About this item

A timely and groundbreaking argument that all Americans must grapple with Latinos' dynamic racial identity - because it impacts everything we think we know about race in America Latinos have long influenced everything from electoral politics to popular culture yet many people instinctively regard them as recent immigrants rather than a longstanding racial group. In Inventing Latinos Laura Gmez a leading expert on race law and society illuminates the fascinating race-making unmaking and re-making of Latino identity that has spanned centuries leaving a permanent imprint on how race operates in the United States today. Pulling back the lens as the country approaches an unprecedented demographic shift (Latinos will comprise a third of the American population in a matter of decades) Gmez also reveals the nefarious roles the United States has played in Latin America - from military interventions and economic exploitation to political interference - that taken together have destabilized national economies to send migrants northward over the course of more than a century.