Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism

by Laura E. Gómez

An NPR Best Book of the Year, exploring the impact of Latinos' new collective racial identity on the way Americans understand race, with a new afterword by the author

Latinos will comprise a third of the American population in just a matter of decades, but many Americans still struggle with two basic questions: Who are Latinos, and where do they fit in America's racial order? In this timely and important examination of Latinx identity Laura E. Gómez, a leading critical-race scholar, argues that it is only recently that Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, Central Americans, and others are seeing themselves (and being seen by others) under the banner of a cohesive racial identity. And the catalyst for this emergent identity, she argues, has been the ferocity of anti-Latino racism.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Race, Politics, Latinx, Sociology, Social Justice

336 pages, Hardcover

First published August 25, 2020

About the author

Laura E. Gómez is a professor of law, sociology, and Chicana/Chicano studies at UCLA.

Reviews

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism is a fascinating exploration of the intersectionality between race and class, in particular, in relation to the Latinx peoples residing in the United States. Despite being British I am intrigued by the changing face of countries around the world, including America, and this turned out to be a superb and comprehensive read addressing Latino history and America's role in compounding the poverty in which many Latinx people live. Gómez contends that the damage done through colonialism and subsequent colonisation, including political interference, economic exploitation and military intervention, should be subject to reparations, and I must say I don't disagree with her on that. The flood of migrants coming from Latin America to seek a better life in the North cannot really be criticised given some of the reasons they are fleeing have been caused or exacerbated by the American government sticking its nose in where it wasn't wanted. Unfortunately, most American's won't admit to that fact.

Recently, with the rise of populist politics and the age of Trump and his eponymous wall, with the intention of keeping out as many Mexicans as possible, discrimination again Latinos has been rising exponentially. His repeated diatribes and rampant demagoguery have led, whether intentionally or not, to an increasing number of racists, xenophobes and white supremacists feeling emboldened and coming out of the woodwork which is a dangerous situation in a country comprised of people of many different colours and ethnicities. This is an incisive, honest and timely book which is even more important to read in these times of white dominance and with Donald Trump at the helm of one of the worlds biggest ships. Incorporating and addressing a wide variety of topical issues, Gómez presents things in an accessible fashion and in easily understandable language that can be comprehended by all. Insightful, thought-provoking and extensively researched, this is a must-read for those looking to grasp prejudice towards the Latinx population. Many thanks to The New Press for an ARC.

[Elizabeth☮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We are a conquering race, and we must obey our blood and occupy new markets, and, if necessary, new lands ... the disappearance of debased civilizations and decaying races before the higher civilization of the nobler and more virile types of men.” Senator Albert J. Beveridge (1898)

Navy Commander David Dixon Porter in the late 1840s was sent to the Dominican Republic to "assess the racial fitness" of the people as compared to the people of Haiti - "One was white, Spanish and Catholic; the other was black, French, and irreligious. One was 'civilized' because it courted the United States and the Americans; the other was 'barbaric' because its jealously defended its political and economic sovereignty."

" ... in every colony founded upon Indigenous dispossession and the transatlantic slave trade (including the United States), rulers must wipe away these histories from the memories and, if possible, the bodies of those to be included in the nation" (in regards to racial mixtures across Spanish, Indigenous and African ancestors)

"The Census Bureau generally has approached those who select "other" race as doing so in error. For example, in 1990, the census simply folded those who self-identified as other race into White" (the Census Bureau's response to those from Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Central and South America who don't identify as White or Black on the census).

In 1943, "A police officer testified before the grand jury that Mexican American men were "biologically prone to violence" (this in a trial in Los Angeles after seventeen Mexican American men were convicted of serious crimes in what was "the largest mass conviction in California history").

"One of the results of Latinos' historical claim that they were White is that many states and cities, even today, do not gather or report statistics about Latinos or other groups beyond Whites and Blacks."

"At the time [1960 election], Texas's Democratic and Republican parties, like other southern states, still ran all-White primaries: primary contests in which only Whites could vote, a way of undermining the Voting Rights Act, which constrained states at election time but did not affect private organizations like political parties."

"When he [LBJ] was first elected in Congress in 1949, he won narrowly with such a strong Mexican American support that his opponent alleged voter fraud that was never proven."

