Intellectually Entertaining. Socially Relevant.
Many Americans insist that prejudice is extinct in our post-racial society, where we have a black president and everything. Of course, the officially sanctioned use of racism (À la Jim Crow laws) is a distant relic of the past, and no governmental or academic institution still exhibits racist behavior. Nope. If that were true, however, Read More
I was in the first generation of kids who grew up with Sesame Street. Even at a young age, I recognized how rare it was to see fellow Latinos on television, much less a happily married, well-adjusted couple like Maria and Luis. I wasn’t even traumatized when Grover would get all quiet, lean in to Read More
Recently, I wrote about America’s love affair with guns. One argument that Second Amendment proponents use, to great effect, is that an armed citizenry prevents government tyranny. Indeed, there are many Americans who believe that a “disarmed society is an obedient society…in which, at the extreme, people obey their own government’s orders to follow the Read More
There’s a new horrifying sign that America is on the decline. I’m not talking about the chaotic state of our politics, or the struggling economy, or even the fact that half of us refuse to acknowledge basic scientific facts. I’m referring to the recent implication that white conservative guys can’t casually throw around racial slurs Read More
A few weeks ago, the head of the NYPD criticized Latinos and blacks for tolerating gun violence. Commissioner Ray Kelly’s timing could not have been more exquisite, for as we all know, some nut in Colorado has decided to take part in that most American of activities: the mass shooting of strangers. Although it’s true that Read More
A year ago, I wrote about how the Great Recession hit Latinos hard. At the time, I was hopeful that the worst was behind us. Perhaps that was my natural Latino tendency to be optimistic. After all, Latinos “are worse off, but they are still more positive about where the country is going” compared to Read More
Maybe you’re among the 66 percent of Latinos who favor Pres. Obama in the upcoming election. Or perhaps you’re one of the 87 percent of African Americans who also plan to vote for the president. If so, I have news for you: you are practicing identity politics. I know. It’s a shocker. And you seemed Read More
By now, you’ve heard about the commencement speaker in Massachusetts who told graduating students, “None of you is special. You are not special. You are not exceptional.” The Internet was ablaze with comments, most of them positively gleeful. Many people believe that the speaker revealed harsh truths and deflated the younger generation’s supersized egos. Of Read More
According to many sources, Dr. Carlos do Amaral Freire can speak more languages than anyone on the planet: 115. But before you feel too intimidated, keep in mind that the professor is fluent in a mere 30 or so. One has to wonder how balancing all those verb tenses and irregular conjugations has affected his Read More
“Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.” — First Amendment We’ve seen some ugly incidents aimed at Latinos in the past year, such as the racist girls from Arizona and the marching band that chanted slurs. Incidents such as these provoke outrage from people who point out, rightly, that such behavior is Read More