The Latinos that live in the United States are a group of people that have modified
the spectrum of the population in this country. In the past ten years, the Latino
population has grown by fifty percent, totaling more than 35 million inhabitants,
according to the figures of the last census (which does not consider the “illegal”
population, which is estimated to be between eight and ten million inhabitants).
The Latino population has surpassed the black minority of the country, coming
to form 12.5% of the country's total population.
For official information about Latinos, visit the census website at: http://www.census.gov/mso/www/pres_lib/hisorig/sld001.htm
In the class "Latinos in the US" (SPA 383) we study a few of the characteristics
of the Latinos, and we discuss controversial themes like putting a label or name
on a diverse group of people, the differences between the Latinos, the history
of immigration, racism and the phenomenon of double racism, Proposition 187, the
problems of the illegal population, the problems of adjusting of the first generation
of immigrants, "cultural schizophrenia" of the second generation of
immigrants, the conflicts over bilingual education, conflicts between different
Latino generations in families, problems involving the border, the Latino identity
and its masks, the desire to maintain roots versus rapid assimilation into the
American culture, the stereotypes of the Latinos, conflicts between old and new
wave immigrants, the political activism from the Chicano movement to today, the
myth of the "melting pot", the part of the woman and her fight against
the macho society, etc.
We studied all of these themes that involve the Latino community in the United States through a basic text: The Latino Condition, along with testimonies from Latinos students in the class (Leticia Cardoza and Alejandro Gallegos), plus the testimony from visits with Hernán Salazar, José Araya Molina, and Max Cárdenas, as well as the personal experiences from the professor. To compliment the themes, we watched movies like: Real Women Have Curves, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortes, The Mambo Kings, and Stand and Deliver, as well as many short videos about themes pertinent to the class. The students read many poems that described the Latino identity, listened to Latin music, read newspaper and magazine articles, visited websites, and read two books in order to compare the different experiences of being Latino/a in the United States. The first part of the class, the students read the book Cajas de carton, by Francisco Jiménez, in order to understand illegal immigrant experience from a first hand point of view. The second part of the class, the students read the book Mi país inventado, by Isabel Allende, to have a completely different version of Latino immigration into this country.
Cornell College is a small college situated in Mount Vernon, Iowa. To complete
their study of Latinos in the United States, the students, parallel to the general
study of the Latinos, worked on investigating the situation of the Latinos in
different cities in Iowa. When it was possible, the students visited the cities,
took pictures, and interviewed different people and authorities in order to finish
their project. As a result, here is the page that will stay on the internet as
a base for the people that want to learn about the situations of the Latino population
in Iowa today.
As an introduction to the characteristics of the Latino population in Iowa, the
following information is very helpful. It originates from Iowa State University
and was delivered to the class by the generosity of Max Cárdenas.
I would like to thank all of the students in my class for the fantastic work that they have done. I am very proud to have been a part of this project.
This is the wonderful SPA 383 class, having lunch at "Fiesta
Del Sol," Cedar Rapids
Thanks also to Leticia Cardoza for succeeding in bringing Max Cárdenas to the class, and to Alejandro Gallegos for helping with the organization of his visit to the campus. To Lauren Paige, Erin Lynch, Lane Dunlop, and Carol Lacy-Salazar, thanks for your time and technical support in the creation of the map of Iowa and the organization of this page.
This is the Spanish 383 website. I hope you enjoy!