"By looking at key censuses since that nation's founding in 1790, we see how race is socially constructed and yet how racial divisions over time, come to be taken for granted as natural and inevitable, rather than as created and malleable."

"For Whites in particular, the desire to claim a more expressive symbolic ethnicity has recently been fueling the surge in commercial DNA testing."

"In Who Are We?: The Challenges to America's National Identity, Huntington argues that immigrants from Latin America will not assimilate, culturally or linguistically, and thus forever change the character of the Anglo-Saxon U.S.A. for the worse."

"Racism works best when it is taken for granted, when its structure and scaffolding are more or less invisible."

My takeaway is that the idea of Latinos in America has been largely overlooked. We weren't an identity on the census until 1980; a point in time when Reagan worked towards halting immigration and portraying those from across the border as invaders - so this new identity came shaded with negativity. Many Latinos mark White (I am listed as White on my birth certificate) which further causes confusion because others don't see me that way.

All in all, this gave me a lot to consider and taught me a lot more about the complexity of being Latino in America.

[Annika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! I think it's very well-structured and super informative.

This book breaks down specific aspects of Latin American history: the effects of American imperialism and colonization in Central America and the Caribbean, anti-Black and anti-Indian sentiment among Latinos, the way Latinos straddle the line between White and Black and how that's worked for them politically, and the importance of how Latinos are counted in the U.S. census.

While the book is academic, it is not inaccessible. Laura does a great job of keeping the language comprehensible for general audiences by defining Spanish terms and maintaining a voice throughout the book. This would be a great supplement in an ethnic studies course. I think everyone can learn something from it. I was particularly enraged in regards to the American imperialism part—not at all because it was written badly, but because of how really foundational the U.S. government was in essentially destroying Central America.

I can't speak on if the book is redundant (in the case of someone who is fluent in Chicano Studies), but for someone who was unable to take a Latinx studies course in college, I think this is a great introduction. There is so much to take away, and the book's ending chapters are particularly relevant to the 2020 census and election.

Highly recommend! Thank you to The New Press and Net Galley for the ARC!

[Andre(Read-A-Lot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A intriguing look at the effort to make the various Latinx identities into a collective race. It’s heavy on the history of colonization and the heavy hand that American has wielded in the Latin American areas. The look at how the census is politicized and weapon used to push and prompt Latinx into making certain choices about their identity. Since America is so color-obsessed maybe the next census should come with a color chart that runs from snow to crow, and each individual can lay their arm next to the color chart and choose which one closely matches their skin tone. Then USA will know definitively how many brown beige and black exist in the land. I say this only half in jest. The text does a thorough job of exposing the attitudes of Latinx people and the attitudes of the colonizers who want to move them in a direction that ultimately benefits the oppressor. So, ultimately this is a book that you should have in your toolbox to gain a deeper understanding of Latinx people.

[Megan Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I a great read and talks about the history about the Latin history. It was very interesting to read and learn about things I didn’t know before.

[Pretty Book Guardian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say there are two main themes in this
book. The first being a look at the history of Latin America
and how Spanish colonization and American imperialism
shaped Latin America in terms of culture, economic
exploitation, policy and military interference. The second
theme is how prominent groups of Latina American people
have been lumped together under the racial identity of
(Latino) in the US and the results of that. The author also
touches on the rising discrimination against one of the
largest growing group of minorities in the US and the cross
sectionally of race and class in the US for Latinos. Overall I
think this is a good beginner friendly book if you want to
learn history that has shaped Latinos in this country in order
to comprehend present circumstances. One thing that this
book does that I haven't seen enough of is addressing the
issues around using the language Hispanic/Latinos/Latine/
Latinx/Latina. These are terms that heavy reflect the
colonialism and forced assimilation Latin American people
have had to accept as their own. Which is why I prefer to
label myself as I am which is Indigenous Mexican American
and not Latina because it's important to me to decolonize
that part of my identity. But of course I am not without fault
as I still use Latine as it's unfortunately just part of our
society but I still feel like it better to be aware of the
language we use as it reflects history that deserves to be
known.
This is a book that is filled with rich and important history
and I would be lying if I didn't admit that even though it's
considered beginner friendly, there were times I felt
overwhelmed by the amount of information. I felt like this also
had to do with the organization which at times felt messy
which is reflected in my rating. Overall though I do
recommend.

