The Cosmic Race, by José Vasconcelos, is about the new race that will arise in Latin America from the mixing of all races and the society they’ll create. It is an extremely influential essay in Mexico and still widely regarded today. In the The Cosmic Race it is said that America is the ancient home of the now lost Atlantean civilization (Vasconcelos 7). The downfall of the Atlanteans spawned four races: the Indian, the Black, the Mongol, and the White (Vasconcelos 9). Latin America, the essay argues, will be the homeland of the new Neo-Atlantean race as it already the racial melting pot of so many races (Vasconcelos 17-18). This essay, both intentionally and unintentionally gives us a glimpse of contemporary Latin American race relations, …show more content…
The earliest known case of race transcending nationalism can be seen in an excerpt from Problems in Modern Latin American History, which looks at Cuba during the struggle for independence, and the colorblind nationalism that arose. While Cuba nationalism arose due to a meritocratic revolutionary army, in The Cosmic Race argues it will happen because of the spiritual duty of all races to create a neo-Atlantean race comprised of all the races on earth. The Cosmic Race could be seen as the eventual evolution of this type of nationalism that started in Cuba. One problem with this belief is that it urges an end to racism because of a spiritual duty. However, in Cuba, where this type of nationalism actually occurred, it was forged in the blood and fire of revolution. The want of liberty and conflict against the Spanish helped defeat racism. It was through this conflict and violent struggle that racism was crippled in Cuba, not because of Cuban belief in spiritual duty. Historically speaking, believing that spirituality alone can eventually unite the races in any given society is extremely unlikely. The irony, at least looking at Cuba, comes from the need of a conflict, presumably against another …show more content…
Many of the more unrealistic parts of the essay can be seen as less of the ideological musings of one man and his hope for a united future and more the reflection of a colonial and racially charged violent past, disunity of Latin America and failure of Simon Bolivar's dreams, and the corrupt rule of the
(Senior & Bhopal, 1994) according to an epidemiological research. Even though Ruiz and Valdes share the same origins, culture, traditions, identity, and common language, each receives unequal opportunity and was treated very differently. The Cuban man Ruiz could not feel connected to the American culture and identity like Valdes. Ruiz “had learned how a person with dark skin should behave in this country: if an officer is following your car, do not turn your head; the police don't like it… [and] pays bills in cash because… the bank officer… told him… ‘Your kind likes to spend the money, not save it’”
In Leo R. Chavez’s ethnography, The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation, the claimed problem of Latino immigration, specifically Mexicans, is tackled using interviews, statistics, and other works of literature. Chavez’s ethnography not only discusses Latino immigration but Latino invasion, integration, organ transplants and even Latina fertilization. One of Chavez’s big topics is on how the media influences the public to believe that Latinos are planning an invasion or take-over in order to gain the land that was originally Mexico’s. The topic of Latina reproduction and fertilization comes up multiple times through Chavez’s ethnography. Another main topic that plays a part in Chavez’s argument is the Latino role in public marches and the citizenship aspect of their actions.
Braford E. Burns began writing The Poverty of Progress as a historical essay arguing against the “modernization” of nineteenth century Latin America. Burns argues that modernization was preformed against the will of the majority and benefited a small group of Creole Elite, while causing an exponential drop in the quality of life for folk majority. Burns supports his research through a series of dichotomies. Within the first twenty years of the nineteenth century the majority of Latin America gained independence from Spain.
In the book, National Colors: Racial Classification and the State in Latin America, author Mara Loveman examines the history of racial classification in Latin American nations, through the use of census records. There are three main questions that the author works to answer throughout the book. The first, is why did these nations historically classify populations by their race? Why did they eventually decide to stop using this method for some time and why was it brought back? The author also looks at the different ways these nations are influenced by other nations, and how this affects the recording of these populations over time.
Everlena Goddard Latin Anti-Blackness is a very real and extremely under discussed topic that is affecting millions of Latin people today. This disguised and rarely talked about topic is the practice of discrimination and prejudice against dark skinned, mixed race or non predominantly white Latinxs by other Latinx people. This distressing treatment of Latin(o)(a)s is not only a national issue, it is a global one as well. This issue is ongoing and was and has always been apparent yet unidentified and unaddressed. To rid the Latin community of this ingrained racism we need to call attention to this topic.
Time and history has shown us over and over again the power of words. Great leaders of societies obtain that magnetic pull with words that enable them to reach masses of people throughout the world. It’s all determined by how the speaker or the writer tries to convey his or her message and what they hope to achieve with their words. The Cuban writer, José Martí evidently establishes his political views through his written piece, “Our America”. Martí’s written work is manifested by his political choice of words and distinct approaches that speak to both his fellow Cubans and the higher nation that is the United Sates throughout his essay.
