The Journey to Latino Political Representation is a detailed, yet succinct, description of the struggle of Latino Americans to express their political voice from 1822 to the present day. There are essentially two parts to this story: the decline of Hispanic representation in the nineteenth century and the revival of their political voice in the second half of the twentieth century. To explain this, the author discusses Latino population demographics, anti-immigrant legislation and other political influences. In addition, short biographies throughout the book help to familiarize the reader with some of the politicians. The Journey is one of the few works that describes the step-by-step struggle of one cultural group to achieve political representation. In this respect, the book fills a niche that has been neglected for decades. In the preface, Dr. Edward E. Telles, the author of the award-winning, Race in Another America: The Significance of Skin Color in Brazil, states that this book is "an important educational service" that "will be useful in classrooms throughout the United States." He adds that, "no longer can educators in any part of the United States deny or ignore the political importance of Latinos to their students, as this book makes apparent."
John P. Schmal
2007, 5½x8½, paper, index, 228 pp.
ISBN: 9780788441141
101-S4114