[Nuha · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a student of ethnic studies, learning about how categories of race came into existence is always an interesting historical excavation deeply rooted in the United State's history of xenophobia and racism. In "Inventing Latinos" Laura E Gomez pulls from history, sociology, and anthropology to understand who and what was and wasn't considered Latinx in America. Starting with the Mexican American War of the 1800s to Trump's modern day immigration policies, Gomez shows how policies and politics are a direct result of historical conflict between Latin America and the United States. Most importantly, Gomez provides context for the stereotypes of Latinx folk that we see in the media to the United State's discriminatory and violent policy both abroad and at home. A comprehensive, well researched whirlwind of a read!

[Carol Tilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. I hope you'll read it.

[Maggie Ornelas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers an insightful, well-researched, and compelling look at how the concept of “Latino” was invented.

It’s heavy on the history of colonization and the heavy hand that American has applied in the Latin American areas. The look at how the census is politicized and weapon used to push and prompt Latinx into making certain choices about their identity(I know it has to me).
Since America is so color-obsessed maybe the next census should come with a color chart that runs from snow to crow, and each individual can lay their arm next to the color chart and choose which one closely matches their skin tone. Then USA will know definitively how many brown beige and black exist in the land.

The book does a thorough job of exposing the attitudes of Latinx people and the attitudes of the colonizers who want to move them in a direction that ultimately benefits the oppressor.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inventing Latinos comes at a very timely moment in the U.S. We have spent the last few months talking in detail about racism, primarily as it pertains to the lives of African Americans. Inventing Latinos is several different books in one, serving as a great primer on what it means to be a Latino. First, Gomez defines Latino for the purposes of her book. She gives a short history of a few different countries that make up the majority of the Latino population in the U.S., focusing on U.S. intervention in those countries which resulted in migration. Then Gomez covers the issues endemic to each nationality living in their native country and in the U.S., especially focusing on ideas of colorism and identity. There are definitely dry parts, but the beginning and the very end absolutely sing. My favorite thing about this book was that Gomez provided clear and succinct solutions to many of the issues Latinos face in the U.S. Her four pronged approach was really well thought-out and I would love to see politicians in the U.S. incorporate some of her ideas into their policy plans.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this copy for review.

[Amy K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to read this, but it felt like a bombardment of facts, figures, dates, and names with no story to move you along through it.

[Xavier Patiño · Rating 4 out of 5]

“History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” – Mark Twain

Some people say the United States isn’t a racist country. Some would say America didn’t have imperial ambitions. But history shows otherwise, and it’s hard to argue against these facts. To acknowledge America’s terrible past isn’t unpatriotic. It’s important to examine and try to understand it. There are troubling signs that being openly racist is becoming normalized, a harkening to darker times.

Trump uses divisive words like “enemy” and “vermin” when denigrating the “far-left radicals”. Immigrants are rapists and murderers, and children should be separated from their parents at the border and kept in detention centers. Migrants shouldn’t be allowed to come here from shithole countries.

The U.S. government passed a law limiting immigration during the early 20th century, looking to stem the arrival of Eastern Europeans (Slavs, Jews, Russians). The old cry that their entry would “poison” the purity of America bellowed from politicians as it does today.

Gomez does a great job outlining the history of racism against Latinos. It was eye-opening and enlightening, especially the sections where she describes the history of the Mexican-U.S. War, and the subsequent treatment of Mexicans in what is today California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. She excellently balances writing for both academia and the average reader; the book is stuffed with statistical data, percentages and the like, but she managed to keep my interest.

Is there an easy solution for the immigration issue? Absolutely not. Bipartisanship is necessary, and an overhaul of the whole process is required. I don’t see that happening under Trump, not with the vitriol he spews in his speeches about people looking for better opportunities.

As a Latino, I’m fearful for the future of America.

[John Wenk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been looking for a book like this as it focuses on the Latino experience that is both distinct and interconnected with racism against African Americans. Gomez, delves into the complexity of recognizing Latino as a race vs ethnic group, the tremendous diversity of the Latino experience and the racism within much of Latino culture. The various chapters explore the role of US colonialism is messing up Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, the legal, political and economic struggles of Latinos and the many contradictions of the census process. She gives the most cogent explanations of why Latinos are not considered a race (it has to do with Asian and Blacks not wanting to lose numbers as many Latinos would identify as white).

