The Latino Challenge to Black America

by Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Political issues and social problems such as immigration, prison, bilingual education, employment, political jockeying, changing ethnic dynamics, and racial stereotypes that both divide and unite blacks and Latinos are examined in this topical analysis. This cutting-edge argument looks at how both minority groups frame and interpret these issues through the prism of their experience. It blends the personal and the analytical and ultimately serves as a guide to navigate race and ethnic relations through 21st-century America.

232 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

Reviews

[Darryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book by Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a noted African American journalist, novelist, and radio and television commentator, was inspired by an misunderstanding with a Chicano poet from his home town of Chicago. Hutchinson discusses hot button topics where Latinos and African-Americans are in conflict, such as immigration reform, jobs, education, and the military, which mainly consist of recent events in California and his home town of Los Angeles. One unifying theme to these accounts is the mistrust that members of both groups have towards each other, and the lack of leadership displayed by prominent members of both communities. Hutchinson's accounts make for interesting reading, and it is a good introduction to the problems dividing these two groups, but the book is limited by a lack of in depth analysis and recommendations.