Racism is not a new concept in the Americas, it was laid out in the very foundation of the country. The authors cook, Black and Poole theorize that the origin for Hispanic racism origins is based on the Spanish middle ages concept of “Limpieza de Sangre” in which believe that the basis of a good purity a person is would be based on the purity of his catholic bloodlines. It started at the liberation of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim countries. Despite freedom prejudice about the Muslim and Jewish communities could be visibly seen as the isle dictated an edict that they must convert to Christianity or be banished from the isle. This caused any converts in the fifteen hundreds, although this was not viewed as a throw treatment of converts
The first of two essay questions focuses on Leo Chavez’s book , “The Latino Threat”. The questions and statements that will be answered include “ What is the Latino threat?, ‘How does he define citizenship?” ,“Identify and discuss two examples of the Latino threat” and “ Identify one policy recommendation and discuss whether you think it is achievable”. Leo Chavez’s book focuses on the guise of Latinos threatening the American way of life. He defines this as “The Latino Threat” , He states that the Latino threat narrative positions Latinos as not sharing similarities with any previous migrant groups into the U.S. and that they are unwilling and incapable of integrating and becoming part of the national community (Chavez,3).
“Slavery In The Dominican Republic and How It Affected the Natives Racial Identity” By definition the Dominican Republic is a Caribbean Hispaniola Island that is shared with Haiti to the West. The Dominican Republic today is a major tourist destination and has become a major source of sugar, coffee, and other exports. But the Dominican Republic had to suffer a lot in order to prevail the way they did, undergoing being enslaved by the Spaniards while on the other side of the island the Haitians were enslaved by the french hence the obvious difference in languages and cultures. The main difference is that the Dominican Republic lost their racial identity and until the present day are unaware of their true racial identity. Slavery affects every country and person differently but in the Dominican Republic, slavery took away the nation’s identity.
Although broken up thematically, each portion contributes to the central narrative of prevalent racism against Afro-Cubans. In part two, De La Fuente examines the labor market as well as the social mobility of Cubans. Speaking to labor concerns, De La Fuente relates equality of opportunity to economic success, therefore placing Afro-Cubans on a lower level of social mobility. His emphasis on European and white immigration as being praised does well to support his claim of inherent racism. The exclusion of Afro-Cubans in the labor force fixes itself to the idea of a certain Cuban identity, the central theme of the work.
During the Chicano Nationalist Movement, a well-known speaker, Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales, delivered a speech titled Chicano Nationalism: Victory for La Raza. In this speech, Rodolfo Gonzales tries to unify the Latin American people within the United States by using the idea of a family and to create a new political organization for the Chicano people. This speech was a cumulation of various ideas which stemmed from his own life, the experiences of the Chicano people, and the Chicano Nationalist Movement in general. Each of these factors contributed to the context of the speech and how the ideas within the speech are presented by Rodolfo Gonzales. Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales was born to Federico and Indalesia Gonzales, two Mexican immigrants, on June 18, 1928.
We see how race is a major factor of world modernity, especially in the Americas, which is tied back in with anthropological analysis of globalization. First we discuss how globalization operates to diminish
Many Latin American countries struggled to gain independence and resist European culture to form their own. Some academics, specifically the Uruguayan Jose Enrique Rodo, argued that only Northern European culture should be rejected and that their Latin culture was superior; while this differs from Martí’s view of building a strong national pride that embraces multiple races and cultures, it does align with the poem in that it emphasizes a pride in a culture that is different than the “master.”
Octavio Paz, a Mexican poet and essayist, is one of the many philosophers with a written piece regarding his understanding of Lo Mexicano. Paz’s “Sons of La Malinche” was first published in the Labyrinth of Solitude in 1950 and is a rather grim interpretation of the Mexican character, however, it captures the crisis of identity that Mexico was burdened with after the conquest. Paz uses the Spanish term “chingar,” (when literally translated means “to screw, to violate”) and its associated phrases to understand the conquest and the effect
Fuentes stated that this shaded my childhood and shaped my sense of Mexicanness” (theguardian.com). Along with being a tal-ented novelist Fuentes was a powerful political voice for Latin America. He made it clear that they intended to demonstrate commonalties shared within the nations, instead of showcasing the differences. As the leader of the group Fuentes was really pushing the writers’ publications be-tween the US and Europe, he also brought the writers