It is less a book about racism per se than a history of the Latino experience in America. It sometimes gets a bit lost in the weeds, but is never the less illuminating and needed to separate out the Latino experience from the Black experience as all too many white people conflate the two.

[Melanthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much info to digest, but I found this one enlightening.

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frustrating.

Yeah, I found this to be a frustrating read.

I found the organization frustrating, as it started with some recent stuff and the overall diversity of Latinos before going back in time and then going forward again. I found it frustrtaing because after the opening section on the different nations that Lations come from, dang near everything else in the book focused on the Mexican-American experience as the Latino experience, as if that's true of everything. I found it frustating because the book refers to numbers from the 2020 census but then notes near the end of that book actually went to press in November 2019. I found it frustrating because the author's analysis on the history and treatment causes her to conclude that in 2020 we will see a massive groundswell of Latino voters turn out against Trump - and in reality Latino voters, while still voting heavily Democratic, shifted TOWARDS Trump. In a few places, they shifted heavily towards Trump (parts of western Texas and southern Florida - but hey, Biden nearly lost Nevada due to softening Latino support).

About that last part ... A big part of the reason I wanted to read this book was to help me understand some things I found surprising in recent years. I expected a big groundswell of Latino voters to come aganist Trump in 2016. Didn't quite work out that way. After the last few years, I expected a big swell against him. (Plenty of Puerto Ricans in Florida, and look how Trump handled the island after the big hurricane there). That didn't happen, and it's causing me to question how what sort of unfounded assumptions I have of Latinos. Like, how it's not one single group just because we label them one thing: Latino. Cubans and Mexicans and Dominicans and others, urbanites and rural dwellers, Catholics and an increasing number of evangelicals, white or brown or black; immigrants or 4th generation - there's a lof diversity there. Also, I came to think that I'd viewed Latinos as if they were all Mexican-American, which is clearly wrong.

So I read this book and .... it seems to argue on behalf of all the assumptions I used to have that have sense been exploded. Mexican-Americans may as well be all Latinos. (OK fine there is an early chapter on differences, but that chapter is essentially cast aside once its over). This book looks at Latinos almost exclusively through the lenses of immigration and race, and it's clear that not all Latinos feel that way.

I'm also reminded of a line I heard abotu the difference between activists and common voters. Just because activists loudly proclaim that they are the voice of the people doesn't mean they can't be ot of touch wih any sort of silent majority. (Somewhat random thing that pops up in my mind: late in the book she complains about how advertizing targetting Latinos focuses on conservative impressions of them as faith and family focuses. She thinks that's just giving in to stereotypes. OK - but are those inaccurate images? Seems like those are images that she personally doesn't like, but is that coming from the same part fo her brain that misread what would happen in 2020?)

[Marian P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laura Gomez's Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism is an exploration of the history of Latinos and the racism they encountered both in their countries of origin and in the United States. The history of Latinos is not an easy one to tell due to all the particular contexts one needs to establish, including South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Gomez does tell that history but it seems to suffer because of the sheer breadth of these diverse histories. One chapter is simply not enough space to tell all those histories from colonization to the 20th century.

The strength of this book lies in the cogent chapter (Ch.3) which argues that Latinos occupied a median position between white and Black people in the U.S. Gomez uses fine examples such as educational cases (e.g. Bastrop, Del Rio) to demonstrate how Latinos initially experienced discrimination due to racist school districts that set up separate "Mexican schools" for Spanish speakers. Under the auspices of being English deficit and missing school due to migrant farm labor, Mexican children often received substandard education in separate schools. Gomez shows that once Latinos became recognized as "white" they were able to be coopted into white educational settings. Thus, receiving a modicum of advancement not open to Black peers.

In sum, the book would have been stronger if there were more examples of racialization in the U.S. and less time spent trying to detail the whole colonial histories. That scope may have been too ambitious as in the end it felt like there were two different studies here--one on the history of Latinos and the other on racialization process in the U.S.

