Harvest of Empire Quotes

“Nowadays, our leaders prefer to search for the causes of crime and poverty in the actions or inaction of those at the very bottom of society. The obscene transfers of wealth over the past forty years from that bottom to a privileged few at the top--and from much of the Third World to financial elites in the West--are all excused as the natural evolution of the Market, when, in fact, they are products of unparalleled greed by those who shape and direct that Market.”
― Juan González, Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America

“Until Puerto Rico is decolonized, American democracy will not be complete.”
― Juan González, Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America

“The central argument of this book is that U.S. economic and political domination over Latin America has always been—and continues to be—the underlying reason for the massive Latino presence here. Quite simply, our vast Latino population is the unintended harvest of the U.S. empire.”
― Juan González, Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America