What are you reading?

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by dark_crystal

HARVEST OF EMPIRE, by Juan Gonzales:

Latinos are estimated to become the largest U.S. minority group by 2010, numbering more than 40 million. This spectacular transformation has resulted largely from escalating immigration since the 1960s, profoundly affecting such states as California, New York, Texas, and Florida. González, a columnist at the New York Daily News, addresses this massive demographic shift in his rich, angry, and provocative book. With a combination of history, reportage, cross-disciplinary insights, and old-fashioned leftist outrage, he links U.S. intervention abroad and the tyranny of its unbridled market to the profound transformations at home -- namely, the arrival of millions of Spanish-speaking immigrants. They are the "unexpected harvest" of the "expansion that transformed the entire hemisphere into an economic satellite," he charges. In turn, U.S. policy toward its Latin American population will determine whether domestic tranquillity or interethnic conflict will mark the twenty-first century.

This book is blowing my mind. I learned that the Latin American countries fighting Spain for their independence modeled their constitutions after ours because they looked up to our democracy so much. Then, we went behind their backs with Spain and plotted against them so that they had no one to help them except for England. Because we wanted their land more than we were proud of our democracy!

And wait till you hear how the US got Texas. When Texas was part of Mexico, we flooded it with Anglo immigrants and overwhelmed the Mexican culture! No wonder we’re so paranoid about pressing “1” for English.

I am only on chapter 2!