[Sara Broad · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Inventing Latinos" by Laura Gomez is a really important read about the history of Latinos in the United States. This book provides a brief history of how the United States interfered in Central American politics and caused massive cultural, economic, and political destruction to the countries whose citizens we are turning away at our border. On the topic of borders, Gomez reminds us of how much of this country once belonged to Mexico. Also, this book taught me a lot about the ongoing argument about how Latinos are defined racially, and despite being historically categorized as white, which is now changing, Latinos face racism and prejudice in so many areas of American life. This is such a necessary read!

[Alexis Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Racism works best when it is taken for granted. When it’s structure and scaffolding are more or less invisible.”

Inventing Latinos offers an account of how Latinos came to be. Gomez highlights the power of the racial state and the shape shifting nature of racism to reemerge in new and different forms in response to changing conditions.

Overall, this was a fascinating look at the evolution of this racial category. I do not recommend the audio version of this book. There is so much data and history, I found it really hard to absorb in the audio format.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book expanded my mind in ways it didn't realize it needed expanding. I previously have not given enough thought to racism in the Latinx community, including what the "Latinx community" even means. So much important information in this book, including the history of many Latin countries, how decisions by the United States has impacted those countries, and how racism functions in those countries. And of course how definitions impact everything from elections to redistricting to immigration.

Read for National Hispanic Heritage Month.

[Ruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Few would contest the multiplicity of racial identities and racial categories in contemorary America, It is especially the case that Americans have more choices about how to present their difference, however they define it-how they choose to convey (or veil) their identities in particular situations. Certainly, it has always been the case that race was situational, but the possibilities for public recognition of one's identity are, today, much more open than even forty years ago, when I was in high school. Today the United States has moved from a two-category racial hierarchy-Whites over Blacks, or even White over non-White-to a multi-race hierarchy in which Whites continue to be dominant in terms of wealth, political power, and ideology."

"This book explains how and why Latinos became cognizable as a racial group-a racial group that is other and inferior to whites."

"Race isn't in our heads because it's "real," race is real because it's in our heads. In other words, what we as interacting humans make up, create, or invent has power in our lives. To put it more bluntly: race isn't real, but racism is."

"This book is less about how individual Latinos express their identity and more about where Latinos are, collectively, in the American racial system. Overall, the system of racial classification, rooted in American history, exists to maintain white supremacy."

"This book's central focus is explaining how the common sense of anti-Latino racism has come to exist today, to be taken for granted as natural in the cosmology of American racism. That includes understanding why "Latinos" as a distintive racial category came into being at a particular time and putting that moment in the broader context of earlier history and contemporary events."

"Race is about power, including the power to decide when and how to classify people into this or that racial category and what those very categories are. We think of race categories as essential and immutable, as reflecting notion of blood, stock, ancestory, and DNA. But they are actually political categories, reflecting the power of one group (Whites) to define other groups as inferior to them, as less than fully human."

"The United States is a racial state, which is to say our society is built on racial hierarchy, across time from the founding to today, across space in all regions, and across levels of social interaction, from the personal (micro) to the community level (meso) to the level of structures such as the law (macro). In a racial state, though racial categories and racism evolve, racial hierarchy persists such that Whites remain he dominat racial group. Simultaneously, just who is "White" is continually contested and evolving. This, of course, has implications for the other side of the coin: who is "non-White" likewisw evolves and revolves around which such groups are closest to Blacks, always at the bottom of racial hierarchy."

"One of the most insidious facets of the American racial order is its persistence over time, even in the face of legal, political, and social counter-movements."

"For the purposes of this book, Latinos are people who currently live in the United States-whether or not they are American citizens and/or were born in this country-who are descendants of migrants or who themselves migrated from Latin America, and specifically from the former colonies of Spain in the Western Hemisphere. So defined, Latinos are the product two successive waves of colonization, first by Spain and then by the United States, which has significant implications for how they have experienced racism and racialization in the United States."

"The diverse migration histories of Latinos shape their participation as American citizens and voters."

"There is no doubt Trump's rhetoric has made it more acceptable to target Latinos, but it would be wrong to assume the problem was not serious prior to 2015. This book explains why that is the case."

"Another problem with viewing Latinos from an ethnic rather than a racial frame is that doing so pits them against African Americans in a way that supports white supremacy. For example, it encourages Latinos to see themselves as distant from Blacks by adopting the dominant racial narrative that African Americans "deserve" their place at the bottom of the hierarchy, while, in contrast, putting Latinos into the dominant ethnic narrative in which striving "immigrants" overcome the odds to assimilate. In this way, the refusal to see and name anti-Latino racism qua racism serves to enlist Latinos in policing the White-over Black color line."

