latin American people can be defined in such vast ways so as to fill books. The significance of this writing is that has focused on the Latin American belonging to Panama, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia and all the rest of the 16 countries which form a part of this region. They bring to light that Latin America culture is made up of the extremes of people. When they move to U.S. they are referred to as a single community, by the title of "Latino", This poses as both sides of a coin. They are identified as a community there, with similar interests and belonging to the same region. But when the advantages fade away, their individuality has been lost somewhere. The book tells that Brazilian is proud of their own unique heritage and every migrant from Haiti remembers the distinctive architecture and monument work of Haiti. But the media propagates them as one. "Latinos" according to the Spanish media, supposedly, have the same form of art and architecture throughout the region and their heritage is also the same. This is wrong and unfair to their identity. Though being referred to as a Latin America community in United States of America, they are being given the priveleges of being part of a group away from home. But they have fond memories of their own country and its unique characteristics. They are shocked to see the mixed culture portrayal by Spanish media, which often comes out as a new culture altogether. The authors of this book are brothers and are renowned scholars in their own field. They have thoroughly researched on the topic of Latin America and are presenting their case and point of view in a very comprehensive manner. This even increases the authenticity of their writings as they have also attached all sorts of bibliography, footnotes and endnotes. It actually gives a chance to the readers to step into the shoes of an anthropologist and feel what they might feel. This gives them a passage way for critical thinking. It also gives them leverage to actually explore their own process of creation. This book benefited a lot in my research as it helped me form my own opinion, something which I can fight for, something over which I am persistent in. This book has covered Latin American cultures from a number of different perspectives which made me compare it with the one which is depicted through media by the Spanish mainly. It had a vast difference. Spanish propagation of Latin American culture is a dirty, unclear and confused mix of cultures from different Latin American countries. But the real culture, if you take an overall look, is very refined and properly divided and organized into sections. First of all, the authors have given a general overview of Latin America including its size of land mass, geography, population size and growth rate of GDP. These statistics form a broad opinion of the region. Then the authors come down to the cultural variety that this region possesses. It stresses on the fact that this cultural diversity is incredible. They do not forget to mention some of the features that give at least the appearance of "similarity". This shows that the similarity is evident only on the surface. Beneath it, there are only differences, which should not be avoided. The main themes that the writers have focused on are Introducing Latin America, Prehistory of Latin America, America's Iberian Heritage, Ethnicity, Gender, Social Structure, Religion, Health, Economics, Neoliberian Reforms, Trade Agreements, Environment, Population Movements, and Changing Cities. Culture constitutes of components like Social Structure, Religion, and Environment. Therefore, these headings were especially focused on. Moreover, I also used the author's work under the headings of "Changing Cities" as it gave me perspectives on contemporary culture and the changes that have come in it. The relationship between the authors work and mine is immense as he has focused on the slight similarities as well as the vast differences. This will help me form a complete paper where I debate on both sides of the coin. THE MARKETING AND MAKING OF A PEOPLE This is a very important, entertaining and original book by the writer Davila Arlene. She has even written essays in the anthology Latino – A Popular Culture. In this book, she brings to notice that though the influence of Latin American culture on United States is growing, its presence in mainstream America has still not being felt. She questions the homogeneity of the Latin American immigrants as broadcasted by the Spanish media. The "Latinos" are indeed different. Every subnationality is a breed in itself. The Latinos often debate on their social standing and personal identity but the Spanish media well knows how to suppress it. The stereotype they have created is hard to erase. The images of Latin Americans is being manufactured, sold and bought all over America and abroad. These pictures target the Latino population who live in the United States. The migrant Latino population has literally become a market. She has been able to reach shocking conclusions through her extensive field work. She has conducted live interviews, observed the happenings in person and recorded focus groups to hear what the common man says. She has noticed that Latino culture (for example, the prominence of salsa) is gaining prominence in America. But the Latinidad essence is missing. Davila's writing will make the audience think if there is a happy settlement between being able to survive in U.S.A. as a community and then not being identified as a sole person with a unique country. Arlene Davila generates a whole lot of controversy and conflict in this book by dealing with Latin American people as they have migrated to the United States of America. This book has actually focused on the fact that the new approach that I want the "Latinos" to take is already being implemented in United States due to the immense marketing power that they now possess. Times have changed and it is no longer the era in which the minority will be crushed and will not be given the position and treatment that they deserve. Latinos now have a better chance of being heard and taken seriously in the United States of America. Not only being heard, but Latino culture is actually influencing the American culture. This is evident from the popularity of the salsa in the United States, as a dance type and as a grocery item. But despite their popularity in the marketing aspect, the Latinos are also becoming invisible as individuals. They all belong to different countries. Every country of Latin America sends migrants to United States so as to facilitate them in terms of their growth and in hope of earning some good foreign exchange. But ultimately they end up loosing the individuality of