Latino/a history

Understanding Latino White Supremacy

by Geraldo Cadava

"In fact, Latino white supremacy isn’t an oxymoron, and carrying out a premeditated mass shooting in the United States is one of the more American things a Latino could do."

Culture War Puts Latino Professors in Difficult Positions

For many academics of color, attacks on "critical race theory" or "wokeness" seek to render understanding of their communities academically illegitimate. 

Critical (In)attention to Bad Bunny Headlining Coachella Latest Example of Dismissal of "Latin" Music Artists

by Petra Rivera-Rideau and Vanessa Díaz

At the fashionable California festival, the Puerto Rican artist took fans through a history of Latin American musical styles; the American press has too often ignored such history to portray performers as exotic, hypersexual, and foreign, instead of as part of a hemisphere-wide process of cultural creation and mixture. 

Texas Shooting Highlights Long History of Anti-Black Violence in Latino Communities

by Cecilia Márquez

History shows that there have long been strains of anti-black racism in Latino communities, and that the categories "white" and "latino" are not mutually exclusive. Understanding today's far right requires attention to those details. 

Claiming a Latino Place in Chicago

by Mike Amezcua

Like their African American contemporaries, ethnic Mexicans in Chicago have a long history of organizing to overturn residential segregation. 

Should the Census Consider Latinos a "Race"?

by Geraldo Cadava

Although major Latino civil rights organizations have endorsed a proposal to combine two census questions and make "Hispanic or Latino" a racial category. Afro-Latino/a advocates say that this would make it impossible to evaluate internal divisions around skin color and ancestry. 

Is Globalization Changing Mexico's Relationship to Death?

by Humberto Beck

Post-revolutionary Mexico embraced cultural commemorations of the dead—Diá de los Muertos—to help conceal the violence of the regime's rise. Now, that "traditional" culture is again being transformed by global cultural appropriation and the escalating violence of global drug trafficking.

The Virgin of Guadalupe is a Constant on the Changing Streets of Los Angeles

The image of the Virgin Mary is both a protector of small businesses and a symbol of ethnic pride across Los Angeles; photographer Oscar Rodriguez Zapata has been documenting her appearances for a decade. 

Latino Activists Changed San Antonio in the 1960s

by Ricardo Romo

San Antonio in the 1960s faced many of the same challenges of cities throughout the South; its emerging Mexican American political leadership helped steer the city in a progressive direction. 

Miami-Dade has Lurched Right, but Still Loves "Obamacare"

by Catherine Mas

Even though conservative Latinos in Miami are generally suspicious of "socialism", the long history of local government support for medical access means that many carve out a big exception for the Affordable Care Act. 

The History of Mexican Americans in Austin

by Cynthia E. Orozco

A historian works to develop a chronicle of Mexican American community events in the city of Austin with a local community newspaper. 

A History of Violence in the US/Mexico Borderlands

by Brian Behnken

Policing both the border and Mexican American communities in the Southwest has always been entangled with white supremacist violence, the author argues in a new book. 

Historian Kelly Lytle Hernández Teams Up with New LA City Councilors to Review City's History

A historian and two recently-elected progressive city council members teamed up to tour the sites of the city's community of Mexican revolutionaries in exile, asking how the past can inform social movements today. 

Decades in Making, San Diego Museum will Honor Chicano Community and Movement

"Organizers and community members hope the museum will document the history of Chicano Park and continue educating future generations about Barrio Logan’s history."

The Wartime Service and Postwar Activism of One Latino Veteran

by Ricardo Romo

For Veteran's Day, a historian shares photos, and the history, of his father's wartime experiences. Like many of his compatriots, Henry Romo was reluctant to discuss those experiences, but drew on them to work for equal citizenship at home. 

Can Americans Understand the Divisions in Latino Politics?

by Geraldo Cadava

Despite the lip service both parties pay to welcoming (and deserving) the growing Latino vote, do their non-Latino leaders actually understand the complexities of this large demographic category? Do they want to? 

Black-Brown Solidarity has been Elusive in Los Angeles

by Erin Aubry Kaplan

For decades, the increasing Latino presence in previously Black neighborhoods in South Los Angeles has raised concerns about political representation and hopes for a cross-racial movement for a more just city. Recent leaked city councl tapes show things are far from settled. 

How US Latinos Resurrected the Day of the Dead

by Ricardo Romo

American Latinos have transformed the day from a private ritiual of communion with ancestors to a public affirmation of heritage. 

Remarks by LA City Council Members Struck at Local Oaxacan Community

by A.S. Dillingham

Remarks stigmatizing Mexican immigrants with indigenous ancestry point to the fallacy of a unitary Latino identity and highlight the persistence of racial hierarchies in Latin America. 

My Students are Missing Their Own History

by Arlene Dávila

Disagreement over the particular labels used to describe Latino/a (or Latinx) people shouldn't overshadow the need for a more inclusive history.