"The census has always been a primary race-making site for the racial state."

"Colonialism and immigration are part of the same continuum-we are here because you were there."

"Within roughly a century of the Monroe Doctrine, the United States would invade Mexico, taking half its territory; challengeSpain to war, acquiring Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and the Cuban; and achieve a major geopolitical victory by connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans via the Panama Canal. After all that, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1936 promise to be "a good neighbor" to Latin America proved easy to make, even as it would be repeatedly broken over the next century."

"By 1911, the U.S. Immigration Bureau was already reporting that 50,000 Mexicans crossed the border annually without legal authorization. In a cycle that cintinues today, White elites and workers demonized Mexican immigrants, directly leading to the formation of the Border Patrol in 1924 (the same year, you will recall, in which the quotas faving immigrants from northwestern European countries were instituted)."

"And so began American imperialism in Central America, a toxic mix of corporate greed, filibusters, military might, and racism."

"The story of American colonial exploits is particular to each Latin American country, but the connective tissue is the same: the racialization of the native peoples as subhmuan; the region's geopoltical strategic value; how military exercises support and reinforce corporate capitalism; human rights abuses by U.S.-installed dictators; and displacement caused by violence and economic deprivation, leading to migration of an exploitable workforce."

"Of all Latinos, Puerto Ricans sit in arguably the most ambiguous position, a direct result of 122 years of colonial status. Puerto Rico provides the base of operations for extensive American military pursuits including the Southern Command headquarters, is home to corporations that exploit human capital and natural resources, and serves as a magnet for well-off Americans to play tourist in an "exotic" island close to home."

"Americans viewed Cuba in military and economic terms: its sugar industry added value, and Guantanamo Bay became the country's overseas military base."

"Thus, under American rule, genocide served as a policy to make the region White and therby enhance its fit with the rest of the United States. In Spanish colinial Guatemala, as in Spanish and Mexican California, the economics of labor did not justify the cost of importing African slaves, so the Spanish forced Maya and other Indigenous people to work."

"For Indians, white supremacy justified taking Indigenous property in law, whereas for Blacks it justified making them property. Mexicans complicated this dual-pronged racial project immeasurably."

"The modern anti-Spanish push began in 1981, when Senator Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa (R-CA, 1977-1983) proposed a constitutional amendment to make English the official language of the United States; twenty-eight states have passed some version of an official English law or resolution since then."

"Language imperialism also was part and parcel of American colonialism."

"A utilitarian reason politicians and elected officials embraced Latino or Hispanic identity was that it allowed them to speak jointly, using one term, about Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans-groups previously seen as minor players in regional politics who had little hope of gaining national attention."

"More precisely, how racial categories have been defined, added, and transformed via the federal census reveals its role in promoting and upholding withe supremacy. The census has been a key tool of the racial state, allowing for the manipulation of categories of people deemed fit and unfit to be included in a nation long-imagined as White and as inevitably White-dominated."

"The state, via the census, produces race, and race and racism produce the census, in a dialectic feedback loop."

"By and large, over the course of American history, the children of White and Indian unions have become successively White, in contrast to the children of Whites and African Americans."

"Deportations decimated the Mexican American population of Texas, causing a 40 percent reduction between 1930 and 1940. California lost a third of its Mexican population to "voluntary" departures or government deportations during the same period."

"For Latinos and Asian americans, the assumption that, because of the way one looks, one is from another country-the assumption that one is a perpetual foreigner-continues to be a powerful dimensions of racialization. Depending on the context, each of these or their operation in combination serves to mark Latinos as racial others."

"Inventing Latinos offers an account of how Latinos came to be. The story includes individual and organizational agency but highlights the power of the racial state, larger forces in the political economy, and the shape-shifting nature of racism to reemerge in new and different forms in response to changing conditions. Racism works best when it is taken for granted, when its structure and scaffolding are more or less invisible. In this way, the racial state is not seen as a contradiction to our constitutional commitment to equal treatment under the law, to the rule of law."