their own country. It is a cultural phenomenon that the Latinos are part of in the United States of America. This phenomenon has started not because of their rapidly growing population but because they have been highly targeted by media in their marketing needs and various other necessities. David does not speak unsupported. She has gathered first hand information by performing the most up to the mark fieldwork. She has been to and conducted the interviews in the ad agencies which take part in marketing the Latino community. The notion of a community which is pan-Latino, where they all share the same culture is brought forward by the advertising agencies through their harsh media and marketing practices done through the making of advertisements. This is also another way of using the media. This can be called the indirect usage of media. Davila has this rigor in her work which she uses to the best of the interests of the Latino community. She succeeds in bringing to light the fact that racism exists in United States and Latinos are becoming a target of it. The harsh marketing practices and processes are affecting the Latino population of America. Davila does a good job of bringing into the forefront the changes and emotions that the Latinos go through while living in a totally different place like America. The author of the book is responding to this marketing storm that has affected the culture of Latinos. The author has strong background in the field and wishes to use it in ways that can contribute in positive ways. The main themes that she covered are mainly related to marketing and advertisement. She just wants to unravel the processes that go behind the strategies aimed to market Latino population of America. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PREJUDICE This last book, written by Todd Nelson, is a very comprehensive, thoroughly researched piece of work on what goes behind prejudice. What the Latinos go through on a daily basis is not intense or extreme prejudice but it can be called a stereotyping of sorts. As soon as a migrant introduces themselves as belonging to Ecuador or Honduras, the stereotype of a Latino immediately emerges. The psychology behing this stereotyping is fully explained in this book. What goes in the mind of a person who stereotypes another is given in detail. When the residents of the United States of America have been bombared by the Spanish media regarding the unanimity of values, beliefs and cultures of all Latinos, then the mind and thinking of the U.S. residents has been conditioned to think that way. They have stopped giving individual importance to each country in the region of Latin America. The culture shown by Spanish media is so deeply integrated in the minds of Americans that they think nothing else as soon as they meet a Latino. Latinos are facing serious difficulties in removing this stereotype that has been so deeply enrooted in the American population. They have to live and work there, and still face the daily stereotyping of Americans, caused by the misuse of media to make them think this way. The author has very well depicted the various theories and concepts that apply to the idea of prejudice. Prejudice is the bias that people often make due to the differences among people, be it be racial, ethnic, gender-wise, colour-wise, physical appearance wise, etc. This prejudice has its roots in many theories and concepts. The book endeavours to give a complete picture of this term, from all angles and perspectives. The book has been written in a very interesting way, by narrating a story, weaving all concepts inside that story so as to capture and maintain interest of the reader. It is not a book which just purely states statistics about the term prejudice. It has exciting content, thanks to the way Todd Nelson has written this book. He did not let it go boring as it should have been considering that it was on empirical studies. This book has been written keeping in mind both the teacher who will teach the subject as well as the student who will read it. This book also attempts to stimulate and motivate critical thinking in a reader. This book gave a certain direction and basis to my research as it gave me many perspectives to think from. It allowed me to see the whole situation from the perspective of the Americans, the Latino population of America, as well as the Spanish media or any media person who might be responsible for propagating anything negative or universal cultural about the Latinos. It focuses its roots on thorough research, starting from the history of when the research on stereotypes actually started. The main themes and lines of arguments that the author has very beautifully dealt with are "Introduction to the Study of Stereotyping and Prejudice", " Origin and Maintenance of Stereotypes and Prejudice", " Feeling and Thinking in the Activation and Application of Stereotypes", " The Prejudiced Personality: Are some people more likely", " Old-fashioned vs. Modern Prejudice", " Experiencing Prejudice", "Ageism", "Sexism", "Reducing Prejudice", and " Trends and Unanswered Questions in Prejudice Research". The following themes are very broad subjects under which a wide variety of minor topics have been dealt with. The themes which were most relevant to my research paper is the "Experiencing Prejudice", "Feeling and Thinking in the Activation and Application of Stereotypes" as well as "Reducing Prejudice. All three themes were of equal importance for my research. Reducing Prejudice complemented the purpose of my paper in an excellent manner as it allowed me to find ways in which new approaches can be found for the Latin Community which lives in United States in America. The relationship between this work and mine is a lot as it helped me focus on ways to help them find new ways to emerge individually. Cross-cultural studies and research by this author has helped me further clarify my point about the diversity which exists in Latin American residents who belong to different countries. The author has chosen to write about this just because he beliefs he has extensive coverage and research on this area. He thinks that he can convey this socially harming concept in a very hard hitting way and therefore, he does so through his book. References 1. Martin, Cheryl (2007). Latin America and its People, Volume II. 2. Martin, C., & Wasserman, M. (2007). Latin America and its People, Volume I. 3. Whiteford, M., & Whiteford, S. (1997). Crossing Currents. 4. Arlene, D. (2001). Latinos, Inc. : The Marketing and Making of a People. 5. Nelson, T. (2005). The Psychology of Prejudice. 6. (1997). Spanish and Portugese Media. Retrieved October 28, 2007, from Spanish Radio Station Web site: http://www.geocities.com/spanishradio/ Read More