"To be sure, the White power structure controls the definition of racial categories, whether new ones or changed ines, but such processes do not occur in a linear, uninterrupted progression from point A to point Z. For one thing, Whites and White-controlled institutions do not always agree or coordinate; like the racial-state itself, they are not monolithic. For another, racially subordinated groups just as surely contest and negotiate with the White power structure, sometimes advocating for a broadening of the White category to include them."

"We are at a turning point that goes to the very core of who we are as a nation used to thinking of itself as the conscience of the world. Instead, in 2020, the United States is widely known as a country that separates migrant children from their parents, deporting the latter and detaining in squalid conditions the former."

"When Americans colonized northern Mexico, Central America, and the Spanish Caribbean, they denigrated as racially inferior this "mongrelization," using it to justify conquest and exploitation. Among many Latinos, it produced a preference for White and whiter-than-mestizo people, whether in dating and mating, on the job, or in the selection of where to live. All Latinos, especially the beneficiaries of anti-Indigenous and anti-African racism within the Latinx community, should today recognize these dynamics and take affirmative steps to counter them."

[Misael Galdámez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism, especially from a historical and sociological perspective. The book is worth it for the first two chapters alone, which discuss the history of colonialism and U.S. intervention in Latin America, and how those histories have shaped the outcomes of Latinos in the U.S.

I didn't realize, for example, quite how far back U.S. involvement in Nicaragua went. I also didn't realize how differently the U.S. treated Nicaraguan refugees in the 1980s vs. today. Those fleeing in the 1980s were fleeing the Sandinista regime which the U.S. opposed, so politically, they held the same values as broader white + conservative American culture. As such, those 1980s refugees were much more likely to receive refugee status and citizenship than later immigrants (can I get a "immigration enforcement is arbitrary and made up" in the comments?).

I also particularly enjoyed the reflection on Latin American histories of race, and how each country has a distinct relationship with race. It made apparent the reality that Latinos conceive of themselves very differently depending on where they are coming from.

Having said that, I admittedly found the tone a bit sanctimonious at time. The book comes from a progressive perspective, and at times I found myself feeling like I was being scolded despite holding to some of the views espoused in the book (esp. with regard to policy).

Second, and perhaps most importantly, I found her chapter on the census to be a bit wanting. I work full-time with Census data and recently published an article on Afro-Latinxs in the U.S. From what I can gather (and from listening to Afro-Latinx orgs), the new Census question format (one race question) would likely negatively impact the number of self-identifying Afro-Latinxs. Although I know the author does not believe this, the prescription to have one single race question and the chapter as a whole seemed to imply that Latinos are all racialized the same. I think more research is needed on the implications of the new census categories before we can jump into a monolithic prescription for how to best impact the political power of 62 million people in the United States.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dense and academic in style. I often felt I was drowning in statistics and dates. However, I learned quite a bit from this book, especially regarding the history of some Latino groups: when, how, and why they “arrived.” (And, of course, some were already “here,” such as Mexicans assimilated into the US after the Mexican American War when part of Mexico was incorporated into what would later become the state of Texas). Concepts such as “we are here because you were there” help explain history and current conflicts. For example, many immigrants and refugees have come from Central America where the US’s official and guerrilla intervention policies and overt-covert military training of Latin Americans—not to mention protections for US corporations—have caused or contributed to political, civic, and social disruption/violence/leadership change over many decades.

Another fascinating section of this book discusses the US Census and the concept that “to count, we must be counted.“ Gomez discusses the changing nature of race categories on the US Census as an example of race as a social construct. As the “official sorting mechanism” (p. 143) of the US, the census not only dictates if, when, and how to count certain types of people but also defines, rather than reflects, categories and labels for race in American culture. “The state, via the census, produces race, and race and racism produce the census, in a dialectic feedback loop” (p. 144). (The most obvious example is counting “Negroes” as 3/5 of a person to boost population numbers for Southern states’ representation in Congress during antebellum years.) Gomez also reminds us that from 1790 to 1970, the census enumerators (data collectors) were literate (ie, privileged), white males who made their own decisions about how to mark someone’s race on a form based on phenotypical markers such as skin color and hair type, as well as environmental settings such as types of residences, neighborhoods, communities.

The book also provides some background on colorism, 20th century Latino political activism, and, briefly, potential solutions for moving forward to create more social equity for Latinos in the US. Overall, a thought-provoking and educational book.

[Gemini · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! There is so much to learn by what the author wrote in this book. What so many people don't realize is that this has been an ongoing issue for so long that it's good it's finally being brought to the forefront. The fact that the Latinx community doesn't neatly fit into a white or black box. It's always been hard to figure out how we fit in & at the same time get stuck in the middle. The way people see us depends on where you're from or more so what color your skin is. This is what it comes down to, there are those who are closer to white & those that are close to black. Sometimes you're mixed or multi racial & you have to deal w/ the fact you don't have other options. How these things have transpired over the years really is astonishing & great to learn about the various issues that come into play in this book. It's unfortunate that the darker you are the more likely you are to experience racism, even from fellow Latinx. Pretty shameful but this is common on a worldy basis which is simply wrong. This book should be read by everyone, so get it & share.

[Mariano]

DNF at 10%

This is the second time I've tried to read this book, and I got farther than I did last time, but I realize now the issue is not me, it's the book. This book doesn't really give any breathing room since it is absolutely jam-packed with facts and dates and leaves no time to let anything digest. It feels more like a list of bullet points than anything, and even then it's very muddled. It doesn't follow any clear timeline, just jumping between different dates and bringing up the ways they're connected before moving on. The amount of information it gives in just one page is dizzying. This is definitely one of those instances where I feel like the person who published this is a pure academic rather than a practiced writer, since I felt no real narrative style in this at all; it does not try to guide you through the information or even provide room for discussion, and assumes that the reader is already familiar with the topics at hand.
Shame, cause I wanted to read this so bad :( oh well, there's other essays..

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, information-rich book. Begins with Howard Zinn-style litanies (Zitanies?) of European and, more predominantly, US imperialism in the Americas. Interesting accounts of how colorism and colonialism played out over the centuries in Central America and the Caribbean. In the US, Texas, California, and New Mexico were predictably the first areas to grapple with the concept of Latino identity. Very interesting information on the politics of conducting the US Census over the years and how Latinos navigated civil rights law as legally white or white-adjacent people who were still victimized by white supremacy. The author has a strong left-leaning viewpoint, which I'm inclined to agree with, but I would have appreciated more thoughts about right-leaning, even outright white nationalist Latinos. Unsurprisingly, immigrant and immigrant-descended populations from longtime rightwing dictatorships like the Dominican Republic or Guatemala (or Batista's Cuba) feature some or many rightwing sympathizers. Liberation theology has strong Central American roots but there are plenty of tradcaths in Latino communities, to say nothing of the explosive growth of Protestant evangelicalism in Latin America, and the politics of those groups line up conveniently with the GOP. As Enrique Tarrio and Nick Fuentes indicate, a Latino can glom onto anti-Black, anti-LGTBQ, replacement theory, and Islamophobic "Westernist" talking points and make a career in white supremacy. Perhaps I'm overstating this but a lot of people on the liberal/left side of the spectrum have a belief that demographics alone are an unstoppable force for electoral change, and I think that may be an oversimplification. As recent developments in Kevin de Leon's career indicate, it's complicated.

[Jessie Juarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gómez argues that Latinos are an “American racial group.” This was precisely that question I wanted answered while reading this book. She uses history to determine how Latinos became to be in the U.S., as well as the anti-Latino racism many have endured. I thoroughly enjoyed how each chapter began with one or two quotes that were relevant to each chapter’s theme. Lastly she concludes with what needs to be done to help identify Latinos as a racial group (notably by including “Latina, Latino, Latinx” as an option on the census).

[Alyssa Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a very interesting topic, and it is very well-researched. However, my main critiques would be that the writing lacked a clear structure, and it seemed to be toeing the line of a thesis versus and opinion piece. I think the interjections from the author were unnecessary given the nature of the book. Despite this, I enjoyed it overall and learned a lot.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read, this book is a explains how latin americans came to be recognized as a group and why. How we are not black or white and still have to choose either one. How things have changed and are still changing and somehow not much has changed after all.

[Sg · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best race theory books I've read in years, super tremendous about the plasticity of race for political convenience, really complex and informative and direct with a clear vision for next steps, a little dense but totally worth it 4.5

[Glenda Nelms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important and informative book on the history of Latinx as a racial and cultural identity.